The Librarian and the Wolf: (7 page)

“No...
no...”  She tried to squirm but she couldn’t move an inch.  She was truly trapped beneath him.  She reached up her hands and dug her nails into his chest.  He howled and his thrusts became more vigorous, his fangs descending from his mouth.

He
roared and suddenly leaned his head down to her shoulder almost crushing her body beneath him. He sank his fangs into her flesh.  She felt him erupt inside her and she came apart as the orgasm slammed into her. 

He reared his head back, her blood on his fangs and he bellowed one word, “mine.”

Then darkness. 

Chapter Seven

16
th
October

Terri woke up alone
.  She was laid in the middle of the bed, the covers pulled over her tidily.  The room looked how it always did, peaceful and orderly.  There was no evidence of the passionate encounter that had taken place there only hours before.

She groaned at her aching muscles as she swung her legs out of bed. 
There was the evidence. 
She shuffled into the bathroom and gingerly looked in the mirror.  She didn’t look like herself.

Her face looked hollow and her eyes were wild. 
Red finger marks adorned her thighs, and her lips were puffy from the brutal kisses.  Her shoulder throbbed.  She gingerly pressed her fingers to the savage looking red mark.  She remembered now.  He had bitten her and then she must have blacked out. 

Her head ached fiercely, unfamiliar feelings of
self-loathing and guilt wafted through her.  The feelings felt alien and fuzzy.

Again he had taken off before she awoke.
  He was disgusted with her.  The way she had spoken to him and then thrown herself at him had disgusted him.  He had told her he loved her and she had thrown it back at him. 
She was a vicious bitch.

Her stomach churned.
  She rushed for the toilet and retched yellow bile. She brushed her teeth and swirled mouthwash. 

Oh g
od
.  Her head was swimming.  Thoughts of Mal, a potential pregnancy, the dead birds, her slashed tyres, every thought crashed into the other.  She was lightheaded.  She couldn’t cope with everything.  She couldn’t even remember the last time she ate.  No, she couldn’t bear to eat right now.

She needed to handle one problem at a time. 
First things first she needed to get to a drug store. 
Pronto.
 

*

Terri drove an hour to find a drug store as far away from town as possible.  She bought six tests, just to be certain.  Along with a giant soda to make sure she could carry them out.

She had called Fran and happily had managed to switch shifts.  She had a few hours to deal with this before work intruded on her baby drama.

On arriving home she found a bunch of roses on her front step along with a wrapped gift.  She brought them both into her house barely registering them. 
Too eager to go pee on a load of sticks.

She read through the instructions
four times before finally using them.  She used her kitchen timer to countdown the minutes until she would find out if it were true or not.  She paced her tiny bathroom, convinced that time had slowed down. 

Trying to distract herself she went to look at the flowers she had found.  They were beautiful.  The note said ‘I’m thinking of you’.
  Were these really from Mal?  Could he really feel that way so soon after last night? 
But if they weren’t from him who could they be from?

She
opened the gift, it was a book.  A beautiful edition of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, one of her favourite books growing up.  It was such a thoughtful gift. 
How would Mal know that?

Her timer dinged and the gifts were forgotten.  She raced into the bathroom
carefully checking every single test.

It was unanimous. 
She was pregnant.

*

Mal stared at the meal in front of him.  His mother had insisted he come home for lunch.  His three brothers were at school and his father was working.  She had laid on a guilt trip until he had finally relented.

She chatted away and he grunted in response.  He
couldn’t think.  Couldn’t eat.  Couldn’t stand remembering what he had done.  His wolf had been thrilled last night but was now prowling his mind searching for the reason why they were not with their mate.

After receiving her text he became enraged, convinced she was going on a date with another man. 
He had gone to her cottage to spy on her, forced his way into her home, trapped her and then practically forced himself on her.  He was filled with self-loathing.  But the most unforgiveable thing was that he had bonded with her.  He hadn’t asked permission or even explained what it meant to be bonded to a shifter.  He had permanently marked her skin, permanently disfigured her, and permanently tied her to him for life.

Feeling disgusted he had stolen away before she woke up.  Just like he always did he thought bitterly.  He had made sure she was going to be all right
,
physically anyway
, and then had run off like a coward, too afraid to face her.

She hated him.  She didn’t want him.  Now he had only made it worse. 
He could sense the feelings of fear and worry seep through their link.  She would never forgive him, never love him now.  And he had ruined her chance at finding happiness with another man.  The thought of not being with her left him cold. 
How could he live without
her?
  He wanted to scream, cry and shift all at the same time. 

“Hey!”  His mother snapped her fingers in his face
.  “Are you okay?  You don’t look well.”  Her brow was creased in concern.

A tear rolled down his cheek.  He cursed his weakness
. 

She clasped his hand in hers.
  “Oh god!  What’s wrong punk?”

He told her everything. 
Everything that had happened between them.  The arguments, the recriminations right up until when he ran away like a coward after forcibly bonding with her.

He looked at her dejectedly.  “I’ve lost her mom, I’ve lost my mate.”

“Oh punk...”  She slapped him round his head.

“Hey!”

“Did I raise you so badly that you would treat your mate this way?  She’s right, if you didn’t even try to date her of course she was going to think it was just sex you were after.”

“She didn’t complain at the time...”

She slapped him again.  “No, because she thought that was what you wanted.  She’s human so the mating call won’t be as strong or as obvious to her but it will be there.  Most likely she was falling for you but because she thought you only wanted casual sex she started to push you away.”

He looked at his hands.  “It took me a long time to realise she was my mate.”

She rubbed his hands gently.  “It’s different for everyone punk.  You’re young, never been in love so you couldn’t tell your feelings for her were different and special.  Your father and I were lucky, we’re both wolves, we met in high school, we clicked the first moment we saw each other and have been inseparable ever since.”

“She... she said we didn’t go tog
ether... that we don’t match...”

His mother chuckled heartily.  “I’m
sorry, did you think that your father and I were two sides of the same coin?  We’ve been together for twenty eight years and we still don’t match.  We don’t like the same food, drink, TV shows, sports, hobbies.  It took us weeks to agree on what to call each and every one of you boys when you were born.  We can never agree on the little stuff.  The important stuff however we’re always in sync over, such as how much we love each other and every one of our boys.  Even when they are acting like bone heads.”

“What should I do?”

“Try talking to her properly, explain to her she’s your mate and what it means to be the mate of a shifter.  And then tell her you are going to spend every waking moment of the rest of your life wooing her.”

“You think it will work?
  What about the bond?” 

She sighed and he shielded his head.  “Please don’t slap me again mom.”

“I saw the way she looked at you, yes she was unsure of herself but there was affection there.  Prove you can be the mate she deserves and I’m sure she will come round... you may just have to be a little patient.”

He groaned.  “Not my best quality.”

“The best things are worth waiting for punk.  Besides I think she might just have a little push in the right direction...”

He
looked at her curiously but when pressed she wouldn’t say anything more so he gave in.  “Thanks mom.”

Her face turned serious and she jabbed a finger in the chest.  “Just remember though, now that I’ve met her, I have my heart set on her becoming my daughter in law so don’t screw this up for us.
”

He sobered.  “I’ll try my best.”

She stood up and kissed his temple.  She began clearing the table when the phone rang.  “Punk, could you?”  She gestured to the table and he nodded.

He heard the murmuring and exclamations of dismay coming from his mother in the hallway.

Eventually she came back to the kitchen a melancholy look on her face.  “Punk?  That was Mrs Martin.  Apparently Darcy was in an accident last night.  She’s in the hospital, but thanks to her shifter genes she’ll be okay, but it will take her a long time to heal.”

“What happened?”

“She was at a club in Darlington and was hit by a car.  It looks like she was drunk and stumbled into the road, but one witness seems to think that someone pushed her into the road on purpose...  Mrs Martin told me that apparently Terri and Darcy had an argument yesterday, and Darcy was kicked out and banned from the library.”

His mind immediately leapt to protect his mate.  “It couldn’t have been Te
rri.  She wouldn’t have hurt Darcy.”

“Of course not punk, I never thought that.
  But someone else might, you should go to her to support her.”

“I’m going
right now.”

His wolf jumped up and down in happiness. 
Yes finally we will see our mate.

Chapter Eight

Terri sat in her car staring at the library.  Usually she loved her job.  But today she just wanted to curl up into a ball and forget the rest of the world existed.

It was 11.50am.  She had ten
minutes before she was due to start. 

She rubbed her stomach thinking of the baby inside.  She couldn’t believe it. 
A baby
.  After two years of mourning, two years of coming to terms with never having another baby, she was actually pregnant again.

Her thoughts turned to Jameson.
  He’d seemed like the perfect guy. After achieving a degree in library science she took up a full time job at her college’s library.  She’d briefly dated a restaurant manager called Doug.  They’d gotten along but the relationship had petered out.  Then she’d met Jameson.

He was a professor of
law at the college.  He was fifteen years older than her, and so smart and worldly.  She’d been instantly smitten with him.  He travelled a lot giving guest lectures so time with him was precious and she treasured every moment.

Alright so he wasn’t the perfect guy but then who is?  He was a little arrogant and full of himself, but at the time she hadn’t been bothered by that.
  Sex with him had been nice but not overly exciting, but sex wasn’t everything.  They’d been enormously happy for a year. 
Or at least she thought they had been
. 

She discovered she was pregnant.  She was a little nervous at first but soon became excited at the thought of having a baby with him.
  When she told Jameson he went cold.  He started ignoring her calls and avoiding her.  After a couple of months he told her it was over. She was devastated.  He left the college and took a post elsewhere. 

When she was almost six
months pregnant she discovered he was returning to give a guest lecture.  She was determined to get some answers.  On arriving at the lecture she found him with his arm around his skinny beautiful wife and two adorable children clutching his legs.

He had tried to speak to her but too ashamed Terri had got in her car and driven off before he had the c
hance.  Whilst driving she felt a sharp pain in her stomach.  She fainted and crashed the car.  In the impact her baby girl had been crushed.  Killed before she even had a chance to live.

It had been devastating
.

She had been in the hospital for a long time.  Jameson had visited her once.  Wringing his hands and pacing nervously.  He had looked like a tired old man.
  He apologised, and said he loved her but he couldn’t leave his family.  He had kissed her hand and asked if they could go back to the way things used to be.  She didn’t say a word.  Mercifully her mother and Jessica had arrived and screamed at him to leave. 

Terri never saw him again.

She cursed her own stupidity at falling for such a vain man, cursed herself for the accident.  She shouldn’t have been driving, she should have thought about her child, not her own pathetic hurt feelings.

The doctors had told her she wouldn’t be able to conceive a child and she had taken that as punishment for her foolish actions.

Picking herself up she quit her job and moved to Rose to start a new life.  Eventually she started dating.  Choosing younger men who didn’t want commitment, and who wouldn’t expect her to give them children.  It had been fine until she met Mal.  Meeting him made her heart yearn for more.

Mal
.  She wanted nothing more than for him to be with her now.  His strong arms around her.  She remembered the anger that radiated from him last night.  No, he hated her.  After she told him about the baby he would probably hate her even more.

He would
go back to Darcy.  Pretty, young Darcy.  And they would be together.  Terri would have to watch as the man she loved was with another woman while his child grew within her.

After confirming she was pregnant she
had called Aaron sobbing, worrying about her unborn baby, worrying that she wouldn’t be able to carry it to term.

Aaron, g
od love him, had immediately cancelled his appointments and moved heaven and earth to obtain her medical files to find out what was happening.  He had tentatively suggested that he ask Jessica to come and comfort her, but that had made Terri even more hysterical.

When Aaron had called her back
he had been calm and reassuring.  He said the odds of her conceiving were low so the other doctor had assumed it was impossible and had misled her.  Aaron was angry and started making noises about suing the doctor.  She dismissed the thought, more preoccupied with the baby.

Aaron told her there was no reason to suggest she couldn’t carry the baby to term.  He insisted she make an appointment to come and see him so she could have a scan.  He wanted her to come in straight away.  Still feeling a little unsure Terri begged off and
said she would call to make an appointment in a few days.

To think
, she wasn’t actually infertile.  She could have children.

The thought made Terri even
more sick.  For the past two years she’d been convinced she was infertile.  She knew shifters didn’t carry disease and so had never used protection.  She could have gotten pregnant anytime!  Thank god it had happened with Mal. 
Oh god back to Mal! 

The first time they were together he had asked her if she needed him to use a condom and she had told him she had it covered.  He must have assumed she was on the pill, not just stupid enough to use nothing at all.
 
Would he think she had tricked him into impregnating her?  Would he think she had trapped him into having a relationship with her?

A million bad thoughts raced through her head.  She was keeping the baby.  Th
at was no doubt about that.  But she had to tell Mal.  Soon. 
How would he feel about becoming a father at 19? 
She didn’t relish the thought that she would have to raise a baby on her own, but there was no way she could bring herself to get rid of the baby.

12.04
pm.  She was now officially late for work.  She exhaled loudly and forced her leaden limbs to move. 

When she pushed the
library door open it was to find the Sheriff and one of his Deputies she didn’t know, a female bobcat shifter she thought, stood round the central desk talking to Fran who had a pained look on her face.

The Sheriff sniffed the air and pinned her with a look. 
What now?

She shuffled over to him heart pounding.  “What’s happened?”

Alec looked at her grimly.  “Do you know anything about this?”  He stepped aside and pointed to a red purse that was sitting on the counter.  It looked pretty ordinary except... the strap had been torn and it was dirty, there was something on it that had dribbled a little onto the counter. 
Oh god!  It was splattered with blood!

Terri felt herself slipping away as she
fainted, the last thing she saw was Alec quickly moving towards her.

*

Terri flicked her eyes open.  Her head felt woolly and her throat was dry.

Somebody carefully pressed a glass up to her mouth.  “Here take a sip.”  It was the female Deputy.  Terri focussed on the name tag, it said
Hardison.  She was sat in the back office, Alec was looking down at her in concern.

Terri gasped
as she remembered what made her faint, she put her hand over her mouth trying to overcome the urge to heave.  “Who’s bag was that?”

“Darcy Mayhew
’s.”  Alec watched her closely.

“
Why... why was it here?  Was that blood?!”

“Last night
after leaving a club in Darlington Darcy was pushed in front of a moving vehicle, she’s in hospital.”

Terri chewed her lip.  “Will she be okay?”

“Yes, thanks to the fact that she’s a shifter... if she were human she’d be dead.  Right now I’m wondering why her purse ended up in the library.  Your colleague Fran found it this morning.”  Alec looked at her questioningly.

The Deputy coughed.  “We understand there was an altercation between you
and Darcy yesterday?”  Terri flushed but nodded.

“Why don’t you tell us what happened?” 
Asked Hardison gently.

Terri related the incident.  Everything Darcy said.  Everything she said. 
The slap
and then Damian throwing Darcy out.

Alec looked at her coolly.  “I hate to have to ask Terri but where were you last night between 9.30 and 10pm?”

“Babysitting in Alexandria, I was looking after my four nieces with my mother.  I’ll give you my mother’s and sister’s details.”  She jotted them down for Alec sighing.
She didn’t like to think about her mother’s reaction to this.

“Than
ks Terri.  You don’t look well.  Let Hardison take you home, she’ll drive your car. And if we have further questions we’ll be in touch.”

“I have
work...”  She started weakly.

He held up a hand.  “Fran said she’s got it covered.  I’m ordering you to go home.” 

Without protesting she allowed Hardison to help her to her car and bundle her into the passenger seat.  Her legs still felt wobbly and she leaned on Hardison heavily.  When they arrived Hardison even helped her inside and into bed.  Terri mumbled a thanks and Hardison left her.

Terri felt the tears falling and hopelessly dabbed at them with some tissues.  She threw the tissues on the floor in defeat and pul
led the covers round her.

Curling into as small a ball as possible she fell asleep.

*

Mal noiselessly let himself into Terri’s cottage.
  His Beta Alec had phoned him to tell him about Darcy’s purse being found at the library and the suspicion surrounding Terri.

Mal had
roared at his Beta, something he never would have dared to do before.  Instead of handing his ass to him Alec had soothingly told him he never suspected Terri but had to ask for her alibi for appearances.

Thankfully Alec hadn’t taken offence, but then considering the fact that Alec went ape-shit and tried to strangle people when he believed his mate was in anyway slighted he really couldn’t judge.

Mal had been livid to hear of Darcy’s treatment of Terri and his wolf wanted the puma shifter to be reprimanded,
but Darcy was already suffering horribly because of the vicious act of another
.  The worst part was hearing that Terri had fainted at work.  She was sick.  She’d been sick since he returned from his trip but he’d been too wrapped up in his own desire to bond with her to really take notice.  His beast snarled at him for neglecting their mate.

He needed to take care of her.  Which is what he was going to do now whether she damn well liked it or not.

He could hear her even breathing, she was in bed sleeping.  He crept up the stairs quietly not wanting to wake her.

He watched her
for a few minutes.  She was coiled into the tightest ball possible, she looked tiny.  Her face was pinched like she was in pain, her cheeks wet from where she had cried in her sleep.  He kneeled next to the bed and rubbed his thumb over the bridge of her nose.  She relaxed a little.  His wolf whimpered at her, she looked so pale and fragile.

He tried to test the link that had formed from the bond, but all he got was confusion and worry.  Sighing he picked up a few tissues that had fallen on the floor.
  He hoped she had not been crying over him, he knew he wasn’t worth her tears.

He quietly moved to the bathroom to throw them in the trash.  The basket was full, overflowing in fact, so he decided to empty it.  Picking it up a box toppled off and fell to the floor. 
He frowned reading the box and slowly reached down and picked it up.  He re-read it a few times to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating.

Nope, he wasn’t.
  It was the box for a pregnancy test. 

Gingerly he fingered through her trash and found five other identical boxes as well as the tests that went with them.
  Kneeling on the bathroom floor he read the instructions through over and over.  He checked every test.  They were all positive. 
Terri was pregnant
.

His wolf howled in
delight,
yes their mate was carrying their young
.  He felt a storm of emotions hit him, fear, worry, satisfaction, happiness... but also doubt.  His heart tightened. 
The baby couldn’t belong to someone else could it?

No that wasn’t possible.
  She hadn’t been with anyone directly before she met him.

They’d first met at the Diner, but he’d noticed her a few days earlier.
  She was talking to Liv in front of the library.  Having never stepped foot in the library before he had no idea who she was.

He’d notice
d Liv before and found her attractive. 
He used to always go for blondes
. He had even half considered asking her out on a date but when he caught sight of Terri... all other women were eclipsed.  She made Liv seem plain. 
Not that he’d ever admit either of those things to his Beta.