Bait & Switch (Book 4 of The Claimed Series) (SAMPLE)

Chapter 4

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 his hand to see proof positive that Lena was pregnant.

With my f*****g 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 in tow 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 move. If they’re pissed with just me, they’ll be shooting daggers at you in a heartbeat. Her family’s close knit, 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 dead in my tracks. I hadn’t thought to figure out just what I was going to do with her when I found her.

“Would it bother you if I did?” I questioned, gauging his reaction.

“She’s having your baby, Webb,” he pointed out to me. “I’m not jumping for joy. In fact, I’m f*****g 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 sighed, shaking my head. It felt like it was on fire.

“Why didn’t she want you to know?” Hugo mused.

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.

I barely knew what I was feeling. Just the surge of protectiveness and possessiveness I felt when I first saw that test strip had me almost out of my skin. I had to calm myself because my wolf had been fitting to burst out. He wanted his pup, and I was inclined to agree. My baby needed its daddy, and I was going to find Lena and take her back home with me if I had to hogtie her and force her back.

Gently, of course.

Knocking on Lena’s parents’ door, I hoped to God that they, as parents, understood what I was feeling. Her mom, Melissa, came to the door, and her eyes widened.

“Jarvis!” she called out from her place. “Get on out here. Come on in, Webb.”

Well, at least I got in the door this time. That had to be a good sign, right?

“Melly, I can’t find—oh, Webb. I’m assuming you’re here to ask where my daughter is,” Jarvis spoke gruffly. “I don’t like it any more than Monty or Chance, but I’m not going against my daughter’s wishes. I promised my little girl I’d—”

“That’s my baby she’s got in her belly.” I was practically pleading with the man. If I had to get on my knees and beg, I would. For my child, I would.

“Tell ya what,” Jarvis mused, scratching along the 5 o’clock shadow on his jaw. “When Lena calls us, we’ll make sure she knows you’re aware of her situation. Maybe she’ll come back then. I don’t think she will, and I think that’s why it’s a secret as to where she’s heading.”

Fuck. I was getting nowhere with these people. And there was only one more place I could head to in order to find out where she was.

Alpha Lenon’s.

just you hurts her. Seeing the two of you together would kill her. She loves you, Webb. You may have found your mate—”

“I love her, too,” I said, closing my eyes against a batch of tears threatening to spill out. “And I love our baby already. I can’t turn off those feelings. We’ve been together for years and—”

“You have a mate,” Lenon replied staunchly. “Love him. This… Whatever you’re feeling is bound to come from pity for her. She would have hated that. Let her heal a bit, maybe find someone else. I’ll talk to her and get her to come back to have the baby. Hell, if she finds someone, maybe I can convince them both to transfer back here so you can all be close. It’s the least I can do. I’m a father too, Webb. I can’t even begin to imagine how you’re feeling. When Alana first got pregnant with Astor, I thought I was never going to sleep again, I was so damn anxious. Kept waking up to make sure she was still breathing and that the baby was still kicking.”

“I need—”

“Her emotions are gonna go haywire,” he warned me. “Alana cried for a whole week after they canceled her favorite TV show. Some s**t on Animal Planet, or whatever. A f*****g TV show! Lena lost everything. Her whole world is falling apart. She needs the space to come to terms with what she wants to do with her life now. After Langdon passed, you took care of her. Do the same right now. Give her time, a chance to rebuild. Even if it’s all the way across the country, so be it. Go be with your soulmate, Webb. I’m sure he’s worried about whether or not you’re going after a woman you’ve been with for years for the wrong reasons. Go home. Mark and mate with him. Give him reassurance. I promised I would pass on the message to Lena, and I will. I would never forbid you to go after your child. I’m not that cruel, but if you really care for Lena—”

“Love her!” I interjected.

“If you really love Lena, then let her go.” Lenon was unperturbed by my interruption. “She’s always thought of others before herself prior to this. You do yourself a favor and do the same.”

I thought that over for a moment. It was true that Lena was as unselfish as a saint. Thinking of others first was what would make her a great parent. Through thick or thin, she was behind her loved ones every step of the way. She’d go without if it meant her family or friends could flourish. The shirt off her back, a hug—she was a caregiver, a nurturer. I think I loved that about her the most.

I understood where Lenon was coming from, but I couldn’t do what he said.

“I’m sorry, but I will find her. When I do, she’s coming back with me. Her and the baby,” I argued before striding out of the door and jumping into my truck for the short ride home. 

Hugo

I watched as Webb threw open the front door—sans Lena—and stomped into the kitchen. He drained one, then two bottles of water and let out an exhaustive sigh. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that he hadn’t gotten the information he was looking for.

Glancing over at me, I could tell he was in turmoil. His brows were knitted together over his nose, and his eyes were red-rimmed with tension.

“No luck?” It was stupid, but someone had to break the unbearable silence in the room. He simply shook his head as his eyes drifted closed.

“No one will tell me where she is,” he muttered, tossing the plastic bottle into the recycling bin with some force. “Not her brothers, or her parents. Hell, not even Alpha Lenon, and that f*****g prick has to know where she went to if she’s switching packs.” His fists clenched as his eyes flashed a deep, golden amber.

“I’m sorry, babe,” I consoled him, coming up and pulling him into a hug. “Did they at least know why she didn’t tell you before she left?”

He nodded. “She… Jesus, she did it for us. She didn’t want this to come between you and I. Wanted us to bond a bit before she said anything about the baby.” He chuckled bitterly. “This is the first f*****g selfish thing she’s ever done, and it’s f*****g killing me.”

Fuck, that was actually pretty damn sweet of her.

“Is she at least close by?” I asked.

“Her brother implied she went far away—to gain some distance.” His throat clicked as he swallowed. “She could be in the next state over or in Bali, for all I goddamn know. With my baby, for f**k’s sake.”

There was a pregnant pause, rife with tension as Webb tried not to lose it, and me trying to be as much of a comfort as I could. It seemed to only work partially as the stress released slightly in his shoulders.

“I texted her,” he revealed. “Told her I knew about the baby. Told her she needed to come back and we could raise our child together. She didn’t reply.”

“She could be busy,” I offered up, hopefully.

“She’s driving,” Webb grunted. “And I don’t know where the f**k she’s heading to. I don’t know if she’s safe. She could have blocked my f*****g phone number, for all I know.”

It was killing him, I could tell. And I could empathize. If I had been his situation, I would have been going apeshit, tearing the place apart by now, but the head enforcer in him wouldn’t allow him to break down. He was stalwart as ever.

“I’m sorry this is so f****d up,” Webb mumbled at me, looking me dead in the eyes. “This isn’t what you deserve in a mate. All I want to do is find her and my baby and make sure they’re alright.”

“I understand,” I soothed him. “I do. I… If this was my baby, I’d be going batshit crazy trying to find her. You’re dealing with this far better than I ever could.”

He nodded, just a slight, sad bob of his head before looking down at the white linoleum of the kitchen floor. A floor that his baby’s mother had probably mopped a thousand times before.

“Let’s get you to bed,” I prodded him, pulling gently at his arms to follow me. Nothing could be done now about the pregnant she-wolf situation, and knowing Webb, he wasn’t about to give up on finding her.

I wouldn’t have if I was him.

I started a hot shower for my mate, Webb standing stagnant in his jeans and t-shirt by the double sinks in the master bathroom. He looked around the room as if studying it, and I could only imagine what he was thinking. Then his eyes dropped to the pregnancy test on the floor near the small trash can. I grabbed it and wondered if I should throw it out, toss away the evidence of his pain. But instead, I placed it on the edge of the sink and covered it with a washcloth.

“How many kids would you have wanted?” Webb muttered, not tearing his eyes from the washcloth that was hiding the test strip.

“I wanted a f*****g soccer team’s worth,” I told him, smiling sadly. “I guess that’s sort of out of the question now, though.”

He nodded and took a deep breath. “I’ve wanted them for years,” Webb admitted. “I pressured Lena into having them. When my 29th birthday rolled around, I blew out the candles and made a wish. I wished for children.”

“It looks like birthday wishes do come true,” I quipped dryly. “I don’t think Lena will keep the baby from you, Webb. She seems too damn good-natured for that. She just needs to heal from all this, then she’ll be here, baby bump and glowing with her impending motherhood. Like she should be.”

“I should be there,” he responded quickly. “That’s my kid. I’m supposed to be the one taking care of her and the baby, going to the market for stupid f*****g pregnancy cravings and rubbing her back when it’s sore. This wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”

A stray tear dripped from his chin. He blindly wiped the moisture away. My heart ached for him. And for myself. I felt like I was the interloper in someone else’s mating. If I hadn’t left Colorado…

Why was I the one feeling guilty?

I felt like some kind of homewrecking hussy who’d f****d up someone else’s happy ending, and my heart gave a lurch in my chest when I realized I would never have Webb all to myself.

I would only ever have half his heart.

But what if it wasn’t? I didn’t say it out loud, but it was all I could think of.

“I want to mark you,” he uttered, his words bowling me over. “And I want you to mark me as well.”

“We should give it time, Webb. I—”

“I don’t need time,” he interrupted. “I know what I want, and I know I can’t have it all. I can’t have my brood of children with my mate, but I will find Lena and my baby, and she will come back here to raise him or her. Even if it takes me months, I will accomplish that much.”

“You…you’re not going to fight her for full custody, are you?”

“No. Shared would be fine,” he quipped. “It would kill me, not having my kid around all the time, but I’m not an asshole, and Lena will be a great mother. I wouldn’t do that to her.”

I paused, thinking.

“You don’t think that’s partially the reason she left, do you?” I mused. “Maybe she was afraid that you would fight her for the baby.”

“Lena isn’t like that,” he grumbled, sighing. “She knows that I would never do that to her—or the baby.”

“You never thought she’d skip out on you either, pregnant or not,” I reminded him.

“Lena is a decent person,” Webb asserted again. “She…she’ll get over this and come back. Even if I have to beg, she’ll come back so we can raise our child together.”

I kissed his forehead, hoping he was right. I was willing to do whatever made Webb happy in this situation. I knew being a father would do that, and I had to come to terms with the fact that she was giving him something I never could.

A child.

For the first time in—well, probably forever, I wished I had been born without a d**k. I wanted to give him a family, and give one to myself.

My lips pressed against his forehead again, brushing small pecks across his skin as he held onto me tighter. He shifted, bringing his head up from my chest and placing a soft kiss on my neck where he’d most likely mark me. 

“Webb—”

“Let me mark you,” his husky voice rasped out. The bastard’s tone literally made me shiver, made me want to comply. Being males, neither of us would have to deal with an oncoming heat, so it didn’t really matter whether or not he marked me now or in a month’s time. Heat was the female’s calling card, her pull to give her mate children.

“Okay,” I drawled, softly. He probably barely heard me.

Placing more soft kisses at the crook of my neck, I felt his teeth scrape against skin, testing it, licking.

“f**k, Hugo…”

Something hard dug into my side as his hips shifted against me. Webb was wearing boxers, but he either didn’t snap the flap closed, or it wasn’t that kind of boxer. A hard, hot, bulbous head slipped through the opening and dug into me, sliding across my skin easier than it should.

I placed my left hand on his d**k. The head of it was slick, oozing precum. Unable to stop myself, my hand wrapped around him and jerked, making him moan into the skin on my neck. I gave him a few thorough tugs and felt his teeth still nibbling at an oversensitive part of my neck. I shuddered and felt his teeth elongate, two pinpricks of pain that made me gasp and then groan as his canines sank into my skin. My hand stilled on his twitching c**k as pain morphed into pleasure, and I felt the tenuous bond between us expand like a wave of heat across my skin.

“f**k, Webb!” He made a dark and desperate sound, and I felt his tongue flicker out, licking around the mark as his healing saliva sealed the wound shut. Jesus.

“Hugo. I f*****g need you,” he growled, his voice a gravelly plea.

“You have me, Webb. Always.”

“Then f*****g mark me. Take what’s yours.”

I didn’t need to be told twice, and flipped our positions. I was hovering over him, straddling his waist when my lips came down to suck on the skin of his neck. His hips ground into mine as he grunted his pleasure. His precum-lubed c**k pushed up between my ass cheeks at full salute. He grabbed his c**k, tapping it against my boxers-covered ass.

“f**k. Just do it, Hugo. Don’t f*****g tease me.”

I smiled into his neck before baring my teeth and letting a little of my inner wolf out. I didn’t mess with him like he did with me and went in for the kill. Or, more accurately, the bite.

Blood splashed over my lips and tongue, and I took a couple of pulls before letting my tongue heal the bite with a few dragging licks over his skin. There. Even if he had a tie to Lena, he was mine. My mark blooming on the skin of his neck made it official. He was mine, all mine. And I was his.

Breathing heavily, he looked up at me as I pulled away from his neck. “Guess this would be a good time to ask whether you’re a top or a bottom,” he remarked, smirking a little.

Laughing through my heavy pants, I smiled. “I’ve done both,” I told him. “I like both. What about you?”

He stopped, thinking for a moment. “I haven’t bottomed in a while, of course because of Lena, but I’ve done it before. Done it and liked it. I don’t mind either way. Of course, I haven’t seen your size, so that may have some say in whether I’m willing to bottom for you. I don’t need to be split open if you’re hung like an ox.”

I nodded and pushed off the bed to make my way to the duffel bag I had a few essentials in.

“I whip my d**k out and it’s either going in your ass or your mouth,” I declared, grabbing a bottle of lube and holding it high in the air. “Which is it, Webb?”   

This book will be published on Amázon on April 1st!