Fierce (Wolf Ranch 5)

“Not my stud,” Willow said, and we all laughed.

I shrugged, turned Lizzie so she sat up and faced me, my hands tucked under her armpits. I jiggled my leg, so she bounced a little. “I don’t know. It could probably be arranged.”

I wanted to. I desperately wanted to know that next week wouldn’t be goodbye with Levi. That there’d be a see you later instead.

But that was crazy.

I had a job and Pops. And even if Levi wasn’t running for sheriff, he was totally attached to Wolf Ranch. There was no possibility for us to be together.

Dammit.

LEVI

Oh shit.

When I walked in and found Charlie with Lizzie in her arms, something strange and twisty happened in my chest.

What was it?

Fuck. Longing?

I’d seen Audrey with Lizzie and had my first—I want Charlie to have my babies moment. That had been in my imagination. Now Charlie was holding a baby. I didn’t have to imagine what she’d look like with an infant in her arms.

I wanted that. I’d sat back and watched almost all my best friends mate over this past year.

Boyd. Colton. Rob. Clint.

I hadn’t been jealous. I hadn’t even been sure I wanted what they had. I didn’t have the biology of the wolf driving me to mate before I was too old. Or at least, mine was suppressed.

Sure, I’d hoped I’d find my mate. And I’d definitely pictured mating a she-wolf—never a human.

But looking at that sweet softness in Charlie’s face as she made baby-talk to Lizzie had my heart lurching.

I wanted that.

Fuck—I wanted that with her.

This was more than fourteen nights. It was way more than sex. Charlie and I fit. I was falling in love with her—everything about her. Her over-active mind and workaholism. The way her walls came down when we were in private. How I felt as big as a mountain when I made her laugh. When I made her come.

How I felt was a pretty damn big problem considering she was leaving in a week.

I walked over and slid an arm loosely around her waist, joining her in pulling faces at Lizzie.

“First puppies, now babies. I think I’m on cute overload,” Charlie said, smiling up at me under her black lashes.

“Wait until Seraphina has that colt. It’s going to be one very beautiful baby horse.”

Charlie’s smile was easy—so much quicker than when she first arrived. “I know! I’ll have to send pictures.” Then her smile faltered as if she, too, was contemplating us being apart.

Knowing it didn’t seem right.

“I might have to come visit. Check out Eddison’s offspring in person,” I said, but I knew it wasn’t true. That just wasn’t done. Not with a high-paying client like Claymore. We weren’t friends. I couldn’t just show up at his ranch to “visit” our stud’s offspring. That would be unprofessional. “Okay, I guess that would be weird,” I admitted aloud.

Charlie’s smile returned. “You want to hold her?” she asked, offering the baby.

Honest truth? In the few months since both these two babies arrived at the ranch, I hadn’t held one of them.

Hadn’t really felt it was something I was missing, either.

Course, it was hard to get the babies away from their overprotective fathers and their doting mothers and aunts.

“I’d love to,” I answered honestly, accepting the little bundle of sweetness. “Hey there, Lizzie-loo,” I murmured, holding under her armpits and bringing her eye level.

Her tiny face split into a gargantuan smile, tongue extended, feet kicking.

“Look at you. You’re so little.”

“You won’t say that when she screams,” Boyd said, walking up behind me and leaning in to steal his daughter’s smile. “The baby has a set of lungs on her, let me tell you.”

Charlie laughed. “That’s good. That means she can communicate her needs.”

“Yep. Loud and clear on every dissatisfaction,” Boyd chuckled, taking the baby from me and holding her straight over his head. She laughed and gurgled her pleasure. I had her about ten seconds before Boyd took her away. I had to laugh at how the tiny girl had her dad wrapped around her finger. I could only imagine what he’d be like in fifteen years. Hell, all of us men on the ranch would be on vigilant patrol.

I pulled Charlie’s back against my front, wrapping my arms around her from behind. I wanted to tell her how much I wanted to put a baby in her belly. Plant my seed and watch it grow. See her carrying our beautiful angel instead of Boyd’s and Audrey’s.

But we weren’t there. And I really didn’t see us getting there, no matter how appealing the idea felt.

No, Charlie was leaving, and I had to stay.

Or did I?

Fuck. Was I really considering living amongst humans again? Mating one?

That was crazy. I’d only known Charlie a few days.

And yet, the thought didn’t make my wolf twist and rage the way he usually did when I remembered living with my grandparents. Or even as he had a week ago, thinking I had to share the bunkhouse with a human.