Call of the Wolf (26 page)

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Beth wasn't at all happy when Abby insisted she was well enough to move back into her own house, but she'd seen for herself that Abby was getting around almost normally. She still got a little breathless when she climbed the stairs to the room where she'd been convalescing. She was still, obviously, a little stiff, but she didn't need nursing and Beth knew it.

"The guys'll expect to find you here when they get back,” she said instead of trying to argue that Abby wasn't well enough to take care of herself yet.

Abby gave her a look. “I think they can probably find their way over to my place from here,” she said wryly.

Beth pursed her lips. “You know that isn't what I meant. Seth said I was to watch you and take care of you."

The comment stirred a mixture of emotions inside of Abby. As much as she appreciated Seth's concern for her, though, she had no intention of allowing him to think she was just going to follow orders all the time—assuming he meant to stick around when he got back.

She still had the uneasy feeling that that was a big ‘if', though, despite what Beth had told her.

Well—partly
because
of the things Beth had told her.

Apparently, she'd been shot before the battle was settled between the ‘contenders’ for her. She didn't see that that mattered when she was the one who ultimately decided.

Anyway, it was sort of a moot point now.

She was pregnant. She still hadn't fully accepted it despite the fact that the doctors had found the evidence in her blood work.

The big problem was that she didn't know which one of the guys was the father—which one of the men she'd begun to think of as
hers
was the father.

It had been dismaying, to say the very least, to discover that, contrary to what she'd thought, Seth, Cameron, Adrian, and Jerico didn't belong to the
same
pack. Unlike them—where getting any kind of information about them in particular and the Wolfen in general was like pulling teeth—Beth had spent her entire convalescence filling her in on everything she'd never known about Wolfen—and about the guys, although she didn't know Cameron, Adrian, or Jerico nearly as well as did Seth.

Beth, as it turned out, was what was considered a ‘friend’ of the Wolfen—a human friend. She wasn't actually a Mrs., either. Well, not at all. She'd been the late Mr. Parker's lover, and he'd been a Were. She would gladly have been his mate except that she'd never been able to bear a child for him.

It made Abby all the more grateful to realize she was pregnant and, at the same time, made her feel guilty for feeling that way.

At least, since she was pregnant, she
was
mated—with one of them.

She didn't really want to think about that, but it was impossible not to. She was excited, regardless of which of them had fathered the baby, and unhappy at the same time, because she didn't know which one—and because, from what Beth had told her, all of them were Alpha males and had their own packs. When they returned, when they learned about the situation, she didn't know what would happen.

The one thing she'd wanted, though, wasn't likely to happen. She didn't belong to ‘her’ guys and they didn't belong to her. She belonged to whichever one of them had fathered the baby and
his
pack.

Of course, she could still refuse, but she'd given her word that she would abide by the pack laws and the pack laws were pretty clear on that subject. She was mated. The father would expect to have paternal rights, would
demand
them, and she certainly wasn't against that. She
wanted
to be with the father, wanted her baby to have two parents.

But it meant giving up Seth, or Cameron, or Adrian, or Jerico and it made her miserable to think about it in those terms.

Those thoughts detracted from the excitement she would otherwise have felt about the baby. She loved them—
all
of them. No matter which one she was mated with, she was going to be heartbroken to leave the others, or have them leave her. She didn't think she could pretend any differently, even to spare the feelings of her mate, and that seemed guaranteed to ruin any chance of a relationship with
any
of them.

All in all, the situation was just one big mess and she had no idea how she was going to resolve it.

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Chapter Twenty

Abby was napping on her couch, trying to recover from her first day back at school when she heard a knock on her front door. Wondering if it was one of the men Seth had left to watch her, she sat up and got off the couch, weaving a slightly drunken path toward the front door. For several moments after she'd opened the door, she simply stared at the men standing on her front porch blankly. Abruptly, like a dam breaking, joy filled her, breaking across her face in a smile so broad it made her cheeks ache.

"You're back!” she exclaimed breathlessly, launching herself at the Seth, who stood in the forefront.

She had a split second to register the fact that their expressions were sober, to feel a doubt sink in, and then she felt Seth's arms surrounding her. His hold was firm, engulfing her in his warmth, but she felt a tension in him, as well, realized he wasn't squeezing her as enthusiastically as she had him.

Refusing to acknowledge it, she pulled away after a moment, stepping back and holding the door wide to welcome them inside. The moment Jerico, trailing up the rear, had cleared the door, she shoved it closed and threw her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. “Oh! I missed y'all so much!” she exclaimed, pulling away from Jerico after a moment only far enough to catch his face between her hands and pull him down for a kiss.

She felt his uncertainty in his hesitation, but he yielded to her determination after on the briefest of pauses, kissing her with enthusiasm. When she pulled away from him, she smiled up at him. “I love the new bedroom suit you bought me!"

He blushed faintly and grinned. “It was the one you liked best?"

She chuckled. “You know it was!” Pulling away from him after a moment, she hugged and kissed Adrian, thanking him for his gift and then Cameron. Seth was looking more than a little piqued with her by the time she got back to him, but she ignored that, too, and kissed him.

She'd decided she wasn't going to play favorites. She loved them and she was going to make that clear
before
they got around to trying to sort things out.

"Did y'all just get back?” she asked with determined cheerfulness when she'd made the rounds.

"A few minutes ago,” Seth said neutrally. “I thought you'd be with Beth Parker."

A flicker of irritation went through her. “I'm fine now,” she responded dismissively, urging them toward the living room by grabbing one of Seth's arms and one of Cameron's. “I started back to work today. Are y'all hungry? Thirsty? Did everything go alright? Beth said y'all had some business to take care of, but I didn't think y'all would be gone so long!"

They'd managed to make it to the living room in that time. Abby waited long enough to make sure they intended to sit down before she claimed a corner of the couch herself.

She discovered when she'd settled that all of them still looked tense and uncomfortable despite the fact that they'd sprawled with the appearance of ease on the couch and chairs around the room. Butterflies of uneasiness began to flutter in her belly when none of them spoke.

She kept her smile firmly in place with an effort. “I should take something out for supper. I didn't know when to expect y'all to get back, but I got steaks to celebrate. It won't take long to thaw them."

Seth and Cameron, who'd settled on either side of her both caught at her as she attempted to rise.

"It can wait,
chère
,” Cameron murmured gently. “How are you really doin', eh?"

Abby felt her face heat beneath his piercing gaze, wondering if it was obvious to all of them how hard she'd been working to try to sound gay and unconcerned. “I'm fine now, really. Not quite a hundred percent, but better every day."

"Beth took good care of you?” Seth asked.

Abby turned to look at him. “You know she did ... fussed over me like a mother hen, bless her heart! What did she tell you?"

Seth shrugged. “Just that you'd insisted on moving back over here."

She studied his face, but she couldn't see any indication that Beth had told them her news. Unless she was mistaken, that ruled that information out as the source of their seriousness. A flutter of anxiety went through her. She desperately wanted to tell them, and yet she was keenly aware that it wasn't going to be exactly joyful news to them under the circumstances. “Why don't I go grab everybody something to drink? I bought beer!” she added enticingly.

Of course Beth had told her that beer, due to their rapid metabolism, barely had any effect on them at all—which was why she'd made sure she had two cases chilling in the refrigerator. Surely that was enough to mellow all of them? The trick was going to be getting them to drink it and keeping them distracted long enough for it to have any effect.

She figured the longer she could avoid a confrontation, though, the better.

"Beth din’ say nothin’ ‘bout why we gone,
chère
?"

Abby turned to look at Cameron uneasily. “No. I assumed she didn't know."

Seth took her hand, drawing her attention to him. He studied her face. She couldn't quite interpret his expression.

"We couldn't take any more chances with you,” he said finally.

Abby frowned at him in confusion. It was so far from what she'd been expecting that it took a few moments to readjust her mind set. Even when she realized he was talking about the attacks on her, she found her thoughts scattering from one possibility to another. Uppermost in her mind was the fear that he was trying to say that they'd made arrangements with the Feds to move her somewhere else. She swallowed a little convulsively. “You said ... you said I could stay here ... with y'all.” She scanned his face a little anxiously. “I guess ... nothing was really settled at the gathering? Is that why y'all left? To talk with the council?"

Seth studied her anxious face uncomfortably. “We did speak with the council, but that isn't why we left."

Suddenly certain she didn't want to hear whatever it was Seth was trying to tell her so gently, she tried to pull her hand free. He tightened his hold. “We ... eliminated the threat to you, Abby."

Abby stared at him blankly. “I don't understand,” she said finally. “Eliminated? How?"

"We took the head off the serpent,” Cameron growled. “Literally."

Adrian made a sound of irritation. “Christ, Cam!"

Abby looked from one to the other in confusion. “The serpent?” Even as she echoed Cameron, however, it hit her like a ton of bricks. She'd seen the newspaper article about Mikhail's unexplained death. He'd been found deep in the woods miles from the prison after he'd escaped from the bus transporting him.

His death had been attributed to wild animals.

She felt the color leave her face. “Mikhail?” she asked a little faintly.

Adrian's expression closed. When she looked around at the men, she saw their expressions were either closed as Adrian's had become, or taut. She licked her dry lips. “They don't know it was y'all, do they?” she asked, fear lacing her voice.

Surprise flickered in Seth's eyes. “No. They don't."

Abby swallowed with an effort, tightening her hold on his hand. “You're sure?” she asked anxiously, struggling with the sudden urge to burst into tears.

"We had all the paperwork in order when we took him from the prison. They're damned unhappy he managed to ‘escape,’ but there's no reason for them to suspect we had anything to do with his death."

Giving up the effort at control, Abby surged toward him, wrapping her arms around him and sobbing against his chest. “Promise?"

Seth stared down at her a moment and finally wrapped his arms around her. “They aren't going to trace it back to us,” he said firmly. Or any of the others, for that matter. Fortunately, Mikhail had decided to threaten them with retribution by naming off his cohorts most likely to track them down and avenge his death, not that they were worried about that, but it gave them a list of potential threats to Abby. It had taken a while to track them all down—and the hit men who'd been contacted directly with the contracts, but they were comfortably certain there wasn't anyone they needed to worry about coming after Abby anymore. “You're safe."

Abby sniffed, collecting herself at that. “I know that,” she said irritably. “I was safe before y'all went off to ... take the head off the serpent! You told me you'd keep me safe. I'm worried about you! All of you! You're sure? Absolutely sure?"

Seth studied her with a mixture of bemusement and annoyance. She could see he didn't particularly like her misgivings. No doubt, she thought wryly, he saw it as a lack of confidence in his abilities instead of the concern it was.

Men and their egos!

Cupping her face in his palms, he dragged her upward for a kiss that began as a gentle caress to sooth and escalated to something far warmer. She thought it might have progressed even further but, almost as if some thought had abruptly struck him, he ended the kiss. He didn't release her. He held her face, his gaze piercing, questioning. “You can have your life back, Abby,” he said, almost harshly.

Still more than a little woozy from the kiss, Abby merely stared back at him in confusion. Slowly, she realized what he was saying.

It was strange that the suggestion filled her with far more dismay than happiness. She pulled away from him, studying his face for any clue that he didn't want her to go and finally turned to look at the others.

She discovered it was as impossible to read their thoughts as it had been Seth's.

She didn't know what to say. Did they want her to stay or not? If she whined and reminded them that they'd promised she could stay with them would they feel like she didn't appreciate the danger they'd put themselves in, the terrible risks they'd taken, to make sure she was safe from Mikhail?

She swallowed a little convulsively. “Is that why y'all did it?” she asked finally. “So I could go back?"

"Yes,” Seth said harshly.

She glanced at him sharply, wondering if the anger sharpening his voice was because she'd questioned it or if there was even a little bit of reluctance for her to leave. Hurt filled her and then anger. She got off the couch, and paced toward the door to put some distance between them and herself before she turned to face them. The urge to tell them she was pregnant assailed her again, but she beat it back. If she told them, no doubt they'd insist she stay, but what would that tell her? Nothing except what she already knew. They were in what Beth had called ‘mating mode'—primed to procreate. It wasn't going to tell her whether they cared anything about her beyond her breeding capabilities, though.

She was still tempted. It would seal the deal. She wouldn't have to ask them to let her stay.

She met their gazes one by one, trying to think what to say. Tell them she loved them? Or prove it, she wondered? Doubts still swarmed in her mind. On the one hand, she felt that showing them the proof of her feelings for them would be the equivalent of trying to convince them by telling them about the baby. On the other—she didn't want to give up without a fight. Maybe, if they realized she loved them, they would understand that she wanted to stay and work something out.

Maybe part of the reason they weren't sure they wanted her anymore was because, as a human, she was such a pathetically weak creature that she wasn't anything but a burden? Maybe they thought, even though they'd risked their lives and their freedom to eliminate the threat to her life that she was
still
always going to be a burden?

"There's something I need to show you,” she said finally.

All four looked surprised and then both puzzled and angry.

"What?” Cameron asked after a prolonged moment.

She shook her head. “Not here. We need to take a drive.” Turning, she headed down the hallway toward the back door without waiting to see if they would follow her.

Seth's vehicle, she saw, was parked in Beth's rear parking lot. Climbing into her own car without waiting to see if they'd follow her, she started it and headed down the driveway.

She'd reached the corner before the pack, now on their motorcycles, caught up with her. Seth signaled for her to stop. Ignoring him, pretending she hadn't seen him park his bike and get off, she whipped around the corner and headed toward the fairgrounds.

She'd pissed them off. She could see that in the expressions on their faces when she glanced at them in the rearview mirror.

Well, that was just too bad! She was angry herself. She knew it wasn't their fault that she'd fallen for all of them. They'd been trying to win her over for themselves—and their packs—but it didn't really matter in the end. She'd
still
fallen for all of them. It had
still
put her in a hell of a quandary.

And she
still
didn't know the father of her baby.

She was almost certain, now, that it was Seth's. It was still too early for her to be absolutely sure even though her own senses had sharpened dramatically in the last several weeks. Undoubtedly, it wasn't just her failing, though. She hadn't seen any indication that any of the four had even sensed that she was pregnant, let alone detected the baby's connection.

Of course, she'd only kissed them.

She'd kissed them because she'd wanted to, but she'd more than half hoped that they'd
know
when she did, that she'd see the certainty in
someone
's eyes.