Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 35159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
“No, Wendy, I’m not his mate, or his wife. I’m just a member of his pack.” Rose shoved her hands into the pockets of her sweatpants.
“What can I do for you?” Beau asked.
“Well, for starters, you could tell me how I am supposed to take care of my daughter who is carrying your wolf baby. If you don’t want to believe she’s pregnant with your child, that is on your ignorant ass, but I need to know what she needs. Is the pregnancy like a human one? What can I expect?”
Beau stared at her and the silence was almost deafening.
“I don’t know,” he said.
He felt Rose’s gaze on his as well.
Wendy stared at him and he knew she was not his biggest fan in the moment. “Let me get this straight. You have unprotected sex with my daughter, with the most fucked-up reasoning that has my Eloise believing you and trusting you. The risk of pregnancy is still there, and you don’t even know how to fucking handle it.”
Beau had been scolded many times in his life. By his own father. His own mother didn’t stick around long enough, but he had a feeling if she’d been a good woman like Wendy, he would have known this feeling long before now.
“You have no idea if my daughter is even going to survive this pregnancy? Do your kids come out as furry wolves already? Is it going to tear itself out of her? What?” Wendy asked. “Am I about to have a grandbaby I can’t stand because it killed my kid?”
“We don’t come out as wolves,” Rose said. “Our transition doesn’t occur until we’re mature.”
“That’s good to know. So I won’t have to deal with a bloody scene when it happens.”
“How is Eloise?” Beau asked.
Wendy shook her head. “No, you don’t get to find shit out from me, from her sister, or from any of your pack. Do you understand me?” She looked between him and Rose. “I know that you and your fellow wolf packs come to town, enjoy the people, have your fun. I have no problem with that, neither does Dorothy. I also don’t care that Eloise was enjoying you, but you then accused my daughter of cheating on you. You broke her heart, and now she is dealing with the consequences. Be thankful I didn’t get my hunting rifle, because I would be all too happy to hunt you down and kill you,” Wendy said. “If you have anything useful to help me take care of my daughter, then I’m all ears. If not, stay the fuck away.”
She climbed into her truck, pulled out of the driveway, and drove off. He stayed, watching her taillights until they faded into the distance.
“You know, I didn’t think she was much of a mother, leaving her kids, having her own fun.”
“Eloise and Dorothy are grown women,” Rose said.
“Yeah, and it would seem I pissed off a whole family of women,” Beau said.
“Why did you accuse Eloise of cheating?” Rose asked.
Beau sighed. “I honestly didn’t think we could get women pregnant. Not unless they’re our mates.”
“And it didn’t at all dawn on you that you might be mated to Eloise?”
“No.”
“Fucking asshole,” Rose said.
“I am still your alpha.”
“I know that and as my alpha, I can still call you a fucking asshole. Eloise is my friend, but it looks like I’m not going to get to spend any real time hanging out with my friend because of you.” She sighed. “Do you even regret what you did?”
Beau didn’t answer.
Instead, he spun on his heel and returned to the house. He didn’t want to get into conversations about shit he couldn’t change.
It had only been a couple of days, but it already felt like too long since he held Eloise in his arms.
Chapter Nine
“Where is your sexy dead nurse costume?” Eloise asked, looking over the top of the shelves of the haberdashery.
“I don’t know, and I already told you, I’m not doing the whole Halloween thing this year.”
“Why not? You love getting dressed up like a sexy nurse,” Eloise said. “That has been your costume for years.”
“Yeah, and it’s getting a bit old now.”
Eloise put the seam rippers back in rows, and then turned to check on the shelves. The launderette was closed and her mother was making the deliveries, including to Beau’s ranch.
She and Rose had come to an arrangement on the food. Rose now assisted her with the grocery shopping and cooking. Sunday, after everything was labeled, Rose traveled back to her ranch. This had been happening the past three weeks.
She’d gone three weeks without seeing Beau. All she did was work, grocery shop, and stay home. Even Dorothy had stopped going out.
In fact, she’d spent a lot of time with her mother and sister. They were there in the morning when the sickness was at an all-time high. Certain foods set it off. Coffee was the biggest one, and she couldn’t eat spicy food.