Authors: Dawn Nicole Stevens
Ben shook his head. "Don't thank me. There is no way I could stand by and let harm come to anyone."
"I couldn't either, but you've really went out of your way. Both of you." He changed his direction to Adam, but then back to Ben. "Thank you both!"
Chapter 24
With full stomachs everyone drove home and unloaded the luggage. They entered the cabin and carried their things to their rooms. Aaron brought in his things as well, and took them to Scarlett's room. He wasn't exactly comfortable with staying here, but with the events that have unfolded and Scarlett becoming what she now was, it was just one more thing about her he had to accept and part of accepting that meant understanding the need for her to be here with Adam and Ben as she learned about who her new self was.
They were unpacking some of their stuff when Ashlynn knocked on the door and stuck her head in. "Could you come here for a second, Scarlett?"
Scarlett stepped out into the hall with her, and knowing that all the wolves in the house could hear, Ashlynn whispered as low as she could, "I hate not having any privacy around here with all the super hearing and whatnot!"
Scarlett tried to contain a giggle as she stared at her. "You need a tampon?"
Ashlynn's eyes widened at her question. "How did you know?"
Scarlett struggled with her best poker face as she simply stated matter-of-fact like, "I can smell it."
Ashlynn was speechless and thinking how that rarely happened, doubled with the look on Ashlynn's face, Scarlett couldn't contain her laughter and longer.
When Ashlynn's tongue was no longer paralized, she sighed in frustration though still trying to whisper through her agitation and shock, although she wasn't successful as it was a rather loud whisper, "ARE YOU FREAKIN SERIOUS? It's not enough that you wolves can hear every little thing but you can SMELL my period! That tips the scale of strange werewolf abilities!"
Scarlett was still laughing as she turned back into her room and motioned Ashlynn to follow. Aaron had his back to them as he placed things in the closet. Scarlett pulled a box of tampons from one of the bags on her bed and handed them to her.
Ashlynn couldn't help but notice the odd expression on Scarlett's face as she took them from her hand, but she shrugged it off and scurried to the bathroom.
Scarlett closed the door and sat down on the bed. Aaron turned and seen her not doing anything. He was about to say something sarcastic about her letting him put everything away when he noticed the puzzled look on her face. "What's wrong baby?"
"What is today's date?" She asked.
"It's the nineteenth. Why?" Aaron asked, not understanding her demeanor.
"My period is late."
His face was blank at first but then Scarlett saw a smirk form across it and couldn't help but grin back at him. "How late?"
Scarlett stared down at the floor a second then looked back up to him, "About a week I guess."
Aaron kneeled down in front of her and looked into her eyes. "Do you think that you are pregnant?"
Scarlett drew in a breath before she spoke. "I don't know, my period is never, never late. I have been extremely tired the last couple weeks but assumed it was stress and the fact that I couldn't sleep at night because I was too busy thinking about you."
Aaron placed a finger to her lips. "Shhh, let's not talk about the last couple weeks right now." Scarlett nodded in agreement and Aaron took her hand in his. "What if you are?"
Scarlett looked into his face, the face that she wanted to be the last thing she saw at night before she closed her eyes and the first thing she saw in the morning when she opened them. "I have to admit I'm a little excited about this."
Aaron tried not to let her see just yet how happy he was at the thought of them creating a life together. "I thought you wanted to wait for a long, long time before we thought about kids."
Scarlett nodded again. "I did. Things are different now though. All I've been able to think about is how much I regretted not becoming you wife already and it broke my heart to think of how badly I really did want children with you and may not ever have that."
Aaron kissed her cheek. "So where does that put us if you are?"
Scarlett smiled at him with adoration. "If I am, I am."
"So you'd be okay with it?" Aaron asked trying to contain his emotions.
"If this is what God has planned for us, so be it. Who am I to doubt him? But if I'm not, well, then you and I have some more time together to focus on each other."
Aaron got up off his knee and took a seat next to her on the bed as he pulled her onto his lap. He placed his hand on her stomach and Scarlett smiled when his face lit up as he thought about the possibility of them having a baby in there. He moved his hand to her cheek and pulled her face to his. He kissed her ever so gently, then leaned back and looked into her eyes. "So we have an understanding then? Which ever way this goes, we are okay with it?"
Scarlett's eyes sparkled with joy as she shook her head yes. She pulled him in and kissed him fiercely. She knew that things were going to be okay. Everything in her life was right as long as she was sharing that life with Aaron.
~
While everyone else was busy in their rooms unpacking, Adam went to talk to Ben. He found him out on the deck, on the front of the cabin. He was standing with his hands in his pockets looking out into the mountains. "Are you okay Ben?" He asked as he walked up beside him and took on a similar stance with his hands in his pockets, looking out into the mountains.
"Why wouldn't I be okay?" Ben asked, even though he knew why Adam was asking.
Adam tried to search for words that he felt weren't so invasive, knowing that Ben wasn't a share you emotions kinda guy. "Just that I thought something was sparking between you and Scarlett, but now Aaron is here, and," His words trailed off.
Ben never took his eyes from the mountains. "I think fate brought her here for other reasons. If we turn Ashlynn and Aaron, we are a pack again. I think fate wanted me watching over Scarlett and caring for her to show me my ability to care for a pack, to be an alpha. I briefly thought that maybe I was meant to be with her, knowing there was a reason she was brought to us, but I see how she feels about Aaron, and I see how he feels about her. It's the same as you and Ashlynn. She's not the one for me." He sighed. "But this is not the end of the story. We will all get a happy-ever-after. My she-wolf is out there somewhere."
At that moment there was a howl in the distance. Adam smiled to himself when the sound reached his ears.
Fate.