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know, he ll be buying baby furniture.
Piper chuckled. That doesn t sound half bad to me. Trust me when I say I hear a lot of stories
from pregnant women about how their husbands or boyfriends want nothing to do with the child. It s
very sad. You re lucky.
Emmaline glanced at the ceiling. Maybe. I just don t want him to feel obligated to me.
Piper moved the ultrasound wand around and black dots appeared on her screen dots that made
no sense to her.
You re not really giving him a chance, Piper said.
I am, too. I work for him now, so we ll be seeing each other all the time.
I might be a human, but I ve heard a lot about this mating stuff.
Like what? Em was curious what others thought about this phenomenon.
Apparently, the physical attraction between you and your mate is beyond intense. Is that true?
I never said he was my mate. But as far as the sex is concerned, it s the best I ve ever had.
Piper wiped off the wand, set it aside then pulled down Emmaline s gown. Not that you ve
asked my opinion, but it seems to me that you two have a great start. Hell, girl, if he wants to move in
with you and be part of your life you ought to consider it. That is, if you like him.
That was the problem. She liked Wade too much. We ll see.
* * *
ONCE EMMALINE LEFT the doctor s office, she headed to the grocery store, deciding that she really
needed to start eating better. A baby needed a lot of nutrients. The problem was that once she stepped
inside the store, nothing looked appetizing, but not wanting to leave empty-handed, she bought fresh
vegetables, fruit, and two packages of meat. No processed food for her baby.
As she neared her car, a man stepped out from behind his. Oh shit. It was Mr. Drake, the man
wanting to know where his wife, Mahalia, was.
He approached her. Well, lookie who s here.
Mr. Drake, I don t know where your wife is, and even if I did, I wouldn t be able to tell you.
He stepped closer, straightened, and bared his teeth. Like that would frighten her? He must not
have a clue about her shifter status. Who said humans were the smart ones?
I don t believe you. He swatted at one of the bags of groceries in her hand, and the hit was
strong enough to break it open. Oranges, apples, and a package of fresh meat rolled onto the ground.
She saw a red. Bending her knees, she lowered the other package to the asphalt before standing
again. I ll tell you for the last time. I don t know where your wife is. Please leave. Two of the
oranges continued to roll under another car.
Between the guilt she had from speaking with Piper about Wade, not to mention the fact she was
missing him, she d reach the end of her patience. As Mr. Drake stepped closer ready to do what,
she didn t know Em shifted. The look of astonishment and fear in his eyes almost made her laugh,
but she was too mad to do anything but attack his ass. She leapt at him, but he was able to move out of
the way before she could do any damage.
Screaming, Mr. Drake twisted around and ran out of the lot. Emmaline chased him a few feet,
growled, and then stopped. His ass wasn t worth it. In a flash, she changed back and then retrieved
her food, mumbling and cursing the whole time. She rubbed her stomach, hoping the change hadn t
harmed the baby.
When she collected her food, she was so shaken that even after she made it to her car, she didn t
start the engine right away. Her hand wouldn t stop trembling, nor could she calm her breathing. If she
didn t need to put the groceries away, she would have driven to the shelter and spoken with Francis.
Instead, she called her volunteer boss and told her what happened. Emmaline left out the part about
shifting and chasing the man.
Emmaline, I am so sorry. I ll call the police and have them pick him up for assault.
That s okay. I don t think he ll bother me again.
Nonsense. We can t have the men harassing our workers. It s not good for anyone.
Emmaline didn t want to make matters worse for Francis. Thank you.
Knowing she d done all that she could, Emmaline started the car and headed home.
Chapter Ten
WADE HAD A rough two days in Pittsburgh. It wasn t the work, it was trying to figure out what to do
about Emmaline. He understood that she didn t like being told how to run her life. Hell, he couldn t
blame her. He really did understand that it would be hard for her to accept him as her mate. From
what she d said, her parents would reject him, which had to be hard for her. He could live with that
though. Right now, Emmaline and the baby were his main concern.
Once he landed in Asheville Sunday morning, he headed straight to the office. There were a few
things he needed to pick up before he stopped over at her place. It might not be wise to visit, but he
couldn t help himself. After being away from her for so long, his need had escalated to the point of
distraction. He could only hope it was the same for her.
From his desk, he retrieved the flash drive that he d forgotten to take with him. Before he headed
out, he stopped in her office to locate a folder, and the light on the landline was flashing. Thinking the
message might be for him, he pressed the button and listened. Hi, Emmaline. This is Francis. Wade
should probably click it off, but he didn t. The message continued. I couldn t remember if this was
your cell phone number or your work number, but I wanted to let you know that the police took Mr.
Drake in; he won t be bothering you again.
Anger ripped through him fast so fast he was tempted to fling the phone off the desk. Wade wanted
to know who the hell Mr. Drake was, and why the fuck he d bothered Emmaline. This was all the
more reason for him to be with her. God, his Emmaline was stubborn. In that regard, she was very
much like a bear.
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