Page 58 of Redeemed Wolf

“Shh, it’s okay. Nothing that you went through was your fault, Carter. You couldn’t have known. Eric made sure of it.” He buried his face into my chest, his tears dampening my skin. Isimply held him, whispering words of comfort and love, until he calmed down.

“I’m just scared. What kind of dad will I be, if that’s what I grew up with?” he asked, peeking up at me.

“You’re going to be thebestdad,” I said without a single bit of doubt. “Patient and kind, smart enough to provide an answer every time they ask you, ‘why?’” I gave him a gentle smile, feeling his words too acutely. “What kind of dad willIbe?” I asked in turn. “When my own father was abusive, my Alpha more of the same. It wasn’t until I met Shan that I found someone worth looking up to.”

“You will always protect our child, care for them, make them feel loved and cherished, just like you have me.” He reached up to cup my face, tipping up his chin to kiss me. “You know what? I think we’re both going to be amazing, not because of who raised us but because we survived it and still managed to find ourselves in the end.”

“Do you want to go for a swim?” I asked.

He looked over the beautiful setting, the shimmering lake, moths aglow in the moonlight. “You know, I think I’m ready to go home.”

“To Grim Wilds?” I asked.

“For tonight maybe, but you’re my home, Silas. I’ll go wherever you go.” He smiled and took my hand, interlacing our fingers. “And I have a feeling you’re needed back at Overlands.”

I laughed because he knew me too well. “I think you might be right.”

We shifted one last time to run home, but this time, there was no playful wrestling, no games. We had somewhere more important to be. We had a date with a bed.

Chapter 24

Carter

I. Was. Huge.

Not just like kinda chubby, all cute and round. There was no radiant glow—nope, this was just straight-up sweat. What happened to my shifter metabolism when I needed it most?

Not fat. Pups, my wolf reminded me. Yeah, pups, as in plural. Because wolves often had godsdamned multiple births. I wished someone had warned me.

My wolf was pleased as punch that the babies were growing big and strong.I’d like to see you carry these babies, I grumbled back at him, but he was frustratingly immune to my snark.

The front door opened, letting in a blast of blissful, blustery air as Silas came in. He closed the door behind him, stomping snow off his boots, and I whined. “No, leave the door open.”

He laughed. “Wish I could, sweetheart, but we don’t need a snowbank in our living room. Want me to carry you outside?”

My lip stuck out in a pout. “No, it’s fine.”

He kicked off the boots and hung his coat at the door before peeling off his grimy shirt. They’d been fixing up one of the older homes on Maple Street so it would be ready for a new family. He tossed his balled-up shirt into the laundry hamper, and I eyed up his flexing muscles. I was jealous of how good he looked, while I was more beached whale than svelte wolf right now.

His gaze dragged over my body, where I was lying naked on the couch, and his grin turned mischievous, borderline feral.

“I’m hideous, don’t look at me,” I groaned, slapping a hand over my face. I would’ve covered myself with a blanket, but I was too hot for that. I needed to find a way to bring the winter inside. Silas would just have to avert his eyes if he didn’t like what he saw.

He didn’t look away, though. In fact, from between my fingers, I watched as he prowled closer. “Hey, baby. You are looking mighty fine this afternoon.”

“Fucking liar,” I snapped, but my traitorous cock gave a twitch anyway, and of course he noticed. Much like my wolf, Silas was impervious to my shitty attitude these days. I kept promising myself that I would be nicer to my alpha, that I would thank him for cooking dinner, for helping me get showered and dressed, for all the little things he did to take care of me every day. Instead, though, I couldn’t seem to get past how irritated I was.

And now I was crying.

“Hey! What did I say to make you cry?” he asked anxiously, coming over to kneel beside the couch.

“Absolutely nothing,” I assured him between hiccups. “I’m just so…done. My hips and back ache, I have to pee every two minutes, I’m always hungry but can’t eat more than two bites, I’m never comfortable, and I can’t see my toes, so I just have to assume you’re telling me the truth when you say they’re still there.”

“They’re still there,” he said, laughing.

“See? How am I supposed to believe you when you’re laughing?”

He propped one knee on the couch beside me and leaned carefully over me to press a soft kiss to my lips. “You are supposed to believe me because I would never lie to you.”

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