Little Red (14 page)

“How are you feeling this morning?” he asks

I shrug.

“Better.

Things are settling in.

Well, I think they are anyway.” I let out a slight laugh.

“It’s a lot to take in.”

He gives me a nod.

“I think we will do just fine; it will just take a little time,” he tells me, smiling.

“I think we’re planning to go see James,” he says.

“Is that okay?”

I nod.

“Of course.

Hopefully, this time I won’t be such an emotional wreck.” I have another drink of
hot chocolate.

“I didn’t exactly keep it together so well yesterday.” I feel my cheeks flush from
sudden embarrassment

He smiles.

“It’s okay; we were all emotionally distraught.

Today will be better.

I’m sure James will be excited to see you.

You did save his life.”

“I only did what I knew to do,” I tell him, reaching for more toast

“And, it saved him.” He smiles, now taking the cup of coffee for himself

I smile and take a minute to look at him.

He’s wearing a pair of worn jeans and a fitted black tee shirt.

Like the one he had on the first night I saw him, this one accentuates his muscles
with ease.

Though he’s not clean shaven, I can tell he’s trimmed his scruff.

It looks pretty adorable on him.

Fitting.

He grins up at me, having another drink of coffee as the loud banging switches from
the wall to the door

He shakes his head.

“You’d think they were little kids.” He opens the door to find Eli, Colt, Aaron, Ian,
and Trent all smiling.

They brush past him, a few patting his shoulder as they do

“Enjoy the room?” Trent asks

“Sounded fun,” Ian adds as he plops on the bed.

“Hey!” he yelps.

“This bed is way softer than mine.”

“I don’t need the play-by-play or anything,” Aaron says, “but, it sure sounded like
you two enjoyed yourselves.”

I shake my head as I feel my cheeks heat up again, mortified that I couldn’t control
my wild urges last night.

I reach for an orange that I begin to silently peel.

That’s when I notice I have six pairs of eyes staring at me in such a way that it
makes me look up.

My mouth opens, startled that something is terribly wrong

Eli smiles.

“You look…” He stops

“Like,” Aaron pauses.

“You look like ....You really are gorgeous.”

“Beautiful.” Ian adds

I feel myself flush as I fight with the orange and pray the juice doesn’t squirt me
in the eye.

I catch a glimpse of Ethan who is now beaming

* * * * * *

I’ve been given a job as we walk into the hospital, to carry the restaurant bag and
give James the burger, fries, and large pop that we’ve brought him.

I honestly think it’s because they’re all worried he’ll pounce once he sees real food,
and they know he can’t attack me.

As we walk in, I slither in behind Aaron, Ethan, and Ian.

I’m not surprised to see a police officer standing with his back to us.

James’ eyes immediately fly from the officer’s to mine

“Red.” James smiles.

“You look much better today.”

I smile.

“Thank you.

We brought you something.”

His eyes light up.

“I love you.

Seriously, Ethan, marry her now,” he says, happily grabbing for the food.

He nods up to the police officer.

“This is Officer Avery.”

My eyes immediately look up.

Of all the officers they could send, they sent him, Josh’s best friend of more than
fifteen years.

He runs a hand through his ginger hair, smashing its style down as his cold, granite
gray eyes dig into me

“Well, well, well,” he taunts.

“If it isn’t Sammy Wentworth.”

His voice makes my heart pound, and I suddenly feel one of them reach for me.

I stumble back and realize I’ve gone right into Aaron, who passes me to Ethan gingerly

“I should have known you would be in on this.”

My mouth drops.

“I didn’t.” I stop.

“I didn’t kill Josh.”

I see James’ eyes change quickly as the silvery-gray seems to light up and pass looks
to each of his brothers

“How exactly did you meet this pack, Sam?” he shoots

“Jeb, I…I…” I stammer, fighting for words that are on the tip of my tongue

I hear Ian laugh.

His laughter saves me as my body releases its tension.

“Who in the hell names their kid Jeb?” Ian hoots

Jeb’s eyes flicker over with a madness I can’t quite recognize as he grabs for my
wrist and begins pulling me forward.

“I need to talk to you alone.”

I feel my heart race as I lunge forward.

Before I can move, Aaron steps forward and grabs Jeb’s wrist.

“You’ll let her go,” Aaron says with a deep voice that reminds me of the night in
the cabin

“It’s okay, Aaron,” I say.

“I know him.”

He shakes his head as I now notice Eli has a firm grip on Ethan

“Like hell it’s okay,” Aaron says.

“You’re pregnant with my nephew, and I’ll be damned if I let some Jeb have his hands
all over you.”

“Jeb.” I hear Ian laugh like a lunatic as Colt gives him a hard elbow to the ribs

“Aaron,” Colt says, “we’re not here to start anything.”

Jeb finally releases me and looks me over.

“You’re pregnant?”

I fight to find the right words.

I can barely move as Aaron gives me another gentle shove to Ethan.

My heart begins to pound as I release another breath.

For some reason I never saw any of this coming.

James was shot, Josh is dead, and of course the police would need to investigate.

How could I have been too big of a mess to even think about this part? And of course
they would send Jeb.

Jeb was considered Josh’s best friend.

They had known one another for years.

Josh’s parents doted on Jeb and loved him even more since he was in the line of “criminal
justice,” as they always called it.

Now here I am, pregnant, mixed up with a bunch of men I hardly know, and face-to-face
with Josh’s best friend who will have a million and one different questions.

He will believe we did this on purpose; he will blame us for Josh’s death even though
it was self-defense.

Jeb’s eyes narrow in on me, completely cold as he scoffs at me.

I take a step back, fearful he may do something terrible.

I feel Ethan’s hand on the small of my back, and his touch seems to relax me if only
for a brief moment

“By Josh,” he says

Ethan flies forward.

“Like hell!”

Jeb laughs.

“You mean to tell me that it’s yours?”

Ethan nods.

“Yeah, he is mine.”

Jeb suddenly points at both Ethan and I.

“You two are coming with me.”

“Where?” Ethan growls

“The police station.

A man is dead; my best friend is dead, and you two were right in the middle!” he yells

Ethan looks at me as though the final puzzle piece just fell into place

“You’ll follow right behind me,” Jeb says

Ethan gives him a nod as the full realization of going to jail settles over me.

I suddenly feel ill.

Dizziness swarms my head.

All we can do is obey as we both head for the door, Aaron and Ian in tow

I watch Red carefully as she covers her face with her hands.

Unsure of what to do, I reach over and place a hand on her leg.

She doesn’t flinch; her eyes only meet mine.

She’s more than upset, Jeb has clearly shook her to her core

I take a moment to work through everything that happened that afternoon.

Josh had the gun in his hand.

James was holding tightly to his wrist to aim the gun in another direction.

It fired once, that was the shot that got James in his shoulder.

The second time was the shot that killed Josh.

Josh had the gun.

James must have turned his wrist the right way, and Josh pulled the trigger on himself.

They could easily check the small pistol for finger prints and it would only have
Josh’s.

“How did Josh know that guy?” I ask finally, trying to piece together what we’re really
up against

“He’s older than Josh, but Josh went to school with his younger brother or something.

Since Josh’s parents are a judge and lawyer and Jeb wanted to be a cop, he and Josh
just hit it off.” Her eyes grow wide as she realizes what she just said

I glance back at Aaron whose eyes are as wide as Red’s.

His parents are a judge
and
a lawyer.

I let out a breath that I have been holding and shake my head as I have clearly startled
her.

“It’s okay, it’ll be fine.

We didn’t do anything.

Think about it; Josh basically shot himself.

James wasn’t touching the gun.”

She takes a deep breath and releases it slowly.

“I’m just really scared.”

“Don’t be.”

“I can’t go to jail.” She wipes at her face

“You’re not going to,” I say

“You can’t go to jail!” she yells

“I promise, I’m not going to jail.

It’ll be fine.

Neither of us killed him.

James didn’t kill him.

Josh pulled that trigger himself by mistake.” I repeat

She looks down and covers her face.

Her emotions are more than just unsteady now.

Anger and sadness are dominant.

She wants to scream and cry, she just doesn’t know which to do first.

I silently give her leg a slight but gentle squeeze to remind her I’m right here.

I glance back at Aaron and Ian for a moment.

Their looks say it all.

Thank God we have bail money if needed, but with Josh’s parents in a high place and
his best friend as the officer who is questioning us, we need a plan.

Right now, it’s to avoid jail at all costs

I just found out she was pregnant yesterday, and I’m still trying to wrap my head
around that thought and now this happens.

We knew there was a possibility.

I’m not stupid, but this asshole Jeb may be hell bent on charging us with Josh’s murder.

I release another breath, and I feel Red’s hand on my knee.

I look at her for a moment, and she quickly pulls her hand away apologizing.

I give her a little smile.

We have more than enough on our plates trying to figure each other out.

We barely know one another.

We know we have a deep connection that is somehow being fed by the moon and my curse,
and we know that she is pregnant

Her cheeks begin to fill with a vibrant pink.

“I – I just…” she gives her head a little shake.

“I don’t know how to act around you.”

I hear Ian laugh in the backseat only to receive a whack to some part of his body
from Aaron

“It’s okay; we don’t have to figure everything out in a day.

I’m still trying to wrap my mind around you being pregnant.”

She looks down and focuses on her belly.

“She’s really in there, huh?” She seems in awe as she places a hand on her stomach.

“I never thought that I would be a mother or even be good at it if I did become one.”

“I didn’t think I’d be a father.

You know, with the curse.”

She gives me a little nod.

“You guys can really feel the baby?”

I grin.

“We’re basically like dogs.”

She giggles softly as I feel her relax.

“Sorry, just seems funny hearing that.”

“The moon changed us to be wolves, but without all the shape shifting.

It damned us to feel this immense rage as each full moon gets near.”

“The wolf abilities are just an added bonus,” Ian adds from the back seat

She makes a funny face, making her nose scrunch in such an adorable manner that it
makes me smile.

“What are your other abilities, exactly? I know James told me that night, but I guess
I’m just trying to understand everything.”

“Well, we can feel how others feel, and we can tell when you’re nervous or sad.

I can feel when you get upset or when you relax.” I tell her.

“Last night after…” My voice trails as I remember my brothers are in the back seat.

I clear my throat and look at her.

“You had a really beautiful feeling coming from you.

Peaceful and happy.

It made me feel really good.”

Her cheeks flush with color for a moment.

“What else can you do?”

“We’re strong.

We’re fast, very agile,” I tell her

“And we each have stronger abilities that set us apart,” Aaron joins in.

“Like Ethan is stronger than me, but my senses about things are stronger than his.”

Her cheeks suddenly turn bright red.

“What about the…the…the night in the woods, was that..?” her voice trails softly as
she looks down, suddenly ashamed she was going to ask.