Page 31 of Savage

“The first door down the hall,” Mom said.

She left the room, and everyone remained still waiting to hear the bathroom door close.

“You claimed her,” Dad said.

“She doesn’t know you’re a shifter,” Mom added.

“She’s having your baby?” Rand asked.

“Holy shit, dude,” Nash whispered.

If it was a shifter in the bathroom, we wouldn’t even be able to talk without being overheard, but Becky wouldn’t be able to hear our conversation.

What they hadn’t said, because they didn’t know, was that I was also an enforcer. It made things even more fucked up.

“When we first met, I had no idea she was my mate. My nose was broken. I won’t share more—”

“Thank you,” Mom cut in, then pursed her lips. I was thirty-four years old. She knew I wasn’t a virgin, but that didn’t mean she wanted details.

“—but I’ve been out of town for Rob. I had no idea about her or the baby until I ran into her at the grocery store the other day. Caught her scent.”

“Onlyyouwouldn’t know a female was your mate.” Rand reached over and punched me on the arm and rolled his eyes.

“Wait until you find your mate and see what happens. You’re going to have a story of your own to share.”

Rand looked to Nash, who shrugged and shoveled a piece of lasagna into his mouth.

“How did you claim her without her knowing?” Nash asked.

I stared at him, then glanced at Mom, whose eyes narrowed at Nash.

“Yeah, never mind,” he added.

“You need to tell her,” Dad advised.

I sighed because it wasn’t as simple as he thought. “I will. There’s a lot to adjust to here. I’m trying not to completely freak her out.”

The bathroom door opened, and there wasn’t time to tell them about her problems with her ex or even the fact that she was still married. My parents wouldn’t care. They didn’t have a legal human wedding and had never expected me or Rand to have one. Todd was her ex and in the past. That was all that mattered to them. But they wouldn’t be happy about the shit he was pulling, and I was sure they’d pull Selena in to help if I hadn’t already.

I’d claimed Becky. She was mine. That’s what they learned when they picked up my scent on her. Nothing else mattered. She was family now.

She came back into the room holding the strip of pictures. “I guess we could call this our gender reveal party.” She sat down and passed the ultrasound to my mom, who put her fingers over her lips as she stared at the black and white blobs.

My dad blinked at me. “I have no idea what that means.”

I shrugged, pointing at the paper in Mom’s hand. “Me neither. But it’s a girl.”

“Ohhhhh!” Mom hugged the ultrasound to her chest. “I can’t believe it.” A film of tears filled her eyes.

Becky took my hand beneath the table, and I gave it a squeeze. We had shit to figure out, but everything was going to be fine.

Dad swallowed hard then looked over at Mom fondly. “You finally get your girl, Janny.”

Rand punched me in the arm again. “A girl who’s going to wrap you around her little finger? You’re fucked, dude.”

“Language, Rand,” my mom admonished, but this time there was a smile in her voice.

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