Shifting Destinies: A Paranormal Interracial Story (HIdden Hills Shifters Book 3) (11 page)

When she entered the room, she was delighted to see Piper.

“Hey,” Piper said. “How do you feel?”

“I’m sick in the morning, but I’m getting through.” Emmaline nodded to the ultrasound machine. “Will you be able to tell the sex of the child?”

Piper looked down at the paper again. “No, it’s too soon.”

That might be just as well. If she ended up having a little boy, Wade might feel obligated to stay with her for the sake of the baby, as he possibly thought a wolf having a bear would be difficult. Even she wasn’t sure about it.

Emmaline hopped on the table and stretched out. Piper picked up the tube of gel. “I need the deets.”

Em had promised to fill her in. “His name is Wade and he’s a bear shifter.”

Her brows rose. “Is this the same Wade you had your date with?”

“Yes.”

“A bear shifter, huh. Is that a problem?”

Emmaline had given that a lot of thought. She personally didn’t care if they were the same breed or not, but her family was a different matter. She should probably tell them to go to hell, but she did love them, despite their faults. “Yes and no.”

“Hmm.” She waited a beat, and when Emmaline didn’t answer, she continued. “Does Wade know he’s going to be a father?”

“Yes.”

“What does he think?” Piper opened Emmaline’s gown and squirted the cool gel on her belly before running the wand across her stomach.

“He thankfully hasn’t said anything about marriage, but he wants to move in with me. I’m afraid if I let him do that, he’ll expect more.”

“More?”

“More say-so on how I do things. He’ll end up telling me that I should take it easy. Next thing I know, he’ll be buying baby furniture.”

Piper chuckled. “That doesn’t sound half bad to me. Trust me when I say I hear a lot of stories from pregnant women about how their husbands or boyfriends want nothing to do with the child. It’s very sad. You’re lucky.”

Emmaline glanced at the ceiling. “Maybe. I just don’t want him to feel obligated to me.”

Piper moved the ultrasound wand around and black dots appeared on her screen—dots that made no sense to her.

“You’re not really giving him a chance,” Piper said.

“I am, too. I work for him now, so we’ll be seeing each other all the time.”

“I might be a human, but I’ve heard a lot about this mating stuff.”

“Like what?” Em was curious what others thought about this phenomenon.

“Apparently, the physical attraction between you and your mate is beyond intense. Is that true?”

“I never said he was my mate. But as far as the sex is concerned, it’s the best I’ve ever had.”

Piper wiped off the wand, set it aside then pulled down Emmaline’s gown. “Not that you’ve asked my opinion, but it seems to me that you two have a great start. Hell, girl, if he wants to move in with you and be part of your life you ought to consider it. That is, if you like him.”

That was the problem. She liked Wade too much. “We’ll see.”

*     *     *

Once Emmaline left
the doctor’s office, she headed to the grocery store, deciding that she really needed to start eating better. A baby needed a lot of nutrients. The problem was that once she stepped inside the store, nothing looked appetizing, but not wanting to leave empty-handed, she bought fresh vegetables, fruit, and two packages of meat. No processed food for her baby.

As she neared her car, a man stepped out from behind his. Oh shit. It was Mr. Drake, the man wanting to know where his wife, Mahalia, was.

He approached her. “Well, lookie who’s here.”

“Mr. Drake, I don’t know where your wife is, and even if I did, I wouldn’t be able to tell you.”

He stepped closer, straightened, and bared his teeth. Like that would frighten her? He must not have a clue about her shifter status. Who said humans were the smart ones?

“I don’t believe you.” He swatted at one of the bags of groceries in her hand, and the hit was strong enough to break it open. Oranges, apples, and a package of fresh meat rolled onto the ground.

She saw a red. Bending her knees, she lowered the other package to the asphalt before standing again. “I’ll tell you for the last time. I don’t know where your wife is. Please leave.” Two of the oranges continued to roll under another car.

Between the guilt she had from speaking with Piper about Wade, not to mention the fact she was missing him, she’d reach the end of her patience. As Mr. Drake stepped closer—ready to do what, she didn’t know—Em shifted. The look of astonishment and fear in his eyes almost made her laugh, but she was too mad to do anything but attack his ass. She leapt at him, but he was able to move out of the way before she could do any damage.

Screaming, Mr. Drake twisted around and ran out of the lot. Emmaline chased him a few feet, growled, and then stopped. His ass wasn’t worth it. In a flash, she changed back and then retrieved her food, mumbling and cursing the whole time. She rubbed her stomach, hoping the change hadn’t harmed the baby.

When she collected her food, she was so shaken that even after she made it to her car, she didn’t start the engine right away. Her hand wouldn’t stop trembling, nor could she calm her breathing. If she didn’t need to put the groceries away, she would have driven to the shelter and spoken with Francis. Instead, she called her volunteer boss and told her what happened. Emmaline left out the part about shifting and chasing the man.

“Emmaline, I am so sorry. I’ll call the police and have them pick him up for assault.”

“That’s okay. I don’t think he’ll bother me again.”

“Nonsense. We can’t have the men harassing our workers. It’s not good for anyone.”

Emmaline didn’t want to make matters worse for Francis. “Thank you.”

Knowing she’d done all that she could, Emmaline started the car and headed home.

Chapter Ten

W
ade had a
rough two days in Pittsburgh. It wasn’t the work, it was trying to figure out what to do about Emmaline. He understood that she didn’t like being told how to run her life. Hell, he couldn’t blame her. He really did understand that it would be hard for her to accept him as her mate. From what she’d said, her parents would reject him, which had to be hard for her. He could live with that though. Right now, Emmaline and the baby were his main concern.

Once he landed in Asheville Sunday morning, he headed straight to the office. There were a few things he needed to pick up before he stopped over at her place. It might not be wise to visit, but he couldn’t help himself. After being away from her for so long, his need had escalated to the point of distraction. He could only hope it was the same for her.

From his desk, he retrieved the flash drive that he’d forgotten to take with him. Before he headed out, he stopped in her office to locate a folder, and the light on the landline was flashing. Thinking the message might be for him, he pressed the button and listened. “Hi, Emmaline. This is Francis.” Wade should probably click it off, but he didn’t. The message continued. “I couldn’t remember if this was your cell phone number or your work number, but I wanted to let you know that the police took Mr. Drake in; he won’t be bothering you again.”

Anger ripped through him fast so fast he was tempted to fling the phone off the desk. Wade wanted to know who the hell Mr. Drake was, and why the fuck he’d bothered Emmaline. This was all the more reason for him to be with her. God, his Emmaline was stubborn. In that regard, she was very much like a bear.

He had no choice now. Wade clicked off the office lights and headed out to his parents’ home to tell them of his plans. Emmaline would not be happy that he was about to barge in on her life, but too bad. It was what needed to be done to keep her and the baby safe.

It took him less than an hour to greet his parents, toss a few toiletries into a second suitcase, and drive back to town. Given the early hour, he stopped by a fast food restaurant to pick up some ham and egg croissants, as well as two cups of coffee. It wasn’t his first choice of food, but it was the best he could do on short notice.

When he reached her house, fortunately, her car sat in the drive. With both suitcases and the food bag in hand, along with the bag containing the coffee secure between his teeth, he traipsed up the front porch and set everything down. He probably would be waking her given it was so early, but perhaps she’d be in a better mood if her defenses were down.

He knocked and waited patiently for her to answer. A minute later, an adorable looking Emmaline pulled open the door, dressed in an oversized T-shirt. Her hair was rumpled, and she couldn’t have looked cuter if she tried.

“Wade? Why are you here?” She glanced from his face to what he’d brought. He couldn’t tell if there was anger behind her confused look or not.

Without answering, he handed her the coffee and food sack, picked up his two bags and marched in. “Where shall I put these?”

“What are you doing?”

“What does it look like? I’m moving in.” Her home was as tiny as he remembered. The kitchen and dining room were on the right and the living room on the left. In front of him sat a hallway, and it looked like there were maybe three rooms off it. Damn, but the small size would make this quite hard. He’d been here before, but his mind had not been on the layout. “Which one is your room?”

By now Emmaline had perked up. “You can’t stay here.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re not invited.”

Wade held up his palms. “Fine.” He plucked the food bags from her fingers, stepped over to the dining room table, and sat down. “We should have some breakfast and talk about this.”

Emmaline shook her head but took the seat across from him. “Since you aren’t going to leave, I guess I can eat.” She looked up at him. “You’re lucky you know.”

“How’s that?”

“If you weren’t a bear shifter, I’d shift and attack you.”

Emmaline sure had a sense of humor. “Call me Mr. Lucky. So how was the rest of the week? Did everything go okay?” He wanted to divert her attention away from his plans. Wade had called her on Friday to ask about the doctor’s appointment, but all she’d said was that it had been fine. Before he could ask for any details, she’d received another call.

“Yes. No emergencies.”

He pulled out the croissants, and handed her one, along with a cup of coffee, and waited for her to tell him about the altercation with the angry Mr. Drake. When she said nothing, Wade decided to bring it up himself. “When I stopped back at the office before coming here, you had a message on the land line. It was from Francis.” Her face paled. “Care to tell me what happened?”

“What did she say?” She passed him her coffee. “I’m not supposed to have too much caffeine.”

Damn. He forgot. “Francis said that Mr. Drake was taken in by the police.”

She got up, filled a glass full of water, and returned. “It was nothing, really.”

“If the police had to intervene, I’m thinking the offense was serious.”

She inhaled and then proceeded to tell him about Mahalia Drake and the trouble Emmaline had with the woman’s husband. He’d accosted Em not once but twice. “I never felt as if I was in danger. I shifted, growled, and ran after him. If I had wanted to hurt him I would have.”

Wade liked her spunk, especially the shifting part. “As long as you weren’t hurt.”

“I wasn’t.”

He wondered what else she hadn’t told him about. They both finished their meal in silence. Emmaline was pale and her hand was trembling. He didn’t like it one bit. “I’ll toss these things in the trash. Why don’t you get dressed?”

She didn’t argue and headed down the hallway. He cleaned up the table and looked around. Her kitchen was a small-galley style, with old, but functional appliances. Clearly, he hadn’t paid attention the first time he’d been there. He glanced over at the closed front door and remembered the amazing sex they’d had against it. His cock hardened as he thought about taking her again. Christ, when he was near her, he lost all ability to control himself.

He’d had to use every ounce of his willpower to stay away from her during work, but that was because he didn’t want her to think he was only interested in her for sex—which he wasn’t—at least not all the time.