“Tar, what is it?” Rowan appears in front of me, worry etched on her face. “Sweetie what’s wrong?”
I lean in. “I-I’m just so happy and I’m scared I’m going to lose this.”
Rowan pulls me into her arms and hugs me. She strokes a hand down my hair until I stop crying.
I step back and give her a watery smile. “Sorry. My hormones have started fluctuating so bad. In seconds I can go from happy to sad, to horny and pissed off. I feel like I’m on a crazy roller coaster that I can’t get off of.”
Jonathon comes over and grabs my hand. “Here this will help a little bit.” He cups my face with his hands and closes his eyes. A warm feeling starts in my head and then slowly travels through the rest of my body. When he pulls his hands away, I feel relaxed. “The mood swings should settle down.”
“You’re like a natural Xanax. Thank you.” Rowan stares at Jonathon, with a look that can only be described as love, shrouded in pain. I turn away from them and see if I can hear what they’re thinking. I know I shouldn’t do this, but neither of them will talk.
“I think about him all of the time.” Jonathon’s maudlin thoughts break my heart. I know I should’ve stayed out, but neither of them is saying anything ... Who is him? Was it someone close to both of them?
I turn to look at them both. The tension between them is so palpable, but whatever has happened between them was enough to cause them to ignore each other now. “Are you guys hungry?”
I don’t wait for either of them to answer. I head downstairs and make some grilled cheese sandwiches--the baby is obsessed with cheese because I crave it all of the time. They both come in and sit while I cook them.
Since neither of them are going to talk, it’s up to me to get the conversation going. “What was Merick like when he was little?” I set their grilled cheeses in front of them and take a bite of mine, moaning as the melted cheese oozes out of the sides of the grilled bread.
Rowan smiles at me. “He was a little shit and always tried to get me in trouble. Merick was always the instigator. If we had a ring leader it was definitely him.”
Jonathon laughs and I swear to god it changes how he looks. I mean don’t get me wrong, the guy is hot, but there is something...I don’t know it’s like a cloud that is constantly hanging over him, but it’s not there right at this moment. He’s breathtaking and it isn’t lost on me that Rowan sees it too.
I know that whatever their story is it’s full of pain and sadness.
I wake up and find Merick’s side of the bed empty. I grab my cell phone off of the nightstand and see it’s three in the morning. After climbing out of bed I head into the bathroom. When I finish I wash my hands and brush my teeth.
I hit the top of the stairs and hear Merick’s voice. He sounds angry. “It’s not a good idea.”
Another voice, one I recognize as Merick’s dad, responds. “She needs to know. We have to make her understand why it could be dangerous if she or the baby got into the wrong hands.”
As I walk down the stairs I hear a loud crash. “She’s my mate, my love, and that’s my child she’s carrying. I will decide what’s best, not you. You’re no longer the pack leader.”
“Because there is no pack.” His dad roars. “Our pack has the chance to be reunited to be whole again…”
He stops talking and I know it’s because he hears me. I place a hand on my belly and make my way toward his office. I find him and his dad nose to nose. The anger coming off of my mate is choking me.
Neither of them look at me, but Merick speaks softly. “Baby, I need you to leave this room.”
I place my hand on his arm. “What’s going on? You’ve been weird since you got home.”
Tonight, when he got home from visiting whoever it was he went to see he walked out with both Rowan and Jonathon and was out there for a while. When he finally came in he was quiet. I made him a couple of sandwiches and sat with him while he ate. I wanted to ask what happened, but I was scared of what he might say.
When I started yawning he carried me to bed, kissed me chastely on the lips, and then left, shutting the door behind him. I have no clue if he ever came to bed, but I didn’t like waking up without him, that’s for sure.
“It’s nothing. Go back to sleep.” Merick’s eyes stay locked on his dad. “Go Taryn.” He growls
He’s never spoken to me in such a manner before, but he’s not going to start now. I get in between the two men, which probably isn’t my brightest idea, but I’m tired and now I’m cranky. “This, whatever it is, affects me, it affects our child. You’re not going to keep me in the dark.”
Merick glares at me and I glare back. He’s not going to intimidate me. “Please for the love of god go upstairs and I’ll come talk to you after my dad leaves.”
“What is it?” I beg him to tell me.
He moves me out of the way and storms out of his office. I run after him, or about as well as I can with my belly getting bigger and bigger. Merick slams out the front door and when I reach it I find his clothes shredded on the porch.
In the distance I hear a howl and know that it’s Merick. Tears slide down my cheeks and I don’t bother wiping them away. What could be so bad that he couldn’t tell me?
“He needs to run.
