Chapter 12

After the wild ride that was Ryker Simmons, Ruby was unable to really move off the bed when he walked out the door. Ruby whined from the absence of his presence. Scarlett whimpered inside of her and had her head between her paws.

I…I don’t think that was a good idea.

Probably not.

I thought it was bad after him being territorial! Now…

He doesn’t want us. If he did, he would still be in this room.

Scarlett sounded broken-hearted. Ruby could feel inside of her bond that Scarlett missed Ryker’s presence as much as she did. It was an odd feeling. Ruby never felt this way about anyone outside of Tyson. While she was on that date, her mind would wander and would bring Ryker’s face to the forefront of her mind. She would try to banish it away, but it kept managing to come back.

And now I am laying on a bed that smells like him…

Ruby slowly felt the strength in her legs returning. The decision she had to make was to either stay in this room and sleep until morning or just leave now. Ruby had experienced the walk of shame before, and it really did not bother her to do it again. Everyone at the party had to know that she was experiencing a heat episode from the heavy scent of her pheromones and by how the unmated males acted towards her, so everyone also had to have known it was not her fault that it all happened.

But my Gods, why did it have to happen?

She did not want to be an outcast again. After experiencing not ever truly fitting in with the West Coast pack, and not having many fun memories about living there, she wanted something different for herself in the Rogue Territory. While dancing with all the locals under the moon, not only did she feel free…she felt like she belonged. The life she was creating was finally coming together, and it made her feel like she actually made the right decisions so she would end up in this place.

Ugh. I am going home. I need Tasha and Deacon.

Ruby slid off the bed and got dressed. When she stepped into the hallway, she was across from the bathroom. She could hear the water running as Ryker was taking the shower he said he would. Most likely, this was his way to give her the opportunity to leave without him watching her do so. Scarlett whined as Ruby turned toward the door to leave.

You should probably talk to him about this.

I will. Just not right now.

Ruby walked with her head held high as she made her way back to the apartment. It was still the early hours of the morning, so she doubted her friends would be home. They would most likely be running with the town for a “pack run” under the full moon. Ruby sort of hoped that they were so she could just sneak into the shower and go to bed.

The moon’s beams guided her way home through the darkness. Ruby looked up at the beautiful silver orb and silently prayed to the Moon Goddess.

Please, don’t let tonight ruin my new life here.

* * *

The sun’sglow illuminated Ruby’s room, and she groaned when her alarm rang loudly next to her. It took everything in her to not grab it off the side table and whip it across the room into the wall. Tasha and Deacon were not home when she came in, so Ruby followed through with the plan she had made on her way home. By the time her head hit the pillow, exhaustion had taken over, and she allowed sleep to claim her. If Tasha and Deacon were loud in any way when they came in, she would not have known. She had been dead to the world.

Ruby rolled out of bed begrudgingly with a groan, amazed at how she did not feel as sore as she thought she would from last night. She pulled on the pair of jogging pants that Tasha had used fabric shears on, to cut them off at her knees, and rehemmed for her and a red shirt that she had cut the sleeves off of. The smell of savory sausage wafted into her nostrils when she opened the door.

That woman is always making food when I wake up. How does she do it?

Ruby practically ran to the kitchen to find Tasha dancing to no music while cooking. A stack of waffles were on a plate in the center of the table with Deacon having his own plateful in front of him.

“Morning, Red. How was your night?” Deacon had a smirk that she had come to know as his “joking smile.”

“Sexually satisfying. How about yours?” Ruby fired back at him.

Tasha barked out a laugh. “Told you she wouldn’t care if you made a joke about it.”

“Of course she wouldn’t! Red is cooler than the other she-wolves around here.” He shoved a forkful of waffle and sausage into his mouth. “Miwato, bythwa.”

“The fact that I actually understood that tells me either I have been around you too long, or you have learned how to just talk with your mouth full of food, but I’m glad to know I wasn’t the only one who got some sex last night.”

Tasha put a plate filled with sausage onto the table and sat in one of the seats. “I’d say both, but I’d be lying. He talks with his mouth full so often that he has basically learned to communicate just as well as he does without food in there.”

Ruby laughed and filled her plate. “Well, how was the run?”

“Uneventful after Ryker ran you out of there,” Tasha answered. “You okay? I assume that was the first time you experienced that.”

“You assumed correctly.” Ruby poured some sweet maple syrup into every hole on the waffle. “I’m fine. I had no clue it could get that intense. I have never seen anyone from my home pack go through it like that.”

“I think it affects Alphas differently. It’s much more potent because a she-wolf will always want the best male to reproduce with. So…”

“So I am basically going to be a damn beacon for every high-ranking wolf every time I go into heat until I am freaking pregnant.” Ruby groaned.

You say that like it’s a bad thing.

Kind of is! I don’t need to be that damn horny and basically call out to every top male in the vicinity!

“Could be worse,” Deacon said to her.

Ruby cocked her eyebrow. “How so?”

“I’ve heard of some packs making the unmated she-wolves be chained to beds and the males having free reign of them. It’s disgusting.”

Ruby’s stomach turned at the thought of what he described. “That sounds horrifying.”

Everyone went silent for a while as they ate. The air changed in the room, and Ruby could feel it. Scarlett had even perked her ears up when she caught something different in Tasha’s scent. Ruby had smelled it before but could not put her finger on it. Tasha heard Ruby sniffing the air, and she glanced at Deacon. It made Ruby feel a little uneasy, like they were hiding something.

“Guys? Everything okay?”

Tasha shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Deacon reached over and placed his hand over hers and then gave her a soft smile. “Tell her. She should know.”

Tasha barely kept eye contact with Ruby, and it felt like an eternity before Tasha spoke. “Rubes… I’m… pregnant.”

Ruby immediately dropped her fork onto her plate and her mouth dropped open. It took a second for the words to register in Ruby’s brain, but when they did, she let out a loud squeal. “TASHA THAT IS AMAZING! OH MY GODS, THIS IS EXCITING!” Ruby pushed her chair back so hard that it fell over as she made her way over to her friend and wrapped her into a hug. Tasha laughed nervously, but Ruby paid no mind to it as she hugged her friend harder. Then she took a step back and looked at her friend. “Wait, why were you nervous about telling me that?”

“Well, I know things are just kind of tense between you and Ryker. After what happened with your True Mate and then this heat… and something happening between you and Ryker, but clearly not what you wanted to happen, and you just got here, and you are finally getting settled…”

“Tash! Slow down! Actually, calm down. You are rambling.” Ruby grabbed her friend’s hands and held them between hers. “What exactly is wrong?”

“Well…” Tasha looked over at Deacon, who was still just gazing at her with a smile on his face, clearly pleased with the news. “We were nervous that you would feel like we were going to just push you out of here because of the baby when we don’t want you to feel that way at all.”

Ruby smiled and shook her head. “I know we haven’t known each other for that long, but I understand that a baby will change things around here and that you will eventually need my room.”

“Ruby, we want you to still stay here for as long as you would like,” Deacon told her. “We can have the baby set up in our room for a while if need be.”

Ruby smiled, but then shook her head. “I will start looking to see if there is an available place I can move into today. Hopefully, I can find somewhere before this amazing little pup makes their debut so I can help set up that room for him or her.”

Tasha pulled Ruby into a hug and tightly squeezed her. “I’m so glad you are here.”

Ruby squeezed her back. “Me too.”

* * *

There wereno available rooms in either apartment building in town. Ruby growled as she walked out of the second one in frustration. The houses that were built on the outskirts of town were not fully constructed yet and would not be ready any time soon. Ruby stomped her way to Howlers and did not want to work. If anything, she wanted to take a run to let loose the frustrated energy she had inside of her.

When she opened the door to the club, Tasha was already behind the bar taking inventory. She did not mean to, but the stomping continued until she was behind the bar with Tasha, and she slammed the swinging door as she did.

“I’m going to guess there are no available places for you right now?”

Ruby ripped off a towel from the shelf and started working on steaming glasses. “Mmhmm.”

“Rubes, it’ll all work out. Like I said earlier, we aren’t pushing you out any time soon.”

Ruby blew out a breath. “I know. I just wanted to make this easier on you guys. You’ve done so much for me.”

“And we will continue to do so because you have given us no reason not to.”

“What’s going on?” Ryker’s voice made Ruby jump and nearly drop the glass she was holding.

Gods, why does he have to be so damn sexy.

Ryker was dressed in all black, meaning he was planning on helping with bouncing tonight. It was a Saturday, and it must be a weekend where surrounding packs may possibly be coming. His shirt hugged his muscles in the perfect way to show them off, and Ruby had to fight the urge to drool. Instead, she pretended like she was invisible, fading into the background like she did not exist.

“Ruby was just looking for her own place, but nothing is available yet.”

Ryker narrowed his eyes on her. “You’re pregnant.”

Tasha put her hands on her hips and pursed her lips at him. “Deak told you, didn’t he?”

Ryker smiled at her and nodded. “Yeah. There was no way I could pass off that I just guessed that. Congratulations, by the way. That’s exciting.”

Tasha relaxed her body and flashed him a smile. “Thank you.”

“So, I am assuming you want to move out so they can set up a nursery?”

Damn it. I guess me pretending like I wasn’t here did not work.

How was that supposed to work? He can see you.

Shut up.

“Yeah.”

Ruby set the glass she’d been working on down as Ryker shrugged his shoulders and made an offer she wasn’t prepared for with a short, “stay with me then,” like it was the most obvious solution.

Ruby was very thankful she was not holding a glass at that moment. Otherwise, she would have dropped it that time. “What?”

“Yeah, what?” Tasha added.

“I have a room, and you need one. You aren’t too close with anyone else in the town, so it’s kind of my extra room or nothing.”

I guess last night doesn’t bug him as much as it does me.

Let’s not show him that.

“Uh…yeah. I guess so. You don’t mind?”

I fucking mind, but I can’t really turn this down.

“Nope. Having a roommate can be fun… or so I am told.” Ryker dug into his pocket and pulled out a key ring. He pulled a key off and put it down onto the bar. “There’s a key for you. Tomorrow we can start moving you in if you are ready by then.”

Ryker disappeared into the back of the club like what had just happened was no big deal, while Ruby was still trying to process what had just transpired as Tasha tried to get her attention. Ruby blinked a few times and looked at her friend.

“That was weird, right?” Ruby asked her.

“Not really… he does like to help people, remember?”

Either that or last night is not something he wants to forget either.