Page 37 of A Surprise Baby for the Wolf Shifter

He took me in and taught me what it meant to be a wolf shifter. More importantly, he made me feel accepted. He gave me a reason to live and keep leaving. Though he had no familial ties with me, he became a father to me. A real one. The second I was ready, shortly after I turned eighteen, I went on my own. Started my life here in Idaho Springs.

A few years after I had gotten settled, I learned that he had passed away. And as I stared at Gemma, racking my brain on how to smooth things over with her, I wished I had him to turn to.

“You’re a monster,” she said through her sobs.

I sighed. Her words cut me deeper than a blade could. “I understand why you think that way. Please, give me a chance to explain.”

I kept my voice soft. I hated how much it sounded like I was begging her. But my heart was being ripped apart. Things were supposed to be different with her. I hated how much she was frightened of me. I needed her to give me a chance.

Because I thought Gemma was different. I thought she was the one.

“No! Just leave me alone!” she said, cowering in the corner of my living room.

I wanted desperately to swoop her up in my arms and hold her and tell her that everything was going to be okay. But she didn’t want anything to do with me. I had scared her away. With a sigh, I moved to sit on the back of my couch. I crossed my arms and stared at the floor. There had to be something I could do.

“I understand if you want nothing to do with me, but you have to realize that this will happen to that baby when he’s old enough,” I said. “You must give me a chance to make this right.”

“I don’t have to do anything but leave,” she shouted between sobs.

Her words cut deep. Again.

“It’s not safe for you to leave right now. You need to calm down first. And I need to make sure you’re not going into shock,” I said.

“Like it or not, I’m leaving,” she said, glanced out the window, shuddered, and added, “just as soon as I’m sure I won’t bump into that woman.”

I nodded. “I would feel better if you calmed down first. That’s all I’m asking for.”

This was the moment I feared the most. Gemma was as good as gone. My efforts to try and talk her down were going nowhere, fast. I had no clue what to say. Most people who learned of what I was had run the other direction. Literally. I was never given an opportunity like this.

Though I supposed it wasn’t really for me. She was terrified of Tabitha as well. And I couldn’t blame her. She had just been thrown into a world she never knew existed. One where monsters were real. And I was one of them, as she not so elegantly pointed out.

Up to the point where Tabitha made her grand reveal, her world was solid. And within the span of five minutes, it was flipped upside down and inside out. She needed time to come to terms with things and I needed to give that to her. But it was so hard to keep my distance from her. Especially when it came to the undeniable pull toward her.

Gemma’s fear of me wasn’t just my fault. Guy had some responsibility in all of this as well. Him and his insistence on taking me out that night. I should have stayed resolved in my decision to be alone. I hated that he talked me into going with him. I hated how Gemma reacted in such a way and wouldn’t let me explain.

I hated myself for giving in.

I should have left well enough alone. Especially when I first sensed the pull toward Gemma.

“I’m not listening to anything you say to me ever again,” she groaned out. “Far as I’m concerned, all you have told me were lies.”

I frowned and nodded. “Very well.”

With nothing left to say, especially since it only seemed like I was making things worse, I left the room. Once she had calmed down enough, she left, slamming the door behind her.

That was it. She was gone. And there was nothing I could do about it.

I kicked myself for being such a fucking idiot.

The pain that filtered through my body was too much to bear. I had to get out of the situation. But I, once again, couldn’t make my feet move. I couldn’t make myself leave.

She was gone.

Remorse turned into anger.

Fine. Good riddance. I didn’t expect her to stay anyway.

I tried to shut off my emotions for her. I tried to harden my heart and block her out of my mind. But there was just something about her that I couldn’t let go of… and it had nothing to do with the baby.

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