Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33919 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33919 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
“I thought this pregnancy was going to be a gift. It’s gotten her close to me again, living in the same house. We talk every now and then, and we do other things, but I don’t think it is quite the gift I thought.”
“You messed up and now you’re paying the price, but remember, Shadow, you didn’t think you’d done anything wrong. While Lisa was falling in love with you, you were just using her.”
Shadow laughed. It wasn’t a nice sound, or even close to being entertaining. It was forced and not quite accurate to how he was feeling. He hated being reminded of what he had said. It angered him, the fool he’d been.
“I was never using her,” Shadow said. “I didn’t understand my own feelings, and I fucked up, big time.” He snorted. “Wow, I so did fuck up in a big way.” He sighed. “There is no way I can make this right. I know what I said, and I know it was all lies, but Lisa doesn’t know that.”
Pam moved to sit beside him. “What’s wrong?”
“I love her, Pam. It scares me how she makes me feel. When I’m with her, it is like everything makes sense, and when we’re apart, nothing makes sense. Nothing is right.”
“Why?” Pam asked.
He turned toward his friend. “Why do I feel that way?”
Pam laughed. “No, why did you do it? Why did you say it?”
“I don’t fucking know. I didn’t want them to even think of taking her away from me, so if I made them believe she wasn’t important, then they wouldn’t try,” he said.
“You thought they were going to try and steal Lisa from you?”
“They were fucking assholes. I don’t know why I said the shit I did.”
“You were scared,” Pam said.
He glared at her.
“Not like physically afraid. Wow, you get so defensive.” Pam rolled her eyes.
“I’m not afraid.”
“Okay, lets put this another way that might make you think a little better.” She snorted and flicked her hair. “Your dad married a strong, very alpha woman. Your mother was known for being kind, but also for helping keep the pack in place. You grandfather and grandmother before them. Even going back before then as well. Don’t you see the cycle now?” Lisa asked.
“So?”
“So, none of them fell in love with human women. You fell in love with a very human woman. An amazing woman, but very human. All your life, you’ve been told how you’re supposed to run the pack, lead it, and at no point do they give you advice on what to do if you fall in love and mate with a human. Lisa’s human, and she’s your mate.”
Shadow sighed. “What do I do?”
“Grovel. Beg. Kneel on broken glass, and repeatedly tell her how sorry you are. Possibly beat yourself up. I don’t know, but you can’t give up.”
“What if that is what she wants me to do?” he asked.
“Lisa doesn’t want you to give up. She wants to be able to trust you again, and you’re the only one that holds the key to help her forgive and forget. You’ve got to figure out how to do this.” Pam put a hand on his shoulder. “And trust me, the whole pack is rooting for you.”
“How do you think she has been able to win the whole pack? I know some of them don’t even venture into No Wolves Road because they don’t trust humans?” Shadow asked. “Not that I have a problem with it.”
Pam laughed. “From what I can tell, she listens to everyone. Also, she is damn good at baking a cake, and they’re all pretty excited about that.”
He laughed. “Yeah, she is good at baking cakes.” He found himself constantly stealing random slices. “I got lucky there.”
“That you did. Lisa just has a way about her. She’s friendly, open, and she listens. She is going to be one hell of a great mate for you.”
Chapter Nine
“This place looks amazing,” Adele said.
Lisa chuckled. They were only a few weeks away from Christmas. Halloween and Thanksgiving had already come and gone. Shadow had told her that the pack loved Thanksgiving, so she had gone all out, creating a massive feast consisting of two turkeys, as well as two hams and even some chicken. The meal had included two types of stuffing, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, she’d also done mac-and-cheese, in fact, every dish she could think of to mark Thanksgiving. The table had been heaving with food. There had also been food on the counters.
She’d made apple pie, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, chocolate cake, and several other desserts. She had figured all leftovers would be great, and she’d even offered baggies at the end of the night.
Nope to everything. The whole pack demolished the food, and once they were done and she stood beside Shadow as they were leaving, she had been given a kiss on the cheek by the wolves. She believed there were at least twenty, if not thirty, including family members, who had kissed her cheek.