Page 31 of A Surprise Baby for the Wolf Shifter

The fallout of such a public display wasn’t something I was willing to handle. Especially in front of Gemma. If she was indeed pregnant, she was in a delicate state. And if memory served me correctly, shock in shifter pregnancies was a dangerous thing. Taking into account human-shifter pregnancies would be exceptionally so. I had to be careful of how I approached that topic with her.

I was deep in protect mode while fighting Tabitha. When she finally calmed down enough to return fully to her human form, we exchanged some words. I had left her in her human form to come to town and protect Gemma with a certain understanding of what I wasn’t going to tolerate anymore.

None of it mattered though.

Not only was Tabitha convinced I was her mate, but she had followed me into town. I picked up her scent with a downward wind. Then I detected the slight discrepancies in her trying to follow along at my pace. The crunch of a step a second too late. The snap of a branch that sounded too close for comfort. For a cat, she had room to improve with her stalking skills.

For now, Gemma was safe. But one thing was for certain… Things were going to get a whole lot worse before they got better. And I would kill to make sure Gemma made it out of this town in one piece.

I glared in the direction Tabitha took as she rushed by, sniffing the air and growling loud enough it filtered through the glass muted. I returned my gaze to Gemma to find that she was staring after the woman with a quirked eyebrow.

She shook her head and sighed, settling her attention on me.

My heart skipped a beat. I wanted to kiss her right then and there.

“Can I have my arm back now?” she asked, keeping her voice stern but low enough that the conversation was kept between the two of us only. Though I wouldn’t have cared if we had a lover’s quarrel in the middle of a supermarket. Not really. But I still appreciated the gesture, nonetheless. The glare in her eyes made me smile inwardly.

She was quite the firecracker. I admired how she stood up for herself.

“What are you smiling at?” she asked, words coming out clipped.

Oops. I thought I had kept that to myself. I released her arm and sheepishly said, “Sorry.”

“What was that about anyway?” she asked. “What gives you the right to drag me in here like that? Since when do you growl? Why on Earth are you not answering any of my questions? What gives?”

“It’s a lot more involved than this conversation will allow. But let’s just say I’m trying to protect you and leave it at that for now,” I said.

She scoffed. “Not good enough. You’re going to have to do better than that.”

“Can I help you two with anything?” a store clerk asked.

We both looked at the poor guy and said, “No,” then immediately went back to our conversation.

“I don’t know how else to explain it to you,” I said.

“Yeah, well, I’m not your responsibility,” she said firmly. “You made your choice… unless you decided to change your mind?”

“I haven’t changed my mind about anything,” I said. “There are things in play here that you don’t know about and can’t know about. Not yet.”

“Why? Because I’m pregnant?” she asked.

I frowned. “Possibly.”

“I get that it’s a hard pill to swallow. It is for me too. It wasn’t like I planned to get pregnant. I took precautions. I thought you wore protection,” she said, voice growing just a tad bit louder.

I shook my head. “I’ve been burned by this before.”

“And how is your past my responsibility?” she asked. “I didn’t do that to you. And I don’t deserve the punishment because of it.”

Damn, I was falling for this woman. My resolve was starting to weaken toward her. But I couldn’t believe I was the last person she slept with. I was once bitten, twice shy in that department.

“You’re right,” I said. “You deserve a deeper explanation than one I can give you right here.”

Her eyes widened and her mouth formed a small “O” shape. “Well, that was rather easy.”

I cocked my head to the side. “How so?”

“Never mind,” she said, waving her hand between us. “You were saying?”

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