Sold To The Bears (A BBW Paranormal Romance Book 1) (17 page)

A little heat instantly rose to my cheeks, and Fiona threw her head back, laughing.

"Well, it's not like it's some big, huge secret. The family cabin is big, yes...but not so big that people don't hear little things sometimes. The three of you can be awfully loud."

Now my face flamed, because I knew that Grant, Adrian, and I
could
be awfully loud. I especially could be awfully loud. I just hadn't thought any of that loudness could possibly be audible in other parts of the palatial cabin-mansion.

Fiona laughed again, clearly delighting in my discomfort. I rolled my eyes at her, not even caring that the action was probably more than a bit immature.

But suddenly, I stopped in mid-eye roll and slowly sat up a little straighter in my chair.

"Oh, my gosh. Oh...." I sank back in my chair again, with a sinking feeling in my stomach as well. "Oh, no."

I absolutely could not believe that what I was thinking right then had never even crossed my mind before.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Leaning forward on her bar stool a little, still with her legs crossed, clasping one knee, Fiona frowned at me. "'Oh, no' what?"

I gave my head a little shake, snorting. "So stupid. Cannot believe this is literally the first time this has crossed my mind. What if I actually
do
get pregnant sometime soon? How are we even going to tell whose baby it is?" Sighing, I gave my head another quick shake. "How...how awkward. To say the very least."

I supposed it hadn't crossed my mind because even though fertility, which had been in steep decline post-Freeze, was now on the rise again, a woman becoming pregnant after only a month or two of intimacy was still kind of a rare thing. It just hadn't occurred to me to expect otherwise. Not to mention, my mind had been on other things since I'd arrived in Sun Creek.

Fiona gave me a little smile, her pearly teeth sparkling in late-day sun coming in through the wide studio windows. "It wouldn't really be awkward at all, though. And that's because if you
do
get pregnant, you can find out right away who the father of the baby is. I do mean
right away
. You can find out probably the very day you get a positive pregnancy test.”

"But how? How is that even possible?"

"Easy. The scientists in Ashcrest developed a blood test that can determine paternity from the moment a woman is pregnant enough to turn a test positive. Now, our doctors here in Sun Creek have the technology, too.

“So, on the chance you do get pregnant soon, it really won't be a big deal, and maybe it'd even help you make the choice you're stressing about. Maybe fate will kind of pick Grant or Adrian
for
you."

I thought for a few moments, mulling over her words. I couldn't deny that there was something kind of appealing about the prospect of fate making my decision for me.

At the same time, there was something kind of unsettling, even vaguely panic-inducing, about it as well.

Just then, the city's alarm sirens blared for the second time that day, startling me out of my thoughts. Kind of startling me into some rational thinking, too.

Looking at Fiona, I raised my voice to be heard above the sirens. "Honestly, I know there's a chance that fate could step in, but it's really a very small one. More than likely, after I finally make my choice between Grant and Adrian, it'll be a year or two, maybe even more, before I become pregnant.

“So, I guess I'm back to square one with a choice to make. Which is fine. At least I have more time to think and get to know Grant and Adrian even better. Because I know no one's going to press me to make a decision with all this wolf stuff still going on."

While the guards outside the studio shifted into bear form, growling, I got up to lock the front door, as Grant had told me to always do whenever the sirens sounded.

For the next half-hour or so, until the sirens stopped, Fiona and I continued work on different projects silently, not really able to talk any further because of all the noise. On our way home, we didn't really talk much, either, both of us having splitting headaches because of the sirens.

That night, I waited up for Grant and Adrian. My headache was gone, and my thoughts were now focused on picking up where the three of us had left off that morning, when I'd been in their arms. When I'd wanted Grant to kiss me.

But, around midnight, they still hadn't come home, and I fell asleep, disappointed. Disappointed and unsatisfied. 

The next night, when the council meeting went on until the wee hours of the morning, I fell asleep disappointed and unsatisfied again.

By the following day, although I understood that Grant and Adrian were very much needed to deal with the wolves, and it wasn't like they were out on the town having fun, I was feeling more than a bit neglected. I hadn't even seen Grant and Adrian for a meal.

There was no doubt I missed them physically. I missed our intimacy. I missed the profound sexual satisfaction, satisfaction on a level I never dreamed possible, that they both gave me.

However, that wasn't all I missed. I missed
them
, period. I just missed being around them. I missed Adrian's joking and lighthearted banter. I missed how he made me laugh. I missed the way he often picked me right up off my feet when he pulled me into his arms. I missed Grant's quiet, protective presence. I missed the way he looked at me sometimes. Which was intently, his pale blue eyes like tranquil twin pools, but with the faintest hint of a smile playing around the edges of his full mouth. It was a look that made me feel I was cherished and loved, and I knew I was. By
both
him and Adrian.

That evening, the two of them finally came home early enough for dinner, which we ate in the family quarters, along with Mil, Fiona, Bennett, Samuel, and the boys. As was usual, I sat to the side of Grant, who sat at the head of the table, and Adrian sat across from me.

I could hardly eat my meal. With Grant and Adrian in such close proximity, I could hardly even think. I could barely even taste my food. Shifting my gaze between them, I was riveted to them both. I was riveted to their similar heavy-lidded eyes, and their muscular biceps that peeked out from the sleeves of their dark t-shirts. I was riveted by the way the flames from two tall, cream-colored taper candles in the center of the table seemed to make their skin glow.

Judging by the looks they were both giving me under their dark lashes, Grant and Adrian were pretty riveted by me, too. And like me, they both seemed to be not very interested in food at the moment.

After several minutes, Mil set her fork down, looking from Adrian to Grant to me. "No one likes maple-glazed pork tenderloin anymore?"

Though she often let Mary, the chef, do a lot of the cooking, Mil was an excellent cook herself, and on the nights she made dinner, she liked to see everyone tuck in and really enjoy it.

Giving her what I hoped was an encouraging smile, I speared a piece of tenderloin with my fork. "It's delicious, Mil. Really, it is."

Really, it was. I popped the bite in my mouth, then cut and speared another, trying to chew enthusiastically, if that could even be possible.  Grant and Adrian did the same, taking large bites and nodding with seeming approval while they chewed.

Mil surveyed the three of us with the faintest hint of an eye roll before picking up her fork again and speaking, seemingly to no one in particular. "Young people in love...you have to almost force them to eat sometimes."

I supposed she was right. Despite the fact that the food in Sun Creek was miles better than the fare in Stony Rapids had been, I hadn't had very much of an appetite since meeting Grant and Adrian. Sometimes I simply felt too preoccupied with thoughts of them to really focus and finish a meal. I'd even lost three pounds without trying.

When I'd told Grant and Adrian about this, they'd both frowned and said similar things to the effect that I needed to make sure to eat enough to keep up my health. Which I appreciated, and I knew their concern was genuine, but I also knew there was another reason they didn't want me to lose any more weight. I'd always had a softer, curvier body, with full breasts and well-rounded hips, and I knew they both enjoyed the curves of my body tremendously.

Which
I
enjoyed. Sometimes they both looked at my naked body with looks of such undisguised lust that I felt like the most desirable woman in the world.

After the dinner dishes were cleared away and the boys put to bed, all of us adults got drinks from the long oak bar then  returned to the table for a family meeting.

From Mil filling us in, Fiona and I had already heard what the men had decided at the council meeting the night before. It had been decided that Grant would lead his shifters in a direct attack on Stony Rapids.

As much as he didn't want to make this move, for fear that women and children might be hurt during the attack, he felt it was the only way to take out the Stony Rapids wolves and their northern friends once and for all. Which had to be done, before women and children in our own community were hurt, or worse.

The wolves seemed to be hell-bent on claiming Sun Creek and all its means of production and resources for their own, and it seemed like only death was going to stop them.

Grant went over some of the more detailed aspects of the plan, saying that the attack would take place in about a week, and he was going to make it a surprise attack. "Or, at least as much of a surprise as it can possibly be. Some hours before dawn, I'll have a team of some of my strongest shifters begin heading to Stony Rapids, taking out any wolves along the way.

“This team will also reach Stony Rapids first and will first attempt an evacuation of sorts to get all women and children cleared out of the way, at least as best we can, before the fighting gets thick. Steven will help in this, by flying women and children away from the town in dragon form and depositing them in the forest nearby.

“I won’t be too far behind this first team, along with several hundred other shifters, and it's us who will be doing most of the fighting. The first team will be continuing to protect the women and children and move them to safety, as far away from Stony Rapids as possible. Meanwhile, back here in Sun Creek, several hundred shifters will remain to protect the city from any rogue attacking wolves."

With her gaze on Grant, Mil took a sip of her vodka. "And will Fiona and I be allowed to help protect the city from any rogue attacking wolves, just like last time?"

I immediately whipped my face toward Grant. "And me, too. I want to be in the safety cage, too. I want to use my archery skills to help defend the city and take out the wolves."

After killing the great northern wolf in the yard weeks previously, I'd realized that revenge wasn't exactly as sweet as I'd thought it would be. Yes, I'd felt some satisfaction in taking out a wolf, despite the fact that he wasn't even one of the ones who'd killed my two sets of parents.

Despite feeling a small amount of satisfaction, I realized that having my revenge didn't really even matter. My parents were still gone. I still had to live with the fact that they'd all been brutally murdered. Having my little personal revenge really hadn't made anything
better
. On any level at all.

I'd done a lot of thinking since then, and I'd realized that I still wanted  to help take out the wolves in any way I could, but only to protect my new community and the people I loved, not for revenge.

Revenge was hollow, pointless to me now. But protecting my new loved ones and the city of Sun Creek meant everything to me now. As long as I could do anything to help, even in a small way, I just couldn't sit back while all the men did all the fighting and protecting.

Frowning, Grant didn't respond to what I'd said right away. And before he could, I spoke again.

"I think I've proven that I'm much more trustworthy than I was than when I first came here. I think I've proven that I've learned to control my emotions and keep a level head. No more jumping out of trucks to battle wolves with a screwdriver. If you say yes, that I can help, there won't be any wild moves or trying to break out of the cage to battle the wolves directly, Grant. I'd stay right inside, safe, with Mil and Fiona. So, please say yes. Please say that I can help defend the city with my archery skills. Please. Please say that I've earned back your trust."

I knew I probably should have waited until later, when we were alone, or alone except for Adrian, to make my request. But when Mil had made hers, I just hadn't been able to help it. I had to know if I'd be allowed to join her and Fiona. I had to know if I'd rebuilt Grant's trust in me. I just suddenly couldn't wait to find out if I had. It suddenly seemed like knowing if I had might be key in my decision about which brother I'd ultimately choose to be my mate for life.

I realized I was holding my breath.

Grant knocked back the last inch of whiskey in his glass without so much as a faint grimace, then looked at me, making a noise somewhere between a low, quiet growl and a sigh. His expression made my stomach drop like a stone.