The Wolf's Forbidden Baby: A Paranormal Pregnancy Romance (6 page)

Devan’s grin widened, and he looked like a wolf who brought his alpha female an animal for her to feast on. “See? I don’t know about you, but I don’t believe in coincidences.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Wolves believe in fate?”

“I don’t know about fate, but I think we were meant to be together.”

The sound of that both amazed and alarmed her. “Meant to die together you mean,” she said bitterly. Who was she trying to fool? Love couldn’t enter the equation. It was enough for them to try to stay alive.

“Kyla.” Devan sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. It spiked up in the front, and she fixed the strands immediately. He gave her a wan smile. “Nothing about this is ideal, I’ll admit—”

“Not at all. It’s forbidden. Everywhere we go, they’ll find us. There’s no way to hide.”

“There is one way.” He took a deep breath, and her stomach twisted. Whatever idea he had come up with, it wasn’t going to be a fun option. Considering their other choices, nothing was good.

And then it hit her. “You want us to forsake our natures.”

“As long as we’re in our human forms, they won’t be able to find us.”

“But…”

“I know.” He swallowed hard.

She rubbed her forehead. A migraine was starting. She’d never had one until she became pregnant. The first couple to cross breed, their child had turned into a vicious monster that destroyed nearly all they had worked to build. Humans couldn’t learn the truth about the weres because of their tendencies toward violence. Just look at the Salem Witch trials. They would never accept them. The child, part leopard and part tiger, killed everyone he came across, regardless of whether they were any of the subspecies of were or human. The weres rose up, acting as a united entity for the first time ever, and hunted and killed the child and the parents. There had been no other option. The pup had killed a total of sixty-seven. Who knew how high the body count would have reached had the pup been allowed to grow into adulthood?

But to never shift again… She shuddered. The stories about those who denied their animal side and tried to only exist as human… Aggression, belligerence, the sharp rise in violence and crimes… They weren’t meant to be only human, just as they weren’t meant to be only their animal. Weres were both human and animal and yet neither.

“Maybe it would be better to…” She couldn’t bring herself to finish her heinous thought.

“Don’t even think that.” He rubbed her arms and kissed her forehead.

Closing her eyes, she smiled, feeling cherished. “But what if the babe grows up and is a monster?”

“What if the child isn’t?” he countered. “Too few cross-breeds have been born, their parents killed before the baby could be born, for there to be reason to believe that all children born of such a union would be evil. Keep the faith.”

“If we forsake our animals…”

“We can leave now. Warrick hasn’t been able to find me yet, and I’ve been mostly human for that time. It’s not easy, I’ll admit, but maybe we can find a rural enough area with few weres and—”

“But your revenge. And you should have a pack.” Coyotes needed packs as much as wolves.

He nuzzled his nose into her neck, and she sighed, contented despite everything. When he held her, she felt safe, happy. “A pack is just more than one,” he reasoned. “You are my pack. And one day…” His hands returned to her belly. “Our pack will grow from our family.”

Someone banged on the door, and they jumped apart.

“Erik?” she guessed. He was the only one to know where she was staying. She hadn’t even told Paula where her apartment was.

Devan crossed the floor to the door faster than her, and he opened it. She stood behind him and peered around him to see Paula there. Her clothes looked tattered, dirt covered her face and shirt, and she, who worked as a makeup artist for a small startup movie company, wasn’t wearing any of her normal heavy makeup. In short, she looked awful… and like she was on the run.

“What’s wrong?” Kyla asked. Her stomach muscles contracted painfully.

“It’s Father. He’s coming.”

Devan pulled Kyla close. “Now,” he murmured into her ear.

She shook her head. Between her father and Warrick, they would be fools to think they could live out the rest of their lives in peace, not while those two lived. Her father hated traitors, had even killed his mate, her mother, because she had been sniffing around another coyote, even though no one knew for certain if her mother had ever been unfaithful.

“We need a pack, and now, or we’ll never survive the last month until the baby comes.” Kyla gripped his hand too tightly to be comfortable for either of them.

“Are you sure?”

Paula stepped forward. “Viola, Maria, and Marco are in my car. We’re behind you.”

Kyla’s eyes widened. “You are? But…”

Her twin glanced at Devan then back to her sister. “We might not… approved of your choice, but Father… He’s growing madder by the day. His demands…” Paula shuddered. “He plans on forcing me to mate with as many coyotes as it takes for as long as it takes for me to become pregnant. Viola and Maria, too. He wants the pack to expand by any means.”

“Sounds like Warrick,” Devan growled. “We’ll be happy to have you.”

“Good.” Paula nodded at him. “What’s the plan?”

Devan opened the door wider. “Your father and my brother both want to have more in their pack, and we’re no different.”

Kyla stepped forward. “Our pack is going to be like us.” She pointed to herself then Devan. “Coyotes and wolves.”

Paula whistled. “Whatever it takes, huh?”

Yes. Whatever it took for her and her wolf and their babe.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Devan paced in the abandoned warehouse. Greg had arranged the meeting, and the other wolves had picked the location. As a precaution, Devan had arrived early and scoped out the place to make sure there weren’t any traps waiting for him. Everything seemed fine, but he still didn’t give the signal for Kyla and her coyotes to come forward from the next door deserted store. He felt more in control knowing they were safe. It was hard to trust her in the hands of coyotes, but they were her siblings. There was no reason not to think they would give their lives to protect Kyla.

Without warning, one set of orange eyes peered at him from the darkness. Then another and another. Six in all. Devan remained in his human form as the wolves slowly approached. He waited until they formed a semi-circle in front of him. Not one was as big as him, the entire lot mangy but angry. He could feel their hostility, see it in their foaming, saliva-dripping fangs, their pawing at the ground, and ears back. Their tails were far too high for his liking, but that was to be expected. He wasn’t their alpha.

Not yet at least.

Greg entered last of all, the only one of the newcomers to be in human form. He leaned against the wall, watching the proceedings, but said nothing. A decent enough subordinate he was turning out to be, but Devan would have no qualms demoting him to omega should things turn sour here.

He stared at each of the wolves in turn. Most looked uncertain with their ears flat, raised brows, furrowed muzzles, and pelts bristled. One, however, had wild, angry eyes, teethed bared, the owner crouched slightly.

Devan eyed that one as he said, “I am glad you’re all here—”

The wolves howled and clawed at the floor. Not exactly an easy audience.

“A wolf is only as good as the members in his pack,” he continued.

The angry wolf took two steps forward and poised again ready to jump.

Devan approached him until he stood within distance of the wolf’s paws should he lash out. “You want to challenge me already?” he asked, his teeth already turning to fangs. He had known it would come down to this, to combat. The only question was how many wolves would he have to dominate before they might accept him as their leader?

The wolf leaped.

Devan had already transformed his legs at least, and he jumped to the side as his body completed the shapeshifting. He and the wolf warily circled each other. The other wolf snarled and snapped at him every two paces, but Devan refrained. It was pointless to waste energy. Warrick had taught him that much. His oldest brother was nothing if not a ruthless warrior of a wolf. He had never lost a combat, and most wolves never bothered to challenge him in the first place.

The wolf’s muscles twitched, and Devan jumped back in time to avoid the next swipe. A few of the wolves were howling, but Devan blotted them out. The wolf looked to be slightly favoring his left side, so Devan launched an onslaught of his own, focusing on his foe’s weaker side. He pounced and nipped without biting hard, not wishing to injure the wolf he hoped to have stand beside him and take real bites and hits in his name. His paw swiped at the wolf’s face, claws catching his nose, and he forced the wolf’s head down.

The wolf wiggled free. Just when Devan thought he had him ready to submit. Devan readied to take offense again when another head slammed into his midsection. He released a breathy moan, and his claws scratched against the hard floor of the warehouse. Another wolf, this one female, had entered the battle. Normally, combats were one-on-one, but Greg had warned him that this lot was wild and vicious. They would make for strong allies, if they could be convinced to join their pack.

The remaining wolves stepped back to allow more room for the fight. The male wolf snarled and jumped at Devan at the same time the female leaped. Devan helped his ground, not daring to retreat. He swatted at the male, pushing him aside, and his teeth connected with the female’s ear. Whines filled the air.

The male had been cut near his eye. He lowered onto all fours, but his tail remained too high to be submissive. The female went for Devan’s jugular, still willing to fight.

Attacking a female didn’t bother him. Female and male wolves alike were vicious fighters. She was holding her own against him, but that wouldn’t last forever. Too much was at stake. He must overpower her.

Again, she jumped at him, but her energy must be wearing down—perhaps she wasn’t eating enough and didn’t have the energy or stamina for a prolonged battle, which in turn worried him for down the road—and her height wasn’t there. He batted her down, his paw staying with her as she collapsed, his claws on her neck but not piercing her skin.

Devan howled.

Her tail lowered completely. She was his.

He backed away from her and eyed the male wolf that had fought him. After a moment, his tail also lowered.

Two down.

Devan barely had time to look at the other four when two more rushed him. He swatted and bit and howled with rage at the nips and claws he felt. It took greater effort, because he was growing weary, but he managed to also get them to submit.

His body sore, bleeding, cut, and bruised, he snapped toward the last two. No surprise, they also attacked him together. He had figured all along he’d have to fight all six, and they were worthy foes, each of them, but he possessed the passion and drive and the skill and size to be able to fend for himself against them, even two at a time. Like the others, they fell before him. Their tails lowered some as the fight wore on until they stopped and bowed.

All six low tails made his heart pound with joy, and he raised his tail as high as it would go: six more wolves, plus Erik and Greg, and not to mention the four coyotes. Including himself and Kyla that made fourteen against the twenty-two in Warrick’s pack, if his brother hadn’t added any more to it. Not wonderful odds, but better; so much better.

Devan threw back his head and howled. He waited for his new pack members to join in.

Silence greeted him when his note died away.

He tried again, howling from deep down in his gut, putting feeling into it.

In answer, all six flew at him, bundles of fur and claws and fangs, and he was buried beneath them all. He swatted and bit, tasting blood, and slashed. Whines and whimpers filled his ears, some from him, but he kept fighting. His time on Earth might be nearing an end, but it would not be at the hands of wolves he would have join his side. Defending Kyla and their unborn baby, yes, that he would accept, but here, under these circumstances? Never.

Somehow, he fought his way out from the bottom of the pile. Dimly, he realized Greg was merely watching the combat, but he didn’t mind. In fact, he would have been furious had the other wolf entered the fray. In order to force the six to submit to him, he must be the one to conquer them all.

Devan batted two away with fierce paw swings that connected with their necks and bounced on top of the first male he had come across. The wolf tied to shake him off, but the other wolves nipping at his legs actually helped to keep him balanced. He shoved them all back down and then jumped on the wolf’s back once, twice, three times. The wolf collapsed.

Bloodied and bruised but not defeated, Devan stalked off and circled around the group, snarling, snapping his jaws near them. The female he had fought first converted to human form. The others slowly followed suit. Unlike before, when they had been wolves and he human, he now retained his wolf form. His tail could not be higher.

One by one, the six humans bowed or curtsied before him. Only then did he assume his human form. Devan looked them over. They were beaten but not broken.

And now, they were his.

CHAPTER NINE

Kyla paced the abandoned store. Waiting for Devan to call was wearing on her. The sounds of muffled howls came to her, and she winced. The noise grated on her, her hatred for wolves too ingrained. As much as she cared for Devan, could she accept his wolf side?

A part of her seemed to have already, but neither she nor Devan could truly know what was to come for them down the road. Regardless, fate or destiny had thrown them together, and honestly, she couldn’t say she wished she had never met him. His being a wolf and her a coyote didn’t change who they were, and there was a lot about Devan she enjoyed. The ease of their conversations, the way he understood her despite their differences, his ability to make her laugh… He was passionate about everything in life, not just the bedroom, and she knew that some of his passion was fueled because of her. They were connected, and not just because of the babe.