Page 100 of Wolf

She hasn’t been this happy in so long and I won’t be the one to take this away from her.

Unfortunately, “inside” ends up being the local tavern and the few patrons eye us weirdly before Maddox ushers us down the hall and into the office.

The room is sparse with a series of lockers against the wall, a desk, and a small couch.

Miriam sits down with a sigh, clutching her belly once more and I eye it with a tingle of awareness.

Surely not but when I try to remember the last time, I had a period, I come up empty. The mother of all panic surges through me and I mumble something about needing the bathroom before stumbling down the hall and out the back door.

God wouldn’t be this cruel. Right?

I can’t be pregnant. I can’t have a baby. Mama and Daddy would die. Wolf hates me and even if he didn’t, I doubt he’d be excited about a baby.

I’m pacing the patio, back and forth, rubbing my brow when Wolf appears and leans against the back door.

Pausing, I look up and immediately away because he no longer looks at me with an awed sort of amusement. Nope, now there’s an icy distance in those pretty eyes.

“There’s something wrong with the baby,” Wolf says, and I freeze. How does he know?

“What?”

“The baby. Something’s wrong. Your sister…”

Miriam. My relief quickly turns to worry, and I grab his arm. “What? What’s wrong?”

He raises his brow and drops his chin to my hand on his arm. Stung, I let go and step back, stumbling when I accidentally go too far.

Wolf grabs me up before I can fall down the stairs and I relish the moment of paradise when our bodies collide before he sets me aside.

Grabbing the door, he grunts before disappearing inside, “Ask her.”

I allow myself a moment to catch my breath before going back to the office. Miriam meets my gaze when I enter while Mercy talks her ear off, immune to my presence.

I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but I see the grief and panic she can’t hide and rush over to sit beside her. She shakes her head, and I nod because I understand.

Mercy needs this moment and neither of us wants to ruin it.

After another twenty minutes, Miriam moves to stand and Mercy frowns. With a smile, Miriam touches her hair and says, “You can’t be gone too long, Mercy Lou Lou. Someone will get suspicious.”

Mercy tosses her head, and I smile, seeing for the first time the beauty of the woman she will be in the girl sitting before me.

I just hope our parents don’t kill her spirit before she has time to spread her wings and fly.

The thought burns my throat and with a mental shake of my head, I grab Miriam’s hand. “Do you have a phone?”

“Yeah,” she says.

“Here,” I say, grabbing the pen off the desk. “Give me your number.”

“Lil…”

“Please. Don’t worry about it,” I beg, and she gives in.

We part ways at the back door, teary-eyed once again. As Miriam goes to leave with Maddox, Mercy says, “Don’t worry, Mir. It will be okay.”

Miriam meets my gaze, and I shrug before taking Mercy’s hand. I hope with every fiber of my being that whatever this feeling is that Mercy has, it’s right because I can’t bear the thought of something happening to Miriam’s baby.

I don’t know where Wolf is and all the way home, I memorize the number written on my arm before washing away the evidence when we get there.

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