Page 68 of Claiming Xan
I was chatting with Hunter Reed when movement caught my eye. I turned in time to see Jem Murphy and Sky enter the room, carrying a tray of cookies, and my heart skipped a beat.
I froze. Sky froze. We locked eyes. Sky stared at me, unabashedly, then looked me up and down, as if he couldn’t quite believe that I reallywaspregnant.
Immediately, his expression iced over and he stormed into the kitchen with the cookies with a low growl.
Jem frowned. “Hey, Xan. Is everything okay?” He glanced between me and Sky’s retreating form, rubbing at the back of his neck.
“Everything’s peachy,” I said with a smile, though it felt a little forced.
Jem hesitated. “Should we go? Maybe this was a bad idea…”
“No,” I told him. “It’s Thanksgiving.Everyoneis welcome here on Thanksgiving. It’s pack tradition. We’re happy to have you both.”
I only hoped River wouldn’t flip out. I needed to warn him. “If you’ll excuse me…”
I found my mate sitting on the couch, scrolling through his phone. I sank down next to him, placing a hand on his knee. “Hey, babe? Fair warning? Jem brought Sky.”
River’s entire body tensed up. “Here?”
“Yeah.” I grimaced.
“Fuck.”
Suddenly, hiding out in the bedroom didn’t seem like such a bad idea.
It didn’t take long before the twins crossed paths, and when they did? Sky was gunning for a fight. He shoved at River, pushing him hard enough that it nearly sent him falling into a table.
“So that’s it then?” He sneered, his fangs bared. He threw an arm out, gesturing to me. “You’vereplacedme.”
River steadied himself with a glower. “It’s not about replacement,” he snapped back. “I told you, Sky. I’m moving on with my life.”
“What? By whoring around? Knocking up the Alpha’s slutty son?” The crowd that had gathered around us grew hushed at his words, and I felt their sting in my cheeks, but River wasn’t going to let that fly.
He snarled, leaping forwards to grab his brother by the throat. He shook him. “Shut your fucking mouth! Don’t talk about him like that! At least I CHOSE this! Unlike with you! Drugged and forced against my will!”
Sky flinched back with a hiss, then slapped River, raking his claws across his cheek.
River stepped closer and growled in his face. “You’re so fucked up, brainwashed, you don’t even know what’s right and wrong anymore, do you? DO YOU?” He shook him again, increasingly violent, and Sky cried out.
Someone was going to get hurt.
I lurched forwards, my heart in my throat. “RIVER! Stop!” I barked, grabbing River’s arm. Jem’s large form stepped in as well, and the two of us wrangled the twins apart despite their snarls and growls.
Jem held Sky by the shoulders. He shook his head. “I’m so sorry,” he uttered. “I shouldn’t have brought him.”
Before I could reply, River cut in. “No. He deserves to see his packmates living anormallife.” With that, he yanked out of my grasp and stormed off, towards the bedroom.
Jem and I exchanged a glance. I shook my head and followed my mate.
Thankfully, things calmed down after that. The food was amazing and I ate way too much, stuffed to the point of bursting.
After dinner, I stepped outside to get some fresh air and to get away from all the noise. The Reed-Morgan twins were chaos embodied in little doe forms and they were so damn loud!
I wasn’t out there very long before the door swung open and shut behind me. I turned, expecting to see River or one of the other wolves, coming out for a smoke break.
Instead, my blood ran cold.
River and Sky were identical, down to their strange bi-colored eyes, but somehow, Sky looked nothing like my mate. And the expression on his face? If looks could kill…
