“Okay, let me get this straight. This woman is in a relationship with you? Why the hell wouldn’t she just tell me that? Why didn’t she just ask for help if she’d run out of food? There is something extremely fishy about this, and my bullshit meter is beeping like a motherfucker.”
Hunter sighed. “She’s different, Duncan. She’s been alone most of her life. She doesn’t trust anyone. She hasn’t had much contact with other people. She doesn’t understand the rules.”
Duncan’s eyes narrowed. “You didn’t take advantage of that, did you, Hunter?”
Hunter stiffened. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t ask that. All you need to know is that that is my woman in there, and she is pregnant with my child. If you aren’t pressing charges, I’m taking her home with me right now.”
“Hell no, I’m not pressing charges,” Duncan said in disgust.
“Then we’ll be on our way.”
“Fine. But buy her some damn shoes, for God’s sake.”
Hunter walked back into Duncan’s office and carefully approached Kaya. She stared up at him, uncertainty written on her face. His heart ached at the loss of trust. Before she’d given herself and her trust with no reservation. Now he and Jericho were going to have to work damn hard to get it back.
He knelt on the floor in front of her and took her cold hands in his. “Are you ready to go home, honey?”
“Where is Jericho?”
There was a fearful look in her eyes, as if she was afraid that Jericho hadn’t come back for her.
He cupped her cheek in his hand, rubbing tenderly. “He’s at the cabin. We’ll explain everything when we get there. I swear.”
Slowly she nodded.
“But first we’re going to go buy you some decent clothes and shoes.”
She glanced down at her bare feet. “Okay.”
He took her hand in his and carefully helped her to her feet. “Come on, honey. Let’s go home.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
The drive back up the mountain was silent and tense. Hunter had a thousand questions burning his brain, but he owed it to Jericho to wait so he could hear it all as well. He was impatient to get Kaya back to the cabin. Jericho had been out of his mind with worry, and he was still badly in need of recovery time.
As they neared the cabin, Hunter reached over and took Kaya’s hand in his. The touch was more to reassure him than her. How close they had come to losing her. If Duncan hadn’t stashed her in the jail, no matter how terrifying for her, they likely wouldn’t have ever seen her again.
The back of the truck was filled with food and clothing. He hadn’t taken much time with the shopping. He’d grabbed what they needed immediately and left an order to be filled with Margaret. He’d go back to get the rest. From there, he’d gone to the small clothing store and grabbed everything off the rack he thought would fit Kaya. And shoes. He’d sized her small feet and bought tennis shoes, slip-ons and a pair of boots.
As they pulled up to the cabin, Jericho stepped onto the porch, leaning against the railing for support. Kaya stiffened, her hand going to her mouth as a gasp escaped.
Jericho strained to see the inside of the truck, hoping against hope. When Hunter stepped out, his heart sank. He closed his eyes as despair swept over him. Where was she? Was she alone? Afraid? Hurt or in trouble?
Hunter walked around the front of the truck and to the passenger side. Jericho’s breath caught and held, swelling in his chest, when Hunter opened the door and reached inside.
Seconds later, Kaya stepped from the truck, tucked into Hunter’s protective hold. The two figures went blurry in his vision, and he quickly scrubbed at his eyes with the back of his sleeve.
Then he noticed the small swell of her stomach and how she palmed it protectively. Her nervous gaze sought his, and he could read fear and uncertainty in her eyes.
Pregnant.
Indescribable joy swelled in his soul until he thought he’d burst. He had to grab at the railing again as he swayed like a sapling in the breeze.
She was here. She was pregnant. They had a child.
Hunter slowly walked her forward until they stood a few feet away. She stared hard at Jericho, her lips turned down into a frown.
“What is wrong, Jericho?” she asked.
He held open his arms and she hurried forward, burying herself against his chest.
“Nothing,” he said in a choked voice. “Now that you’re here, nothing in the world is the matter.”
She held him for a long moment before finally pulling away to stare up at him, concern etched into her eyes.
“What happened to you? You’re in pain, and you don’t look well.”
Jericho found Hunter’s gaze. “You didn’t tell her?”
“We have a lot to talk about,” Hunter said wearily. “I waited until we got here. She was down in Duncan’s jail.”
“What?” Jericho exploded.
Kaya jumped against him, and he gentled his touch, soothing her with his hands.
“Let’s go inside,” Hunter suggested. “We all need to sit down.”
Unable to let her go even for a moment, Jericho held her tightly against his side as he started for the living room. He stumbled when his leg didn’t cooperate, and Hunter grabbed him to steady him.
“Thanks,” Jericho muttered.
“Jericho, what happened?” Kaya asked.
Her anxious eyes found his, and all he could do was kiss her. He lowered his head to find her lips, closing his eyes as her sweetness enveloped him. Finally. Finally he was home.
With Hunter’s help, he got to the couch and sat, pulling Kaya down beside him. He kept her anchored against his side, afraid to let her go even for a moment.
“What happened, Kaya?” Hunter asked gently. “I need you to tell us everything.”
She withdrew and twined her fingers in her lap, twisting nervously.
“I stayed as long as I could. I ran out of food, and since I couldn’t shift, I had to go to the town to try and get something to eat. I thought…I thought you weren’t coming back.”
Hunter swore, and Jericho closed his eyes.
“Why couldn’t you shift?” Hunter asked.
“Because of the baby,” she said softly. “It’s too dangerous. I didn’t know at first. One day the cougar wouldn’t respond to my call to shift. I was so frightened. I thought she had deserted me too.”
“Oh honey, I’m so sorry,” Jericho whispered against her hair. “We didn’t desert you. We’d never voluntarily leave you. I know how it must have looked, but we wouldn’t have left you for the world.”
She swallowed. “Then I had a vision from the Maker bestowing his gift on my daughter, and I understood. I realized I was pregnant.”
“Gift?”
“Daughter?”
Both men voiced their questions at the same time.
She nodded and framed her hands around her belly. “She will be a great silver wolf. I saw it in my vision. She will be free and beautiful.”
The men stared at each other in disbelief. A wolf. Jericho couldn’t wrap his brain around it. How the hell did a cougar-shifting woman give birth to a wolf-shifting daughter?
She looked up at them, her anxiety a living, breathing thing hovering in the air. “Are you upset about the baby?”
Hunter’s mouth fell open, and Jericho squeezed her against him, his heart beating double-time.
“Upset?” Hunter asked.
“Hell no.” Jericho’s hand covered hers, cupping the swell. “I’m only upset that we left you here to fend for yourself, alone and pregnant.”
“Honey, how do you know she’ll be a wolf? And how is that possible when Jericho and I…we aren’t shifters.”
She offered a shaky smile. “It was the Maker’s choice to gift our daughter with the wolf. She will grow to be strong and beautiful.”
“Like her mother,” Hunter said softly.
“What happened after you found out?” Jericho asked.
She stiffened a
gain at his side. Her small fingers curled and uncurled. She seemed to be grappling with her emotions.
Sliding away from him, she rose to pace in front of them her eyes glowing, her face creased in consternation.
Kaya sucked in her breath, praying for wisdom, but her anger was quickly building. It surprised her, this rush of rage, her feeling of betrayal. She’d held so much in for so long because she’d been so afraid, but now with the two men in front of her, she seethed like a cauldron.
She turned to face them both. “Why?”
Jericho looked tortured, his face a mask of pain, both physical and mental. Hunter looked away, his body tense.
“You said you’d return. You led me to believe you would only be away a few weeks. You left me.”
She palmed her belly again and rubbed in agitation.
“I had no way to feed myself. I had no money to live in the human world, and when I tried to feed myself and my child, I was taken and locked in a…in a…cage,” she choked out.
She covered her face in her hands as sobs spilled out. Her shoulders shook violently as she tried to keep the raw noise from escaping.
In an instant she was enfolded and surrounded by both men. They held on to her while months of fear and grief erupted. She clutched at them, simultaneously furious and overjoyed that they were here, holding her.
“I’m so sorry, honey,” Jericho murmured. “When I realized how long we’d been gone, I went crazy.”
She went still and then pushed away so she could look up at him. “What do you mean?” She took in his haggard appearance, the weight he’d lost, the pallor of his face and the unmistakable evidence of pain. All the things she’d seen when he’d appeared on the porch, looking weak. “Jericho, what happened to you? Why wouldn’t you know how long you were gone?” She clutched frantically at his chest. “Tell me what happened!”
Hunter gently pried her away from Jericho and led her back to the couch. Jericho came with her and collapsed beside her on the cushions, looking for the world like the last of his strength had been sapped.
“Come here,” Jericho said, holding his arms out to her.
She went willingly, her earlier anger evaporating as the sweetness of his embrace surrounded her.