The Librarian and the Wolf: (9 page)

After a little coercion
Terri had agreed to take a few of days off work.  Mal had heard about her fainting at work and told her she needed to rest, so she could settle into her pregnancy, which would hopefully include getting a bit more sleep and starting to eat regularly again. He also wanted them to spend a little time together alone. 

Terri had
insisted she had to come in to the library to sort a couple of things out and make a rota to cover her shifts.  Mal had been adamant that she wasn’t going anywhere without him. 
Hence her current distraction.

Fran and Damian we
re already working and thankfully Mrs Martin and Kayleigh were also there.  Mrs Martin because she wanted more information about Darcy’s purse being found and Kayleigh because she was trying unsuccessfully to learn how to cook, she was looking for an inspiring new book.

Terri frowned when she realised she hadn’t told Mal about Darcy’s purse.  He probably already knew though
.  They had been too preoccupied by their unexpected baby,
and their unexpected bond
, to actually talk about it.

She gathered everyone round her, technically as she was head librarian they all reported to her.  They all eyed Mal speculatively but didn’t say anything.

Terri explained that she needed to take a few days off work and that she had changed the rota to cover her.  It wasn’t just manning the front desk and stacking shelves, there were also book deliveries to the elderly and readings that took place in the library.  She’d given these tasks to Kayleigh, who being so friendly and bubbly was much better at them than Terri anyway.

Fran looked at her
with concern.  “It’s not because of what happened earlier right...”  Fran eyed Mrs Martin, she hedged around actually saying what happened, not wanting to give the old woman any fodder. 
Fran and Mrs Martin did not get on.

“No, I’
ve actually not been feeling well, I haven’t been eating or sleeping properly.  I just need a few days to get back into a routine.”  Terri reassured them.

Kaleigh
beamed at her.  “No problem, you can rely on us.” 

“
Kayleigh could I ask you to finish the rest of my shift today?  I was hoping to take off now.”

Kayleigh’s
honey blonde head nodded vigorously.  “Sure.  You know you’re already looking a lot better now, you’re glowing.  I’m jealous, you must tell me your secret.”

Mal coughed trying to hold back a laugh.
 

Everyone went back to their
duties, or in Mrs Martin’s case back to trying to snag someone into listening to her gossip.  Terri gathered her things together to leave and Kayleigh took her place behind the desk.

Terri and Mal decided to have dinner at the
Honeypot Diner.  Before they left Terri excused herself to go to the bathroom, Mal tried to follow but she absolutely insisted he didn’t. 
There was such a thing as being too close. 
Instead he settled on giving her a lingering kiss, something to remember him by for the next few minutes.

Mal hung around
outside the entrance to the library hopping from foot to foot impatient for Terri to return.

Damian came out of the library, on his way home.
  He sneered at Mal.  “Where’s Terri?”

“She’s can’t come out right now.  She’s busy.”  Mal mimicked the words Damian had said to him only yesterday.

Damian’s eye twitched but his face remained blank.  “Shouldn’t you be at the hospital with your girlfriend?”

“Darcy’s not my girlfriend.” 
Said Mal darkly.

Damian’s lips twisted upwards.  “Does she know that?  You think it’s funny
stringing Terri along like this?  Terri deserves better.”

Mal’s
beast roared to life. 
Who was this cat to talk about their mate
?  “Terri’s none of your fucking business.”

Damian scoffed. 
“Terri’s my friend.”

“She’s my mate
.”  Mal ground out.

“
Please
, you think I haven’t noticed how sick she’s been recently, she’s been sick over the way you’ve treated her...”

“You stay the fuck away from her!
” Snarled Mal. “Terri’s bonded to me and pregnant with my pup, she’s
mine!”

Damian looked at Mal with pure hatred.  Mal knew Damian didn’t like him but to be so angry about this wasn’t normal,
perhaps Mal had been wrong and Damian really did harbour romantic feelings for Terri... tough fucking luck.

Damian shook his head and walked away.  Mal growled lowly after him tracking his movements until the other male had driven away in his car.  His wolf was stalking, furious at the potential rival for his mate’s affections
.  Mal clenched his fists.

“What’s with the growl sunshine?”
  Asked Terri, she came up behind him and linked her arm through his.

Mal stared after Damian’s car grumpily, his wolf rumbling in his mind.
  “Has that guy
Damian
ever asked you out?”

Terri looked at him brow furrowed. 
“No, why?”

“I hate that guy
.  He’s too interested in you.  Fucker should back off now he knows you’re having my pup...”

“Mal!”  Terri exclaimed furiously.

Mal looked at her shamefacedly.  “
He was calling me out about you being sick, saying I was stringing you along... he needed to know that you belonged to me and that he shouldn’t talk to me that way... everyone’s going to know eventually anyway baby!  I’m proud of the fact that we’re having a pup, I want to yell it from the rooftops.”

She squeezed his arm.  “Please don’t do that.”

Mal gently walked her across the road to the Diner, scowling.  “I think that guy Damian likes you.”

Terri snickered at her jealous mate.  “So what if he does?  I’
m having a baby... pup.  Too late if he does.”

Mal smirked.  “Pups plural, I’m thinking
we should have three or four.”

They got to
the Diner and found seats.  Terri chewed her bottom lip and wouldn’t meet Mal’s eyes.  Deedee the bear shifter owner of the Diner came over to take their order but Mal waved her away when he noticed Terri’s eyes watering and felt unhappiness flow to him.

Mal
scooted his chair closer to Terri and put his arm round her.  “What’s up baby?”

“
About pups... let’s not get ahead of ourselves... I was lucky to get pregnant at all... we should take things slowly and remember that it... it may not happen again.”  She started to wriggle out of his embrace but he held her tightly.

His wolf whined demanding their mate be
calmed.  He nuzzled her shoulder inhaling her scent and rubbing his chin against the bonding scar.  She mewled appreciatively.  “Hey, as long as I have you, nothing else matters... you do know that if we couldn’t have any pups it wouldn’t change how I felt?”

Blissful w
arm jolts rushed to her stomach.  “Thank you for saying that.”

He kissed the bonding mark. 
“It’s the truth, you’re my whole world baby.”

“
Thanks sunshine...”  Her stomach chose that moment to growl noisily.  Mal sniggered.  “I think
your
pup’s hungry.” 

Mal grinned. 
“Takes after his daddy then...”

*

Mal’s phone trilled as he drove Terri home.  Noting it was his Beta he answered.  His hand tightened around the phone and he grasped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles whitened.

He grunted a few words and then hung up.
  He pulled the truck over staring moodily ahead.

She felt anger course toward her. 
Ugh, feeling his emotions was a major headache
.  She reached a hand out and rubbed his arm, the anger abating immediately.

“That was
Alec, he’s at your cottage.  Someone umm, someone wrote something all over the front of it...”

Terri was alarmed and Mal snapped off her seatbelt and pulled him onto his lap to hold her.  “What did they write?”

He gulped.  “Does it matter?”

She didn’t answer.  After a few moments he sighed.  “It says
whore
.”

Chapter Ten

Terri dozed in Mal’s truck. She was inordinately subdued.  Terri had insisted on going back to her cottage to see the damage. 
He wished she hadn’t
.

The word had been done in red paint and covered practically the whole front of her little cottage.  One of Terri’s neighbours
had called it in to the Sheriff’s station and Alec had gone out personally to take care of it.  Nothing could be found at the scene, wolfsbane had been daubed liberally all over the house. 
No scents
.

Alec quickly found some wolves to get rid of the paint.
  Seeing Terri’s distress Mal bundled her back into his truck and told her he was taking her somewhere safe.  She didn’t argue.

When they finally arrived he lifted her out and carried her inside the house and up
to a large bedroom. Slowly they stripped each other and crawled under the covers together.  He tried to make her sleep but she said she wanted to talk, she had some things she needed him to know.

They talked for what felt like hours.  She told him all about Jameson and the baby
she had lost.  He hugged her closely and wiped her tears away.  He understood her worry over the baby, her reluctance to be with him, her concern over being alone again and he loved her more than ever.  He wanted to hold her close and never let her go.

Both he and his wolf wanted to rip Jameson’s fucking head off but he chose to ignore that impulse. 
For the moment
.

He stroked her hair.  “I love you baby and I know I don’t deserve you but I want to be with you. 
You’re my mate, you’re the only woman in the world for me.  I promise I’m gonna make you happy...”

“I already am.”  She brought his fingers to her lips and kissed them.
  “I already am happy.”

“Do
es this mean that we’re together now for definite?  No more talk of taking things slowly?” He asked her cautiously.

She nodded and smiled shyly.
  He buried his face in her neck and growled. 
“Mine.”

Laying there in
his arms she couldn’t even remember what she was worried about.  All the doubts and fears she had evaporated.  All she felt was a hum vibrating through her body at being so close to him.

“No more dating
though.”  His voice was gruff and demanding.

“Hmmm?”

He pulled his head back and looked at her with narrowed eyes.  “No more dating other men.”

She
snuggled back against him and rubbed her head against his chest.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Isn’t that where you were last night, on a date?”

She looked up at him quizzically.  “No, I was babysitting my neices.  Which was actually more fun than a date.”

Inside his wolf howled with happiness at the news. 
He kissed her shoulder and swirled his tongue over the mark he had placed there, tendrils of desire shot down to her sex and she practically purred.  “That’s because you’ve never been on a date with me.”

“Hmmm that’s true, but then I’ve never been asked...”

He sat up on the bed abruptly.  The covers falling down to reveal his huge erection.  “Baby, please will you go on a date with me?”

She stared at his arousal and
giggled.  “Ummm, can I think about it?”

He
smirked at her.  “How about I just kiss you over and over until you beg me to take you out on a date?”

“I don’t know
, that would take a lot of kisses.”  She said coyly.

“I didn’t say where I was going to kiss you...”

He pulled the covers back from her and shimmied down the bed settling his head at her sex, he hooked her legs over his shoulders.  All thoughts of sleep forgotten.

Her voice was husky.  “You don’t play fair...”

He chuckled and swiped his tongue over her slit.  She gasped.  He sucked and licked her nub, kissed it and then blew gently over it.  He went on and on repeating the motions until her breathing hitched and then... he stopped. 
The bastard
.

He looked at her wickedly. 
“Will you go on a date with me?”

She fisted the covers trying to control
herself. 
She
wasn’t about to just give in
.  “No...”

He rimmed her channel with his tongue before thrusting in and out, the honey
weeped from her.  He pushed a thumb against her nub and began rubbing.  Her hips started shaking.  She moaned loudly.  Again he stopped.

He licked his lips. 
“Will you go on a date with me now?”

Her body wa
s flushed and quivering at the onslaught.  “Uh-uh.” 
Words were becoming difficult
.

He chuckled and
pushed two fingers into her core, quickly plunging in and out.  He lapped at her nub and then sucked it into his mouth, nipping and teasing it between his teeth.  She shrieked.

He pulled away and leered at her. 
“How ‘bout now?”

She gave in,
she couldn’t take it.  His teasing almost had her in hysterics.  “Yes, yes a thousand times yes!”

He moved over her and thrust his
shaft into her, filling her completely.  She came immediately, her walls clinging to him and her body thrashing beneath him.  He held still within her until she calmed and then began gently stroking into her.

Kissing
her tenderly he said, “I love you baby.”

*

17
th
October

Mal
awoke to the most delicious smell of food.  Bacon, eggs, muffins, sausage.  He licked his lips.  His stomach rumbled joyously.

He looked down at his sleeping mate.
  She looked beautiful.  He kissed her and carefully removed his arm from around her.  Throwing on some clothes he gathered hers in his arms and crept out the room in search of food.

He found
his entire family assembled in the kitchen.  They looked up expectantly and then their faces fell.

“Oh it’s just you.” 
Said Hank.

“Thanks dad, nice to be loved.”

Ellie kissed him on the cheek.  “We’re just keen to see Terri again, especially now that you two are bonded and having a baby.”

“
Yeah I can’t believe it’s actually happening.”  Mal rubbed the back of his head smiling at his mother ruefully.  “You didn’t actually seem that surprised that she was pregnant.”

Ellie smiled
complacently.  “I had my suspicions at the pot luck but it wasn’t my place to say.”

Mal grumbled at her.  “It might have made things a bit easier.”

Her face turned stern.  “Well if you were any kind of tracker you could have scented it too.”

Mal
looked a little sheepish.  “Would you mind?”  He handed his mother Terri’s clothes.

“No I’ll get them washed for her.”

He glared at his brothers.  “Terri’s still asleep right now so you loudmouths better keep it down.”

Mal
eased into a chair, his muscles felt a little sore.  He was in good condition and worked out regularly, but his little mate’s sexual appetite in the last few days, in spite of her sporadic illness, had sky rocketed.  He was actually having a little trouble keeping up.

“You look tired man,” said
Craig a look of mock concern on his face.

Eric
waggled his eyebrows at him.  “Yeah, how did you sleep last night Mal?”  The three younger brothers snickered.

Mal ignored them.  “Pass the bacon moron.”

“Yes, yes a thousand times yes.”  Cried Darryl.  The boys hooted with laughter.

“
Darryl!”  Snapped Ellie.

Darryl
tensed himself for a potential attack from Mal but none came.

Darryl
had mimicked what Terri had said to him in bed last night, when he was teasing her into orgasm.  The thought of it sent blood rushing to his shaft.  Mal calmly munched on a muffin and looked at him smugly between bites.  “You’re just jealous bro.”

The family
talked about Terri’s situation.  Given that she was now mated to Mal and having a pup it seemed logical for her to get rid of her house and move in with them permanently, or until Terri and Mal had their own house.  Whoever had played the pranks on her would think twice before coming to a home that housed six grey wolves.

They went silent as they heard soft footfalls on the stairs and saw Terri peeking through the doorway.  Mal jumped up and bounded towards her,
he hugged and kissed her thoroughly.

“Hey!  I was going to bring breakfast up to you.  I wanted to let you sleep in.”

She looked round at the five other members of the Tanner family, they were studying her with interest.

She whispered to Mal, “I didn’t realise you’d brought me to your family’s house, if I’d known I’d never... I wouldn’t... last night we wouldn’t have...” 

She’d been mortified to wake up and find herself in his parent’s house.  If she’d been thinking straight last night she would have realised that of course he would take her to where he lived, but it never occurred to her.  When she woke up she couldn’t even find her clothes and was now stood in front of his entire family wearing only a shirt of Mal’s.  She was practically naked.  Although it couldn’t be worse than what they heard last night.  She cringed remembering how loud she had been when they were making love.

“Don’t worry we didn’t hear anything last night.”
  Said Craig with a grin

“Yep we didn’t hear anything
five times in fact.”  Chimed in Eric.

“
Craig!  Eric!”  Shouted Hank.

Terri
turned the shade of a beetroot, and Mal folded her into his arms growling at his brothers.  

“Ignore them.”
  Said Ellie rushing forward, extricating her from Mal’s arms and pulling her into a seat.  “Come on, you should sit down and have something to eat.  Mal says you haven’t been eating well.”

Ellie fussed filling up a plate for her, while Mal sat next to her rubbing her shoulders. 

“I am a little hungry...”  Her eyes widened at the mountain of food placed in front of her.  She tentatively picked up a fork.  “It’s nice to see you all again, and I’m sorry about last night.”

Ellie
tutted.  “There’s nothing to be sorry for.  As Mal’s mate you are part of this family and you should consider this your home.  FYI wolves have excellent hearing, so if you live with a wolf you really can’t get away with anything.  The boys are just teasing you, I mean goodness knows they’ve certainly heard me and Hank have sex often enough.”

This was met with a chorus of ‘
eeuw’, ‘mom’ and ‘gross’ from her sons and a bellow of laughter from her husband.  Ellie blew Hank a kiss and he leered at her. 
Terri could see where Mal got it from
.

Hank cleared his throat.  “
Terri honey, if you give me your house keys I can go and collect your things.  In fact why don’t you make us a list of everything you’ll need to live here.”

“
Oh!  Am I staying here?”  She looked at Mal questioningly.

Ellie poured her some orange juice. 
“Surely you can’t stay in your cottage anymore, it’s going to be too small for the three of you.  You should stay with us until you get a bigger house, that way we can all look after you.”

Of course he’d
spilled the beans to his mother about the pregnancy
.  Terri looked at Mal sourly.  “How many people have you told exactly?”

Mal
grinned at her.  “Five or six maybe... but good news travels fast.”

Terri looked at Ellie’s happy face and felt pangs of worry.  “You know it’s still early days, we shouldn’t make any big decisions until I’m in my second trimester.”

Mal tugged on a lock of her hair and gave her a puppy dog smile.  “I think you’ll find that shifter pups are pretty tough.”

She stared at her food. 
“It’s only half shifter though, and the baby is making me pretty ill... Liv doesn’t seem to be having any trouble with hers.  What if the baby’s really sick?”

Ellie looked at her supportively. 
“Ilse Lucas had the same trouble with all her five children.  She’s also a human who mated a wolf.  She suffered with fevers and nausea all through her first two trimesters but after that she was fine.  And all her kids turned out fine...”

Hank snorted and muttered about that being debateable.  His younger sons sniggered.

Ellie glowered at them.  “All of them are healthy wolves.  Acksel Lucas is our pack’s Chief Enforcer, Noa is at University in Florida, she’s training to be a Vet, the two younger girls are both doing
well
in school,” she stopped and looked pointedly at her own brood before continuing, “and Hans... well the point is they all turned out healthy and happy... well healthy anyway.”