Page 64 of Bred Mate
Karl
There is no doubt that Ellie is going to have my baby. She is swollen with child, and a new generation of wolves is about to enter the world. I am excited in a way I have never been before. I did not know I was capable of feeling happiness of this kind. It feels so incredible to have what I used to think were the stupid, simple things.
Everything seems to have worked out for the best, and for that I am grateful. The werewolf has retreated into whatever quiet horrors she prefers, and my family is growing. I finally feel as though I am truly in control of myself, the pack, and even the state.
One morning close to the time Ellie is due, I get up and wander to the kitchen, wearing only a pair of boxers. It’s early and I am not expecting anybody else to be in there. I am certainly not expecting the refrigerator to already be in use by someone who stands back and shuts it, holding a quart of milk in her hand.
She is a handsome woman wearing the sort of attire people wear when they want to look respectable. She could be running for district elections. But she’s not that kind of woman. She’s not a woman at all.
“Margaret,” I say. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here for the birth of my grandchild.” She smiles brightly. “I can’t wait to be a grandmother. I don’t want to miss a moment.” She sniffs the milk. “I’m not sure if this is still good.”
The absolute nerve of this woman.
“Get the hell out of here, Margaret.”
“You have no right to shoo me out of here like a stray cat,” she says. “I am the reason you are having this baby.”
“You are not the reason,” I reply.
“Of course I am. Without me, there would be no Ellie. If you had any manners, you’d acknowledge that.”
Ellie
I can hear Karl arguing with someone in the kitchen, which is wild because nobody in this house, let alone this state would dare argue with him. I get out of bed, feeling faintly nauseous and entirely confused.
Being pregnant has made a lot of this easier. It’s had this effect on me of completely taking up almost all the space in my head so I can’t really worry about the things I used to care about. I bet I’ll get back to being a certified problem once I give birth, but right now someone I am yet to meet is using my spleen as a football.
I’m surprised to discover my mate barely dressed, and my mom wearing one of her blazer and chiffon skirts I swear to god she time-traveled to the early nineties to steal from some unsuspecting businesswoman.
“Mom, why are you here?”
“Well, I’m at the fridge because I’m looking for half and half,” she says. “You’ve only got full, and these days I find that sets my stomach right off.”
“She’s refusing to leave,” Karl says. “I don’t know how she got in.”
“Through the front door, dear boy.”
“You’re banned from this city, not to mention this house,” he snarls.
I don’t recall there being hostilities between Karl and my mother, but I guess watching me almost get shot by her unhinged husband, the fact that she tried to marry me off so I’d kill the guy’s kid, and the fact that she’s a werewolf who once abandoned her family because she was afraid she’d eat her baby all play a role.
“I’m a werewolf, darling,” she reminds him. “Your little subby wolves can’t help but roll over for me.”
Karl makes an irritated sound. “Ridiculous,” he says. “Last time you were here you kidnapped…”
“Mom!” Connor yells an entirely unearned title at her as he comes down for breakfast. The entire house is now orbiting the kitchen. It’s fortunate my other brothers no longer live with us. They have their own places and girlfriends. Tim is going to start studying soon, and Tate has a talent for concrete work. “You’re here!”
He is so incredibly excited to see her. Not going to lie, seeing him so happy to be in her presence when she gave him up for me to raise is like a punch to the guts, but I’m trying to not be bitter.It’s bad for the baby, who is now using my intestines as a jump rope.
“Of course I am, darling,” she smiles at my brother. “Would you like a gun?” She has the insanity to pull a weapon from her purse and offer it to Connor as if she is giving him a toy car.
“Yes!” he exclaims.
“No!” I say, sweeping the weapon out of her hand before she can give it to him. Karl takes it off me and disassembles it in a matter of seconds before summoning Baldwin to take it away.
“Mom! You cannot be here,” I say.
