nauseous and sick. That wasn’t necessarily common for shifter pregnancies, and Dakota’s mate Bennett was on edge. He had almost insisted that Dakota quit her job, but that would have turned into an all-out war between the couple. He called every hour or so to make sure his mate and child were okay.
Dakota claimed to find it annoying, but she always smiled when she picked up the phone. There was real love between those two.
It was a beautiful thing to see. Poppy was doubtful that she would have that kind of sweetly overbearing and overprotectiveness from her own mate. Shaw, after all, was a human. The shifter strength of character and protective attitude just didn’t suit mortal men.
That was fine. At least she had found her mate. It gave Poppy hope that she wouldn’t have to sacrifice some of the things she wanted in her life. Like having a few kids of her own. Not that she was getting old—she was still very much in her childbearing years, thanks very much—or anything. It was more of a fear she had that she would never find the man who could deal with her family. Could Shaw? Scrawny, gangly Shaw?
She had definitely pissed off her uncle, but now that she had, there was no way he was going to let her ride off into the sunset with her mate, if she were lucky enough to get Shaw. Uncle Chuck was way old-school, and he thought that Poppy owed him. He had taken her in, given her a roof and food, clothes and an education. As a result, she owed him the rest of her life.
Poppy thoroughly disagreed with him.
Uncle Chuck had taken her in with the hopes of controlling her. He did nothing without having a plan to get something for free. For Charles Cain, everyone and everything had a price.
She knew for a fact that she was the first person to ever say no to him. That was why she needed the help of a bodyguard. It was only a matter of time before Uncle Chuck came collecting.
Instead of cowering behind lies and deceit, Poppy had to be ready to fight for herself. Now that she had found Shaw, the fight was going to be all the more brutal. She wasn’t about to let go of everything she had ever wanted.
Chapter Nine
Poppy
Poppy had never really liked staying in hotel rooms. They always felt cold and impersonal. Even though the mattresses were always just right, and it was nice not to be responsible for cleaning for once, there was still an uncomfortable tug in the pit of her stomach. She had a home. An apartment she really liked. She had gone through the painstaking progress of decorating it just so and making it her own little nest. Her own small world.
She knew why she couldn’t go back, at least not until all of this ugliness with her uncle was put to rest. But that made her miss her place all that much more. It was hers. She paid the rent. Sure, it was in one of his complexes, but she had made sure there wasn’t a single ounce of Cain in her house. It was all pastels and cheerful colors. The drab brown and gray shades of the hotel room were meant to look modern and trendy, but the effect fell flat for her.
With an exasperated sigh, she turned on the television and flicked through the channels until she found something interesting. It was better for her to find something to distract herself with, before she could hear Bennett and Dakota going at it in the next room over. Dakota had insisted on sleeping in the hotel, and she had said that it was going to be a nice little staycation for her and her mate before the baby came.
Poppy couldn’t help but think that Bennett couldn’t be her biggest fan. For all intents and purposes, she was putting the woman he loved—and their unborn child—in danger. All because she had seen fit to rebel. She shook her head out, refusing to let her thoughts be controlled by her latest ordeal. Nope. She wasn’t going to focus on that.
She was an intelligent young woman who had gotten into nursing school, who had done exceedingly well during her work placement, and now she was kicking ass at a job that made her happy. That’s what mattered the most.
A few minutes passed, and Poppy’s attention on the reality television show, that depicted the ludicrous