Savage (Wolf Ranch 4)

“I assume you didn’t say who was coming on purpose,” Becky said as we started through the canyon out of town.

I flicked her a glance but kept my eyes on the windy road. The roads were dry, but this was where the Wolf parents had been killed in an accident. I had precious cargo now, so I lightened my foot on the accelerator.

“This is the kind of thing to share in person, don’t you think?” I asked.

I loved my parents and saw them several times a week. We were close. It was a surprise, even for me, to have a mate and a baby on the way all in the matter of the two days. It wasn’t easy to explain. Becky wasn’t a woman I shared on a phone call.

“Sugar, I’ve barely processed the fact that we’re having a girl.”

When I’d looked at the ultrasound monitor, I’d had no idea what I’d been looking at. The tech had been patient and talked us through it all. When she turned a dial and the sound of a hummingbird-fast heartbeat filled the room, Becky had started to cry. I didn’t, only because I was a big brawny man. Still though, it hit all the fucking feels. We’d made that little thing. I’d leaned over Becky where she reclined on the exam table and kissed her.

When the tech told us the sex… I almost fainted dead away. A girl. I never in a million years imagined I’d ever have a daughter. Hell, I’d never imagined having kids, let alone a mate.

Fate fucked even someone like me and was laughing. Hard.

A girl.

I hadn’t been lying when I’d said girls were fragile. They needed protecting from… everything. If I was insanely protective of Becky, I’d probably go ballistic about a daughter.

She’d cry little toddler tears, and I’d give her anything she wanted. She’d get in a fight on the playground, and I’d have to punch some little shit. She’d go to prom and… fuck no. That was never happening.

I’d known we were having a girl for all of thirty minutes, and I was turning insane. Who needed moon madness when there were baby girls to put you down?

Becky began to fidget then pulled down the visor to look in the mirror.

“Relax, they’re going to love you.”

I took her hand, set it on my thigh. Love her? Holy shit, Mom was going to freak. She’d hinted at wanting grandpups, but she knew that finding a mate wasn’t easy. Neither of my parents put pressure on me or Rand, but I had a feeling they would be claiming Boyd and Audrey’s child as a grandpup, blood or not. Now they’d have a granddaughter to dote on.

If they watched her closely, didn’t let her fall and get hurt. Didn’t feed her too many sweets. Kept her warm with mittens and a hat and—

Fuck!

Twenty minutes later, I parked in front of my parents’ cabin in the woods. It was about a mile from the main ranch house, set up in the mountains. They’d chosen this spot after they were first mated, and I’d grown up here. The cabin, at first, had been small, but additions had been built on for additional bedrooms and space.

“It’s beautiful,” Becky said, as she looked out the window at the log home.

“Thanks. Wait there, and I’ll help you out.”

I hopped out, snow crunching beneath my boots. Up here, there were several inches on the ground.

I opened Becky’s door and took her hand. “Careful, it might be slippery,” I said, when she stood beside me. “Fuck that.”

No way was she slipping, so I picked her up and carried her up the walk to the front door.

“You can’t carry me for the next five months,” she commented.

“Watch me,” I replied. Opening the front door, warm air and the scent of garlic and tomato sauce hit me. It smelled like home, but I realized that home was in my arms, and we’d make a place just like this for ourselves. Soon. Hell, very soon if we only had five months. No fucking way were Becky and the baby staying in the bunk house.

My mom came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish towel and stopped in place when she saw us. “Well. Hello.” Her eyes shone with wonder as she looked from my face to Becky’s.

I tipped Becky gently back to her feet. “Mom, this is Becky. We’re having a baby. Becky, my mom, Janet.”

Mom stared and stared. She raised two kids, me and my younger brother, Rand. When Mr. and Mrs. Wolf passed away, she’d pretty much taken in Boyd, Colton and Rob. Five boys in total. The stuff we’d done should have made her hair white, but she’d taken it all in stride. But this?

I’d surprised the hell out of her.

“Wh-what?” My mom was strong as anything, so I didn’t expect her to burst into tears as she rushed to engulf Becky in a hug. “Oh fates, really? You’re going to give me a grandbaby?” I watched her breathe in Becky’s scent, picking up all the clues. That Becky was human. And I’d marked her.