Bait And Switch--SAMPLE (Book 4 of The Claimed Series)

Chapter 5

Webb

I looked from Hugo to the stick and back again. I made the circuit a few more times before I got up the nerve to grab it from Hugo's hand to see proof positive that Lena was pregnant.

With my fucking baby.

And she hadn't said word one to me.

My cell phone was out before I could drop the stick back into the trash and walk swiftly to the front door.

No answer from Lena, not that I expected her to. She had to be with her family. Her job at the Packhouse would have been done and she'd be on her way home—wherever that was now—or already there. I did a rundown in my head. Where would Lena go first? Chance? Monty? Her parents?

I heard Hugo following behind me and told him to stop. Whoever I met with was already going to be pissed at me, and having my new mate with me would only rile them up further. It would practically be suicide to bring him along.

"You're not coming," I told him. "I have to go find out where Lena is, and if she's where I think she is, you being there isn't the smartest idea. If they're pissed with just me, they'll be shooting daggers at you in a heartbeat. Her family's close, and Lena is their little girl, little sister, the apple of their eye—all that shit."

"Webb—"

"Seriously," I reiterated. "Let me do this alone, Hugo. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Are you bringing her back here?" he asked, making me stop. I hadn't thought to figure out just what I was going to do.

"Would that bother you if I did?" I asked, gauging his reaction.

"She's having your baby, Webb," he said to me. "I'm not jumping for joy. In fact, I'm fucking jealous. I want kids too, damn it. But I would understand if you brought her back here to keep an eye on her, so long as it's only an eye."

"I'm not a cheater."

"Never said you were, but pregnant females get horny," Hugo explained, as if discussing the weather.

"Lena wouldn't come onto me with you being my mate," I asserted, pushing the words out past a layer of irritation at him.

"And what if she brought another male to the house because she was feeling frisky? Think you could handle that?"

Fuck no, I couldn't handle that. But, I was going to have to. I needed our baby here. In this house where he or she belonged. With me, with...

No. There was no us. We could share custody or something. Humans did it all the time. Granted, those fights over custody were usually ugly as hell sometimes, but Weres had their own way of settling things to rights. I'd have to speak with Alpha Lenon about it. He'd probably come up with some fair solution to the matter.

"I'll... I would have to," I said, shaking my head. It felt like it was on fire.

"Why didn't she want you to know?" Hugo asked.

I didn't know. It was completely unlike Lena to keep something this big from me, especially since it affected me as well. "I don't know, but I'm damn sure gonna find out," I guaranteed, grabbing my keys and heading out to my truck.

<3<3<3

I went to Chance's place first. He said Lena wasn't there and that she wouldn't be living there any time soon. When I asked what that was supposed to fucking mean, he said that it was none of my business. That irritated me.

"How can you say my baby is none of my business?"

His eyebrows rose quickly on his forehead. "How did you know about that?" he asked, quickly schooling his features.