Harry’s dark head shot up. “Vampini?”
Nina grinned—because it was in reference to Charlie. Clearly not because of Harry. “You really wanna know, dude? Or do you wanna let the rest of this shit sink in before I freak your already freaked-out ass some more?”
Harry shook his head and almost smiled, but he covered it swiftly with a frown. “Full up on the freak, thank you.”
“I’ll help, too, Harry,” Mara assured, rearranging the fake lemons she’d stacked in a black wire basket to avoid the sudden rush of heat her cheeks felt when she thought about working so closely with Harry. “I can watch the kids and whatever else you need.”
“No fucking way,” Nina interjected with the shake of her finger, slapping lightly at Carl’s hands when he reached over her to grab at one of the vases on the counter. “You go to work just like you always do. You want the council up your ass? We need to keep all suspicion off you until we can figure this mad-assery out. Until then, you do what you do and keep it on the down low. That means no nerd-girl confidentials with that weirdo clan of smart broads you hang out with either.”
Her fingers trembled, making her drop the lemon. How would she hide this from Astrid, Ying, and Leah? She sucked about as much at subterfuge as she did at playing the role of vixen.
She was going to the werewolf pokey for this, for sure. She’d forgotten all about the council in the rush to convince Harry everything would work out. No. She would own this and pay the consequences. “I have to tell them, Nina. I have to own up to my actions. They’ll find out anyway. All the other weres at Pack will smell the change in Harry. I’m headed for the big house.”
Harry placed a hand on her arm, the simple action, painfully innocent, sent a rush of blood to all of her limbs, leaving her warm and tingly. “They don’t have to know. I said I wouldn’t tell them, and I meant it.”
Mara shook her head firmly. “Harry? Take a whiff. A really deep whiff like this.” She inhaled long and exaggerated for his benefit.
Harry mimicked her, his gorgeous eyes widening. He gripped the edge of the counter to anchor his big body in place, the realization so great.
She waved a finger at him. “See? You can smell everything, can’t you? Every last splinter of wood on the floor, every last carpet fiber—everything. There’s no hiding your change. The others will smell it instantly. And you then have two choices. Rat me out or let them think you’re infiltrating Pack. You so don’t want an investigation on where you came from to happen. We know our own kind by scent, Harry. We know fellow pack members. We can identify other weres from other packs, too. All of the people you’ve worked with for all this time who are were are going to know you’ve been turned. And then the hunt for the perp begins.”
Mara fought a visible gulp. God, that would not be pretty. “So I’m going to avoid that at all costs and confess. I don’t want you to suffer any more change or discord in your life because I screwed up.”
Nina reached around Harry and yanked Mara’s hair. “Shut the fuck up, Short-Shot. You’re going to go to work, shut your piehole and let me, Wanda, and blondie figure this shit out. They made an exception for Keegan when he jazzed Marty up, they’ll make one for you.”
Right. Because Keegan’s accident was so much like a baby-making accident. “The council isn’t going to like that I was toying with tradition, let alone DNA, Nina, and you know it. I purposely and willfully created a serum to impregnate myself. I didn’t wait to find my mate. I didn’t procreate the old-fashioned way. I know the council. I’m going to do time for this, and I accept that as my punishment.”
Harry jumped up from his stool, outrage on his face, making Carl cringe. “Who the hell is this council? Is it like the FBI equivalent of the werewolf contingency? People are artificially inseminated all the time. What kind of archaic criminal system do you people have in place?”
“Human people do it all the time. Not werewolf people,” she whispered, a stupid batch of tears threatening to fall. “Look, Harry. We live by different rules than humans. We live by different rules because we are different than humans. We have advantages humans don’t. Because we want to live peacefully amongst them, we have a strict code of honor—one I stomped all over in my desire to be a mother. Which I’ll tell you all about tomorrow, after I go to work and pretend I didn’t ruin your, Mimi, and Fletcher’s lives. Now,” she croaked, pushing back her stool, “I need to grab an hour or so before I have to get up and go to work, so no one will become suspicious. I’m going to collapse on overload if I don’t catch my breath. You do just like Nina said, and after work, we’ll figure the rest of this out. But please leave all the worry and planning to us. Deal?”