BirthControl (8 page)

“No, not impossible. But there will be resistance and fighting. My wolves have been instructed to tell any wolf in my territory who has not pledged to me that they have thirty days to leave or pledge. The choice is theirs.”

“But all the surrounding states are doing the same thing,” Silas said.

“Yes. It’s the strategy we came up with to put the pressure on the unpledged wolves without appearing overbearing.”

“In reality, anywhere they go, they have seek permission to enter and then pledge to that Alpha in order to stay.” Silas nodded. “I like it. Simple and neat.”

Jayden snorted. “At the end of the month, I’ll be bonding with the first wave of unpledged wolves. I’ll let you know how it goes.”

“Do that.” Silas stood and stretched, his mind already in a condo on the opposite side of the complex. Not only would he need to deal with an irate and horny Jasmine, but he needed to deal with her pissed off pups as well. He could only imagine what they thought of him now. They hadn’t heard him defend the human females or half-breeds.

It was going to be a long night. Without further thought, he shifted and ran into the night.

Chapter Five

Jasmine looked at the computer screen, trying to decide which toy she wanted to buy. Unfortunately, when she’d flown across country to visit her sister and see about her son, she’d left her personal stash at home. Sex on demand with Silas wasn’t exactly what she had in mind, especially if he was the one demanding. It was the anywhere, anytime clause that had her searching the internet for her own relief. As good as it was with him, she knew she couldn’t handle his cut and dry approach to sex. For her it was an emotional event.

“I’ll just keep it simple,” she mimicked as she perused the websites offering a variety of sex toys.

“Doc Johnson…” she murmured, reading the descriptions of the realistic dildos with suction cups. “Damn, they come in a lot of colors…colors don’t matter.” She looked at a nine inch dildo and wondered how long Silas was. “It wasn’t this hard to choose one before.” Scrolling down the page she was surprised and aggravated by the large variety of dildos and vibrators. “How the hell do you pick one?”

Her cell rang as she read the description of a moving, vibrating, dildo. She answered without looking at the caller ID. “Hello.”

“Hey, it’s me,” her sister Renee said. “What’s going on? How’s Rone? Rese?”

“They’re good. Everything’s okay.” Jasmine said as she picked four vibrators to compare. They each had similar features, but at least one had an extra deal the others didn’t have. She needed to decide what was important.

“Really? How’s the therapy going? Have the boys tried to kill each other yet?”

“Hmm? Not yet, although there’ve been some close calls.” The prices of the two vibrators she liked were close to forty dollars each. She’d only get one for now. Just a little something to ease the itch when she needed it.

“Are you listening to me?”

“What? Yeah I’m…no, I’m trying to buy a vibrator and can’t figure out which one to get.” She ran her fingers through her hair and then re-read the descriptions of the toys.

“A vibrator?” Renee paused. “That’s good. What are you thinking of buying, vibrators or dildos?”

“You make it sound like there’s a difference.” Jasmine leaned back and scrolled down to the dildo she’d picked.

Renee sighed. “Your dildo will have a suction cup, so you can sit on it and rock. For the most part it’s manual. Your vibrator usually requires batteries and rarely has suction. So what are you looking at?”

Heat infused Jasmine’s face as she stared at the vibrator and dildo that had made her final cut. “I think I’m looking at both. But I can’t make up my mind which one to buy.”

“Get them together. You can play with the dildo in the bathroom and the vibrator in bed. Mandy and I use them all the time. Now, bring me up to date. When will Rone be released?”

Jasmine’s hand hovered over the buy button for a moment, and then she pushed it. “The doctor hasn’t given him a date yet, but he’s growing stronger and getting better every day.” The screen asked for her mailing address and without thinking she entered her home in Washington.

“I’m thinking Mandy and I will come visit in a week or so. Maybe for a weekend and then get back here to the shop. Plus, I have to finish my research. What do you think?”

“About?”

“Bringing Mandy to Maryland in a week or so. You should still be there right?”

Maryland? Shit. Silas said she’d be moving to West Virginia at the end of the week. She looked at her order and erased her Washington address. Closing her eyes, she tried to remember the address in West Virginia, but couldn’t. Jacque had sent her some information earlier that week. Where had she put it? Was it an email? Yes, he’d sent an email asking questions.

“No. I…we’ll be moving.” Jasmine found the email with the address.

“What? I thought you said Rone hadn’t been cleared.”

Jasmine entered the correct mailing address and used her PayPal account to pay for her purchase. “He hasn’t.” Didn’t she tell Renee that already?

“Jazz…Jasmine, what’s going on? Stop and talk to me.”

Now that she’d taken care of her problem, she focused on her sister. As much as she’d like to share the real deal about her sons, Jasmine knew she couldn’t. They shared a mother, but Renee’s father was human, unlike Jasmine’s.

“I’m pregnant.”

“What?” Renee gasped.

“I…I had sex with Silas and…now I’m pregnant. He lives in West Virginia and I’ve agreed to live with him until… well, until I don’t want to live with him anymore.”

“Silas?…the good-looking hunk who came into Rone’s hospital room? The one I said was hot?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re not marrying him, are you? Because you don’t have to do that. You married Davian because you were pregnant with the twins, and that was a disaster. Not the boys. The boys are a blessing, but the marriage was disastrous. Promise me you won’t marry this guy just because you’re having his baby.”

Jasmine wished she could tell her sister that Silas had no interest in marrying her. That he didn’t want her or their half-breed children. That he was only moving her to his home for protection and not out of any deep feelings. Once more, she was a mother with babies on her own and she despised herself for getting in this situation again.

“I promise not to marry him for the babies.” There was a discernible pause. Jasmine braced herself for her sister’s reaction.

“Babies? Did you say babies, as in more than one?” Renee’s voice screeched through the phone.

Removing the phone from her ear, Jasmine stepped away from the laptop. “Yes, I’m having multiples, three I think.” In reality, she had no idea how many babies she carried, only that there were more than two.

“Oh honey…are you okay with this. Have you considered all your options? You’re not sixteen this time. You don’t have to –”

“I’m not having an abortion and I’m not giving them up for adoption. Trust me, I’ve considered my options and I’ve decided to have my babies and raise them.”

“Okay…okay. What did the doctor say about you having multiples at thirty-six? Not that you look a day over twenty, I’m jealous over how young you look. But will your age be a factor?”

No, because I’m not aging
. “He thinks everything looks good and there shouldn’t be any problems. I’m in good health, so things should be fine.”

“Is that why you bought a vibrator? Horny pregnancy? Where’s Silas? Why isn’t he handling that?”

Sometimes her sister was too nosy and asked inappropriate questions. “He’s home I guess. Mandy okay?”

“Yeah, she’s fine. She’s going to be jealous when she finds out you’re pregnant again. We’re thinking about adopting.”

“You?” Jasmine scoffed. “You’re her baby.”

Renee chuckled. “I know, right? You’d think she’d be happy. But she’s been on me again to reconsider adopting. I…I just don’t want a baby. I’ve never wanted one. Maybe an older child who’s potty trained and don’t require as much care.”

“News flash. Children always require a lot of care. The type of care simply changes as they grow older. Look at me. I’m across the country caring for my grown sons.”

“Yeah, I know that. But babies are helpless. I need the child to talk to me and tell me what they need. Mandy wants to raise the child from bottles and diapers. Ugh.”

Jasmine laughed. “Let me know when you guys find a match. I’ll throw you a baby shower.”

“Funny. Not. I haven’t decided yet.”

“You love Mandy. You’ve decided. There’s nothing wrong—” The front door opened. She stood as Tyrone and Tyrese entered. Their blank faces signaled something was wrong.

“Renee, the boys just came in, let me call you back.”

“Okay, give them a kiss for me.”

Jasmine disconnected and leaned against the wall, watching her sons walk in circles. Neither spoke or looked in her direction, which was strange.

“Hey,” she said after a period of silence.

Tyrone’s head whipped around as he stopped and looked toward her. She wasn’t sure he saw her until Tyrese spoke.

“Mom.” His voice sounded rusty, like a broken chain.

She frowned and walked toward them. “What’s going on?”

Tyrese moved to stand next to Tyrone. Although they weren’t identical twins, in this moment it appeared they operated as one. She glanced from one to the other, taking in the same stance, same blank faces, and same eyes blazing down at her. Her heart raced as her mind calculated what this meant.

Something else had happened.

A part of her was tired of all the new stuff and wanted to go in her room, get in bed, and wake up when everything was over. Wistfully, she waved goodbye to that part of herself, straightened her spine and gazed at her sons. They were kind, beautiful men who she was proud to call her own. But they were pig-headed Neanderthals who believed women should be cosseted at all costs. Case in point, she’d just discovered they were shape-shifters within the past few weeks. They didn’t think she could handle knowing they were different.

“What the hell happened? Don’t lie to me. Tell me what’s got the two of you so uptight and tell me right now,” she yelled, leaning forward.

Tyrone blinked.

Tyrese blinked. “Mom? Why are you yelling? We’re right here.”

She crossed her arms and tapped her foot. Her gaze swung from one son to the other, their eyes changed and they looked like her boys again. “You didn’t come pick me up tonight when I called. You picked me up when
he
called. Then you left when he told you to. Now you come in like zombies and ask me why I’m yelling. I’m pregnant
and
I’m pissed, that’s why I’m raising my voice. Now tell me what happened tonight that’s got you boys all twisted up.”

Tyrone walked toward the kitchen and stopped. Tyrese stood gazing at her. “Things are getting bad. There’s a group of rebel wolves going around killing human breeders and their pups.”

“Babies,” she corrected automatically.

“Okay, babies. There was a meeting tonight to discuss what should be done. Some of the Alphas think what the rebels are doing is okay.”

“What?” she gasped. Her hand flew to her stomach as she shook her head in denial. “No, that’s not right. It can’t be.”

“Mom?” Tyrone called out over his shoulder.

“I wish I could tell you different, but those bastards sat there and discussed the elimination of a group of people as if they were fucking gods,” Tyrese said.

“Language.” Her reprimand was half-hearted as she reeled from what he’d said.

“Mom?” Tyrone called again.

“Sorry,” Tyrese said, his tone meek.

“Mom?” Tyrone said, his voice rising.

“What?” she snapped, irritated that he wasn’t participating in what she considered a life-altering conversation.

“Did you order sex toys from online?”

“What?” Tyrese turned and walked to the table to look at the laptop.

Jasmine covered her face with her palm. “Shut that down.”

“Mom?” Tyrese sounded shocked.

What? They didn’t think she had needs. Well she did and she wasn’t going to be embarrassed about it either. “I said shut it down.” She strode to the laptop and pushed the button, turning it off. No one spoke, although she’d swear she heard a sniggle of laughter. But when she looked at them, their faces showed no signs of mirth.