Wolf's Ascension (22 page)

She quickly sketched out the details of her attempted escape and of Skye changing. His eyes widened when she described the Ascension and the fight with Johanna. And as non-dramatically as she could, she filled him in on the poisoning, explaining the merits of werewolf biology.

She grabbed his hand and took in his pale face. He looked as if he wanted to run out the door.

“Kari, honey, why don’t you come with me? We can get you some help,” he said softly, eyes darting around the room. She could tell he was calculating his odds of getting her out of there alive if the big guys decided to try and stop him.

“I told Andreas that you wouldn’t believe it unless you saw it. You’re like me.”

“Kari, it’s safe for you to change. Perhaps seeing
you
do it would help Jack.” Elaine discreetly avoided mentioning the pregnancy.

“Jack, sit there please. I’m going to show you something amazing.” Jack just stared at her as she stood up and began to pull off her clothes.

“Kari, you’re in a room full of people!”

“Just give me a second,” she replied, pulling off her underwear and bra. Skye moved the coffee table back to give her space to change. She got down on all fours and closed her eyes. Letting her human self fall away, she freed her wolf to come to the surface, and when she looked up into Jack’s eyes she did it as a wolf.

“Oh holy crap,” Jack whispered, staring at her with his mouth open in shock.

She approached him, touched his hand with her cool nose and licked it. Hesitantly at first, he touched her head, running a hand through her fur, over her ear.

“It’s true. I thought werewolves walked on two legs and attacked people. Hell, I thought they were mythological.”

Andreas chuckled. “Only in the movies. We don’t attack people. We try to keep our runs in the safety of the wilderness. We don’t walk on two legs unless we’re in human form. And as you can see by your beautiful sister, we aren’t mythological.”

“Are you all werewolves then?” Jack looked around the room warily.

“Yes, everyone but you,” Andreas answered.

Jack glanced around, looking slightly panicked.

“No harm will come to you,” Andreas said.

Kari moved away from him, transforming back into her human form and getting dressed. “Bummer,” Skye said under his breath and Andreas sent him an annoyed glare.

She came back to sit next to her brother. “So I’m a werewolf. I’m sorry I worried you. It’s not like I could have explained it over the phone or anything.”

“Well, you’ve never done anything halfway. And I knew you were hiding something!” Jack said, satisfied that his intuition was right. Suddenly he stopped and narrowed his eyes at Andreas. “You told me you didn’t attack people but Kari said Michael attacked her.”

Andreas colored at that. “Yes, you’re right. Michael lost control. It wasn’t meant to happen that way. It’s not our custom to change people like that. I knew Kari was my Mate, that our biologies were meant to be mated, but I wanted to approach her in human form first. Michael knows he was wrong, and he was reprimanded. Kari has forgiven him. I hope you can too.”

“And the poisoner, what happened to him or her?”

“We haven’t caught them. We do know it was one of our Pack. We know it was administered through a pitcher of water left at Kari and Andreas’s bedside but the pitcher got washed before we knew she’d been poisoned. We’re on it. I swear to you we won’t fail Kari,” Phillip said.

“So...what’s wrong, then? Why are you sick?” Jack asked, turning back to face Kari.

“No, I’m not sick. I’m pregnant,” Kari said, smiling, and the entire room erupted into auditory chaos.

“Pregnant? This fast?”

“Apparently werewolf pregnancies only last four months and move quicker all the way around.” She smiled at him. “See, you coming out here would be even better now, Uncle Jack.”

“This is a lot to take in. You’re a millionaire, married and a werewolf who’s now bearing my niece or nephew. I can see I need to be around to keep you out of trouble,” he said into her ear.

Andreas strutted around like the king he was, the males clapping him on the back. Jade pushed her way past everyone and practically lunged at Kari. “Congratulations! A grandchild. Oh how I’ve waited for this day.”

Kari felt a twinge of sadness for Perri and Devon, whose chances at a biological child had been destroyed by a drunk driver two years before. However, Perri came and hugged her tightly. “I’m so happy for you. I’m gonna be an aunt!” she said happily.

Anna came out, ordering everyone out of her path, and handed Kari a big glass of milk. “Drink it now, there’s lots more where that came from.” She beamed.

“Damn,” the wolf who hated Kari mumbled at the announcement while smiling broadly.

Chapter Eleven

Kari walked out of the bathroom. “My robe is too small now.” She tossed aside the red wolf robe that Andreas had given her on her transformation eve.

Approaching her, Andreas ran his hands over her swollen belly and felt the baby kick. At three months along, the skin stretched tight around the life inside her.

They’d come to Seattle to get an ultrasound at Elaine’s office. They’d spent the night in Seattle, at the Four Seasons, so she wouldn’t have to get up early to drive into the city for their appointment.

It paid to have a talented clothing designer in the Pack. Drew kept her supplied with beautiful and colorful maternity clothing. She put on one of the dresses, a wrap that tied just under the bust.

“You’re beautiful, little wolf,” he growled and circled her.

“We don’t have time for that,” she warned him with a laugh but she loved the way he made her feel so beautiful and desired.

Ever since she’d started showing, Andreas couldn’t get enough of her. They were still having sex two and three times a day. Her pregnant body was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. She was his wife, bearing his child. It made him hard all over just thinking about it.

He laughed and dropped a kiss at the nape of her neck, running his tongue up to her ear. Moaning, she leaned her body back into his. “Stop it now, don’t tempt me! We only have twenty minutes to get there and we just had sex forty-five minutes ago. Over there, on the chaise by the window? Remember? I was on top? You’ll have to wait until we get home tonight. Remember that Jack is coming over for dinner.”

Jack had just moved to Star Lake the month before. He was in the process of interviewing with the local Star Lake Police Department and also in North Bend. Whichever choice he made, she was just happy to have him around. Being so close again was good for both of them. Alyssa didn’t know what she was missing.

Andreas sighed dramatically and stepped back. “Okay, let’s get going. Phillip’s bringing the car around.”

Since she’d announced the pregnancy, they’d been even more vigilant with her. Phillip was with her twenty-four hours a day and she knew they still tasted her food and drinks. Phillip actually slept on a futon that they’d moved to the hallway outside of their bedroom door, trading shifts with Skye. Laurent was still next door but was moving out that morning because they were making his room into the nursery.

They arrived at Elaine’s office with no time to spare and when Kari’s name was called, Phillip started to wait in the hallway. But Kari thought a moment and reached out to touch his arm.

“Phillip, would you like to be in the room when Elaine does the ultrasound? You want to be there when we see the baby for the first time?”

Phillip blushed. “Are you serious? I’d love to. If that’s okay with you,” he asked Andreas.

“We’d love to share this with you.” Andreas never ceased to be amazed at how loving and giving Kari was. Phillip was like a brother to him and it touched him that she seemed to care about him as much as Andreas did.

After Kari changed into a short robe that opened in the front, Andreas helped her up onto the table, where she lay on her back. “This is warm,” Elaine warned and squirted goo on her belly. “Okay, let’s see our new baby. Just watch the screen.” She indicated the black-and-white monitor to their right.

“Oh there we go,” she said, running the Doppler device over Kari’s belly. Kari’s eyes filled with tears as she saw the tiny arms and legs of their child. “Do you want to know the gender?”

“Yes,” Kari said. She and Andreas had argued about it. He wanted to know and she didn’t. So that morning they’d ended up tossing a coin and he’d won.

“Oh!” Elaine said.

“What?” Andreas and Kari both said, alarmed.

“Well, look here.
Another
set of arms and legs. You have two babies in there,
reine
. You’re having twins,” Elaine exclaimed.

“What?” Kari felt faint.

“Right here.” Elaine pointed at the screen and yes, there were two sets of arms and legs.

“Oh my goodness. I’m having
two
babies?” Kari said wondrously.

“Yes. A boy, this one.” She pointed to the baby on the left. “And a girl, right here.” She pointed to the baby on the right.

Andreas stared at the monitor, emotion shining in his eyes. “Two. A boy and a girl. Oh, Kari. You’re so amazing.”

“Hey, big boy, it’s not like it was my choice or anything.”

“Twins. The first set of twins in at least a hundred years,” Elaine said.

“I definitely deserve pie,” Kari said. She craned her head back to see Phillip, who was staring at her belly with a goofy smile. “What do you think, Uncle Phillip?”

He leaned toward her and kissed her temple tenderly. “I think you’re magnificent. You definitely deserve pie. If Andreas wasn’t so much bigger than me, I’d kick his ass and steal you away.”

Kari laughed and the babies moved. “They respond to your voice. To the sound of your laughter. They’ll know you when they’re born,” Elaine said and Andreas leaned down and spoke to her belly.

“Daddy loves you two.” And they moved toward the sound of his voice.

Elaine stood back and wiped the goo off Kari’s belly, allowing her to close the robe. “I’ve printed out some pictures of the ultrasound. Jade and Tomas will want to see and I know Jack will too.” She handed them to Andreas while Phillip helped Kari down off the table.

“You’re doing well. They’re both very good-sized for being twins. I’ll be by this weekend to check on you. You’re only three weeks from your due date, so I want you to stay near home from now on.”

“You still think it’s safe to have them at home?”

“Yes. Twins are harder but as I said, birth is a fairly quick process for us. I’ll be there and Ellen is coming too, so you’ll have two doctors on hand. Plus Anna has been present for the birth of many children in the Pack. It’ll be fine.”

“Okay. If you say so.” She put her dress back on, not bothering to go into the dressing room. They’d all seen her naked before. Phillip lovingly caressed her belly and went out into the hallway first, making sure they were safe.

“Steal her away. I think not.” Andreas bumped past Phillip and snorted in amusement. Phillip winked at Kari and she laughed.

“Oh hi, Andreas.” Henry and Luna came around the corner. Luna, as always, looked a bit too happy to see Andreas and Kari bristled.
Pregnancy hormones.

Andreas smiled at them both and pulled Kari in front of him and back into his body. Immediately his hands spanned her belly. “Hello, you two.”

“Wow, Kari, you’re really looking big,” Luna said in that way that sounded like it was an innocent comment but any woman could tell was a dig.

Andreas laughed, “Compared to what? She’s still a sprite and more beautiful than ever.”

The dig had gone completely over his head and Kari narrowed her eyes at the other woman. “Well, pregnancy has a tendency to do that. Thankfully Andreas seems to find it sexy.”
Take that!

“I’ll say. I can’t keep my hands off her.” Andreas nuzzled into her neck, hands caressing her stomach.

Kari could have sworn that Luna smirked. She’d have to run it by Perri to see what she thought.

“What brings you two all the way out here?” Henry asked. “Everything’s okay, right?”

“Oh yes. We had our ultrasound today.” Andreas didn’t seem to want to tell them about the twins. She thought that it was probably that Jade would kill them if he told anyone but her first.

“Oh great! Do you know the gender?”

“It’s a secret until we announce it at dinner this weekend. You two coming out?” Andreas asked teasingly.

“We will now for sure.” Henry laughed. “We’ll see you Saturday then.”

“Bye, you two,” Kari said as they swept past them, Phillip leading the way.

Driving back to Star Lake, Kari happily ate her double scoop of chocolate-chocolate-chip and finally asked Andreas about Luna.

“Andreas, what’s Luna’s story, anyway?”

“What do you mean?”

“She seems... I don’t know...less than friendly to me sometimes.”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed. What do you mean?”

“The comment about me being big earlier. It was a total dig.”

“I’m sure she didn’t mean it that way.”

“Ugh. Men are so dumb sometimes. Of course she meant it that way. If I’d have said it, I’d have meant it that way. It goes against the woman’s code. You don’t tell another woman something like that unless you mean to insult her. It’s the way we operate. We take comments that could be perceived as casual, even compliments, and we turn them into subtle insults. It’s an art.”

Phillip laughed at that.

“I’m serious. And why is she always kissing you on the lips? None of the other females do that.”

“Phillip kisses you on the lips,” Andreas said.

“Yes, a peck, and I’m with him twenty-four hours a day and he is so totally not on the make. There’s a difference.”

“Hmph.”

“Are you saying it bothers you when Phillip gives me a peck on the lips? Usually as I’m leaving our bedroom? Pregnant with your children?”

“No. It doesn’t bother me. It makes me happy that the Pack loves and respects you. I’m just saying that it’s not a big deal when Luna kisses me.”

“Is she like your sister? ’Cause Perri doesn’t kiss you on the lips like that. She gives you a peck.”

“Kari, is this one of those conversations that men can’t win, no matter what they say? If so, tell me now so I can apologize already and we can avoid the inevitable agony to come.”

Her eyebrows shot up and she snorted and turned to look out the window. Butthead.

* * *

When they walked into the lodge, Sean was there already, as were Skye, Jack, Ryan and Laurent. All waiting to hear the gender. Andreas held out his hands to silence the tide of questions. “Wait. Let me get Maman
on the speakerphone. Someone go get Anna.”

Kari sat down on the couch only to have four different men get her a pillow for the small of her back, a throw for her legs and a glass of milk. Jack took off her shoes and rubbed her feet. She smiled.
Life is good
.

Anna came into the room with a slice of banana nut bread to go with the milk.
Even better.

“Okay, I’ve got Maman and Dad on one line and Devon and Perri on the other. Kari, do the honors.”

Kari said in a clear, loud voice, “It’s a boy.” And over the excited talk, “
And
it’s a girl too. We’re having twins.”

“
Oh my god!
” Jade exclaimed over the phone.

“It’s a good thing I cleared out the nursery this morning. We need to go back and get a new crib and bassinet,” Laurent said.

“I’m taking Friday off and coming early,” Perri said.

“I got so caught up in the moment I forgot you were still on the second line. Sorry!” Kari reached for the phone with a grunt and Skye jumped up to hand it to her. “I need to talk to you about something but it can wait until you get here. I need a woman’s opinion,” she said in a low voice once they were on the line alone.

“Oh god, I can’t wait.” Perri laughed. “I’m going to die of curiosity before then. Give me a hint.”

“I can’t. I need to tell you when there aren’t ten people around. It’s not earth-shattering or anything.” She continued to keep her voice down and sound casual. If Skye heard he’d want to know what she was talking about.

“Oh the agony! Fine! Okay, I’ll see you Friday morning. Love you,” Perri said.

“You too and your dopey husband, as well,” Kari added before hanging up.

“Well, since we’re all celebrating, I think it’s time for my news now,” Sean announced as he stood up.

“What?”

“Peaches, when you came to us, I realized just how much I’d been missing by not having a Mate all these years. I’d searched but not very hard. Little did I know that she was right under my nose.”

“Emma!”

“Exactly.” Sean smiled at her. “I realized it just after the wedding. We were standing on the porch and locked eyes and it never felt so right.” He shrugged. “I’ve told her what I am and I’ve asked her to marry me. We looked into it and she’s got some wolf in her gene pool. She’s agreed to the change and I’d like to officially request a spot for her in the Pack.”

“Oh wow, that’s so wonderful. Emma is the coolest. She’s good for you, Sean,” Kari said. “You have my vote, if that matters at all. I have no idea how this works.”

“Well, it does matter. You’re Alpha of this Clan, Kari.” Andreas walked forward and touched Sean’s chest, over his heart. “I’d be honored to have your Mate in Cherchez Clan. Make her, Sean. Bring her over and we’ll celebrate at the next full moon.”

“There’s more. She and I would like to live here and run a clinic in town. Star Lake has no mental health services at all and with only one doctor, we could really use another. Plus, having a doctor here for our own purposes would be ideal.”

Kari tried to get up to hug Sean but couldn’t get off the couch. Grinning, Skye helped her to her feet. She walked over to Sean and hugged him tightly. “I’m so happy for you both. I’d love to have you both here all of the time. Thank god the next full moon is after my due date. I can barely walk now, I can’t imagine running at this size. Someone would have to stay human and drag me in a wagon.”

Andreas laughed and Jade was still on the speakerphone and crying. “So much good news in one day!”

“Oof,” Kari said after she reached around to hang up the phone.

“What is it?” Laurent asked, alarmed. Taking his hand, she placed it on her belly where the babies kicked her ribs with abandon. His eyes widened. “Oh, that’s them.”

“Yeah, Frick and Frack.”

Skye came over and held out his hand, asking to touch, as well. She guided him to where her daughter was.

“Wow. That must really hurt,” he said, awe replacing his usual glib manner.

“Yeah, it’s no picnic. All of these months I’ve been saying that it felt like there were eight arms and legs in here, turns out I was right. But I’m not really complaining. It’s pretty wonderful.”

The phone rang and she picked it up. “
I hope your bastard baby dies!
” a voice rasped and hung up.