The Wolf Wants a Wife (A Second Chance Christmas in Bear Creek Book 2) Read online

  “You can trust me, and I trust Thorn.” Simon tilted his head to one side and looked down at her beautiful face. She was perhaps ten years younger than he was, putting her in her forties. Which also meant mother and child should be receiving the best medical care. Pregnancies in later life could be more dangerous to both mother and child and he could not bear the thought of losing either one of them.

  He gave a wry smile. He might not have conceived this child, but it was his mate’s and that meant it was his to care for and protect. Before and after it was born.

  “Is there anyone else in the museum?” she asked.

  “Not to my knowledge.” He slid his arm around her shoulders and guided her toward the large room where the auction had taken place. The euphoria at raising the money needed to save the animal shelter had been replaced by something greater. His heart sang, his body thrummed with joy at the thought of finally finding his mate.

  “There are two of them.” His mate ducked behind him and headed toward a corridor leading to the section on the history of Bear Creek, but he reached out and caught her hand.

  “George works at the museum, too. He knows how to be discreet.” Simon gazed down at her, his heart faltering at the pain and fear he saw in her eyes. “Trust me.”

  She nodded, fatigue sweeping over her and she sagged into him, his arms tightening around her as he tried to support her.

  “Simon, is everything okay?” Thorn asked, striding toward them.

  “Shall I call an ambulance?” George asked, pulling out his smartphone.

  “No!” Simon said a little too sharply.

  “What’s going on? Do you know this woman?” Thorn asked. “Because I know most people in Bear Creek, but I’ve never seen her before.”

  “Yes, I know her.” Simon wasn’t lying, he knew her deep down, in his soul. “She’s my mate.”

  Disbelief crossed Thorn’s face before he broke out into a smile. “Wow. It looks as if you got your reward for your work saving the animal shelter.”

  “Fate surely does have a way of giving back,” George confirmed.

  “She’s very pregnant.” Thorn helped Simon as his mate closed her eyes and her feet gave way beneath her.

  “She’s in trouble.” Simon looked up, his eyes making contact with George’s and then Thorn’s. He didn’t have to voice his concern or tell them they had to keep her presence here quiet.

  “She should see a doctor,” Thorn said quickly.

  “I don’t want to risk taking her to the hospital. Not until I know her story. There are CCTV cameras at all the entrances...” He looked down at his mate, wishing she was awake, so she could tell them what, or who, she was running from.

  “Come on.” Thorn beckoned Simon forward as he scooped her up in his arms. “We can go to Kit. He’ll help.”

  “I thought Kit was a pediatrician.” George ran across the room and switched off the lights, casting them in shadow.

  “He is, but I’m certain he’s come across a pregnant woman before.” Thorn pulled open the large ornate wooden door and held it for Simon to pass through. George followed at the rear and once he was outside, Thorn locked the doors.

  “Let’s get you to your car and then you can follow me to Kit’s.” Thorn ran down the steps, on high alert.

  “You look as if you’ve done this type of thing before,” Simon commented.

  “Not this exactly. But I’m a treasure hunter. One thing I learned very early on in my career is that there is always someone wanting to take what you’ve found. So it pays to keep a good eye on the surrounding area.” He took Simon’s keys from him and opened the door of his car. “Careful.”

  “I am being careful,” Simon told him as he gently lowered his mate into the passenger seat. “I’m more concerned about the seatbelt.”

  “It’ll be fine,” Thorn assured him as he clicked it into place.

  Simon made sure the seatbelt was under his mate’s baby bump. He would just have to drive carefully and avoid any sudden stops. Standing up straight, he rested his hand on the open car door. “And you’re sure Kit won’t mind?”

  “No. I’ll call ahead, so he knows to expect us.” Thorn rested his hand on Simon’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay. She’ll be okay.”

  “I hope so.” He sighed as he closed the door. “I wish I knew what she was running from.”

  “That doesn’t matter right now,” George reassured him. “Because whatever it is, between us, we can defend her.”

  Simon gave a tight smile. “I can’t thank you enough for helping me.”

  “She’s your mate. We both know what that means. So we’re going to do whatever it takes to make sure you get the future you both deserve.” Thorn backed away, still looking around him as he headed toward his truck. “Follow me. Any issues, just honk the horn.”

  “Will do.” Simon cast a worried sideways glance at his mate who remained unmoving in her seat. While he waited for Thorn and George to get to Thorn’s truck on the other side of the parking lot, he leaned over and checked her pulse.

  As he lifted his hand, she stirred, and something spilled out of her pocket. It slipped down between the seats and he had to lean forward and reach down to retrieve it. His fingers curled around something hard and cold and he drew his hand back out carefully.

  “Damn it.” He held the necklace up to get a better look at it. Was this why she was on the run? There was no mistaking the diamonds and rubies were real. Although he wasn’t an expert at valuing jewelry, he was certain it was worth a small fortune. Had she stolen it?

  She stirred and as her eyes fluttered, he pushed it back in her pocket and took hold of her wrist once more.

  “Where are we?” she asked.

  “In my car.” He let go of her wrist, satisfied her pulse was strong and she wasn’t in any immediate danger. “We’re going to take you to a doctor.”

  “No hospitals,” she said firmly.

  “We’re not going to a hospital.” Simon started the engine and backed the car out of its spot. “This is a friend of a friend. He’s a pediatrician, but he should be able to give you a once-over and check there is nothing wrong.”

  She placed her hand on her stomach. “Thank you.”

  He gave her a wry smile. “And there was I thinking you were going to wrestle the steering wheel out of my hands.”

  A stray tear trickled down her cheek. “No, I would appreciate having a doctor check us over.” She sat up straighter in her seat. “You can see I’m a little long in the tooth to be having my first child.” Another tear, which she wiped away. “This is probably my only chance to have a baby. I don’t want to screw it up.”

  The necklace can’t be stolen, his wolf told him. She wouldn’t risk getting thrown in jail if the baby means this much to her.

  Agreed. Simon decided not to bring the subject up. When she was ready to talk, she would tell him about it. All he needed to do was gain her trust.

  “Will you tell me your name?” he asked as Thorn’s truck’s big headlights lit up the parking lot.

  “Gemma.” She risked a glance at him even though she hadn’t gained her composure. “Yes, that is my real name.”

  He didn’t push for her last name. “Good to meet you, Gemma. I’m Simon, but you already knew that.”

  “Only because I heard Thorn and George...” She closed her eyes. “I just wanted you to know that it was a complete accident that we met this evening.”

  “No, it wasn’t. It was fate. You know about shifters, so you know about fate.” It wasn’t a question.

  “I do. My mom used to talk about them.” She looked out of the window at the town as they drove along the high street and then turned right to head into the mountains.

  “How did your mom know about us?” he asked. He inhaled deeply again, certain she was not a shifter.

  “My dad told her stories about the shifters from Bear Creek. He wasn’t one himself, but he lived here when he was younger.” Gemma wiped a hand over her eyes and blinked. She look
ed exhausted, as if she hasn’t slept properly in days. “My mom only half believed him. But she used to tell me the same stories when she put me to bed.”

  Gemma’s bottom lip trembled, and he hated to ask the question, but he needed to know as much about her as possible if he had any chance of protecting her. “Are your parents still alive?”

  She shook her head slowly. “At least I don’t know for sure if my dad is still alive, but if he is, well, he’s been dead to me all my life.” Her brow wrinkled. “What I mean is, he left before I was born. I never knew him, and my mom raised me alone. She died when I was sixteen. I’ve been on my own ever since.”

  Her hand slid over her belly and she stroked her stomach, as if trying to soothe her baby. Perhaps she’d conceived on purpose so that she would have a family once more. Simon could sympathize with her, the need to have a family of his own had nearly driven him crazy. To ease the pain of knowing it would never happen, he’d adopted a little cat from the animal shelter. Tickles could never fill that void, but she’d given him something to focus on outside of himself, something to care for. She had also led him to become involved with the animal shelter.

  And for that, he would be eternally grateful. Without Tickles, he would never have agreed to come out of retirement for the charity auction and he would never have met his mate.

  “Fate brought you into my life,” he informed her. “We’ll figure this out together.” He gave her a confident smile, but she simply looked at him as if he were half crazy.

  And she might be right. He was half crazy...in love with a woman he’d just met. However, nothing in his life had ever felt so right.

  Even if things might go so wrong before they got their happy ever after.

  Chapter Three – Gemma

  Simon was a sweetheart. All macho muscles, yet he had a warmth to him she wanted to wrap herself up in. Could she really be this lucky?

  She coughed and reminded herself that the whole reason she was in this mess was that she was unlucky. Unlucky in love at least. Every relationship she’d ever been a part of had only confirmed her suspicions that some people were supposed to spend their lives alone.

  So how had she ended up pregnant and on the run?

  Because as her biological clock tick-tocked away, she’d decided to take a chance on a blind date, set up by one of her girlfriends.

  There, over a plate of spaghetti, she’d met Gianni Virto. Tall, dark and Italian. Plus rich, good-looking, and charming, he’d seemed like the perfect man. Real husband material. He’d wined her and dined her, and then dumped her for another, much younger, woman.

  She’d gotten over it soon enough. Perhaps because she’d never actually loved him, she’d simply enjoyed his company. However, life had one more surprise up its sleeve for Gemma. A baby.

  At her age, a couple of missed periods went unnoticed, menopause was just around the corner after all.

  But when the morning sickness started, she finally went to the drug store and purchased a pregnancy test.

  After the first test came back positive, she promptly went back and bought another one.

  When this also came back positive, she suddenly didn’t feel so alone in the world.

  Of course, this was not how she would choose to raise a child. The truth was, she hated the idea of raising a child alone. Not because she couldn’t cope, of course, she could. But because of her own experience as a child.

  But what could she do? Tell Gianni?

  That seemed the sensible, responsible thing to do. However, when she tried to contact Gianni, he refused point blank to have any contact with her. When she finally did track him down, he had his goons escort her out of his offices with the threat that if she ever tried to make contact again, he would not be so nice.

  And so she had settled on the life of a single parent, knowing she was strong enough to go it alone. Even if her dream of providing a stable two-parent family for her child was in tatters, she was happy and content. Surely it was better to have a happy one-parent family than two parents who were not meant to be together. It was Gianni’s loss.

  “I guess this is the place.” Simon’s voice made her jump. Gemma hadn’t realized she’d closed her eyes and was drifting off to sleep, lulled by the rhythm of the car.

  “You haven’t been here before?” she asked worriedly. “You don’t know him?”

  “I don’t know him personally, but I do know of him. People speak very highly of Kit. He and his wife, Suzie, foster kids, mostly shifter kids, so they don’t get caught up in a system that doesn’t understand them. That makes him one of the good guys in my book.” Simon’s eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled at her. He looked like the kind of man who smiled a lot.

  “Mine, too,” she agreed. Although Gemma knew from experience that not everyone who took in children in need was a good guy. But she was willing to give Kit the benefit of the doubt, not least because she desperately wanted someone to reassure her that the stress of the last couple of months had not harmed the baby.

  Thorn and George were getting out of their vehicle as Simon parked his car and came around to help her get out. Normally she could easily manage on her own, but her body seemed to lack the energy or will to move. Exhaustion crept up on her like a thick blanket of fog and she fought back against it, not letting it claim her.

  “When was the last time you ate?” Simon asked as he supported her with one arm wrapped around her waist.

  “This morning,” she lied. She didn’t think a couple of cookies shared by the lady sitting next to her on the bus counted.

  “As soon as Kit has finished, I’ll take you home and cook you something warm and nutritious.” Simon didn’t sound as if he was willing to compromise on this. He needn’t have worried, she wasn’t going to argue. Her stomach grumbled in agreement.

  “Hi there.” The front door opened, and a light shone like a halo around a man in his early thirties. His was broad and tall just like all the rest of the men she’d met this evening. A shifter, no doubt. Gemma felt bad that she’d ever doubted her mom’s stories about shifters in Bear Creek.

  “Hi, Kit, thanks for seeing us at this time of night,” Thorn held out his hand and Kit shook it.

  “Anytime. What’s the problem?” Kit asked as if people turning up on his doorstep at such a late hour was perfectly natural. Then his eyes rested on Gemma. “Come on in.”

  He didn’t ask any questions, simply ushered them into the house. Gemma was grateful for the warmth and light that surrounded her as she set foot over the threshold. She was also grateful of Simon’s strong arms around her. His arms felt like the most natural place to be.

  “Coffee?” a young woman asked from the kitchen as they followed Kit into the living room. The house was decorated for Christmas, from the holly wreath on the front door, to the twinkling lights on the Christmas tree.

  “Maybe some hot chocolate?” Kit asked Gemma. “It’s sweet and less caffeinated.”

  “Hot chocolate sounds wonderful.” Gemma hung onto Simon, with one hand supporting her belly, as he lowered her awkwardly onto the soft sofa. From here, Gemma looked around the room, smiling at the decorations made by children which were hung with love and pride and every bit as important as those bought from a store.

  “Okay, now I’m going to need some idea of what’s going on here,” Kit said as he hunkered down next to Gemma. “Whatever you say stays between us.” He looked up at the three men in the room. “Maybe you should give us some space.”

  Simon looked mutinous, as if he were about to argue that his place was by his mate’s side, but he clamped his mouth shut and nodded. “I’ll be right outside.”

  “You can come in the kitchen and I’ll make fresh coffee,” Suzie offered, keeping calm despite the home invasion.

  The three men followed Suzie from the room, and Kit turned his attention to Gemma. “I’m going to need some details from you.”

  Gemma nodded, and a stray tear trickled down her cheek. “Thank you so much for seein
g me.”

  “How could I turn you away?” He smiled gently. “Although Thorn neglected to mention the person who needed my help was quite so pregnant. How far along are you?”

  “Over eight months. I’m not a hundred percent sure,” she admitted. “I’m an older mom.” She gave a short laugh. “You don’t have to be a doctor to know that, do you?”

  “No.” He indicated her coat. “Shall we take a look?”

  Gemma nodded and sat up awkwardly as she unzipped her coat. Kit helped her remove it and set it down on the arm of the nearby chair. As he turned his attention back to her, there was a gentle knock at the door. “Hot chocolate?” Suzie opened the door and entered.

  “Thanks.” Gemma settled back on the sofa uncomfortably.

  “Here, let me help.” Suzie plumped up the cushions and set them down behind Gemma. “Better?”

  “Yes, thank you.” Emotion washed over Gemma. “You’re so kind.”

  “It’s no trouble.” Suzie looked up at Kit. “I’ll stay here with you while Kit examines you and the baby.”

  Gemma nodded, sure this was as much for Kit’s protection as Gemma’s. They didn’t know anything about the pregnant woman on their sofa and Kit had a job and reputation to protect.

  “I’ll start with examining you,” Kit told her in a reassuring voice as he switched into professional doctor mode. “Are you okay with that? I’ll need to lift your clothing.”

  “Yes.” Gemma nodded and wriggled to get comfortable. Which was almost impossible.

  Kit lifted her shirt and pulled the waistband of her maternity pants down just far enough to expose the whole of her belly. “Baby feels a good size. Head down. Have you experienced any Braxton Hicks contractions?”

  “Yes. On a regular basis.” She nodded and listened as he talked, asking her about her medical history and how often she’d been examined.

  “Okay, let’s listen to baby’s heartbeat.” He went to a small medical kit on the dresser and took out a stethoscope. “We’ll have to do it this way, okay?”

  Gemma nodded again, and Kit began his search for the heartbeat.

  “Got it,” he said as a smile spread over his face. “Good and strong.”