Little Red (22 page)

“Aaron?” I say, now feeling panic wash over me

He looks at me with a strange look in his eyes.

“Are you okay?”

I nod.

“I was...” I pause.

“I was just lying there.”

He gives me a nod.

“I was watching you,” he breathes.

“Just sit here,” he tells me.

“I have to call Ethan.”

I begin to feel sick to my stomach as Aaron walks into the kitchen to make his phone
call

The loud bang on the front door makes me jump.

I yelp as Aaron bustles past the downstairs couch.

“Colt, James, and Ian are here.”

I cover my face and slump to the seat.

If all of them are coming, whatever caused Aaron to bring me inside was worse than
I thought.

“I just got off the phone with Ethan,” he tells them.

“He was already on his way.”

“Trent and Eli are, too,” I hear James say

“Guys!” I hear Ian’s voice scold them as he walks up to me.

“Careful, you’ll scare her into labor.” He carefully squats in front of me and places
his hands tenderly on my belly.

“Are you alright?”

“I was just…” I pause.

“I was just lying in the back yard.

I asked Aaron if I...”

Aaron stops me.

“It was so nice out she wanted to lay in the sun.” The boys look at my tank top, shorts,
and bare feet and give me a nod

Ian nods.

“She’s okay.

Nothing happened, so let’s all relax.”

“Ian, you didn’t feel what I felt!” Aaron yells.

“Those awful thoughts.

He directed them to Red.

He said he was going to...” He stops suddenly, and I turn to look at him

“What’s going on?” I ask

James finally steps up.

“Let’s all just take a breath.

We don’t need for Red to be overwhelmed right now.

It’s alright.

She’s inside.”

“James, it was Elise.”

James is quick to cut off his words.

“Shut up, Aaron.

When we rev up, the twins do, too.

Red feeds off the twins.

Enough.” James glances at me.

“Red, are you sick, honey?”

I feel my eyes water, and I give him a nod.

His eyes focus on Ian.

“Take her to get her medicine.

Keep her calm.

Ethan will be here by the time you bring her down.”

“Come on, Red,” Ian says, taking my hands and leading me upstairs

I walk into the bathroom and fill the glass that I keep on the counter most days with
water, taking a gulp.

“Ian, what’s going on?”

“Go ahead and take your medicine.

It’s okay.”

I reach into the medicine cabinet and chew one of the tiny white pills that are supposed
to cure my horrendous nausea.

I gag slightly at the awful taste on my tongue and gulp down the entire glass of water

“Ethan is here,” he says.

“I feel him.”

I nod, swallow hard, and begin trailing after him down the stairs.

Ethan’s eyes lock onto mine as I round the curved part in the stairs.

He releases a long sigh, and as I reach the bottom, he falls to his knees in front
of me.

His arms latch around my waist and his head pushes against my protruding stomach,
earning him a hard kick

I look down at him.

He’s sweaty, his hair is messy, and his torn jeans and well-worn tee shirt are covered
in oil.

I don’t even care; I smash into him and drop my hands on his head, running my fingers
through his hair

“Someone will always be in this house with her,” Ethan says.

“If not two of us.

I never want her to be alone.”

I look around to see a group of nodding heads.

Trent and Eli have also joined us

“What happened?”

“Red,” Aaron says.

“Someone was watching you.”

My eyes grow wide, thinking of Josh and then suddenly remembering there’s no way possible

He shakes his head.

“Someone else,” Aaron tells me, obviously picking up my everlasting fear of Josh.

“Someone who is...”

“Special,” Ethan cuts him off

My mouth drops suddenly.

“There are more special people,” I begin, “like you?”

They all nod

“Jeb is one of them,” Aaron finally admits.

“I caught Jeb’s scent, but this wasn’t Jeb.” He suddenly slumps onto the couch.

“The things he was thinking.I - ”

James stops him and drops a hand on his shoulder.

“There’s another pack.

I can’t tell how big, but the way it seems, it’s this Jeb’s pack.” James’ eyes fall
on Ethan for a moment.

“There may have been an issue or two back in Kentucky that got them stirred up.”

I attempt to shake out of my haze of emotion.

“I think Jeb has seven brothers.

I’ve never met them, though.

Josh was only friends with him.”

Ethan finally stands and looks at me.

“I can’t leave you alone.”

“And we’re not going to,” James says.

“There will be two of us here at a time.”

“Ethan, he kept thinking,” Aaron begins, but James is quick to cut him off with a
flicker of madness in his silver eyes

“Okay,” I say.

“It’s fine.

I’m fine.

Aaron got to me.

Are they still here?” I ask

Aaron shakes his head.

“His scent trailed in the woods after I grabbed you and brought you in here.

There was only one, so maybe he smelled everyone coming.”

“I’m calling the shop,” Ethan says.

“I’ll have Hank watch over things on the fifty-seven Chevy restore.”

I shake my head, knowing how much the project means to him.

“I can’t let you do that.

Any of the guys could be here.”

“There will be plenty more old cars for me to fix,” he says.

“There’s only one you.”

I lean into him and hug him tightly.

I feel my belly do the little flip-flop that it usually does when I’m so near Ethan

“Well, Aaron and Ian, you’ll stay here tonight,” James orders

I pull away from Ethan and receive a hard kick of protest from the twins.

Aaron and Ian are both nodding

“Nothing like this has ever happened,” James adds.

“So we’ll just take it as it happens.

First and foremost, we protect Red.

Seems as though that’s what they want.” James’ eyes soften as he looks at me.

“Now, don’t you worry, honey.

You’re perfectly safe.

We’re strong.

They wouldn’t dare lay a hand on you.”

I give him a nod.

I can’t imagine what they’re feeling.

Just feeding off the twins and their “special” abilities has me quite the mess right
now.

I give James credit for being so calm.

I believe it’s his calmness keeping me from losing my own cool

“You get some rest.

I can feel you, you know; we all can.” James smiles.

“Those boys are quite tired.”

Ian rolls his eyes.

“They’re girls.

I’ve told you this.”

I laugh softly and give James a nod

“We’ll be over the minute you need anything,” James says as he, Trent, Eli, and Colt
head for the door.

Ian is quick to lock it behind them, leaving the four of us standing in silence.

Ethan’s eyes flicker for a moment.

I may not know much about the curse, but I can feel that he’s fighting his rage as
he pushes past me and into the kitchen.

I feel the corners of my mouth tug down.

I look up at Aaron and Ian, who are both staring at me with pitiful expressions

“It’s fine,” I say, swallowing back my tears.

“He’s just...It’s been a long day.

I’m a wreck.

You guys are amped up…It’s fine.”

Aaron opens his mouth to speak.

“Want me to talk to him?”

I shake my head.

“No.

Really,” I feel one tear roll down my cheek.

“It’s just hormones.

The twins having the curse right now make it worse,” I reassure him as I begin trailing
up the stairs.

“I’m fine.

Pregnancy just makes me super sensitive,” I say

I feel Aaron’s and Ian’s eyes on me all the way to the top of the stairs.

They’re not idiots.

They know better; they can feel that much.

I am feeling rage like they are.

It seems like the further along I get, the stronger the rage becomes.

Right now, everything feels like it’s at its peak.

I’m not fine.

I’m not fine with another wolf pack, and I’m not fine with Ethan just walking away
from me

I can’t help but to feel like an asshole.

I
am
an asshole.

If I could think of something worse than an asshole, that would be me, Ethan Parker.

I have separated myself from Red all afternoon, leaving her up in the loft all alone.

With the amount of rage in me, I’m terrified to even sit with her because I don’t
know what I would do.

The presence of a new wolf pack has set me off, and the fact that they’re after Red
makes it a million times worse.

I never thought I could feel this level of hatred until now.

Aaron didn’t have to tell me what he felt from the unknown man.

I felt it through him.

It was like Elise all over.

The man wants Red.

Not just wants her, he
needs
her.

All of her, and he’ll stop at nothing to get her.

Now, I feel like I’m losing it completely.

I would die if anything ever happened to her or the twins, so I have no idea why I
would push her away.

I’m so angry, so damn annoyed that these men dared to follow us back here

Aaron and Ian can luckily pick up on my senses.

They have been checking on her periodically, bringing her food and actually making
her eat it.

They’re doing what I’m supposed to be doing.

My job.

It’s my job to love and care for her, but I can’t even pull myself off the couch to
do so.

I rest my elbows on my knees and push my head into my hands, hard, rubbing at my face.

I’ve been sitting here for hours.

Ian is now coming down the stairs with an empty plate and glass.

I let out a breath.

She’s eaten again

“I’m such a dick,” I mumble

“Man,” Aaron starts.

“You’re not a dick.

This new pack - it has us all insane.

It hit us so quick, and we’ve never been through this kind of rage before, just the
pull of the moon as it changes.”

I point to Ian who has returned from the kitchen.

“I shouldn’t be making my brother do my job!” I fire back, nearly raising my voice.

“I should be taking care of her.”

“She understands,” Ian says.

“She knows this isn’t easy on us.”

I shake my head.

“I know damn well you’re lying through your ass,” I shoot.

“She’s up there confused, scared, and wondering if this is it for us.

She is a wreck.

I’ve never felt her like this before.

The moon, the rage, she is feeling as much as we are.”

“Then snap out of it, Ethan!” Ian yells.

“Go up there and help her.

Be with her.”

I look at him.

“I am trying to snap out of it!” I yell.

“I feel like I could rip out my hair!”

I feel Aaron’s hand on my shoulder.

“She loves you.

She has loved you since she met you.

There’s not one ounce of anything in her body that suggests she would leave.

You know I can feel that.”

“Why am I doing this?” I ask

“It’s the rage,” Aaron tells me.

“It’s stronger now that there’s another pack that wants Red.

It wants to take control of you, Ethan.

You have to fight it.

For her.

For your kids.”

My kids.

I feel pain shoot through my heart.

Red is pregnant, and I’m making her feel even worse.

The twins drain her, make her weaker and more emotional than a normal pregnancy due
to the wolf-like senses they will inherit if I can’t control myself

“Fight it, Ethan,” I hear Ian say.

“I know you can.”

I look up at him as I hear the creak in the stairs.

I look up to see Red emerging from the loft.

She purses her lips as her eyes fall on me.

She places a hand tenderly on her belly, and I can tell the twins are kicking as they
usually do when she comes near me

As she nears us, she opens her mouth to speak.

“Ethan, I...” She stops, and I feel it.

She’s fighting tears, fear, and an array of other emotions that she should never feel.

“I know this is really hard on you.

It’s really hard on all of us.

I feel…I feel different and I…”

I close my eyes.

I can’t take it anymore.

I stand up.

“I just need a shower,” I mumble, walking past her and up the stairs.

I hear her weep and watch as she turns and heads for the back door.

Ian is on her heels before she hits the porch.