Gray Back Alpha Bear(3)

“Wait, but I’ve never seen her treat you bad.”

“Yeah, well, she was being a brat about Matt going for you, and when I stuck up for you, she made the rest of the week a living hell.”

Willa looked really disturbed. “Gia, you said you had nowhere else to go. Why aren’t you staying with Brittney or Kara? What did Brittney say when you told her about…you know…your furry bundle of joy?”

More pain in her middle, and she was not going to cry. “She said congratulations—”

“Oh, that’s surprisingly nice of her.”

“You didn’t let me finish. She said ‘Congratulations, Gia. You’re just as stupid as I always thought you were.’”

“And there’s the lovely Brittney I know and love to hate. Let me guess. She’s shunned you?”

“Yeah. She told Kara not to answer my calls, either. Kara texted to tell me that part. So you call us the bombshells?” That word really bothered her for some reason.

“That’s how I’ve always thought of you. You three are perfect, and I’m…well…not.”

“Nah, you’ve got it wrong. You were always the best of us. That pissed Brittney off to no end, but truth be told, I was really proud of you for sticking up for yourself and not taking her crap anymore. I wasn’t brave enough, but it was really cool seeing you pull away like that. You’re my shero.”

“Shero.” Willa scrunched up her face and nodded. “I fuckin’ love that.”

Gia huffed a laugh and canted her head. “You seem really different now.” She couldn’t put her finger on what had changed about her childhood friend, but this Willa wouldn’t take crap from Brittney anymore. She wouldn’t take crap from anyone. Perhaps living in a commune with a bunch of ill-mannered mountain men had thickened her skin. Good for her.

“Willa, what are you doing here?”

“You don’t want to talk about the bear-child you’re growing?”

“No.” Friend or not, she needed to talk to Creed about all of this before anyone else.

“Are you sure it’s Creed’s?”

Another wave of hurt flooded her veins and made her heart thump painfully against her chest. “I heard what you said to Matt at the bar that night. When you were going into the restroom? You told him the brunette was really easy, but you were wrong. Creed is the only person I’ve been with in two years.”

“Oh, Gia, I’m sorry.” Willa looked ill and shook her head. “I didn’t mean it. I was just mad at you three for tricking me into going to Saratoga. And if I would’ve known you were sticking up for me behind the scenes, I would’ve tried harder to hang out just you and me on that trip.”

“That would’ve been a helluva lot more fun that being with Kara and Brittney. We sat at the pool for the rest of the trip listening to Brittney plan ways to take Matt from you. I’m glad he chose you, though. Obviously that’s working out.”

“Yeah. Swear not to tell the bombshells?”

“Scout’s honor.” Wouldn’t be hard since the last text Brittney had sent her read I’m not picking up for a reason. Take the hint, slut. Stop calling me. Gia had pretty awesome taste in friends.

“I’m Matt’s mate. I’m still here because he’s mine, and I’m his.”

Gia gasped and clutched her sweater over her chest. “Willa, that’s so great. I wondered why he took down his social media pages, but I had no idea you were together. I mean, the chemistry between you two was molten hot, but I’d seen his posts before. That man was a playboy. I had no idea you’d settled him.” Gia swallowed hard and pulled Peanut Butter into her lap for a cuddle so Willa wouldn’t see how emotional she was. Gia had always wanted to find something like that, and now she had literally screwed herself out of finding a good man. Her voice dipped to a whisper. “I’m really happy for you, Willa.”

“Are you crying?”

“No, I just have pollen in both of my eyes.” Gia laughed thickly when Willa obviously didn’t believe her. “I screwed up so badly. Creed’s going to hate me.”

“No, he won’t. He’s strong and smart and level-headed, and we’ll figure this out, okay?” Willa patted her knee. “You’ll see.”

And for the first time since that damning first positive pregnancy test, Gia felt a little better.





Chapter Two




“Who even fights for fourth in a crew?” Creed Barnett yelled. “Huh?” He shook his head and glared at Easton and Jason as they covered their shredded, bloody bodies with the extra clothes Creed kept in the back of his truck because his crew apparently couldn’t stop fighting for one fucking shift.