Unexpected Mates

And the pup was only part of it.

He scrubbed his hands over his face. He knew he was confusing her, but he was confused himself. His reactions to her were never what he thought they would be. Everything about her was unexpected, from the baby to his wolf’s reactions to her. He was unsure of how to handle it.

Ty wanted her; he knew that much. Wanted her with a passionate intensity that stole his breath. He wanted more than anything to explore the possibility of her being his mate.

Two things were stopping him, though. Or at least making him hesitate.

What if she wasn’t his mate? What if his wolf was more broken than he thought and just confused? They could both get hurt. Ty didn’t care much about hurting himself. He’d spent most of his life being hurt in one way or another and he was used to it.

But he would never in a million years want to hurt Parker. He’d do anything possible to avoid hurting her in any way. It would kill him to see that happy light she usually had in her eyes fade or see the pretty smile she always wore go away. It was the last thing he wanted to do.

We’ll never hurt her.

Ty cursed and kicked at the ground. That. That right there. His wolf says shit like that, with an idiotic grin on his dumb wolfy face, but he was never clear. Ty wanted his damn animal to tell him why they’d never hurt her. Why he was so much saner while she was around. Not just saner, but downright content around her.

Shouldn’t his wolf be telling him that Parker was his mate, if she truly was? Shouldn’t he be urging Ty to pursue her? Demanding that he claim her?

Ty willed his wolf to speak more, to say the words, but he was silent inside of him. Tyler groaned in frustration.

His animal’s reactions and lack of fucking telling him what was going on were only adding to the pressure of all of the concerns weighing him down.

Which brought him to the second reason he was hesitating.

What if he hurt her? He wanted to be with her, in every way, but she was pregnant, and he was so much bigger than she was. She was tiny, whether she believed she was or not. That bullshit he’d heard her say about being chubby and the vipers Wendy and Hannah’s words to her were absolutely insane. All of them were certifiable.

Everything about her was gorgeous. From her raven black curls, stunning eyes and creamy skin, to her generously shaped body. Even those black framed glasses she wore were sexy as fuck. Yes, she was curvy, but it just made her look like a goddess, far above mere mortals like Wendy or Hannah.

Curvy and short. So much smaller than he was. She barely reached his chin. He towered over her, and he had to be almost twice as wide as she was. He was heavily muscled, and she was so delicate.

Add in his shifter strength, and he could break her without even trying. He hadn’t hurt her that one night back in March; at least he didn’t think he had, but she was carrying his pup now. Maybe having sex during pregnancy was a normal occurrence for humans, and nothing ever went wrong. But they weren’t shifters with inhuman strength, either.

So many things could go wrong with the pregnancy. There was so much that could happen to Parker, with her fragile human body, and so many things that could harm the baby. He refused to be one of them.

As much as he longed to take her to his bed, no matter how badly his body yearned for her and ached to feel her against him again, he was going to stand strong.

They would do what he’d invited her to do to begin with. They’d talk, go slow, get to know each other. There was still so much he didn’t know about her, when he wanted to know everything about her. And maybe by the time she had their pup, he’d know whether they were mated and meant to be. Or whether they weren’t.

Ty sighed heavily and nodded at Chase as he passed the equipment shed where his brother was tinkering on something. “Chase. Everything looks good. I’m going in to shower.”

Chase waggled his eyebrows. “Want to look and smell good for your ladylove, huh?”

“Fuck off,” Tyler said as he walked in toward the house.

“Only if you answer me one thing, big brother. Why the hell was Parker asking me what pigs eat?”

Ty grinned to himself as he let himself in the house. For being born and bred in a ranching and farming community, Parker sure was a city girl.

Tyler sat back in his desk chair, impatiently waiting on the old desktop computer to boot up. He had the finances to deal with today and paychecks to pay out to the farm hands. All of them had direct deposit, which made things easier in a way, but trying to do payroll on the dinosaur in front of him could be a nightmare.

Letting his mind wander once more while he waited, he thought back to lunch. Parker had just been coming in the house when he’d gone downstairs after his shower. She’d been slightly flushed, ponytail bobbing with the force of her enthusiasm

as she talked about the photos she’d taken of the farm.

She’d been rocking the hell out of those shorts and the flowy, low cut tank top she’d been wearing, too.

Ty shifted uncomfortably in his chair, adjusting himself in his jeans. He couldn’t allow himself to think about how delicious she looked, wouldn’t let himself go there. It would only make this harder.

Pun intended, he thought this a wry smile.