the windows where he’d made a space for himself and his books.
Eli, unsurprisingly, had a desk in one corner with a sofa in front of it for us all to sit on.
Me? I tended to borrow theirs.
Not because I didn’t need my own space, but because their space was mine.
What they needed, I found I did too.
Some days, I wanted books. Other days, I wanted the TV and to snuggle in front of the fire on a cold night. On another? I liked to sit on the sofa and argue with Eli over pack politics before I clambered over the desk to kiss him, to make him see sense when he was stubborn.
The pack had a lot to thank me and my kisses for, that was for certain.
My lips twitched at the thought as I stared at Eli from the bed. Knight was there, kicking and cooing, and I was melting as usual, but even though Eli was commonly the first to turn to goo, he didn’t.
If anything, I could see by his eyes that he’d just gone full wolf on someone.
It hit me then that I hadn’t sensed anything amiss in the house, and I felt immediate guilt because I’d been so focused on Knight, I hadn’t really thought about—
“Stop it!”
I jolted at that, then jerked when I saw Ethan glowering at me from behind a pile of books.
“You’re a new mom, Sabina. You’re not supposed to be doing everything at once. We never asked for supermom. You’re supposed to ease into this. What did we make you promise?”
I bit my bottom lip. “Mom first, mate second, omega last.”
I repeated the vow they’d had me promise, even though it put me on edge.
Eli rolled his eyes at my guilt. “That’s nothing less than what the Mother wants.”
“I know,” I whispered, but I still felt bad.
Mark Jenkins had just been badly hit with arthritis in his left knee, and it was stopping him from getting about the place as easily, which meant he was getting depressed.
Then there was Elsa, our housekeeper. She’d just lost her first pup and was so sad about it that I could feel the tears she wasn’t allowing herself to spill. Especially when she was around Knight.
I sucked in a breath though, because they were right. I couldn’t do it all, and the best thing was? No one expected me to.
I’d already had a pile of the pack come in to meet Knight, and each of them had told me to take it easy.
There was no reason to feel guilty, no reason whatsoever.
Tell that to my overactive mind, though, huh?
I huffed a breath, then focused on Eli. “What is it? Why did you go full wolf?”
His lips twitched at my nickname for when he had to blast someone with alpha yumminess.
Sure, for anyone else, it made them piss their pants. Me? It just turned me to mush.
“Leon Yardley just called me,” he rasped.
“Why?”
Leon was an odd duck. He and his wife, Maribel, lived out on a farm on the edge of pack land and rarely came over to town. I tended to meet them only when they came to the circle for monthly pack meetings.
They had a small son who was a—
Well, I shouldn’t say it.
But he reminded me of Damien. From The Omen?
The creepy kid was nothing like Daniel, who was flourishing in our care, growing stronger and stronger with each month that passed under Eli, Ethan, and Austin’s calming guidance.
Seth was just plain strange.
“He just told me that he’d whipped Maribel and expected me to punish her in the circle.”
My mouth dropped open at that as astonishment hit me. I jerked upright, unsettling Knight, who squawked, and I closed my eyes, quickly flickering through the balls of power that represented each member of the pack. When I found her, I sensed her distress, her horror at what her husband had done, and her misery.
She was going to—
“She’s in danger,” I rasped.
“No. I scared him shitless—”
“From herself!” Quickly, I whispered to her, trying to ease her. “It’s okay, Maribel. Please, the pack loves you. We love you and need you—”
Then I felt it.
And my eyes popped open. “She’s pregnant.”
Austin and Ethan froze, but Eli just looked resigned. “I know. That’s why he whipped her. Insisted she’d cheated on him. Dumb fuck. Like mates can even do that.”
I heaved out a breath. “We only gifted the placenta last night—”
“It couldn’t have worked so fast,” Austin mumbled. “We’ve had no real time to prepare the pack!”