DAYNE
Thank fuck Luka and Savannah had stopped him from going after Glynn.
He hadn't needed to see Talis' face to know she'd expected him to want nothing to do with her.
She still believed herself broken, even though everyone who spent any longer than two seconds around her could see she was anything but weak.
As Talis slept, he stroked his hand down her mostly dried hair as he lay stretched out on the bed beside her.
He couldn't stop touching her or staring into her beautiful face. It was becoming an addiction, and he struggled to remember what his life had been like before her.
Boring.
Definitely boring, he thought with a grin.
There was no one like her. Talis was so bright, so alive that the few women in his past he'd ever imagined he had a future with paled in comparison.
He could barely remember their names now that he thought about it.
While he'd wanted nothing more than to turn their shower into something more, he regretted letting it. He'd known Talis wasn't up to sex, certainly not the kind she'd been determined to have, yet that hadn't stopped him from giving in to her.
Although the bruises covering her body and her face had begun to fade, it was taking a lot of energy for her to heal.
Energy she shouldn't have been using up by having sex with him.
But as always, saying no to her wasn't easy, and she'd pretty much passed out after.
He'd barely started drying her hair before she was out cold, and his intention to wake her for breakfast went out of the window.
Since her body seemed to need sleep more than it needed food, he'd left her. When she woke later, he'd have Luka or Regan bring some food up for her.
There was somewhere he needed to be.
As he studied her bruised face, relaxed in sleep, he regretted their having sex for another reason.
The mate bond between them was growing, and they were reading each other's emotions in a way they'd never been able to do before.
At any other time, Dayne would be happy about the prospect, but with them about to go to war with Glynn Merrick and the likes of Abel, he would have preferred for Talis not to read his emotions.
He was sure the things he wanted to do to Glynn Merrick would give her nightmares. A horror, torture-filled, graphic nightmare. Yet it still didn't even come close to what Glynn deserved.
Dayne needed Glynn to fucking suffer before he put him out of his misery.
Then there was the matter of her being pregnant. Dayne couldn't imagine Talis would be happy to stay behind while the rest of them went after the Merrick pack.
No. She'd want to be there.
Fighting by his side if he let her, only he couldn't, because if anything happened to her… Dayne didn't know how he would survive it.
His gaze slid down to settle on her stomach. Although he'd covered her with a sheet, he remembered the sight of her belly, and it'd been just as bruised as every other part of her.
For now, it was still flat with no hint of a curve. But in a few months, it wouldn't be. A baby would be growing right along with her.
Their baby.
God, when he thought of Talis lying on the floor of Glynn Merrick's office floor and the terror she must have felt-the terror he'd heard in her voice-as Glynn pressed his foot down on the life growing there, his heart contracted in fear, even as rage bloomed.
"Squirt's okay," a voice husky with sleep grumbled.
Dayne's gaze shot up and found Talis blinking blearily at him, looking adorably exhausted.
He frowned. "You should be sleeping. Or are you hungry? Do you want me-"
Her yawn of epic proportions drowned out the rest of his words. It was so wide it made her eyes water, and he grinned. "Sleep, then?"
She nodded and surprised him by crawling over him, forcing him onto his back. "Hmm. The power of your frown woke me."
Dayne's laugh made her body shake as she lay on top of him, and he sighed in contentment as he wrapped his arms around her waist, and she tucked her face against the hollow of his neck and shoulder.
It was like she fucking belonged there. Right there. Nestled against him.
"The power of my frown? Wow, that's… uh, something."
"Yep. Like a laser in the dark. Even though my eyes were closed, I could feel the intensity of it. Did I say laser? I mean-"
Dayne kissed her forehead. "You're rambling. Go to sleep."
Again, she surprised him when she didn't argue. "Okay."
They settled into quiet.
Even though Dayne knew he should be downstairs with the others-with Luka-putting the plan of attack together, or even better, going after Glynn Merrick and Abel, he didn't go anywhere. Talis needed him.
Feeling a yawn sneak up on him, he let it out.
Thinking she'd already drifted off to sleep, he realized she wasn't there yet when he felt her smile against his neck.
"What?" he murmured.
"Nothing." Her smile grew.
"What?" he repeated, smiling for no reason.
"I just noticed I have a papa-sized yawn, and yours is mama-sized."
His bark of laughter surprised him. "Go to sleep, Talis."
She was asleep a heartbeat later, and Dayne found his eyes drifting closed despite his intention to move her to the bed and go downstairs.
He figured it had something to do with having his mate back in his arms.
It was several hours later when Dayne opened his eyes.
Their positions had shifted. Now instead of Talis draped over his body, he was draped over hers, pinning her to the bed.
Her hands were in his hair, and from the tingle on his scalp, he had the impression she'd been carding her fingers through them for a while.
"You know you're heavier than you look," she murmured, sounding a lot less tired than before.
Dayne was horrified. "Shit, have I been crushing you? Crushing-"
"Squirt? No. We're fine."
Still, Dayne shifted to lie beside her and not on top of her, and she rolled over so they were face-to-face.
"Squirt, huh?" he asked. She'd said it before, but since he could see Talis had still been so tired, it hadn't felt like the time to talk.
She nodded. "Squirt."
"I'm not saying you're wrong, but what makes you so sure?" he asked, making a mental note to arrange a doctor's visit for her when they went home. He wanted to make sure everything was okay after everything she'd been through.
Talis shrugged. "I just know. It's weird, but I know."
For several seconds, they silently studied each other. "So, a baby, huh?" he asked.
Slowly, a smile spread across Talis' face. "Yeah. A baby."
Dayne found a smile creeping across his face, and he shuffled close enough so he could slide an arm around her waist. He needed to touch her. "And you're good with the idea of there being a baby?"
"Well, if I weren't," she said with that same grin on her face. "It's a bit late for me not to be."
"We never talked about it."
She shook her head. "No. But we've only known each other for a couple of weeks. How was I to know you'd put a baby inside me in two weeks?"
Dayne couldn't stop his splutter of laughter. "Put a baby inside you?"
"Yes." She spoke slowly, as if to make sure he understood. "Or did you need me to explain how babies are made?"
He was on her in a second, growling into her face as he pinned her to the bed, though careful not to rest all his weight on her. "The level of disrespect is unreal."
"Probably," she agreed happily, and then she slipped her arms around him and tugged him down.
Dayne leaned into her kiss, running his hand through her soft hair spread across the pillow.
After several minutes, he raised his head. "But you're good with it? And you feel okay?"
"I'm good, and I feel okay. I'm starting to think the sickness was more because of what Uncle Glynn drugged me with than because of the baby."
"Sick?" He frowned, examining her face. She didn't look sick. Maybe a touch paler than usual, but not sick.
He was completely unprepared for her grin. "It's very nice of you to pretend you didn't smell at least four layers of sick when you found me, and I love you for it."
Dayne stilled. And then she stilled.
"Did I just hear you say the L-word?" he murmured, fighting a grin.
She shook her head. "You must be hearing things. As if such a thing would pass these lips."
He dropped his eyes to her lips and pressed closer. "And what lips they are," he murmured before lowering his head to kiss her again.
Then, when she wound her legs around his hips and moaned into his mouth, Dayne couldn't find it in him to tell her she should be resting.
He slipped into her, and bracing his weight on his elbows, deepened their kiss as he gave her the slow and gentle he should have given her in the shower, and not once, as he stroked himself inside her, did she demand fast and hard again.
When she gasped her release into his mouth, he held her tight against him as her climax triggered his.
It was evening when Talis started yawning again.
Dayne shifted the empty plates from the bed to the bedside table and pressed a hard kiss to her mouth. "You should sleep."
"I feel like all I've been doing is sleeping," she mumbled, fighting off another yawn.
"Your body is busy healing. You need sleep."
All the sex they were having probably wasn't helping her to heal any faster, Dayne thought a touch guiltily. But at least she was napping in between, and her bruises had mostly healed.
That she was sleeping less deeply was a good sign her body had worked through the worst of the damage Glynn and Abel had inflicted on her.
"I feel bad for not seeing any of the pack," Talis said, as Dayne tucked the sheets under her chin.
He dropped a kiss on her forehead before he rose. "That's my fault for hogging you."
"I wanted you to stay."
She'd needed him, just as Savannah had said she would.
Not that Talis would ever admit to it, Dayne thought as he loaded the empty plates on the tray he'd brought up during one of her naps.
All the plates were empty, which was a relief. Dayne had watched her closely as she'd dug in with gusto into the steak, fries, and salad that Regan had prepared.
He'd even caught her eyeing his plate, and he'd been happy to share his meal with her. The chocolate chip brownie and ice cream had gone much the same way, except he hadn't been quite so happy to share the brownie.
Right up until Talis had threatened to stab him with her steak knife if he dared get in the way of a pregnant woman and chocolate, that is. It'd been on her plate a second later.
Since he knew from his two sisters' pregnancies that it took at least a couple of weeks before morning sickness kicked in, Dayne agreed Talis' brief sickness likely had more to do with whatever Glynn had drugged her with.
It was as he was balancing the tray in one hand in front of the bedroom door when Talis' voice stopped him.
"Dayne?"
"Yes, baby?" he murmured.
"I did say the L-word," she mumbled sleepily.
But by the time he turned around, he knew she was already asleep.
"I know you did. I love you too."
Downstairs, Dayne dumped the empty plates in the kitchen sink. Then he spared a few minutes to catch up with the pack in the den before he followed his nose out the back of the house to the porch.
He found Savannah sitting with her feet raised on the bench beside the door, staring out into the dark forest.
Without a word, he dropped into the seat beside her and slung his arm around her shoulders.
For several minutes they, didn't say a word.
Then, in a voice barely audible, Savannah turned to murmur in his ear, "told you so."
Dayne shook with silent laughter.
"How is she?" Savannah asked once he'd stopped laughing.
He sighed. "Getting there. Better. Look, if you hadn't stopped me-"
"You would have had a megaton of groveling to do," she said. "So, please remember that come Christmas time when you have one of your few ideas of the year to buy me something-"
She broke off laughing when he started tickling her. "Stop it. Okay, okay. I didn't mean it."
"You're as bad as Bridget was," he admitted.
Both his smile and hers faded. "I miss them so much," she murmured.
"I miss them too. But who knows, maybe you and Talis-"
Savannah jerked to her feet with a gasp and rushed for the back door.
"Savannah, what is it? Savannah?" He stopped her just before she darted inside.
The fear pouring from her was overwhelming as she stared into the forest. Yet she didn't speak. She didn't seem to even see him, let alone hear him.
"Savannah!" he snapped, shaking her.
"I saw," she murmured, never taking her eyes from what held her transfixed. "He's still there." Then she tore herself from his grip and took off inside.
Dayne turned to the spot she'd been staring, trying to locate what had scared her that badly.
His eyes scoured the creeping darkness of late afternoon, and just as he was becoming convinced Savannah had been seeing things, his gaze fixed on eyes peering out from the heavily wooded forest.
Although he hadn't seen Glynn Merrick or Abel in their wolf shape, the fact Savannah had reacted the way she had told him all he needed to know. The wolf who'd scared her as badly as he had was Abel.
Abel, the wolf who'd tried to force himself on Talis.
And he was there. Feet away from him.
Dayne stepped off the edge of the porch and tore his shirt off, then he slipped out of his jeans.
As he started running, between one step and the next, he let the shift flow over him until he was no longer a man but a wolf.
He snarled at the scent of the wolf in the distance, a wolf that this time hadn't bothered with scent blockers.
Now that Dayne had his scent, the hunt was on, and at the end of it, Dayne would tear his throat out.
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