hunting grounds before the valley was attacked. We’d never considered it could happen here. And Cooper had to handle it all. He put on such a good front. I didn’t realize until later how much pressure he was putting on himself. He moves at his own pace, honey. You just have to outstubborn him. He’s trying to make you give up on him.”
“Well, you can’t really make me do anything. Just ask my mother.”
Gracie gave my hand a squeeze. “Good girl,” she said. “Have you been feeling all right? Is that grandbaby of mine mistreating you?”
“Well, I just kind of figured everything out recently. I thought I was just depressed over . . . well, you know. I haven’t been drinking and bungee-jumping or anything, but I haven’t exactly been Miss Conscientious Prenatal Care, either.”
“Why don’t I take you by the village clinic?” Gracie suggested. “Dr. Moder works with our pregnant women, helps the births look normal and human for the government paperwork. She’d be happy to take a look at you, get you started on the right track.”
“I don’t want anyone to know just yet. I know how small-town news travels. Someone will see me at the clinic, a few phone calls are made, and before you know it, everybody’s chewing this over with their dinner. I don’t want the whole pack knowing before I can tell Cooper.”
Gracie just smiled at me. It turned out Dr. Moder made house calls, Lord bless her. She was efficient, no- nonsense, and eager to get out of the clinic for an hour if it meant getting a piece of Gracie’s rum cake. She didn’t even mind when I burst into tears when the pregnancy test showed a blazing pink positive result. She just patted my shoulder and explained that shortened gestation meant my hormone levels were nearly double what a normal pregnant woman had to deal with. She drew my blood for tests, gave me a bottle of extra-strength prenatal vitamins and a hand-typed pamphlet titled “What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Werewolf.” She said I should consider it a sort of appendix or special reference section for the actual book, which she also gave me. (And if anyone saw it, I was supposed to pretend it was a joke.)
I was due in just four months. Four months to prepare for another little person, who most likely would be able to turn into a four-legged creature. There’s a reason elephants gestate for two years.
I was just shrugging into my coat when Maggie came crashing through the front door with Eli at her heels.
“What is she doing here?” Maggie demanded, flinging her arm toward me and missing my face by a scant few inches.
“Mo is a friend and more than welcome to come for a visit whenever she pleases,” Gracie informed her coolly.
Maggie turned on me. “You don’t belong here any more than he ever did. Did he make promises to you? Did he tell you he loved you? Did he disappoint you? Join the club.”
I shot to my feet, advancing on Maggie. For a moment, shock rippled across her face, but she stood her ground. That, at least, I respected. “That’s it, Scrappy Doo. Do you know what you’ve done to your brother, someone you supposedly loved? Cooper won’t come home because he can’t face you. He’s cut himself off from everybody on the planet. He’s convinced he can’t be trusted to love anybody. Because you’re a spoiled, selfish little bitch who needs a good kick in the ass. You’re pissed off. Your brother disappointed you. Well, put your big-girl panties on and get the hell over it.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about. You’re not part of a pack. You don’t know what he did to us.” Maggie’s lip curled back from her canines. My fists balled up as she stepped close enough to bump her forehead against mine. Gracie pulled my arms, trying to drag me away from Maggie, and yelled at her daughter to sit down.
Eli slid between us. “Look, everybody, let’s just calm down.”
Maggie sneered as Eli pushed her shoulder away. “Don’t you tell me when to—”
“Step down, Maggie,” Eli told her, the quiet ring of command edging his voice.
His hands steered her away from me toward the door. She fought him, leaning toward me and taking a decisive swipe. I ducked back and was grateful for good reflexes.
Eli barked, “Maggie, I lead this pack. You will step down.”
After straining toward me for another second, Maggie snarled and stomped out of the door, slamming it behind her.
With Maggie gone, the tension eased slowly out of the room. I sagged against the wall, wondering what good I’d thought would come of this visit. I would never regret spending time with Gracie or telling her about the baby. But some part of me had to have known that my presence would provoke Maggie. And then to take a verbal jab at Maggie was complete madness. Had I finally crossed into suicidal territory? This visit was an unqualified disaster, worse than the time my parents arranged for Kara to spend a week at the commune with us while their “naturist” friends happened by for a visit.
“I’m sorry, Gracie.” I kissed the top of her head. “I should get going before Maggie blows up my truck or something.”
She let out a shaky breath. “I’m going to have a talk with her, a long-overdue talk. Come back soon, Mo. Call me anytime. Take care of yourself. And be stubborn.”
I managed a laugh.
“Could I talk to you for a minute, Mo?” Eli asked. “Outside?”
I nodded, slipping into my jacket. Apparently still smarting from my comments at the saloon, Eli was now treating me with careful deference. He swept a dignified hand toward the aluminum lawn chairs Gracie had set out for nice weather. I accepted another mug of tea, which Grace had assured me was perfectly safe for me and my . . . pup.
I was contemplating how weird it was to think of my baby in animal terms when Eli cleared his throat. “We’re becoming concerned, Mo.”
“Regarding?” I asked, though I knew the answer.
“Cooper. It’s unnatural for any wolf to be away from his home for so long. Most of the time, it means the wolf is hurt or dead. But since he abandoned the packlands years ago, we’re not sure how strong his tie is to the area anymore. Hell, he may not be able to have strong ties to anything anymore,” he said, sipping his tea. “We all thought he was attached to you, and look—” The expression on my face made Eli look instantly aghast. “I’m sorry. I’m not good at this sort of thing, Mo. Especially with women outside our pack. It’s different. I don’t mean to hurt you. I feel responsible for what’s happened. I put an unfair amount of pressure on you to push Cooper back home, and he ran.”
“That’s not what happened, Eli.” I ran my thumb over the mug handle, trying to concentrate on the warmth of the ceramic against my fingertips. “It had nothing to do with you. Susie, the hikers, Abner—Cooper thinks he might have hurt them while he was in wolf form.”
“Well, that’s not possible,” Eli said, his brow creasing. “Cooper doesn’t have that in him.”
“I know that. But he’s convinced. He’s staying away from me because he’s afraid he’s going to hurt me.”
Eli squeezed my shoulder and gave me a pitying look. “One thing I know about Cooper, once his mind’s made up, that’s it. As much as I would hate to see you leave, I wouldn’t wait for him. If you have somewhere you’d rather be, someone else you’d rather be with . . . I’m sorry, Mo.”
Eli handed me a slip of paper with his cell-phone number on it and told me to call if I ever needed help from him or the pack. He moved back toward the door, leaving me there, absently rubbing a hand over my aching breastbone.
AS I DROVE home, the odd conflict between Eli’s and Gracie’s advice played out in my head. Gracie knew Cooper better, but Eli saw the problem from a male point of view. Wouldn’t another man be able to see the signs of a wolf gone for good? Maybe Cooper could come back to Grundy if he knew I was gone. Maybe by staying I was keeping Cooper from the only home he’d really known. But what if Gracie was right? What if Cooper finally came home and found that I’d left, that another person who was supposed to love him had abandoned him?
More confused than when I’d set off that morning, I saw my cell phone flashing, indicating a voice mail. “Hi, sweetheart, it’s your mother. We haven’t talked in a while, and your father and I would like to see how you’re doing. If you have time, could you call us?”
I arched my eyebrow. That sounded almost . . . normal. It was neither passive nor aggressive. The sort of message that Kara’s mother left her on a regular basis. And the paranoid part of my brain wondered if it was a trick, if the past few months of peace were a trap. When I needed help or advice, my instinctual reaction was to
