Page 53 of Forced Pregnant Mate

“Now you know what it means to be safe,” I whisper, leaning over to kiss her cheek. She giggles and kisses me back.

As the night goes on, Sam looks more and more relaxed, laughing and joking with Dad and Bailey. I can tell he’s still holding on to some fear, but he’s learning quickly that there is no need for it.

A couple of days later, Jenks is holding one of his parties. Lena convinces Sam to come with us and meet more of the pack. Sam is clearly anxious but agrees.

When we arrive there are so many people in Jenks’ house they are all over the front porch and scattered across the lawn. I grin over at Lena, remembering the last time we were here. She grins back, her cheeks colored up just slightly as she thinks about our intimate moment.

Sam is looking around eagerly, seeming to get into the atmosphere. As we head for the stairs to go inside, Jenks appears in the doorway in a bright red leotard with his vibrant wizard hat perched crookedly on his head.

“My friends!” he announces, raising a plastic tumbler of beer over his head. “Join me in a toast to celebrate this wonderful occasion.”

“What occasion?” someone yells from the crowd.

“My party,” Jenks replies, laughing. “The occasion is always the party.”

“Just the party?” someone else calls out.

“The words ‘just’ and ‘party’ do not belong in the same sentence!” Jenks yells, waving his beer. “Every party is grand, every party is its own occasion. Why do I party so much? Because life is the occasion, my friends, and we should live for happiness and pleasure!”

People clap and cheer and Jenks does a very melodramatic bow, completely spilling his beer. He approaches the steep wooden stairs, attempts a grand descent, but trips on the first step.

He tumbles dangerously towards the ground, does a flip, and lands on his feet. The crowd roars its approval and Jenks bows again.

Throughout this display, Sam has remained silent and wide-eyed. I watch him closely, waiting to see how he reacts. This might just be the proof he needs to decide the pack is a bunch of maniacs.

Sam drops his head down, and his shoulders shake. For a moment, I’m worried, but then he throws his head back and laughs, his voice joining the enthusiastic crowd.

“Oh my God,” he gasps. “That was fucking gold. Who is this guy?”

“My cousin,” I answer, chuckling. “He’s not always this bad.”

“Yeah,” Lena puts in. “Sometimes, he’s worse.”

Sam laughs even harder, and the way Lena looks at her little brother warms my heart. I’m betting he has never been this happy before.

We finally make it up onto the porch and out onto the back deck. Tons of food is set out. All of us fill our plates, then head over to the seats along the back area to eat.

I look over at Lena, remembering the last time we were at Jenks’ place. I can tell she’s thinking about it, too, but she smiles softly. I know now that she got so upset because of how much she loves me, and I still feel like a rotten man for letting the interaction with Tara go on as long as it did.

When we finish our food, Sam goes back for seconds and Lena moves her chair over to mine and leans against me. We watch the mountains that rise behind Jenks’ house, the shadows growing and deepening as the sun finally sinks beyond the horizon.

“Sam looks very happy,” I say softly. Lena nods and squeezes my hand. “He is. He told me yesterday that he doesn’t believe anything Father said, and he’s sorry that he took it as truth at the time.”

“He’s still doing well at school?”

She nods. “Yes. He enjoys working at the store, too. He said you got him a set of woodworking tools?”

“I did, yeah,” I agree, enjoying Lena’s warm weight against my side and the touch of her fingers on my arm. “He has a natural talent for it. I just want to give him the chance to develop it.”

Lena straightens up and looks into my eyes, reaching over to stroke my cheek.

“Thank you, Jack. Thank you for everything.”

I shake my head. “No, Lena. Thank you for everything. You’ve made me so happy, you forgave me for all my past mistakes. I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for me.”

She smiles, and it’s an expression of such joy it affects me physically. Seeing that smile, knowing she is happy, it changes my entire world.

“I love you,” she whispers. “Every time I look at you, it overwhelms me. It gets stronger every time we touch. I feel like the word ‘love’ is not enough. This is all the passion and intensity of infatuation but without the danger. I can feel how much you love me… almost as if it is a living thing, with a mind of its own, that exists between us and grows every day.”

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