Wolfen (44 page)

 
Xavier eyed him speculatively a moment. “You didn't tell her, your parents, or hers that you weren't going for it,” he said intuitively. “And now Dani's run off and we don't have a fucking clue where!"

 
"Georgia!” Dakota exclaimed. “She told us that. Not that I wouldn't have figured it out ... eventually."

 
"That's so fucking helpful!” Con growled. “We all heard her say she was from Georgia. It's a pretty big state. You didn't happen to ask her what part of the state? County? City?"

 
"I didn't
expect
her to just take off!” Dakota snapped. “
You
were with her last. You didn't think to tell her we had unfinished business?"

 
"I had
other
things on my mind,” Con growled and then added irritably, “she was asleep when I left. What was I supposed to do? Wake her up and tell her to stay put? That would've gone over well!"

 
"Well this is just fucking great!” Jared said in disgust. “I don't guess anybody got around to asking her what her last name was either?"

 
They glanced at one another uncomfortably.

 
"Atlanta!” Xavier said abruptly.

 
Con gave him a look. “It was a job, Xavier. Just like
this
was a fucking job. That doesn't tell us anything!"

 
"Yes, but.... “Xavier allowed the sentence to trail off as it dawned on him that he knew a fool proof way to find out where she lived. Why share it? If they hadn't figured it out for themselves it wasn't his place to do it for them. He glanced around, trying to decide from their expressions if the others had had the same thought. He couldn't actually tell anything. None of them looked thoughtful, or gleeful, or even purposeful, though—more like poker faced—and he finally decided they were still mulling over possibilities. Feeling a good deal more cheerful, he settled on his pallet and lay back to consider whether it would be better to relocate his business or to start up a secondary location. He supposed he'd need to find out where she lived first to see if it was even viable. He liked the idea of a fresh start up, though—leaving the current business in good hands. That way he wouldn't have cash problems. And then, too, if the second location didn't do well for whatever reason he would still have a lucrative business to support him and whatever pups he might have.

 
He might not have one, he reminded himself.

 
If there was anything about this business he was certain of, and there wasn't a hell of a lot, it was that Dani wasn't carrying one of his pups. That didn't mean she wouldn't, though.

 
She had accepted him. She wouldn't have done that if she didn't care something about him. He knew she wouldn't. Of course, he also knew she had a lot stronger attachment to the others, but there was no saying that couldn't be changed either.

 
Especially if he found her and the others didn't.

 
Or if he found her first and had her to himself for a while before they managed to catch up with them.

 
Balin glanced around at the other men and finally turned, heading for the bathroom. “We'll figure it out. We're stuck here until we get everything cleaned up."

 
Con glared at the closed door. “He always fucking does that! Have you noticed that? Waits till everybody's preoccupied, and then he takes the gods damned shower first! What happened to drawing fucking straws? That's what I'd like to know!"

 
Raking his hands through his hair, he looked around, saw he was close the bed and dropped down on the edge.

 
"You had the gods damned bed last time!” Dakota said hotly. “Don't even think about getting comfortable!"

 
Con narrowed his eyes at him and then very deliberately turned and stretched out. “Who's cooking tonight?"

 
Jared uttered an irritated sigh. “I'll go fire up the grill."

 
"Make mine rare!” Con called after him.

 
"He only knows how to cook them one way,” Dakota said absently, plopping down on the couch and stroking his chin thoughtfully, “burnt on the outside and raw in the middle."

 
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Chapter Eighteen

Despite the fact that she had every reason to believe the test was going to come up positive, Danika found that she was still stunned when it did. She sat down weakly on the toilet seat and stared at the reading on the home pregnancy kit in complete disbelief, trying to absorb it.

 
After a few minutes, she tossed it in the trash and left the bathroom, wandering aimlessly around the house for a while and finally settled in the kitchen on one of her bar stools, staring out of the window without really seeing anything.

 
She was pregnant.

 
She was single and she was pregnant.

 
By wolfen.

 
A
wolfen.

 
She didn't have a clue
which
wolfen!

 
What a horrendous mess!

 
She would
never
have dreamed she would end up being a single parent, especially at such a ripe age! Particularly not under such circumstances that she wouldn't know who the father was!

 
She covered her face with her hands, sorting their faces in her mind. It didn't help. She couldn't even decide which one she
hoped
it would be. What was the use in hoping anyway? Unless the child
looked
like its father, she would probably never know.

 
Lowering her hands, she propped an elbow on the counter top to support her chin and stared into space.

 
They hadn't come—
none
of them!

 
For
weeks
she'd dashed to the window and looked outside hopefully every time she heard an engine!

 
She should've known better than to swallow anything her grandmother told her. Bless her heart, she was sweet, but she just wasn't all
there
anymore!

 
She'd
seemed
lucid at the time.

 
That was why she'd fallen for it! Her grandmother had just, somehow, figured out what she wanted to hear and she'd told her just that.

 
She frowned, drumming her fingers on the counter top impatiently. How could she have figured out about the wolfen, though, she wondered? Maybe she'd had that well laid glow about her and her grandmother had remembered what that was like and she'd figured out that was what she'd been doing? Maybe—except she'd pointed out that she looked like hell and asked her what was wrong.

 
And that still wouldn't explain how her grandmother had figured out it was wolfen.

 
She got up after a while and rummaged around for something to eat. She felt as if her stomach would cave in—not surprising since she spent a good thirty minutes worshiping at the old porcelain altar every morning. She was so weak when she finally stopped gagging that it was all she could do to crawl back to bed—and nap.

 
She couldn't work. She spent most of her time in the bathroom—running to pee every five minutes or puke if it was any time before noon—and much of the rest of the time she slept if she stood still for five seconds.

 
It was beginning to look like her bank account might be bare before she managed to get over the ‘flu’ she thought she'd come down with.

 
She supposed it wasn't a
bad
thing that she'd dropped a few pounds. She was bound to pick it up later and would probably be glad—
after
she stopped puking.
If
she stopped puking.

 
Finally settling on something she thought would stay down, she sat down to nibble at it slowly, trying to decide what to do. She had a savings account, but she really didn't want to dip into that if she could help it. It was her security blanket and she didn't want to let go of it unless things got really dire.

 
She should probably try to set up an appointment with a doctor, she decided. He, or she, would probably have an absolute cow about her being pregnant and over thirty, but she wasn't that damned old! She was strong, healthy. She shouldn't have to worry too much about complications.

 
Was it a good idea, though, when she
knew
it was wolfen? Could they tell? Grandma had said it would look like any other baby—and she certainly didn't recall any stories about her grandmother, or her great-great—whatever!—looking like a beast at birth.

 
Did she really have a choice? She might be
in
to nature, but she sure as hell wasn't
that
in to nature! No way was she going to have a baby without every drug known to man pumping through her until she was practically comatose! She didn't even care if she was unconscious at the time!

 
In fact, that seemed preferable.

 
She was scared shitless, she realized, not just stunned, not just having a hard time coping. Scared!

 
She could cheerfully have choked them all at that moment if she could've gotten her hands on them.

 
No wonder the bastards were so determined not to use the damned condoms! They'd been
trying
to get her knocked up!

 
If her grandmother was right and she was carrying a litter, she
was
going to kill them!

 
She hadn't let herself consider that possibility before, but the moment she allowed the thought to move to the forefront of her mind, she was
more
scared.

 
She didn't know what to do with
one
baby! How was she going to cope with more than one?

 
"You're getting ahead of yourself, Danika!” she said bracingly. “One thing at a time. Those home things can be wrong! Don't panic until it's time to panic! Maybe you're just dying of some horrible disease and you aren't even pregnant at all?"

 
* * * *

Danika froze in the doorway, staring at the women sitting around the office waiting room in horror, trying to kick her instincts into drive and back out the way she'd come. She couldn't do this, she thought in panic! She really, really couldn't.

 
Well! She wouldn't, she decided. She was a grown woman! Free! She could do what she damned well pleased!

 
"I think I got the wrong place,” she muttered with a toothy smile that wasn't a smile at all when she finally realized the women—children!—in the waiting room were staring at her. Backing out of the door she'd just entered, she headed for her truck at a good clip and climbed back in. She'd already started the truck when it dawned on her this wasn't a matter of choice—not any more. It was done. The only way to
un
do it was to have the baby.

 
Unless she wasn't actually pregnant?

 
Having remembered she had come to get a positive yes or no, she climbed out of the truck again and walked briskly into the waiting room, ignored the curious stares of the women, and found a seat. Jerking up a magazine, she flipped through it a little frantically.