Page 33 of Hunted Ink

“Probably a banana,” he said, smothering a smirk.

“Or a giant dick.”

“As long as it’s my dick.”

We both burst out laughing at the absurd thought, although now that we’d joked about it, the chances of it coming true were higher than zero. Kedi wiped a finger under his eyes to banish his tears. Following the urge to press my body to his, I rolled us across the bed until he was under me, then wiggled down until I was eye level with his belly button, noticing the gentle curve to his once-flat abdomen.

“Isn’t your daddy’s laugh the best sound ever?” I stage-whispered to our baby, glancing up at Kedi to catch his tender smile full of love and devotion.

He carded his fingers through my hair, nails dragging over my scalp. “I doubt they can understand what you’re saying. They’re like the size of a pea. They might not even have ears yet.”

“Actually, since we’re both wolves, your pregnancy will likely be much faster than a human’s. They’re probably closer to the size of a lime by now, and they’re busy forming their itty-bitty fingernails.”

He blinked at me a few times. “How do you know that?”

“I’ve been doing some research.” I shrugged, blushing with pride. “See, there’s this thing called the library…”

He laughed, his belly vibrating under my hands. “Ah, yes. I believe I’ve heard of them before. Please, tell me more.”

Back when Kedi had first brought up the possibility of having kids, I’d made a trip to the library one day when I was waiting for him to finish work and spent some time looking up wolf biology. I was determined to be the best father to my child. Even if I couldn’t remember my own father, I knew he’d been a good one. Whenever I thought of him, I could still feel the outpouring of love he’d shown me.

Before I could tell Kedi the detailed information of what I’d learned about our baby’s growth, we were interrupted by a phone ringing. I didn’t recognize the sound at first. “It’s not mine,” Kedi said.

Which meant it was mine. Fuck.

I rolled off the bed, heart lodged in my throat as I fished through my pants for the burner phone. No point in looking at the caller ID. There were only two people who had the number, and one of them was right here. “Seth?” I answered, out of breath.

He cut straight to the chase. “You need to get home. They’re on their way back.”

My racing heart suddenly stopped. “How do you know?” I gritted out, trying not to let the panic win.

“I stuck a GPS tracker on Pater’s truck.” There wasn’t an ounce of guilt in that statement, only fact. I wasn’t the only one who didn’t trust our so-called leaders.

With the phone tucked against my shoulder, I shoved my legs into my pants. “How long do I have?”

“Maybe an hour?”

Shit. “On my way.”

I hung up and threw my phone on the bed, racing to get dressed. “I’m sorry to cut this visit short,” I began, but Kedi understood the urgency.

He threw me my shirt. “Don’t apologize. Just go!”

Before I was fully dressed, I was already running for the door, shoving my feet into my boots. No matter the rush, though, I took the moment to embrace my mate. I could never guarantee this wasn’t the last time I’d see him, so I tried to imprint every inch of his beautiful face to memory, kissing him like it was the end of the world. “I love you,” I told him fiercely, making sure he felt exactly how much.

“I love you too. Please be safe.” He was trying to put on a brave face, but he couldn’t hide the sheen to his eyes and the way his lower lip quivered.

“Always,” I said, giving him one last kiss. I focused on looking calm and unconcerned for Kedi’s sake, even as a dangerous anger began to simmer inside me. It was time to put my plan into action, because we both knew my luck was running out.

As soon as I saw a chance, I needed to find a way to swap out the wolfsbane for something else, giving the other shifters a fighting chance.

I drove well over the speed limit the whole way back, hoping there were no cops parked along the highway. I tried not to watch the time, counting down the minutes, because it wouldn’t make a difference. Either I made it back in time… or I didn’t.

My truck bounced hard off the ruts on the final stretch of dirt track, but I gritted my teeth and kept my foot on the gas, praying the ancient suspension held. As I erupted through the trees, I let out a groan of relief at the empty field where the elders usually parked their vehicles. I slammed on the brakes, threw it in park, and ripped the key out of the ignition, the cloud of dust drifting over me as I hauled ass out of the truck and into the house. Sweat made my clothes cling to me, and I ran through the house to where Seth was shoving the last of their party detritus into a black trash bag.

“Three minutes!” he shouted, and I heard a frantic scuffle as the others dragged their own garbage bags after them, no doubt searching for somewhere to hide them until they could be disposed of discreetly.

Seth eyed me warily. “Cutting it a bit close, don’t you think?”