Chapter 16

I COULDN’T BELIEVEhe’d found me. I couldn’t fathom why he’d even come. Jamie was a power-hungry, selfish, abusive, controlling asshole, and I was shaking like a leaf knowing he now knew exactly where I was after all these months. “H-he’s going to take me,” I stuttered to Tommy as he put an arm around my shoulder to prevent my escape toward the back of the house. “I don’t know how he found me.”

My world had turned upside down in the blink of an eye. One moment I’d been blissfully happy and was finally feeling like I wasn’t in a dream, but that I’d actually found my real Nirvana. Now... I was in Hell again. But even worse, my beautiful world was being ripped away from me with each passing second. It didn’t escape my notice how upset David looked about all this. Thankfully, Tommy was acting a lot more calm and rational.

“I have to sit down,” I breathed, staggering over to the chair at the dining table and dropping into it with a thump. The baby was squirming up a storm in my belly—no doubt reacting to my emotions—and my heart was pounding in my chest like I’d just run a fucking marathon.

Who was I kidding? I wasn’t running any kind of race, I was in goddamn survival flight mode, Every instinct I possessed screamed at me to make my move before Jamie made his. I needed to get out of here, and fast.

I can’t go back. I won’t!

I looked up at Tommy. “I need to go. Can you please take me to the train station?”

Tommy sat down and reached out for my hand, his gaze earnest and placating. “Hold on a second, Stacey, take a deep breath. You’re not going anywhere.”

“I have to!” I said, my growing panic evident in my shrill tone. “Didn’t you hear David? Jamie thinks the baby’s his, and if he gets hold of me...” I shook my head, unwilling to contemplate the thought any further. “No. I won’t go back. I can’t.”

Jamie was a classic narcissist and an emotional vampire. He’d lured me into the relationship in the beginning with his gorgeous face and sweet promises of true love and a beautiful, luxurious life. But within a few short years I’d found myself isolated from everyone I’d ever known and utterly powerless.

And, of course, it was all my fault. I hadn’t run sooner. I’d allowed him to mow me down like clover on the curbside—but I wouldn’t let him do it again. I’d learned my lesson the hard way. And while I still had my wits about me and courage left in reserve, I wouldn’t go with him. I shook my head again.

No. I won’t go back. My daughter will never know what it’s like to live with a man like Jamie. I’ll make sure of it.

A soft growl that sounded just like a dog’s caught my attention. It seemed almost pained or upset... and far too close for comfort.

“Is that coming from inside the house?” I asked, gripping my belly tightly, as though I could save my baby from everything that was going on out here.

“Oh, no,” Tommy muttered. “Fuck it! I knew this was going to happen.” He got up and walked over to the doorway that led into the foyer. “You idiot,” he admonished.

Who is he talking to? Did David let a dog in the house?

The growling grew louder, and I hefted myself up to my feet and moved behind a chair.

What the hell is going on?

Tommy glanced back at me, his expression apologetic. “Stacey, sweetheart. I’m sorry you had to find out like this. We were waiting to tell you after the birth... when you and the baby were safe and well, but it seems we’ve missed that chance.”

I frowned at him, not comprehending. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I need to get out of here. Jamie will come back soon, and he’ll bring his lawyers.”

Proving emotional abuse and financial control was so ridiculously difficult. How could I possibly convince them that I’d been trapped in that toxic marriage and that I hadn’t had sex with Jamie for months before I’d left? I’d feigned sickness and thrush and done other things to keep him happy. But there was no way he was the father.

No way!

Tommy turned fully toward me. “You’re not going anywhere. You’re our mate, Stacey, and that’s our baby. You can’t take her away from us, not now. Please,” he begged, pleading to my common sense.

I’d certainly be safer with my boys, but the fact remained that this location was now compromised, and I could be removed by force or the law if it came down to it. My nose burned with emotions, and impending tears pricked at my eyes. “But David said”

“David’s an idiot!” Tommy spat.

A warning growl came out from somewhere behind him in response.

“He’s an insecure, emotional idiot that loves you, Stacey. Trust me, he doesn’t want to lose you any more than I do.”

I swallowed hard against the tears. “But he thinks the baby is Jamie’s... he won’t believe me, and I can’t...” I couldn’t stay with a man who didn’t trust me, who didn’t really love me. You couldn’t have love without trust and that was a simple, undisputable fact.

“Stacey, listen to me. I love you And David does too. And although I completely trust you when you say that baby is mine, it also doesn’t matter to me. I want you and would raise your child as mine, no matter who’s it is, anyway. Okay?”

I nodded in sheer disbelief, gulping hard. His declaration was just too heartfelt, and I felt more than unworthy of it. “Okay,” I whispered as I swiped at the tears on my cheeks, trying desperately to believe what he was saying. Tommy meant it, I was almost certain. “But David...”

Tommy sighed and shook his head. “David will wrap his head around it, I’m certain. He’s just more emotional than me and needs time.” He glanced back toward the foyer once more. “Which brings me to the only secret we still have to reveal to you, and you might want to sit down for it.”

“But Jamie...” I lifted my hand to indicate that he might come back.

Why is he not taking this seriously? He doesn’t know Jamie like I do!

Tommy just smiled, a sinister gleam in his gaze. “Let him try to take you. I’ll call our pack and they’ll be here in minutes. Hell, Lexie will be on her motorcycle chasing him out of town as soon as she finds out what you’ve been through.”

I took another deep breath, trying to calm the racing of my poor heart. “So, you really won’t let him take me? You still want me after all this trouble?”

“Of course not. Fucking hell!” Tommy swore, shaking his head more vehemently this time. “Over my dead body will he touch you ever again,” he promised. “And of course we still want you, sweetheart. That will never change.”

I sank into the chair again, my stomach beginning to calm down from the strange, sickening slithering it had been doing during my near panic attack. “Okay,” I breathed. “So, what’s this big secret, then?”

Tommy’s eyes went dark and sad, and his lips twisted in thought before he began to explain. “Well, you’re not going to believe us without proof, but our family... all our blood relatives anyway... well, we’re wolf shifters.”

I stared at him, waiting for the punchline. “I’m sorry, what?” I asked once he didn’t elaborate. “I don’t think I heard you right.” I couldn’t have. What he was saying made no sense.

And what a time to be making jokes!

Tommy stepped to the side, toward the large windows at the front of the house. “You don’t need to be afraid, okay? When we’re in shifter form, we are in complete control of our bodies. We aren’t wild or feral, quite the opposite. We’re still us, inside. You have to trust me on this.”

I appreciated the change in topic, albeit strange as fuck, to free my mind of the fear Jamie had dredged up there, but I was kind of getting annoyed now. Whatever kind of joke or metaphor this was, I didn’t get it, and I was emotionally spent.

I don’t know how much more of this I can take.

“Um... I don’t...”

“We wanted to show you and tell you earlier. We always wanted to be upfront, but your health was our main priority, whereas now... well, David went and lost control of his emotions and his inner wolf took over. So... he’s right here.”

I scoffed, my eyebrows crooked. “As a wolf, you mean?” That didn’t make any sense. What was he playing at? And why?

“Ah... yeah,” Tommy said, indicating to the foyer. “Literally.”

I sat and stared with eyes as round as saucers, every ounce of logic in my mind trying to make sense of the impossibility that revealed itself to me.

A large, majestic gray wolf strolled into our dining room as if it owned the place and was completely at home.

“Oh my God!” I shrieked, jumping up and racing around the counter and into the kitchen. Which was a stupid mistake, really, because now I was trapped. “What the hell is that? Why is there a fucking wolf in the house, Tommy? Are you insane?”

The wolf sank down onto the floor, resting his head on his front paws while making a soft whining noise.

No. No, absolutely not. This isn’t possible... he was joking. This is... Why? How? I—

My heart pounded like a tribal war drum, its strong, erratic beats like a chaotic melody in my ears. My vision dimmed at the edges, and I saw stars. I was feeling faint. My blood pressure had clearly skyrocketed, and I was about to be in serious trouble. “I... I can’t breathe,” I managed to gasp out as the world began to wobble.

Tommy ran for me, reaching me just in time and grabbing me as I staggered forward and fell into his arms. He carefully lay me down on the floor so I had no further to fall and couldn’t hurt myself.

From where I lay on the warm wooden floorboards I watched in partial horror as the gray wolf became a man, a very naked man—one I recognized immediately. It was David,

He crawled toward me, his eyes stricken as he laid his hand on my head, running his fingers through my long hair. “It’s okay, Stacey,” he soothed. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I scared you. Please, please breathe.”

Tommy disappeared from sight, no doubt going for his doctor’s bag.

With no other choice available, I closed my eyes against the feeling that I needed to faint. Black spots burst at the corners of my eyes, and pain throbbed in my head, yet I couldn’t deny what I saw. “You’re a... a...” I stammered.

“A wolf, yes,” David said. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but it’s genetic. We don’t have any more choice on that one than anyone has in choosing their skin color. It’s just how it is. I can’t—we can’t—change who we are.”

Tommy returned and checked my blood pressure while listening to the baby’s heartbeat with his stethoscope.

So many things suddenly made sense now. Words like “pack” and “mate”, and a few of the odd smiles I’d seen on Nancy’s and Lexie’s faces, as though they’d been hiding a secret from me and were just waiting for me to discover the strange and seemingly impossible truth.

It was this. It was always this.

“We need to get her to the hospital,” Tommy said firmly, pulling the stethoscope from his ears and the pressure band from my arm. “I’ll call the ambulance.”

“No!” I cried. “You can’t! It’s a public place. Jamie will get to me there, I know it. Please! Don’t make me go.” This time when David growled, I wasn’t afraid.

He truly does love me and trust me, after all...“If he comes for you, he better be ready for a real fucking fight. It’s been a while since our pack has had a good challenge, and I know my cousins would love to take that asshole down just as much as we do,” he said.

I smiled a little and closed my eyes, willing my body to be calm. Jamie was a cunning bastard, and he had paid goons that fought his battles for him. But with literal wolves on my side, did I finally stand a chance?

Could I truly be free?