Falling for the Billionaire Wolf and His Baby (Blood Moon Brotherhood 1)

“So you’re saying I don’t have a choice?” she asked, her eyes wide with horror.

“I won’t make you stay, Jessa,” he admitted, even if the wolf howled in protest. “But I’m asking you to. Oscar needs you. And so do I.”

She tore her gaze from his. “I’d like to lie down while Oscar’s still asleep.”

“Just a minute. Come with me, I’ve something to show you,” he said, going through the bathroom that adjoined Jessa and Oscar’s rooms. He waited, pleased that she eventually followed him. “There should be no reason to use this, but it’s here.” He pushed open Oscar’s closet, sliding his finger along the release of the hidden door inside.

The wall slid back, revealing a small safe room.

“Are you kidding me?” Jessa’s voice wavered.

“You saw how the release works?” he asked. “The emergency release is here. There’s a keypad in my office—it’s the only other way to open the door. Other than from the inside, of course.”

She stared inside.

“Jessa?” he repeated. “Did you see how the release works?”

She nodded.

“Hit this button and the door slams and locks,” he said, pointing to a red button just inside the door. “It can only be opened from the inside, here,” he pointed at the keypad. “The code is here.” He showed her, watching her eyes get wider and wider. “Do you have any questions?”

She shook her head, backing out. She stared around Oscar’s nursery almost blindly before heading through the bathroom to her room.

He followed, regretting everything. He shouldn’t have told her. He should have made something up. But it was too late now. “Jessa…” How could he make her understand?

“This is a lot to take in.” She stared past him.

That’s the understatement of the year. “Are you okay?”

“I honestly don’t know.” She shook her head. “I don’t know how to believe anything you’re telling me.”

“I know—”

“I don’t think you do,” her voice wavered. “This is normal for you. It’s the furthest thing from normal for me.”

Everything she said was right. He hated it—hated feeling helpless. “Is there anything I can do?”

“Please. Give me some time to myself.” She wouldn’t look at him.

He left, closing her door behind him. He lingered, pacing, the need to watch over them pressing in on him. And when he heard Jessa’s soft crying, the wolf was ready for a fight.

…

“A few more minutes,” Jessa said, bouncing Oscar in the sling she wore, walking the length of the apartment again. The order she’d placed yesterday, before her disastrous walk, hadn’t been delivered on time. Now her world was upside down and her nerves were shot. And while Oscar was a sweet-tempered baby, he couldn’t go without formula. It was her fault—she’d been shaking so badly, so distracted, that she’d knocked the remaining formula onto the floor before she could make Oscar’s bottle. Now Thomas wasn’t responding to her texts or calls, so she’d used Klemps’s emergency delivery hotline. She’d laughed at its existence once—now she just hoped the formula would arrive before Oscar’s patience ran out.

She had to finish packing if they

were going to leave in the morning. And she had to decide if she was going with them. Or if she’d be saying good-bye to Oscar and Finn. She’d talked to Harry and her brothers, who were excited over their fancy living arrangements. They thought it was to avoid paparazzi—if only that were true. The truth? Her eyes burned from a sleepless night and too many tears.

The doorman buzzed, “You have a delivery from Klemps’, Miss Talbot.”

“Thank you,” she said, smiling at Oscar in the fabric sling she was wearing. “See, I wouldn’t let you go hungry little man.”

Oscar regarded her with his wide, light eyes.

“You’re welcome,” she murmured. It would be easier to choose if she didn’t love Oscar. But she did, more than she’d ever imagined possible.

He gurgled, making her smile