A Baby for the Bear (Wylde Brothers 1)

“Man, why aren’t you throwing the shots back and celebrating with us? This is a huge step.” Bram pushed the glass closer to him. “A huge step for the business. Mom and Dad would be drinking right along with us if they were here.” Silence descended around them, and they each looked down at the table.

It had been a long time since they actually brought up the memory of their parents, but Bram was right that their parents would be excited and proud the family business was flourishing.

“Didn’t you have some news of your own?” Ford prompted.

“Yeah, I do, and it’s even bigger than yours.” This had his brothers looking at each other then back at him expectantly.

“Well, spit it out,” Ford urged him to continue when he just looked at them.

“It must be huge if you think it’s bigger than Piefer,” Bram said right before he poured himself another shot. His smile was wide, and the excitement poured out of him.

“Yeah.” Charlie picked up his shot and tossed it back. The burn of the alcohol traveled down his throat and settled like a lead ball in the pit of his stomach. “You know the ocelot shifter I was telling you about, the one I wanted to mate?”

“Ary, right?” Bram asked slowly and looked over at Ford.

Charlie nodded. “Well.” He cleared his throat, feeling his own joy and happiness grow to a monumental point inside him. He was excited to see how his brothers would react. Ever since their parents passed away in the car accident years ago, he always looked after Ford and Bram, even though they were adults.

The three of them stuck together, and always would, but he had Ary in his life now, and she carried his child. Things would change most definitely, and although he knew his brothers would be happy about this, he couldn’t help but wonder what the future held.

He wanted to start a life with February, and not just because she was pregnant, but that little fact had every possessive instinct inside him rushing to the surface and threatening to spill out. He needed to control himself and keep his bear in check or he would surely frighten her away. “Looks like I’m going to be a father.” The heat in the room became stifling, and he cleared his throat.

“Father? What do you mean?” Ford asked slowly, but Charlie knew he understood him just fine.

“You’re having a baby with the ocelot female?” Bram leaned back in his seat and started tapping his fingers along the table. It was a habit he had when nervous.

“Yeah, I am. I asked her to have lunch with me, because I wanted to talk to her about taking the next step in a relationship. Turns out, she had her own reason for agreeing to come, and that was telling me the broken condom ended up with her being pregnant.”

“Shit, man.” Bram sounded stunned. “I mean, I don’t know the girl or anything, but I have to play the devil’s advocate here. She did go home with you willingly after you two just met. You don’t think maybe there is a possibility she got knocked up by a different guy she let take her home?”

Charlie knew Bram meant well and was just looking out for him, but just hearing those words had his inner animal on the verge of breaking free. He felt his muscles start to swell with the imminent release of his bear. The fact that he was having a hard time restraining his animal scared the shit out of him.

“Damn, Charlie, I meant no disrespect. I was just making an observation.” Bram and Ford stood at the same time and took a step back. Charlie’s whole body shook as he tried to control his bear. All it had taken was for him to hear something negative about Ary, even if it had been from one of his brothers, and his bear wanted to taste blood and feel flesh ripping beneath his claws.

“What the fuck is happening to me?” His voice was distorted, sounding like an animalistic growl. He curled his fingers into the table, heard the sound of cracking wood, and knew he needed to rein himself in or he’d end up hurting his brothers. Closing his eyes and taking a few deep breaths, he did the only thing he could think of that might make his bear refrain from coming out: he thought of February.

He pictured her lush body beneath his, the spearmint scent of her flesh as he ran his tongue along every dip and swell. He pictured her crying out his name as he buried himself deep inside her and marked her with his seed. He wanted her smelling like him completely and wanted his claw marks on her succulent body so every male, shifter and human alike, would know she was his.