Melindas Wolves (37 page)

Melinda heaved herself off the floor, scooped up the bundle of happiness, and sat in the rocking chair to snuggle her closer. She still had that fantastic baby scent that drove anyone mad with the need to nuzzle her neck.

She spoke in a singsongy voice to the baby. “You’d never do that to your brother would you sweet thing?”

McKenna’s cheerful face almost made Melinda believe she actually did understand every word and considered Melinda’s advice ludicrous. She fully intended to make her brother’s life a living hell to mark her territory at his unwanted arrival.

“I can’t keep a straight face every time I think about you pregnant again.”

Rebecca rolled her eyes. “Don’t judge.”

“But you were so insistent. You had like six weeks with your mates before you got pregnant the first time. How many weeks did you have this time? Seven?”

Melinda scrunched up her face and groaned. “Gah. Don’t remind me. And since I spent six of those weeks recovering, it was really more like one.”

“Yikes. Didn’t think about that.”

“Trust me. I did. It wasn’t even long enough for Griffen and Miles to consider me recovered enough to let loose.”

“And you did this why?”

“I’m a masochist?” Rebecca laughed and then she shrugged. “It’s really hard to deny those two anything. Hell, maybe I was chicken.”

Melinda furrowed her brow. “I’m not following.”

“I’ve been pregnant nearly the entire time I’ve known them. Have you noticed how they look at me when I’m pregnant?”

“Honey, I’ve never seen them look at you not pregnant, because I had to blink.”

“Ha ha. What I mean is that they clearly adore me in this condition. Round seems to be attractive to them both. I guess a part of me is frightened they won’t ever look at me with quite the same level of affection when I’m skinny and flat.”

Melinda gasped. “You can’t really believe that?”

Rebecca shrugged, toying with the hem of her maternity shirt. “It was a reflex decision. Can’t take it back now.” She smiled. “And I’d never want to. I just pray these two hooligans will be the best of friends since they won’t even be a year apart.”

“Good luck with that. I don’t envy you. But what about your Spartan Races? I thought you were dead set on returning to that extensive exercise. You made them promise to let you get your body back and finish your trifecta.”

“Yeah. Well, there’s always next year. I kinda like being here with my men when I’m not at the hospital. The idea of juggling a baby, a job, two men, and a race makes me feel tired.”

“I can imagine. I’m tired just thinking about all that.”

“What about you? Are you three ready to take the plunge?”

Melinda shook her head adamantly. “Nope. I watch you and want the opposite.

I’ve never been happier. Give yourself fifteen minutes between pregnancies and you’ll see. Griffen and Miles will still gaze at you the same. They love you to pieces. Anyone can see that. It has nothing to do with your body shape. Huge. Skinny. They don’t care.

They love what’s underneath.”

“How’d you get so wise?”

McKenna’s little body slumped onto Melinda’s chest as she grew tired and fell asleep.

Melinda licked her lips and lifted her gaze to Rebecca. A tear fell from her eye.

“Oh honey, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s none of my business.”

Melinda shook her head. “I’m fine. I’m just so happy. I never dreamed I’d have anything even close to this in my life. And just like you’re afraid of what life might be like not pregnant, I’m afraid to find out what it would be like pregnant.”

“Well, there’s no law that says you have to rush it. Take your time. Enjoy your mates.”

At that moment the front door opened, and four noisy men barreled into the house.

All four of them beamed as they set eyes on the scene.

And then Trace’s face fell. “What happened?” His gaze shifted from Melinda to Rebecca. “Why is my mate crying?”

“Don’t be silly. I’m not crying.” Melinda wiped the tears from her face. She hadn’t realized she’d gotten that emotional.

Keegan raced to her side. “Hon?” He leaned over and grasped her chin, forcing her to look at him.

She shook him off. “Stop it. We were just chatting. Girl talk. Sometimes we get emotional.” She realized she held the baby firmly against her chest.

Keegan glanced down and then back to her face. “Is it McKenna? Are you feeling left out? Because—”

“All you have to do is say the word, and we’ll be happy to oblige,” Trace said, leaning over her other side.

She smiled. “Nope. Not yet. Don’t worry. You’ll be the first ones to know.”

Trace kissed her cheek. “As opposed to your other mates?”

“Uh huh. Sure. Because I have so much time on my hands that I have another entire family on the other side of town.” She gave them both a frustrated look and changed the subject. “How’s the house coming along?”

Her mates and Rebecca’s had been a mile away supervising the construction of their new house. Melinda’s grandfather had left several acres of land on the northwest corner of the reservation to Miles and Melinda. A stroke of genius it turned out, because it afforded her and her mates the ability to more easily get to both Sojourn and Cambridge. Twenty minutes in either direction was the equally divided commute.

“It’s wonderful. Getting close.” Trace leaned over and kissed his niece gently on the forehead.

“Good because if I have to spend many more weeks in my tiny condo with the two of you, I might implode.” She looked toward Rebecca. “The entire place is a hotbed of testosterone. I can’t breathe.”

Rebecca laughed. “Good luck with that. I’m not sure any size house would eliminate that problem.”

Melinda groaned. “Don’t tell me that.” Even sitting in this rocking chair holding a baby, her mates crowded her. She’d been permanently horny for six months. No matter how inappropriate the location, her nipples beaded and her pussy clenched when they entered a room.

Right now was no different.

“You ready to go home, baby?” Trace asked, fighting an obvious smirk.

“I guess.” Melinda tried to sound nonchalant when she was undoubtedly not fooling anyone. She was still head over heels for her men and unable to turn down any suggestion to be alone with them.

Trace lifted the sleeping baby from her arms and handed her to Griffen. “She’s adorable, man.” His gaze lingered on the little cherub, causing a tiny stab to penetrate Melinda’s chest.

Was she being selfish denying the three of them this experience?

She didn’t think so, but it was something she needed to discuss with them. She’d been completely unwilling to entertain the idea so far. Her mates deserved an opinion.

Maybe, just maybe, she would cave one day soon.

She lifted herself from the chair and met Keegan’s gaze. His eyes wandered down her body. Even in her jeans and thick sweater—clothing appropriate for November in Montana—his gaze made her shiver as though he could see through the bulk.

Nope.

She wasn’t ready to give that up.

Not yet.

She needed more time being worshipped by the two of them before she had to share.

Letting a smile spread across her face, she tucked one arm under each man’s elbows. “Let’s go. Give these three some privacy. They need to take advantage of every silent moment they can get before the next baby comes and turns their faces into that baggy blueish look they sported for weeks on end.”

Griffen laughed so hard, the baby flinched in his arms. He immediately sobered and lowered his voice. “Stop blaming your inability to keep your hands off each other on us and get out of here. We’ll see you tomorrow. You’re coming right?”

Melinda’s mates dragged her toward the door. She twisted around to speak. “Of course.” She met her brother’s gaze. “Do you think they’ll like us?”

Miles rolled his eyes. “I’m sure our half siblings are thinking the same about us. Of course they’ll like us. We’re blood.”

It had been six months since Melinda and Miles had discovered their mother was alive and they had three half siblings—the night McKenna was born. So far, they hadn’t met each other in person. Melinda had spoken to each of them over video chat and through text message, but tomorrow would be huge. If she slept at all that night, it would be a miracle.

“Have you ever met anyone who didn’t like you?” Trace asked. He squeezed her into his side.

“Sure. Plenty of people. I can sense the false vibe as soon as I meet someone. It’s unnerving. I just don’t share what I feel most of the time, especially not with the person causing my distress.”

Keegan gasped. “How come you’ve never mentioned that? That’s awful.”

She shrugged. “It’s not the kind of thing I like to talk about. And it changes nothing.”

Trace opened the front door. “I want a list.”

“Why?” she asked. “So you can go beat them up for me?” She giggled. “My hero.”

“Something like that.”

“Well forget it. My lips are sealed.” She released her men and followed them outside, calling her goodbyes over her shoulder.

As soon as she was situated in her usual spot between her men in Trace’s truck, she relaxed. “Any more news about the casino?” she asked Keegan at the risk of sounding like a broken record.

“I think that particular site is done for. That land is no longer stable no matter how you slice it. The surveyors have determined the expense of reaching deep enough into the earth to ensure the stability of the building is too high.”

Melinda blew out a breath. She was ecstatic, but she didn’t want to overdo her internal happy dance in front of Keegan.

Keegan chuckled and hauled her into his side. “Hon, you don’t have to hold back your excitement on my account. I never had a vested interest in the casino. It was just a job I was assigned to, like any other. Frankly, I have to admit, you’ve made me see there are far more important things in life than giant eyesores that mar the land and bring big business.”

She twisted in his embrace and looked him in the eye. “Really?”

He nodded. “Of course. How could I not be swayed? I live with a woman who sets me straight every time I go off half-cocked.” He gave a wry grin and leaned in to kiss her nose. “I love you.”

“So you’re okay with the new plans for the site?”

“The lodge? Hell yes. You?”

She smiled. “I love it. It’s a roaming ranch that doesn’t block the view. The log-style is the perfect backdrop. And it will lure guests to swim, fish, hike, and explore the reservation without making a mockery out of my homeland.” She glanced from one man to the other, absorbing their love.

Both men set a hand on her thighs, immediately obliterating all other thoughts except those centered around getting home fast and removing their clothes.

Keegan chuckled. “You must be feeling off because your emotions and thoughts just burst out of your head as if a dam broke.”

“I’ll drive faster,” Trace teased, squeezing her leg.

“Do you two know how much you mean to me?”

Keegan frowned. “We love you so much it hurts. So, yes.”

Melinda nodded and leaned her face on Keegan’s shoulder. “Just making sure, because my feelings grow stronger every single day. I wouldn’t want to be alone in that.”

“You’re far from alone,” Trace concurred. “We’re right next to you. Forever and always.”

Contentment washed over her. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply of their scent, settling like a fluffy cloud around her body. It was not foreboding. It was a promise of calmness.

She needed that.

They all needed that.

Coming in November 2015–
Laurie’s Wolves
! Here is a sneak peek:
Chapter One

“I can’t believe how comfortable we all are together. It’s like we’ve always known each other.” Laurie turned from the sink where she was washing dishes and handed a large platter to her half sister, Melinda. Their fingers grazed as they passed off the dish.

An electricity sparked that connected them in a way most sisters never felt in a lifetime.

Melinda smiled, her eyes twinkling—a calmness in them Laurie thought was probably rare, especially these days. “You’re right. And I was worried. After twenty-eight years of just me and Miles with no knowledge that we had three half siblings, the five of us meld together amazingly.”

“It’s Fate, I suppose. And Mom looks so happy.” Laurie twisted around farther and leaned against the counter next to Melinda in the great room. She watched her mother, Joyce, laughing over something Miles said. The woman hadn’t seen her first two children at all in twenty-seven years in hiding.

They were staying in Miles’s house for this reunion. He’d only finished construction six months ago so he and his other two mates, Griffen Masters and Rebecca Larson, could get moved in before the birth of their first child. Now Rebecca sat on the floor between her mates, round again with their second child. She looked radiant and comfortable—even though she was the only person in the house who wasn’t a wolf shifter.

The home was enormous, easily accommodating everyone. If Rebecca’s condition was any indication, Miles and Griffen must have been planning a large brood when they built the home on this land at the border of the reservation. The acreage had belonged to their grandfather, who passed away many years before. Their grandmother, Mimi, sat cross-legged on the floor next to Rebecca, stroking her small hand over Rebecca’s belly and smiling.

Mimi knew things. She was a shaman—an ability that had been passed down to her daughter, Joyce, and
her
first daughter, Melinda. Hell, if the electricity in the house was any indication, it was likely Joyce’s abilities would resurface with enough time spent on tribal land. And Laurie shivered when she admitted to herself that she might also manifest some precognition. Her father was a white man, a shifter from another pack.

No one knew how advanced her abilities might be after the dilution, but time would tell.

Laurie was young still, twenty-five. Anything was possible, especially if she remained in the area. She hadn’t told the others yet, but she intended to do just that.

When the week was over, she would not return with her family to their hometown two hours west. With a degree in early childhood education, she would have no trouble finding work. She could easily get a job either on the rez in Sojourn or in the town where the Masters family lived, Cambridge, on the northern end of the lake. She hoped for a position teaching pre-K at a local school. That was her true passion.