Page 63 of Bred Mate
Karl finally speaks up. “Go sit in the car, okay, buddy? Baldwin is out there.”
“Baldwin!” Connor runs out to see his friend.
Connor seems remarkably unscathed by what he has seen. I suppose that’s due to the hunting we did in his younger days. He’s seen a lot of death in his life. It’s not usually human death, but Rainer always had the vibe of a man who was going to end up in a bad way.
Karl starts wrapping the body in the curtain. He does a good job of it, especially given how messy it is. He wraps it up into a snug little package, and carries it out to the car, where he pulls out a plastic sheet and wraps it around the curtain and then puts the whole lot in the trunk.
While this is happening, my mother comes down looking very well put together, from her garnet clip-on earrings to her red pumps.
“Karl says he’ll have someone clean the floors,” I tell her. I am not sure how to look at her now that I know what she is, and that I have seen her turn a man into an interior decoration.
“Oh, you’ve taken the body,” she says. “Good. Perhaps we can bury him with his son.”
“Patrick wasn’t buried. He was eaten.”
My mother flashes a bright smile at me. “Exactly.”
CHAPTER 13
Ellie
I’ll never know if my mom ate her husband after she killed him, because I’ll never ask. She disappeared with the body, and that’s all I know. We have not heard from her since, and we don’t really expect to.
In the aftermath of the events, Karl, Connor, and I all return to New Orleans, where I accept that pregnancy is as good a reason to settle down as any. But accepting that also means dealing with all the thoughts that come along with it. I have feelings I don’t want to face about my past, and about myself.
In the depth of night, while trying to sleep, I ask my mate.
“Karl?”
“Hmm?”
“What if I’m the kind of mother who decides she might eat everyone and has to abandon her kids in the woods?”
“You’re not going to be that kind of mother, because you’re not going to be in that position and because you’re not that kind of person. Or wolf. You’re a shifter, and you already raised one baby successfully. Three, really. You’re going to be more than okay. You’re going to be amazing, because this time you’re going to have everything you need. I promise you that.”
“Karl?”
“Yes?”
“What if I draw our kids into an elaborate plot that sees them arrested and then I try to marry one of them off to the son of my enemy who is also my husband?”
“I don’t think so, dear,” he says, surprisingly patiently.
We snuggle up again. I feel the baby kicking.
“What if…”
“No,” he says, kissing me firmly. “You’re not going to be terrible in any of the ways you’re afraid of.”
“Does that mean I’ll be terrible in new ways I can’t imagine yet?”
He chuckles and groans at the same time. “You’re going to be incredible,” he says. “Now relax.”
“I can’t. I’m bored. Is it going to be boring?”
His hand slides down between us and the tips of his fingers find the bud of my clit. He starts to rub gently, not trying to push me straight to orgasm, but to distract me from the circular thoughts in my head.
I lie back, and I let it work.
