Page 108 of Surprise Mother Pucker

“My bag?” I asked.

“I’m sorry, we’ve had reports of inappropriate material,” the guard said. “It’s policy that we have to check.”

I picked up my handbag and passed it to him. After all, I had nothing to hide. He took it and started rummaging around. It was a pain, but really not that big a deal. I was mainly curious why they thought I was hoarding inappropriate materials—or what even classified as inappropriate materials.

The guard’s calm face hardened as he pulled something out of my bag I didn’t recognize. It was a little clear baggy, full of pills.

Pills I’d never seen.

“What are these?” the guard asked pointedly.

I looked to Eli, who appeared just as confused as me. “I have no idea, those aren’t mine!” I insisted. Why the fuck would I have drugs in my bag? I was pregnant, for God's sake.

“You'd be surprised how often we hear that,” the guard grumbled. “We will be taking these and reporting this to campus security. As is policy, you will be banned from campus immediately, pending a review of your actions. We’ll escort you from campus now,” he said in a no-nonsense tone.

“Banned from campus?” I asked, my voice shrill. “I have finals next week!”

The guard shook his head. “You will have to take that up with your student advisor. The university has a strict no-tolerance policy when it comes to drugs, so you’ll have to leave for now.”

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Where had the drugs come from? I had never done drugs in my entire life. Hell, I'd barely drunk alcohol, and I was in the final year of my master’s program. Most students had gone on at least a handful of benders by this point in their academic career.

Instead of partying, I had been parenting.

“B—”

“Kennedy,” Eli said, his voice soothing. “We will get this sorted out.”

The guards looked pissed as they escorted us back to Eli’s car. It seemed like simply walking us out of the building wasn't enough. Tears welled up in my eyes as we got in the car and drove away. The moment we were off the campus, I descended into full-on messy sobs.

“Those weren’t mine!” I sobbed. “You believe me, right?” I asked Eli, who had a face like thunder.

“Of course, I believe you, little killer,” he said, one hand gripping my thigh as he drove. “Call the guys—we need a pack meeting immediately.”

I picked up Eli’s phone from its car cradle and tapped on the link that opened the pack group chat and pressed the call button.

“Hey, how’s studying?” Storm’s voice was the first I heard.

I couldn't speak. I could only sob. “Kennedy?” His tone immediately changed from playful to serious. “What's going on? Is everything okay?”

Eli squeezed my thigh before talking. “Campus security just found drugs in Kennedy's bag. They've banned her from campus. We need a pack meeting, immediately.”

“Fuck, okay, I’ll get everyone. How long until you’re back?”

“Five minutes.”

“How the hell did drugs appear in your bag?” Charlie asked, utterly confused.

We were all sitting around the coffee table, discussing what had just happened. The entire pack had rushed home when they had learned of the news. Thankfully, Charlotte was down for a nap, so she didn’t witness how much of a mess I was.

I had been crying ever since they had walked me off campus. No matter how much Eli had comforted me, I couldn't shake the feeling that everything I'd worked so hard for was going down the drain.

“It makes no sense. We know Kennedy isn’t like that. She's refused to even look at a piece of sushi since she got pregnant.”

“Were your bags ever left unattended?” Storm asked, running his hand through his hair.

“I-I don’t think so,” I said, turning to Eli for confirmation.

“They were for a few minutes.” He grimaced. “I went to go get Kennedy another hot chocolate while she went to the bathroom. We left our bags there because they only had textbooks in them. We had our phones with us, so there was nothing for anyone to steal.”

---