Red: Through the Dark (10 page)

Can’t get enough shifters? I have a new series launching in September featuring shifters and babies! The first
Honeypot Babies
book comes out on September 13
th
and is called
The Polar Bear’s Baby
. Check out the first two chapters here or pre-order your copy on Amazon today!

Pre-order here!

***

Mia

“Hi Aidan, guess what? You’re going to be a dad.”

No, that won’t do.

It sounds too forced.

It sounds fake.

If I say it like that, he’s going to think it’s some sort of April Fool’s joke gone wrong, so I need to be better than that. I smooth back my dark hair and force a smile on my face. Then I try again.

“Aidan, remember that really crazy night we had two months ago? That was fun, wasn’t it? You know what’s even more fun? Having a baby! Pretty great, right?”

Only I can’t even finish my sentence because I’m rubbing my belly, staring at myself in the mirror, and I’m crying.

Again.

Fuck.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

What was it supposed to be like, then?

There’s a little voice in my head telling me I should have known better, should have done better. I should have been more careful. I should have watched out for something like this.

I shouldn’t have been so reckless.

Now, at 24, I’m about to be a mom.

And I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.

I try practicing my speech for Aidan a few more times, but it’s pointless. Eventually, I’m just going to have to go tell him. He has a right to know. I understand he’s not going to want to marry me or even date me, but that’s okay.

This isn’t about me.

It’s about our baby.

I glance over at the little white plastic stick one more time. It could be wrong, but I know it isn’t. Five more are in the trashcan and they all say the same thing: Mia is pregnant.

Knocked up.

Expecting.

Has a bun in the oven.

My brother is going to kill me when he finds out. That’s why I have to tell Aidan first. Aidan knows how to deal with Richard. They were roommates in college, after all. If anyone can help Richard calm down and see reason, it’s Aidan.

Part of me is horrified that Aidan is the father. I know all about the men from Honeypot, Colorado. I’ve heard all the rumors and I’ve heard more than enough from Richard to know sleeping with Aidan was a bad idea.

There’s another part of me, though, that’s relieved it’s Aidan. Aidan is a good man. He’s not going to abandon his child. It’s not the shifter way.

There’s no doubt that Aidan is a shifter. I don’t know what kind. I’ve never had the guts to ask. It’s kind of rude, isn’t it? Just going up to someone and asking, “By the way, what kind of animal are you?”

Still, maybe he’ll tell me now.

Maybe now that we have this connection between us.

I take a few more deep breaths, then head back into the bedroom. It’s time to pack my bags for Honeypot. I have a shifter to find.

***

Two months earlier

“So, do you come here often?” I turn toward the voice and then I look up.

And up.

The tall blonde hottie smiling down at me is freaking gorgeous with bright blue eyes and perfect teeth, but his sexy face isn’t going to make that line not awful.

“Is that the best you can do?” I say, taking a sip of my beer and looking away. I might look bored, but the truth is that I’m completely overwhelmed. When my brother said he was inviting a few of his college and grad school buddies to town to celebrate his 30
th
birthday, I had no idea just how many of his friends were
this
good looking.

The man laughs and takes a sip of his beer, but doesn’t leave.

“I suppose that was a bad one, wasn’t it?”

“Uh-huh,” I nod, looking around the bar. It’s a local one I’ve never been to, but that’s not a surprise. I’ve never been much of a drinker. Even going to an out-of-state college couldn’t change that.

Now I’m living in my hometown, working nights at a local diner while I look for something better.

Only, it’s been two years since I graduated, and “better” hasn’t come along yet. Sometimes I wonder if it ever will. At least I have my own place: a little apartment that’s all my own. I don’t have to depend on my parents for anything, which is the way it should be.

I’m an adult, after all.

I keep telling myself that’s the important thing.

Now, as I’m surrounded by my brother’s friends, I’m wondering why I didn’t leave Morris Creek and never come back.

Maybe moving back home was the wrong choice. Maybe it was the easy decision. It certainly worked out for Richard, though. My big brother moved back to Morris Creek, too, only he had a good reason.

He had a job offer.

Now Richard is the town psychologist. Yep. My big brother is the local shrink. Perfect for me, really. I have to work even harder to keep my many issues hidden, but that doesn’t stop him from trying to psychoanalyze me at every turn.

“So, how do you know Richard?” The man asks me, and I realize he’s still looking at me intently.

“I have a boyfriend,” I say, then I hop off my barstool and walk away. It’s only a few steps before I bump into someone. “Oops, excuse me,” I murmur, and start to move past him, but the man laughs.

“That was harsh,” he says. I look up at him.

Fuck me silly.

It’s another tall blonde – how many of them are here? – but this one has the brightest green eyes I’ve ever seen in my life. They look like emeralds.

“I…what?”

He jerks his head toward the bar, where the man I left behind is already sipping a fresh beer.

“You shot him down pretty hard.”

“Oh, well…” My voice trails off as I take in this green-eyed beauty. He has to know he’s completely gorgeous, right? “I’m not looking for anything serious right now.”

Sexypants takes a step forward and looks down at me.

“You’re in a bar, sweetheart. I don’t think he wants to marry you.”

“That’s not what I meant,” I say, only my voice seems to have dried up, and it’s hard to get the words out. Why is he standing so close to me?

“Tell me what you meant, then, darling.” He’s leaning down to my ear now, whispering the words. I should move. He’s being too forward. I should move and leave, but I can’t, and I don’t really want to.

“I don’t want to sleep with him,” I manage to whisper. He probably can’t even hear me over the noise in the bar. My heart is beating a million beats per second. Everything tells me this is a bad idea. I’m talking to a stranger who obviously knows my brother, who is here to celebrate his birthday, who is here having a good time. He’s only here for fun.

He’s not here to sweep me off my feet.

Then again, maybe that’s not what I need right now. Maybe I don’t think to think so seriously, so deeply about these things. Maybe it’s enough to get my mind off the disaster that is my life.

Maybe it’s enough to just find someone to spend time with.

Maybe sex is enough for tonight.

“Why’s that sweetheart? You got a boyfriend hiding somewhere around here?” The man’s body is pressing against mine now. We’re chest-to-chest, and each time I breathe, my breasts rise and fall, pressing against him.

I’m very aware of every part of my body, of every bit of my skin.

“No,” I squeak out.

“Then dance with me.”

He pulls me to the center of the room. The dance floor is packed, but Mr. Gorgeous doesn’t seem to mind. He holds my waist and moves his body like he’s a professional dancer instead of one of my brother’s friends.

He’s my brother’s friend.

I keep trying to tell myself, but despite the warning bells going off in my bed, I’m caught up in the moment, swept into everything that’s happening.

“How do you know Richard?” I manage to ask. I have to stand on my tip-toes and yell into his ear because the music is so loud.

“We were roommates in college,” he says. “For a year.”

I quickly go through the list of people my brother lived with. I can name most of his roommates and I’ve met all of them at various functions over the years except for one.

“You must be Aidan, then,” I say, and the look of surprise on his face delights me.

“Lucky guess,” he says, quickly collecting himself. “How’d you know my name?”

“Richard and I are pretty close,” I tell him, but I start laughing when I see the look of concern on his face. He thinks I’m Richard’s girlfriend. Gross. “He’s my brother.”

I wonder if this will scare Aidan off. Am I off-limits because I’m the little sister? Most guys would run away. Most guys would be scared.

Only Aidan doesn’t seem to mind. Instead of looking afraid, he just laughs.

“Of course you are. I know all about you, Mia.”

Now it’s my turn to look surprised. All about me, really?

“Only good things, I hope.” Aidan grips my hips harder, sliding his hands just under the hem of my shirt. The feeling of his hands against my hips makes me excited. My body is lighting up under Aidan’s touch and there’s a part of me that hopes he won’t stop.

“I heard all about Tommy Miller and Darin Hopkinton,” he says. He leans down to tell me and I can feel his lips brush against my ear. Fuck. I want him to take my ear into his mouth and bite me.

“I can’t believe Richard told you about them,” I protest. My high school boyfriends weren’t bad people, but my brother hated them. He was thrilled when we broke up. Instead of trying to console me when I cried over them, he told me being single was a healthier way to live.

For fuck’s sake.

“Oh, he told me all sorts of stories,” Aidan continues. The song ends and he leads me from the dance floor. He takes my hand and pulls me through the crowded room until we’re at the back. All the booths are full, so we simply stand in the corner.

Well, I stand in the corner.

Aidan blocks me in.

Only I don’t feel scared with Aidan. Something tells me he doesn’t want to hurt me, at least in any way I wouldn’t like.

“What else did he tell you?”

“He told me you like to go skinny dipping with boys who are older than you,” Aidan leans down and kisses my neck.

“He told me you like to make out with your boyfriends in the woods and get caught by the police,” Aidan kisses the other side of my neck.

“He told me you like older boys, dangerous boys,” Aidan looks at me in the eyes, waiting for something from me.

Anything.

I nod, and he kisses me, devouring my mouth, owning me. He kisses like some sort of beast and he tastes just as wild. Somewhere in the back of my head, I know I’m at my brother’s party and shouldn’t just go around making out with his friends, but I’m too far gone to care.

Why the hell didn’t Richard ever introduce us before?

Aidan is exactly my type.

He’s fucking perfect.

He’s everything I want.

My head clears and I push him back far enough to meet his eyes.

“Let’s get out of here,” I tell him. “I live around the corner.”

Mia

Present Day

Honeypot, Colorado is about a two-hour drive from Morris Creek, which means if I leave early tomorrow morning, I can be home before nightfall. I doubt Aidan and I are going to talk for very long, but I at least feel like I should tell him in person.

Oh, he gave me his phone number after that night, but I never called. That wasn’t the plan. I didn’t want a real relationship.

Aidan was supposed to be a fling, a surprise. He was supposed to be one night only and no strings attached.

Well, he definitely attached his strings and now we’re going to be pretty fucking close for the next two decades, at least.

I pack a little bag in case I hit bad weather and need to spend the night. You never know what might happen. I don’t particularly want to spend any time in Honeypot, but I like to be prepared. I toss in an extra outfit, a spare toothbrush, and some hair products, then deposit the bag neatly in my trunk.

When I’m back inside, I make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and try to decide what to tell my family. I wish for the millionth time today that I could have an alcoholic beverage, but I’m tired: not stupid.

I’ve only known about my baby for a few hours, but already I’m wondering if it’s going to be a boy or a girl. I’m wondering if my baby is going to look like me or Aidan.

I’m wondering if it’s going to be a shifter.

With a sigh, I lean my head on the table. That’s the real problem, isn’t it? Aidan is from Honeypot. I know all about Honeypot. My brother has spent more than enough time talking about the shifters he’s met and all the weird problems they have to deal with on a daily basis.

Apparently being a different species living on Earth isn’t exactly easy.

Apparently fearing for your life and wondering if you’ll be poached at any time or studied for science isn’t easy.

Richard can be a stick in the mud, but he’s a good person, and even though he practices in Morris Creek, he travels to Honeypot once or twice a month to offer counseling services to shifters.

Aidan really helped him during his time at university and I don’t think Richard will ever forget that.

At least I know that if I encounter any weird emotional problems from raising a shifter baby, my brother can help guide me through it.

I finally finish my food, take a warm shower, and collapse in my bed. I don’t feel nauseous yet and my boobs don’t hurt. I don’t have any weird cramping or spotting. Absolutely nothing is wrong with me and I have no visible signs of being pregnant. The only reason I took the test was because my period was late.

When my cycle tracker app on my phone notified me I was late, I ignored it. I figured it was a fluke. I thought it would show up the next day, or the next, but I finally figured it out.

Only I didn’t want to think about what it meant, so I just waited.

Finally, I couldn’t wait any longer. Finally, I realized that if I was, in fact, pregnant, I would need to start seeking prenatal care. I might not have planned on being a single mother, but I’m going to be a good one. I’m going to love this baby. I’m going to do anything and everything it takes to be a good mom.

And the first thing I have to do is find Aidan in Honeypot and give him the news.

He’s going to be a daddy.

***

Despite my good intentions to leave early, I don’t actually hit the road until 10:00, which puts me in Honeypot at noon. I’ve never actually been to Honeypot and I have no idea what Aidan does for a living, but I’m sure there must be someone who can tell me.

My first stop is at a little diner called Bumble’s. Cute name. I park my car and lock it, then head inside to see if I can get something to eat and, if I can scrounge up some luck, some information on where to find Aidan.

Every head turns when I enter the diner and I suddenly freeze, realizing they must not get many outsiders who visit. Dammit. Maybe they won’t be willing to help me find Aidan, after all. The people in the diner don’t look scary, but I suddenly realize that I’m the only human in a restaurant full of shifters, and I can’t quite handle it.

What if I do something wrong?

What if I offend them somehow?

Are they going to attack me?

I’m going to be a mom.

And that’s when it hits me for real. I’m going to be a mom and I’m going to need these people. I’m going to need people who will help me figure out what it takes to raise a shifter baby. I’m going to need help from others like my baby. I’m going to need help learning what it takes to be a mom.

Fuck. I’m going to be a mom.

A waitress is at the back of the diner and calls out to me, but I’m already out the door and back in my car, driving down the road. Tears are streaming down my face and I don’t know what the hell I’m even doing.

I should have just called Aidan. Why did I think coming to Honeypot was a good idea? It’s not a good idea. It’s a horrible a idea.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spot a little wooden sign on the side of the road that says BEAR’S BAKERY. There’s an arrow pointing down a little dirt road and I realize that I could really, really go for a slice of pie right about now.

I turn sharply and head down the bumpy dirt road, silently chastising myself for driving too fast at first. Morris Creek is a small town, but Honeypot is even smaller. It’s going to take some getting used to.

There are trees on either side of the road and I can’t see a damn thing but the road. Finally, it curves to the right, and there’s a cute little building. I stop in front of it and get out.

It’s a little blue cottage with white shutters and a big white door. The sign on the front says Bear’s Bakery and there’s a little wooden cut-out of a white polar bear on the door. I’m guessing the owner is a bear shifter, but despite the obvious nature of the building, I can’t help but think it’s adorable. What a charming little place.

About 30 yards behind the cottage is a bigger house that perfectly matches the cottage. I’m guessing that’s where the owner lives. I’m picturing a cute little retired polar bear man with his polar bear wife and their polar bear babies.

This is the perfect place to retire and bake. It’s the perfect place to relax after being in the city.

It would be the perfect place to raise a baby.

I can’t get ahead of myself, though. I don’t even know if Aidan is going to want to be involved in our baby’s life. I can’t be that presumptuous. There’s always the chance that he’ll tell me to get lost, that he won’t want to be bothered with something as mundane as raising a child.

Still, a little part of me hopes he’ll be willing to be part of our child’s life. There’s so much I won’t be able to understand when it comes to raising a shifter baby. Having Aidan around to explain things, at least some of the time, would be perfect.

But it was just one night.

It was never meant to be serious.

Before I burst into tears again, I realize I’m just standing in front of the building, so I head up to the door and push it open. The smell of freshly baked goods overwhelms me, and my stomach growls.

“Just a minute,” a voice from the back calls out, but my heart goes cold. It’s not the voice of an old, retired bear.

It’s the voice of Aidan.

Aidan is the polar bear.

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