Greyson - Part 4: An Alpha Billionaire Shifter Romance (The Silver Moon Pack)
Read Greyson - Part 4: An Alpha Billionaire Shifter Romance (The Silver Moon Pack) Online
Authors: Cali MacKay
Greyson
Part Four
The Silver Moon Pack Series
By Cali MacKay
Greyson
Part Four
The Silver Moon Pack Series
By Cali MacKay
Copyright © 2016 by Cali MacKay
Published by Daeron Publishing
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher or author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. The story contained within is the work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
This story contains explicit sexual scenes and adult language and is only for readers over the age of 18.
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing, 2016, edition 1.0
ISBN:
978-1-940041-44-5
Table of Contents
“What did you just say?” Juno sat there naked in their bed, trying to process everything Greyson was telling her. Not only was he going to fight his brother Kiernan for alpha of the pack, which could easily result in him ending up dead, but there was more. And yet, she swore she must have heard him wrong, even if the pounding of her heart told her there had been no mistake. “Did you just say you wanted to keep me and
your child
safe?”
Because if that was indeed what he’d said, she’d murder him with her own hands, and save Kiernan the trouble.
“Juno…I should have said something.” Greyson reached out to take her hand in his, but she yanked it away, still not wanting to believe she’d understood him right.
“Are you saying you have a child that you didn’t tell me about—which I’d be perfectly fine with, by the way—or are you actually trying to tell me that
I’m pregnant
?” Her chest was so tight, she felt like she might faint, and her heart was racing so fast, she thought it would just give out completely.
“You’re pregnant, June bug. And I know what you’re worried about, after what happened with Flint. But before you freak out, the baby’s mine.” This time when he took her hand in his, she was too shocked to pull away, too numb with disbelief.
This could not be happening
. Not after everything she’d just been through.
“You can’t know that, Greyson.”
She sucked in a breath of air, only to feel like it wasn’t making it to her lungs. She tried for another breath, panic striking her in the chest as she started hyperventilating, trying not to think that she might be pregnant with Flint’s child after he raped and abused her.
Greyson cupped her face in his hands, forcing her to focus on him, his eyes flickering to gold as he held her gaze. “Juno…you’re panicking, love. Take a deep breath and hold it…now slowly let it go…and another deep breath… That’s it…”
She did as he asked, trying to ignore her world as it crashed in all around her, her panic like a tsunami that threatened to pull her under and drown her in her misery. Taking one breath after the other, her lungs stopped burning and she was finally able to breathe—only to have her tears flood her eyes as she tried not to think of being pregnant with Flint’s child.
After all he’d done to her…she couldn’t bear the thought of it. “I can’t do this. I can’t do any of this. Flint…”
Greyson shook his head no, everything about him fierce. “The baby is
not
Flint’s.
It’s mine
. You had been ovulating for days before the attack, and we’d been together repeatedly during that time.”
As his words sank in, her panic turned into a red-hot rage she could barely control. “Are you telling me that
you knew
I could get pregnant, and despite knowing that I didn’t want to have kids right now because my life is so screwed up, you still fucked me without protection—even after I’d asked you to use a condom?”
“And it’s the only reason you’re now pregnant with my child instead of Flint’s.” He let out a frustrated sigh, and though what he said might be true, it didn’t change the fact that she still felt manipulated and betrayed. “I’m not saying I was right to do what I did, but you can’t tell me it didn’t turn out for the best.”
“That’s not the point, Greyson.”
She felt gutted, and heartbroken. And worst of all, she felt betrayed. “You knew this wasn’t what I wanted—and it didn’t matter to you one bit. Even though this was a life-changing decision, and it was something I didn’t want at this point in my life. You just did whatever the hell you wanted, with no other consideration.”
“Juno…that’s not true.” He cupped her cheek and bent his head to hers, but she suddenly couldn’t stand to have him touching her, and pushed him away, still trying to wrap her head around his betrayal. “And now that you’re a shifter, you must know how demanding some primal needs are for our kind. They’re just too strong to ignore.”
Before he touched her again, she hopped out of bed and swiped at the tears that ran down her cheeks as she grabbed at her clothes. “That’s a load of shit, and you know it. It’s not like you’ve gone impregnating everyone you’ve ever fucked, so don’t tell me you have no control over it.
You do
. And this was nothing more than another manipulation to get me to stay.”
With one swift move, he was on his feet and at her side, his eyes narrowing as her anger was met with his. “Given that you’re my wife and my fated mate, I wouldn’t think I’d need to find reasons for you to stay, Juno. What the fuck? Or have you just been biding your time while lying about being in love with me?”
“Don’t you dare try and turn this around on me. Because I was asking you to use a damn condom well before we got married. And the fact that I love you should have been all the more reason for you
not
to manipulate me.”
How the hell could this be happening to her?
And she still wasn’t convinced that the child wasn’t Flint’s. Until there was a DNA test, it could be Flint’s as much as it could be Greyson’s. “I’m sorry, but I can’t deal with this right now. Not after all that’s happened.”
She needed to get out of there so she could try to clear her head and think this through.
Yet where the hell was she going to go?
She was stuck here, on this fucking mountain, her life a complete mess. But she had to go somewhere, because at the moment, she couldn’t even bear to look at Greyson without being ill.
She finished getting dressed and was desperate to escape when he caught her hand and pulled her to him. “Juno…we’ll get through this, love. But you can’t give up on us—and you can’t keep running away from our problems.”
How the hell could she not run away when things had been a mess from the very start?
“I just need some time to clear my head, and right now, I’m so angry with you, Greyson, so disheartened, I can’t think straight.”
She fought back her tears and stormed out of their bedroom, trying to fight back the fear that she was carrying her rapist’s baby. Everything felt so messed up, so hopeless, that she was half tempted to go pay the bears a visit so they could, once and for all, put her out of her misery. Not that Greyson was going to let her go.
He was already at her side, pulling her into his arms, even as she struggled to get away from him. “Juno…I’m sorry.”
“How could you do this to me when you knew this wasn’t what I wanted? My life’s a mess—and you want to bring another life into the world when I wasn’t even safe in our home with you at my side?” It was insane to try to have a baby right now. And losing a child to this violence would kill her.
But with him refusing to let her go, she finally stopped struggling in his arms and let him hold her close, leaning into his broad chest as she sobbed, feeling so full of despair, she didn’t think she’d ever find a way out of the darkness that was engulfing her. He scooped her up in his arms and sat them down on the sofa with her cradled against him as he ran a soothing hand down her back, murmuring to her in an effort to calm her down.
“Hush, love…” He kissed the top of her head and engulfed her in his strong, protective embrace as she rode through the storm of emotions that battered her heart. “We’ll get through this together, Juno—and that means I’m not going to let you push me away. I know that you’re angry with me and you’re scared, but…the child you’re carrying is mine, and if I’d done as you asked and used a condom, then you’d still be pregnant right now—except that the child would be Flint’s.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” She pulled out of his arms to look at him, dumbfounded and angry. “That still doesn’t excuse what you did, Greyson. Because you still manipulated me days before Flint ever showed up. Just because it may have spared me from carrying Flint’s child doesn’t mean it wasn’t wrong of you to do it.”
“You’re my wife—
my mate
. We’re supposed to have a family.” His brow creased with concern over those golden-brown eyes of his.
“And maybe we would have—when we were
both
ready. But now? It has me questioning everything that’s between us. Because this was a total disregard for my feelings on the matter—and a conscious decision on your part. You just did what you wanted, even though you knew I didn’t want a child at the moment.” From the very start, it’d felt like she had no say over what was happening to her, and this pregnancy was just the final straw.
“I know the last month has been crazy for you, but I promise, it’ll all blow over soon.”
“You mean, when you become alpha.”
Greyson knew Juno would be upset with him—he had just hoped that she’d see the pregnancy and the baby as something good that would bring them closer together. And maybe she would come around eventually. But right now, after all she’d been through, it was threatening to tear them apart. “I don’t want you worrying about things, Juno. This baby…it’s a good thing—and things around here will be far safer once I’m alpha.”
She scoffed, glaring at him through narrowed eyes. “Only if you don’t get yourself killed in the process.”
“I’m not going to get myself killed. Especially not in a fight against Kiernan.” Kiernan was still his brother, despite their issues, and neither of them would let it come to that.
“Once again—
you don’t know that, Greyson
. You haven’t really been around in years, and that’s a long enough time for someone to improve their fighting skills.”
At least her anger at him had turned into worry. And it may be temporary, but he’d take what he could get for now, since it meant she still cared about him.
“Though I have no doubt Kiernan’s fighting skills have improved, I’m still pretty confident that I’d win any fight between us.” He wasn’t being cocky. It just came down to natural ability, and the fact that he’d also improved his fighting skills while he was away from the pack.
“And if you don’t? What then?” She fisted his shirt and pulled him close, her eyes filling with worry as she pressed her lips to his, giving him hope that they might still stand a chance. “It’d kill me to lose you, Greyson. And how the hell would I raise this baby on my own? I know nothing about shifter babies.”
He couldn’t help but smile as he tangled his fingers in her thick locks and pulled her in for another kiss, her lips soft and sweet on his as his cock immediately ached to have her once more. “You won’t lose me, love. Not ever. As for shifter babies, they’re no different, except that they’re far more hungry than human babies, and they cry a lot less, so long as they’re being fed enough. Any shifter abilities and characteristics won’t make themselves known until puberty.”
“I still don’t think I can do this, Greyson. I’m not ready to be a mom—and with everything that’s happened, and everything that’s still going on, a baby is the last thing we should be dragging into this mess.” She shook her head, shrugging out of his grasp and looking freaked out.
“So what are you going to do then, Juno?” She might not be happy, but the only way to get her to move past her anger would be to make her realize the alternative. “Are you going to get rid of our child just because the timing isn’t ideal?”
“No.” Her tears spilled over once again, and this time, she didn’t fight him when he pulled her into his arms to comfort her. “You fucking suck, Greyson.”
He couldn’t help but smile as he brushed the hair from her face and kissed her forehead as she nestled against his chest. “But you still love me, right?”
“At the moment, that’s debatable.” Yet there was little heat or anger in her voice at this point, despite her words. And when he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her tears away, she didn’t pull away.
“Then maybe I just need to try harder to make it up to you.”
Fucking hell…he loved her so much.
“I just want to make you happy—and I want to keep you safe.”
“Then please…don’t challenge Kiernan as alpha. Nothing good will come of it.” Her eyes pleaded with him, and yet how could he agree to something that might weaken the pack, and in turn endanger her and their baby? “It’ll tear your family apart—a family that did everything it could to find me and bring us back together.”
He knew she was right, and yet their options were few, unfortunately. He couldn’t risk just sitting back and hoping there wouldn’t be another attack. “Juno…I’m doing what I think is best for keeping you and our baby safe.”
Her eyes darkened with worry as she looked away from him, though she didn’t pull out of his arms. “Greyson…how sure are you that this is your child? That it’s not Flint’s?”
After all she’d been put through, he knew she had every right to be concerned, and it fucking killed him that it was because he’d failed to protect her. Yet he had to believe that the circumstances and their timing meant the child had to be his. “Given the amount of times we were together when you were already capable of getting pregnant, I have no doubt that the child is mine.”
“Unless you can’t have children. You’ve never gotten anyone else pregnant, right?” Her panic returned once more, and he could sense her utter and complete fear, which killed him. She shouldn’t have to go through any of this. “Because…if you aren’t capable of having a baby, then that would mean that this child is Flint’s.”
She was looking frantic, and he knew he had to try to calm her, though there was little he could do to offer her any proof at that very moment. “The likelihood of me being unable to father a child is very slim. Shifters tend not to have a whole lot of fertility issues.”
“So then why haven’t you had any children before now? You can’t tell me you’ve always used a condom—and if you say you have, I’m going to call you a liar.” Given how often he’d taken her without protection, even when he’d barely known her, she was right to have her doubts. But there was one thing she was forgetting.
“I may not have always used a condom, given that STDs aren’t an issue for shifters, but I have always used a condom when a woman’s been capable of conceiving, since it’s easy enough for me to pick up on those hormonal changes.” But when she pinned him with a glare, he amended his statement. “Except with you. I didn’t use a condom with you, despite knowing you could get pregnant—
because you’re my mate, Juno
. And because I want nothing more than to have a family with you.”
“And what if this is Flint’s child?” The anguish in her voice and her shimmering eyes had him fighting back his rage with that fucking bastard, even as he pulled her close and tried to soothe her.
“It’s not his, Juno. You have my word.” He just hoped he was right, and fate wasn’t fucking around with them yet again. Because if the child wasn’t his, he didn’t know how Juno would manage to get through it. She’d already been through so much, and as strong as she was, he didn’t know if this was something she’d be able to manage.
“Greyson…what if it is our child, but Flint thinks it’s
his
?” Her tears spilled over as her eyes went wide with a renewed panic. “What if he comes back for me and the baby?”
“That’s not going to happen. He won’t risk coming back here—and if he does, I’ll fucking tear him to pieces.” The mere thought of it had him fighting back a blinding rage, because he knew she had a point. If Flint caught wind that Juno was pregnant, he’d assume the child was his—and even if it wasn’t, he might figure that the child of a shifter and a
Laighir
would be a valuable commodity.
And that meant he had to find a way to hunt the bastard down—and it couldn’t wait.