“If it’s probably nothing, there’s no reason I can’t go,” Holly protested.
“Don’t you have school to go to?”
“It’s Saturday. Jacob—”
Her hand pressed to his chest, stopping him. His eyes met hers and he relented. He sighed and then entwined his fingers with hers. “Look…just in case something goes wrong, I need you here.”
“But—”
“But you’re pregnant. If something happened to you or the baby because of this, I’d never forgive myself.”
Holly cast her eyes down and tried to keep her composure, but she felt her bottom lip tremble. She tried to bite it back, but then she felt Jacob’s lips, soft against hers, and it unlatched whatever control she had left. She let out a whimper into his mouth and pressed her lips back, harder, as though begging him to stay.
“Be careful,” Holly said when he peeled back.
“I will,” Jacob replied. He gave her one more lasting kiss. With that, he tossed his denim jacket over his shoulders and left.
Chapter 65
The door shuddered behind him.
Okay, Holly thought.
Okay.
She could survive this. Jacob was being paranoid. Overly protective of his reinstated younger brother. Like he’d said, it was probably nothing. Probably. Except the thought that it maybe could be something and there was absolutely nothing Holly could to do stop it…well…
That made her feel helpless. Beyond helpless. Like she was chained to an anchor and surrounded by lantern fish.
She had plenty of ways to busy herself. Plenty of papers to grade. Plenty of clothes to wash. She could sit down and make an appointment with Dr. Klaus, who Cassidy had recommended for prenatal care (He’s in the family, Cassidy had said, whatever that meant). Holly lifted up a pair of jeans Jacob had left on the floor, put them in the hamper, and closed the lid. Even that much seemed exhausting when her mind was spinning a mile a minute. She needed silence. Quiet. She needed to think and plan out her next step.
Holly went out through the back door, onto the porch. She could clearly see the mountains glittering golden-green under the morning sun. The sky was a soft baby blue, dotted with white fluffy clouds, and she could hear small birds twittering in the trees. Holly took it all in, enamored by the view, and her hand unconsciously fell to her belly.
So strange. The child had been barely growing inside of her for a week and, already, he (or she) felt like a very real, solid part of her. It occurred to Holly that, while she could stand outside of the shifter world looking in, her child wouldn’t be able to. No matter what, the baby would have animal blood inside of her. Holly stared idly through the thick brush of trees. Holly had learned the rules of the clan and she followed them as best as she could. But could she really live like they did?
Well. Holly had always been a fast learner.
Jacob would be gone for the next few hours, at least. If she could just see it for herself—
This way, the birds seemed to say.
And there it was again. Like the low hum of a fluorescent light, teeming with flickering energy. Holly’s hand moved, protectively, to cup her stomach.
The woods were calling her. And who was she to deny the call?
Holly’s sandals flattened summer-green blades of grass as she broke her own path through.
Chapter 66
Jacob only got so far down the bumpy road before he was flagged down. None other than Cassidy’s youngest, waving her arms frantically. Here we go, Jacob thought as he slowed to a glugging stop.
“Make it quick,” he told the young girl.
“Are you going to Miranda’s place?” Trish asked.
Jacob nodded. “Won’t be long.”
“Take me with you.”
He shot her a look. “Have you lost your mind, cub?”
“Holly told me all about it. I can help.”
Holly. Of course. She’d make a young protégé out of Trish yet. He set his jaw and said, “If Holly told you everything, then you know why you can’t come with me.”
“Cayden trusts me. I can help.”
Jacob narrowed his eyes at the young woman. “Why does he trust you?”
She shrugged. Sheepishly. “I dunno.”
Jacob let out a sigh. Managing this family was like herding cats sometimes. He dug his fingers into the wheel briefly and then said gruffly, “Get in before I change my mind.”
Trish all but leapt in the passenger side and the truck kicked up gravel as they hurtled down the road.
Chapter 67
Holly had heard stories before about mothers who were so in tune with their unborn children that they felt like they knew what the child was thinking or feeling. It all seemed very far-fetched to her—science fiction—but she had to wonder if there wasn’t a part of the cub growing inside of her that was pumping new life through her veins. Holly was, after all, human and all-around biologically uninteresting, but this baby growing inside of her—three-fourths human, one-quarter bear—it was something wholly different. She couldn’t help but wonder if, maybe, this child knew something she didn’t, maybe she—or he—had some natural, animal instincts hardwired into his (or her) DNA. And, maybe, Holly was tapping into those now as her feet shuffled across the grass, pulling her deeper into the woods, drawn by a very strong, very elusive feeling.