Wolf's Ascension (23 page)

Kari gasped, dropping the phone, hands flying up protectively over her stomach.

Andreas rushed over. “What? Kari, what is it?”

“Star Sixty-Nine! Do it!” she yelled.

“It’s a blocked number,” Skye said. “What did they say, Kari?”

“They said, ‘
I hope your bastard baby dies
.’” Tears ran down her face as shock rushed through her that anyone would wish her babies harm.

Andreas roared, slamming a fist down and shattering the oak coffee table. The empty milk glass flew along with the plate. Making a visible effort to rein his anger in, he came to her, still shaking with rage. She went willingly into his arms and breathed him in.

They were all quiet for a few minutes, huddling around Kari and Andreas. “Why, Andreas? Why would someone hate me that much? That they’d wish our babies harm?”

“I don’t know, Kari. I don’t know. But they won’t. I promise you no harm will come to our children.”

Sean and Skye leaned forward. “We promise you too.”

“And me,” Jack added.

“Me too,” Ryan said and Laurent growled with barely restrained rage.

After Anna bullied Kari into eating dinner and drinking some decaf tea, Phillip and Ryan took Kari up to bed. Phillip took a post inside the room, stretching out on the chaise lounge, and Ryan on the futon outside the door.

Downstairs, Andreas paced in his study while Laurent, Jack and Sean looked on. “This must stop.”

“Three months ago, you offered to change me. I’d like to take you up on that now,” Jack said. “I can protect her better from inside the Pack. I’ll be stronger and faster. The threat is from one of your own, Andreas.”

“I know. Are you sure? Do you want to talk with Kari first? Changing isn’t very pleasant. The bites have to be deep and cause severe trauma. That means at least a few days in the hospital.”

“I’m sure. Let me talk to Kari tomorrow. I want to do it before the babies come.”

“Okay. I’d be pleased to welcome you into the Pack,” Andreas said and the others agreed.

“First of all, there will be two guards on Kari at all times. Phillip and Ryan can be one team and then trade off every twelve with Skye and Laurent.”

“No, Andreas. We have to assume that you’re in danger too. You need a guard, as well, that’s my job. Call in Jon or Craig. We can trust them both, I’d stake my life on it,” Laurent said.

Sean nodded. “He’s right. But let me do it. I’ll go ahead and leave my practice now. I’ll move in here and change Emma when we change Jack. They can be in the clinic at the same time. We’ll avoid the hospital if we can to keep suspicion down. I’ll work with Skye. That’ll give us Phillip, Ryan, Skye, Laurent and me here full-time for at least the next month. Jack and Carey will be around when they aren’t working.”

“What am I? An old woman?” Gregory asked, stalking into the room.

“Of course not, Gregory. I consider you as able as any of these males. You already have a job, though. Running this place is important. Kari needs to feel that things are normal. The babies are coming. She’ll want to be able to enjoy the air and the decks and gardens with them. That’s your domain. If you see a threat, I have no doubt you’ll take care of it,” Andreas said and Gregory nodded, his honor satisfied. Even an eighty-year-old werewolf had his pride and wanted to be useful.

“Laurent has finally convinced me that a security system is necessary. I want the lodge wired up. Motion detectors, cameras, the whole thing. I want it as unobtrusive as possible. I don’t want it to feel like I live in a prison. Kari would hate it and we’d never hear the end of it.”

Jack laughed. “True. Look, I’ve been offered a position here in town. I haven’t told Kari yet because I didn’t know if I wanted it or not. But with all of this going on, I think I’ll accept. I can get a place in town and be nearby.”

“You can have one of the cabins if you’d like. The one you’re in now or any of the others. I know Kari would want you here but if you’d rather be in town, that’s okay too.”

“Really? Sometimes your generosity seems too good to be true. You treat my sister like a queen.”

“Well, she is a queen,” Andreas said with a shrug. “I’m quite serious. Jack, your sister is my world. I’d do anything for her.”

“So why does someone want her dead?” Jack asked.

“Why indeed?”

“To weaken the Pack so they can take over maybe?” Skye said.

“If something happened to Kari, Andreas would crumble. Leave a vacuum.”

“Well, what about Sean and Devon? They could take over, couldn’t they?” Jack asked.

“Well, I could,” Sean said matter-of-factly. “Devon couldn’t because Perri can’t bear children. It’s part and parcel of the Alpha deal. You have to have children to succeed you. He could divorce Perri and have another wife who could bear children but she wouldn’t be his Mate and something like that might divide the Pack instead of uniting it. But I was in the car with Kari when we took her to the hospital and the pitcher was put in the dishwasher. I could be working with an accomplice, of course.” He shrugged his shoulders.

“If Sean wanted Kari dead, he could have killed her thirty times over by now. He’s been alone with her and has been trusted with her in situations where he could have easily hurt her,” Skye said.

“So let’s work outward, then. Let’s just assume that everyone here isn’t guilty. The Inner Circle has had enough access to Kari that if one of them wanted her dead, it would have happened by now. That means Andreas, Laurent, Sean, Skye, Phillip, Ryan, Anna, Gregory and me. Who else can we positively eliminate? Let’s not let
I’m pretty sure
rule here but
I’m positive and here’s why
,” Jack said, thinking like a cop.

Andreas sighed, running his hands through his hair. “I’m positive that my mother and father are innocent. I thought my mother was going to have a stroke when Kari was poisoned. They love her and me. My father’s family has led this Clan for eighteen generations, even before we settled in the United States. There’s no way he’d want anyone else running Cherchez. Devon has never wanted to run the Clan. He’s got a nice life with Perri in Portland. He’s not very involved with Pack governance. I can’t see that he’d want to hurt Kari.”

“That’s assuming the reason is to take over. I don’t think that that’s a safe assumption. It’s an idea. You’re saying Devon is an
I’m pretty sure
, and that’s not good enough. I’m not trying to cause trouble or even to say that I think Devon did it. I don’t, actually. I just want us to be able to
positively
eliminate people and then move from there.”

“My brother isn’t a killer. He just isn’t. He is just one of those guys who likes to cruise through life and not put out a lot of effort. He’s got a good heart and he loves Kari. He loves our family. He loves his wife, and when other werewolves from an Alpha family might have gotten rid of a Mate who couldn’t bear children, it doesn’t appear to have affected his devotion to Perri at all,” Sean said. “And Perri is easily Kari’s closest friend. They’re on the phone together constantly when Perri isn’t here. Perri could have killed Kari if she’d wanted to, as well.”

“But Perri’s slept with Andreas. Jealousy could have been a motive,” Laurent said, throwing the idea out there.

Jack raised an eyebrow but stayed quiet.

“Still, we get back to the point that she’s been alone with Kari numerous times. If she’d wanted Kari hurt, she could have done it over and over by this point,” Sean said.

“Okay, you win. Let’s add Perri and Devon, Jade and Tomas to the list. That leaves a lot of people. We can add Elaine and Henry. If either one of them had wanted Kari dead, they could have killed her in the hospital when Michael first attacked her or even later, when she was in the hospital after the poisoning.”

Andreas nodded. “Alex has wanted to challenge me for three years but hasn’t. He’s got motive.”

“But not the opportunity. At least not for the poisoning. From what I understand, he wasn’t near the shed, or wasn’t seen there anyway.”

“‘Wasn’t seen’ being the operative phrase there,” Sean said, and Skye nodded.

“Good point. That leaves Michael, Bert, Taryn, Pierre, James, Ellen, Drew, Carey, Alex, Jon, Craig, Luna and Peter. We know it wasn’t Johanna.”

“Let’s think on it. I need to get up to Kari. You all get some rest. Kari’s birthday dinner is Saturday and I want it to go smoothly.” Andreas rose to go upstairs, Laurent in his wake.

* * *

Laurent went into his room and Andreas into his. He went to the chair where Phillip was stretched out and tapped him gently, waking him up and sending him out. He quickly shed his clothing and slid into bed, pulling Kari’s small body into the shelter of his own. Helplessness seized his heart. Having something he wanted so much made him feel scared for the first time ever and he didn’t like it one bit.

“Hi.” Kari stirred drowsily, eyes still closed.

“Hey there, little wolf. How are my kids?” His hands moved to caress her stomach.

“Rambunctious. They haven’t stopped moving all night. One will sleep and the other will wake up and play my ribs like the xylophone.”

He laughed softly. “I love you. It’s going to be all right.”

“I love you too,” she answered quietly, snuggling her ass into him.

“Hey, careful what you wake up there,” he teased softly.

“I know what I’m doing.” She turned in his arms to face him. “Everyone’s up anyway.” She pressed her stomach into his and he laughed, reaching down to capture her lips.

He broke away, as always slightly breathless after kissing her. “Elaine said we should take it easy now that you’re approaching your due date.”

“So you’re planning on being celibate for the next six weeks then? I can’t have sex for a few weeks after the babies come.” Deliberately, with as much sensuality as she could muster in her current state, she moved up his body to nibble on his ear.

“Are you purposely trying to tempt me?”

“Yes. Are you really that thick?” She laughed and he gasped as she licked down from his ear to take the tendons in the place where neck met shoulder between her teeth, his pulse beating sure against her tongue.

She let go after he’d growled low and sexy and she knew he’d relent and fuck her. She looked at him and smiled. “Anyway, Elaine said to be careful, not that we couldn’t have sex.”

“Well, not to brag, but I do have an exceptionally large cock, so I’m worried that intercourse will hurt you now that the babies have dropped.”

She laughed and nipped at a nipple. “Ego much?” Chuckling, she reached down and took the aforementioned large body part in her hands, and he thrust through her grasp slowly.

“God, the way you touch me.” He groaned. “You first, you insatiable little wolf. Lie back. Let me show you ego,” he said, laughing. He helped her to lie half on her side. He looked down at her body, ripe with sexuality and life. Oh, how she took his breath away. Gently palming her nipples, he drew his hands up, lightly circling his fingertips over the sensitive nipples. Unable to resist, he dipped his mouth to her, paying homage to breast and nipple with his lips and tongue while his roaming hands brushed over velvet-soft skin.

Her soft sighs and squirms ignited the spark of desire that had been smoldering. Now flames of ravenous want consumed him.

Nudging her thighs open, he moved to lie between them. She chuckled sexily. “Okay, that’s good. I’m liking the direction this is moving in.”

He laughed in response, opened her with his thumbs and stared. He couldn’t get enough of her, of looking at her so intimately. The geography of her sex was different at this stage of pregnancy, everything swollen and extra sensitive. At this stage, her orgasms were much more intense and even the lightest of touches could set her off.

Tracing through the pretty, glistening furls of her pussy, he moved his mouth to her, kissing her passionately. Her breath caught and she arched into him. He loved how she felt under his touch as he licked long and gentle over her over and over. Orgasm seized her body quickly and he lay, head on her thigh, and watched her face as she recovered.

She reached down, caressed his jawline and up into his hair. “Thank you, oh big-cocked one. Now fuck me.”

Startled laughter barked from his gut. “You can’t ride me, sweetheart, I get too deep. I can’t be on top of you. And when you’re on all fours, it drives me to distraction and it’s hard not to pound into you.”

A sexy smile curved her lips. “That’s a lovely compliment, I must say. Lie on your side, facing me,” she said and then backed up, arching her ass into him. He helped her put her thigh up on his and he gently slipped into her. Desire-slicked and superheated, her body welcomed his. His arm encircled her, hand over her breast. Instead of thrusting, they rocked together slowly, languorously, until he climaxed. He fell asleep still inside of her.

Chapter Twelve

“No, I can shower alone, thank you very much,” Kari told Phillip through clenched teeth. Andreas was downstairs on a conference call. Phillip and Skye were in her room and insisting that one of them had to accompany her in the bathroom with her in case she fell.

“We’ve seen you naked dozens of times. You said yourself that your balance was off. Let one of us come in and help you.”

“For god’s sake, this is ridiculous! Other women do this every day and don’t need two assistants to help.”

“You aren’t other women, Kari. I can go and ask Andreas about this, but you know what he’ll say,” Skye said.

“I’ll close my eyes,” Phillip said.

She rolled hers. “It’s not that. I’m not worried about either one of you copping a feel. Frankly, the state my body is in now, I’m even less worried. In any case, a girl just needs to be alone sometimes. And might I remind you that I’m an Alpha of this Pack, as well, so I don’t care what Andreas says about it. And I don’t particularly care for you threatening to tell on me like I’m a two-year-old, either, Skye!”

“You put us in an uncomfortable position between you and Andreas, Kari. Are you saying you need alone time to get yourself off?” Skye asked matter-of-factly and she sighed.

“No, and I can’t even believe I’m discussing this with you! But if I wanted to, I’d need to be alone. I just want to take a shower by myself. I can’t handle not having a minute of time alone. For the last two days you guys have double-teamed me twenty-four hours a day. I have to sneak off to go pee for goodness’ sake.”

Sean came into the room. “What’s going on?”

“Kari won’t let one of us in the bathroom when she showers. She told me yesterday that she was having balance problems...”

And in the middle of his sentence she ducked into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. “I’ll yell if I need anything! You’re a superwolf, break the door down if you need to save me,” she said, bending over to turn the water on, smiling at her small victory.

When she stepped out of the bathroom, all clean and changed—oh and having taken Skye’s suggestion, her pregnant body couldn’t seem to get enough sex—there were four sets of eyes frowning at her. Andreas had come up and stood, arms crossed, glaring.

She walked past them all and started down the stairs, Phillip coming to take her arm as she went.

“Kari, we discussed this,” Andreas started as he followed her downstairs. Phillip pulled out her chair and she sat down heavily, continuing to ignore Andreas.

Andreas sat down and she felt the weight of his disapproval. It pissed her off. “Kari.”

“Get off my back, Andreas. All of you get the fuck off my back. I know I need guards, I agree with that. But I draw the line at the bathroom door. I need some space! The toilet and the shower are two places I will not negotiate about. I already have two of you in my bedroom at night—severely curtailing my sex life, I might add—one of you outside my door and another in a connecting room. We have a state-of-the-art security system, food tasters like some fucking French royalty. This sucks large. I don’t like it and I’m doing as much as I can to bend and make it acceptable for everyone. You’re the only one I’ll accept in the bathroom during a shower. And if you are there, you’d better get me off. Sorry to be vulgar but I don’t care at this point. Werewolf pregnancy is making me one horny bitch and you guys are totally cutting in on my action. No one will be in the bathroom with me when I pee, period.”

She said all of that while buttering and putting syrup on pancakes and eating two slices of bacon and some apple. She looked up to see them all trying not to laugh.

“What now?” she demanded.

“You’re ‘one horny bitch’?” Skye repeated and they all burst out laughing.

“Laugh while you can, monkey boy,” she muttered and kept eating. “I can’t wait until you meet your Mate.”

“Andreas, clearly you’re not satisfying Kari. Do you need help with that? If so, I volunteer for that duty,” Ryan said, trying not to laugh.

“She’s a machine! I can only do so much. We’re down to one position and I’m going to get carpal tunnel. My face is going numb,” Andreas said.

“Hello? I’m right here!” She should have been embarrassed but she was so horny it was insane.

“Shall I show you how it’s done?” Skye asked Andreas.

“Ha-ha. Give me a week. I might just take you up on it.”

She got up and walked out of the room. “You boys keep on playing. I’m going to call and see if the bedding is ready for the nursery.”

Andreas got up and caught up with her. He tried to put his arm around her but she slapped him away. “Think again. Rest your face. Oh and your hand, you’ll be needing it for yourself,” she hissed at him.

“Sweetheart, I was only joking,” he said in that neutral tone he’d adopted when she’d gotten pregnant and anything could set her off. “Let me show you how much I was just joking.”

“Maybe I should let Ryan show me,” she said, raising an eyebrow at him.

He growled at her. She could hear them laughing in the dining room and struggled not to snicker at the look on Andreas’s face.

She darted around him and called the seamstress to see if the crib bedding was done. In the background she heard the door to the office close and smiled to herself.

Andreas came to her, standing at her back, kissing the back of her neck as his nimble fingers pulled up the hem of her dress.

She hung up and he gently pushed her forward so her hands were braced on the desk. “Relax,” he murmured as his fingers found their way inside her panties and up into her wet heat. “Damn, always ready. You drive me crazy with wanting you.”

Two fingers alternated sliding from side to side over her clit while he held her hair in his other fist, his teeth at her neck. The cool air on her exposed legs, his fingers in her pussy and that bit of control with his hand and teeth and she shot into climax rather quickly.

Standing there, panting, he righted her panties and smoothed down her dress, pressing a kiss to the nape of her neck. “Better? You forgive me now?”

“You’re certainly on your way,” she murmured, smiling.

“Again? Jeez, you two,” Jack said as he came into the study. Thank goodness Andreas’s hands were out from under her dress.

“Hello to you too. Try knocking on closed doors. Have you come to take notes while I pee?” she asked sarcastically.

He put his hands up in defense. “Hey, I’m on your side on the bathroom thing. I start here in Star Lake at the end of the month. It’ll give me time to heal from the change.” He grabbed a cookie and stuffed it into his mouth. “If it’s okay, I’ll move into cabin four next week.”

“I’m so happy you’re moving in!” She kissed her brother and brushed crumbs off the front of his shirt. “I need to go to town to pick up the bedding, who can take me?” she called out as she sashayed into the dining room.

“Let one of us go and get it. You don’t need to come too.” Skye grabbed her hand and kissed it.

She eyed him and considered unleashing her grumpiness at him. Her swollen feet and her back pain and general misery made her want to rip people’s heads off. But he was sweet to want to take care of her, so she bit her lip and smiled instead. “I’m grumpy, Skyler, my love. Fair warning now. I want to go and pick up my babies’ bedding. It’s a normal thing and my life is incredibly far from normal these days.
So
, you can take me or Ryan and Sean can take me or Andreas can take me. Hell, I’ll go with a fox in a box. I don’t care but I’m going and I want to go now, so you had better make up your minds.” She tapped her foot as she craned her neck to see his face.

He smiled down indulgently. “Andreas really should bring on the farm team to keep you happy in the sack.”

“Cheeky!” She laughed.

“Come on, I’ll take you. Laurent can come too,” Andreas said, laughing along with her.

“I hate this car,” she grumped as Andreas had to pick her up and put her in the seat because it was so high off the ground. She was so pregnant she couldn’t get in on her own.

Laurent sat behind her and Phillip came along too. Andreas threaded his fingers through hers as they drove into town and helped her out of the car when they got to Marva’s house.

“Oh, this is perfect!” Kari said as she looked at the bedding that Marva had created for the babies. One comforter and bumper set was midnight blue with silver threads and had the moon and stars on it, the other was a deep green with light green and blue waves embroidered all over it. She’d also made bassinet bedding, sweet blue and yellow flannel sheets and blankets.

“I’m glad you like them. I’m so tired of regular old pink or blue, so it was a nice change to do something bold. If I do say so myself, it suits you. You are due any day, aren’t you?”

“A little over two weeks now.”

“Well, congratulations. Bring those babies by after you have them, you hear?” Marva said as she handed the bundles to Laurent and Phillip.

“I will, thanks, Marva.” Kari grinned as she bounced out the door, Andreas waiting for her on the sidewalk. “I need pie,” Kari said. “Let’s stop by the bakery and get one for dinner.”

“You know Anna is making a huge cake for dinner tomorrow,” Andreas warned.

“That’s tomorrow and Perri will be here soon. I’m sure she’ll want a slice too.”

“Oh, so we’re supposed to pretend that you aren’t going to eat the whole chocolate cream pie on your own?” Laurent asked.

“Duh. Of course you are! You know, you guys aren’t being very nice to me,” she groused as she headed toward the market that held the bakery.

Once back home, she put the bedding on the cribs and looked at the mural she’d painted on the wall with nontoxic paint. It was a picture of the lake, with the trees surrounding it and the moon rising. She’d painted grass and wildflowers along the base of the wall all around the room. It took a while but the effect was worth it. The babies would be in with her and Andreas in the bassinets for a few months. She wanted them to sleep in their beds but Andreas was so huge and such a heavy sleeper that she was worried he’d roll over on them, so they got bassinets instead, with sides that pulled down so she’d be able to nurse in the middle of the night more easily. Her boobs were already the size of Mount Rushmore so she was pretty sure she’d have enough milk for them.

She looked at herself in the mirror. She had a backache, she had to pee every twenty minutes, she was leaky and horny and grumpy as all get-out. When she wasn’t grumpy, she was crying. How did women survive nine months of this? Her heart went out to human women.

“It looks perfect,” Andreas said, coming up to check on her. “Frick and Frack will love it.”

They’d been arguing over names since Monday, when they’d found out they were having twins. He wanted Tomas for a boy and Helene for a girl. She’d wanted Jack for a boy and Maya for a girl. “Let’s ask Perri what she thinks. She just pulled up,” he said to her.

“Oh good!” She rushed past him. He grabbed her arm and carried her downstairs.

Perri came in while Devon carried the bags to their cabin. “Hey, babe. You look marvelous.” She rushed over to hug her and smooch Kari’s belly. “How are my fabulous niece and nephew?”

“Fine. Come up and see the nursery. I just got the bedding today.”

“So dish. I’ve been waiting all week,” Perri asked and Andreas raised an eyebrow.

“Girl talk. You wouldn’t be interested. I don’t suppose I could have some time alone with Perri?”

“You know the answer to that. Come on. Skye and I will come up. We love girl talk,” Phillip said, leading the way.

Once in the nursery, they sat down on the glider rocker for two and Kari turned to Skye and Phillip. “What I say stays in here. If you blab about this I’ll make your lives miserable.”

Skye laughed. “We promise,
reine
.”

Mollified by his use of her official title, she turned to Perri and dug into a very large slice of chocolate cream pie Anna had brought a few moments before, to fortify herself before explaining what Luna had said at the hospital.

“Oh my god, she didn’t!” Perri exclaimed, eyes wide.

“She did, and right in front of Andreas. Of course he thinks it’s my hormones.”

“He said that and he’s not walking with a limp?”

“Not in so many words. Plus, he was driving so I couldn’t injure him at the time.”

“It was obviously meant as a dig, one of those casual comments that is a total burn.”

“See! I told him that and he didn’t believe me. He said, ‘Phillip kisses you on the lips’ when I brought up the fact that she always goes for the kisser.”

“Oh my god, that is so totally different!”

“I said that exact thing!”

She looked around at Skye and Phillip, who watched the exchange, riveted.

“What?”

“I feel like I’ve been initiated into a secret club,” Skye said, smirking. “Who cares what Luna thinks anyway?”

“That’s not the issue. I
don’t
care. It’s the way she did it. Sneaky bitch.”

“Like she has a chance,” Perri snorted.

“As if!” Kari added.

They all went down to dinner half an hour later and Andreas cornered Skye. “What was that all about?”

“I’m sworn to secrecy but it was just girl stuff,” he replied.

“Will this cause me trouble?”

Skye snorted. “Kari is a troublesome female, is she not? But how often does she prove to be worth it?”

Dinner was an informal affair and they all sat and talked until nearly midnight, when Kari begged off and headed upstairs. Her back pain was terrible and Anna sent up a hot water bottle with Ryan, who lay behind her in bed, holding the water bottle to the small of her back, and read to her.

She woke up sometime later and quietly got up to go to the kitchen to get some water. Triumphant at those few minutes alone, Kari stood and looked out at the lake and the beauty of her home with a smile.

Not wanting to push it and have a freaked-out Andreas come hunting for her, she put her glass in the sink and headed back to bed. On her way back upstairs, her eye caught movement in the television room just behind the stairs and she walked through the darkened hallway to see what was going on.