I chased her as she ran and watched as one of the guys working on setting up the tents called her name. She twisted and then went down hard. All I could think about was the fact that my mate was hurt.
I ran to her side and went to my knees beside her. “You okay? Talk to me, sweetheart.”
The idiot who’d called her name came closer and I let out a violent growl at him. He wasn’t getting close to my mate. She was mine and I’d kill anyone who tried to take her from me.
Elizabeth coughed and climbed back to her feet. I could smell her blood in the air and it made the animal in me a little wild. I was close to turning and letting my bear loose on everyone around us.
She rested her hands on my shoulders and looked down at me. “Did you just growl at him?”
“Just letting him know to stay the fuck away.”
She tilted her head to the side. “You know he’s my ex?”
I turned my head to face the little fucker who’d hurt my mate. I stood up and towered over him, reveling in the stench of fear coming off of him. “You’re the fucking idiot who cheated on her?”
Elizabeth held my hand and tugged me towards her. “Come on. Just take me home.”
My bear stood up even taller. “Home? The trailer?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Don’t do whatever you’re thinking of doing.”
The little shit came closer. “Beth, what are you doing back here? How do you know this guy?”
She rubbed her stomach and looked every bit the mother bear that I’d pictured in my dreams of her. “It’s none of your business. Go away.”
His eyes trailed down to her stomach and I watched as he breathed in and scented me on her. “You’re pregnant with this fucking guy’s kid?”
I stepped closer to him and Elizabeth put herself between us. She looked up at me and rested both of her hands on my chest. “Take me home. Please, Alex. I hurt myself.”
Immediately, I calmed and lifted her into my arms. “We’re going to a doctor.”
“No, I just need some alcohol and a-”
“A doctor. After that, I’ll take you home.”
She grumbled, but let me carry her away. “I know I’m even heavier now. You can put me down, Alex.”
I opened my truck door and put her inside gently. I lingered next to face, breathing in her scent. My bear, who’d been pissed at me for months, decided to talk to me again in that moment. He demanded I mark her and refuse her if she ever said she wanted to leave again. He didn’t understand that human females wouldn’t like that.
“You’re not heavy. You’re perfect and pregnant with my baby.”
She sucked in a deep breath and chewed on her bottom lip.
“I missed you. I looked for you.”
Elizabeth’s eyes went wide. “You did? Why?”
I tucked her hair behind her ears and cupped her face. “Because I wanted you here with me.”
“You did?” She sounded shocked.
I planned to show her how much I wanted her at my side. “Let’s get you to the doctor and then we’ll talk tonight.
CHAPTER 13: Elizabeth
After the doctor’s visit, where I was checked out and had the newly shredded skin on my knees wrapped up, Alex drove me to his trailer and insisted on carrying me inside. Only after he’d gotten me settled on his couch with a blanket and a glass of water did he sit beside me.
“Do you need anything else?”
I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. “No. I’m fine. And I don’t need this blanket, either. It’s about a thousand degrees outside, Alex.”
He pushed it back at me when I pushed it off. “Maybe the baby is cold.”
I stared at him with a blank face. “You’re kidding.”
Alex sat back on the couch and shook his head. “What? It could happen, right?”
I sighed. “I’m having a baby with someone who thinks my baby can be cold inside of me.”
He reached over and grabbed me before dragging me into his side. “Our baby.”
I looked up at him and tried to contain the excitement that built in me. The way he was talking, it sounded like he wanted to be with me. My head spun from how crazy it all was, but I wanted it more than anything. I’d come hoping that he would want something with me.
“This feels insane, Alex. What is this thing between us?”
“I could tell you but you’d probably tell me that I’d lost it.”
I stretched out and rested my head against his chest. “I just quit my job for the second time and told my landlord that I would let him know whether or not I’d be needing the apartment past this month. I got a flight across the country and then a bus to the smallest town ever, where people don’t seem to like me very much. Just on the off chance that you could possibly want to do this thing with me. Try me.”