Dreaming of the Wolf

Chapter 18

Jake helped Alicia into the backseat and went around the vehicle to join her while Tom settled into the driver’s seat and Peter rode in the passenger’s seat. Their guard force led the way again. Jake hoped to assuage her concerns at once. Although the problem of her connection to Massaro’s murder wasn’t going to be easy to explain to the police.

“Oh, Jake,” Alicia said on a moan, as soon as he shut his door, “the Denver police will learn what I am as soon as they analyze the bloodstains.”

“No, don’t concern yourself.” He took her in his arms as Tom drove back to Silver Town. “Our werewolf genetics are such that as humans we have only human DNA . As wolves, only wolf DNA . Now, if they found both, blood from when you were a wolf and from when you were human, it’d make them believe a wolf and a human were in the room.”

She melted against his chest and sighed heavily. “Then if they do discover wolf’s blood in the condo, they’ll assume I lied about having a wolf at the Crestview Motel.

I’m just getting myself deeper and deeper into this. And dragging your family into the whole mess. Before long, don’t you think they’ll get a warrant to search your place to see if I’m hiding a wolf there?”

“They won’t find any.”

“But what if I shift? I thought I was controlling it, but anytime now I could just, poof, turn into a wolf. And if I do it in front of a bunch of police officers—”

“We’ll deal with it, Alicia. You’re one of us, part of a pack. We’ll take care of this in any way that we have to.”

Tom said, “You want me to take her home.” But the tone of his voice was more of a question—did Jake want to take her to see Doc Weber instead?

Of course the doc made house calls when necessary, but in Alicia’s case, Jake assumed he’d need blood work, a urine sample, and a proper physical exam to tell if she was pregnant and make sure she and the baby would be all right. A t least he thought that’s what was needed. He was certain that if he proposed it in front of Alicia with Tom and Peter listening in, she’d be upset with him. On the other hand, he didn’t want to take her to the hospital under false pretenses.

“The hospital, Tom.”

Alicia tried to pull away from Jake, her spine stiff, her whole body posture saying she was mad at him for even suggesting such a thing, but he held on tight, forcing her to remain in his arms until he felt the tension drain from her. She relaxed again, but not of her own accord, he felt. Rather, she just wasn’t feeling up to fighting him.

He kissed the top of her head and enjoyed the feel of her soft supple curves, her feminine fragrance, and her thick silky hair beneath his cheek. He wanted to give her a life free of worry by sequestering her from the interrogations, taking care of Mario and his bastards, and showing Alicia the way of their people until she felt comfortable being one of them.

But now they had a new dilemma. Who was Alicia’s father? And why had he and Alicia’s mother died?

Jake expected Alicia to say something about the visit to the hospital, but she didn’t voice a word. He felt guilty for forcing this on her, but they had to know. If she was pregnant, she needed to be seeing the doctor anyway.

“Call ahead to the hospital, will you, Peter, and make an appointment?” Jake said to the sheriff. He didn’t want to let go of Alicia for a second to try and fish his phone out when she seemed content enough to relax in his arms.

Peter opened his cell phone and said, “Bethany, we need an appointment with Doc Weber scheduled for”—he glanced at the clock in the car—“two hours and fifteen minutes from now. Yeah, it’s important. For Jake’s mate, Alicia Greiston.” He paused, cleared his throat, and then said, “Possible pregnancy.” He spoke as softly as he could so that Bethany could still hear him, but not softly enough that Jake and Alicia couldn’t, what with their wolf’s hearing. Although Jake gave him credit for making the effort. “Thanks. We’ll be there then,” Peter said, and put his phone away.

“We’ll have to get married,” Alicia grumbled against Jake’s chest. “I’m not going to keep telling people I’m engaged to you. I didn’t think I’d ever say I’d want to again, not until you walked into my life and became my knight.”

“We don’t wear jewelry. So wedding rings are out.”

Jake tried his damnedest to be consoling, but this was probably one of the hardest things for newbie lupus garous to get a handle on. “We don’t need rings to stay faithful. But even so, it would be especially difficult for you to wear any jewelry because you don’t have the shifting under control. Trying to remove rings or necklaces and bracelets in the process of a shift could prove disastrous. As for marriage, we’re mated. That means more than a marriage certificate. It means we commit to one another for life.”

She frowned up at him. “If I am pregnant, I want to be officially married. With the paper to prove it. Blame it on my human upbringing.”

He looked down into her dark chocolate eyes and thought of how addicted he was to looking at her, to feeling her close, to being with her. He would be with her always. He wished she could understand that. “We don’t marry because we make a commitment…”

“I… want… to… be… married. I understand, or at least think I understand, how you commit for life without the need for a witnessed document. But I never knew who my father was and never knew if my parents had really been married. I want our baby to have the security of knowing we’re formally committed.”

He really wished they could have this discussion in private. He could just imagine what his brother and Peter were thinking. They were probably glad neither of them was trying to deal with an unreasonable newly turned wolf. He realized then her feelings might have something to do with her father, though—the fake birth certificate and not knowing what was going on with him. Her father’s abandonment of her and her mother, and then the mystery that surrounded her mother and father reuniting without letting Alicia know. Maybe, beyond all that, she was concerned Jake wouldn’t live up to his promise to be the baby’s father if she was pregnant.

“Any baby you have will be mine and yours, Alicia. And he or she will be raised as a werewolf, knowing how we live our lives and that a formal marriage isn’t part of the equation. You don’t have to worry about that.”

She let out her breath in an exasperated manner.

“You’re a man,” she said sourly.

He wanted to tell her he wouldn’t be like her father had been to her mother. But he didn’t think she would believe him, even if he tried to convince her. A ll he could do was prove he’d stick by her side forever.

He kissed her cheek and stroked her shoulder. “You wouldn’t want me to be anything but.” He let out a heavy sigh. Hell, he was an alpha male and his mate was already dictating to him. If word got out, he’d never live it down. But he wanted her to be happy. Whatever it took. “A ll right. The judge can marry us.”

“A ll right,” she said grumpily, then gave him a smidgen of a smile.

He tightened his hold on her, giving her a somber smile back and loving her all the more. She hadn’t had a family to call her own. He and his family would be there for her in any way that she needed, even if they had to bend or break a few golden werewolf rules in the process. “A ll right.”

Never in a million years would he have thought he’d be the only one in the family or the pack ever forced to get a marriage license. Then again, he could just get the judge to sign off on one. No need to go through any kind of ceremony, even if he knew it would just be in the judge’s chambers. A ll she had to want was the paper proving they were man and wife.

The whole notion grated on him, no matter that he tried to think of it as important to her and meaningless to him. He squeezed her tighter against his body. Well, not so meaningless to him because it meant so much to Alicia. And her happiness was paramount to him.

When they arrived at the hospital in Silver Town, everyone on staff looked Alicia over curiously, and she avoided their inquisitive gazes. Doc Weber dismissed Jake, even though he wanted to be with her in the room.

Instead, he was left to pace in the staff lounge.

Peter and Tom stayed with him while Tom broached the subject of Alicia’s fainting at the bank. “You said she got some upsetting news?”

“We need to learn everything we can about an Antonio Frasero.”

“I’ll get on it,” Peter said. “How does she know him?”

“He’s her father. And it appears he may be the one who Constantino had killed.”

“I’ll let you know what I find out.” Peter hurried out of the lounge, looking like a man with a mission.

Tom studied Jake. “The name Antonio Frasero sounds Italian.”

“Yes, it sounds that way.” Jake glanced back at the doorway to the lounge, wondering what was taking Doc so long in determining if Alicia was pregnant or not.

“If she’s pregnant, is it Massaro’s baby?” Tom asked.

“Most likely,” Jake said, trying to keep his voice even.

Tom nodded.

Then Doc poked his head in through the doorway.

“Looks like the lupus garou population of Silver Town is going to increase by another three early next year. I understand Silva’s struggling to knit a pair of booties for the first of Lelandi’s triplets. She’s going to have a lot of practice in the next few months.”

Jake couldn’t say anything. The first thought he had was that Alicia’s babies were his. He was a triplet. Darien was having triplets, although Lelandi had been a triplet also, whereas Alicia had been an only child. But still, what were the chances that they were Massaro’s?

Tom looked just as stunned.

“Thanks, Doc. Thanks,” Jake finally managed to get out.

Doc smiled. “She’s worried they’re not yours. But I have the sneaking suspicion they are. If I were you, I’d check out the guy who turned her. She said he had been murdered. The police would have done an autopsy, and if he’d had sex with a woman sometime before he was murdered—which would have been the case if he’d raped her from the timeline she gave me—the doctor who examined the body would have learned of it. Alicia said he’s the only one who could have made her pregnant.

But we all know there are exceptions to every rule.”

“They’ll be mine, no matter what, Doc,” Jake said firmly.

“I understand. I’ve prescribed some vitamin pills for her. Just make sure she gets plenty of rest and plenty of nutritious foods to eat. Otherwise, she’s healthy and the babies will be fine. I’ve got other patients to see, but…”

Doc uncharacteristically slapped Jake on the shoulder, smiling broadly. “You’ve got your hands full.” Then he headed out of the lounge.

Tom looked like he was dying to leave the staff lounge.

He wasn’t the town gossip, like Silva was, so Jake wasn’t sure what was eating at him. Tom finally said, “I’m looking into this Ferdinand Massaro.”

Jake took a deep breath. His brother wanted to know the truth of the matter as much as he did. “Peter probably can get further with questioning the police than we can since he’s a member of law enforcement. Have him check to see if in the autopsy that was done on—” Jake paused when he heard footfalls approach the room.

Alicia peered into the lounge, then seeing Jake and Tom alone, she joined them. “I heard your voice,” she said, as if she was afraid they’d think she’d been eavesdropping.

Jake hurried to take her arm, alarmed that she still appeared pale and unwell. “You still look peaked, Alicia.”

“Deep down I expected to be pregnant. But I never thought I’d have a whole family in one fell swoop.” Her teary eyes studied his. “Doc said because they’re triplets, they’re probably yours.”

“That’s what he told me, too.”

She took a deep, steadying breath. “But if they’re not…”

He pulled her into his embrace. “We’ll have three lovely girls to adore.”

Tom gave a small smile as if to say that was wishful thinking and headed out of the room. He hoped Tom would tell Peter to see if an autopsy on Massaro revealed he’d had sex with a woman before he died.

If Massaro hadn’t, Jake would rethink the story Lelandi’s brother, Leidolf, had told them about the woman who was the product of her human grandmother and a werewolf’s intimate liaison.

“Let’s go to Darien’s place,” Jake said, but more than ever, he wanted a whole lot of answers to lots of new questions.

Standing in his living room and staring out his window at the brick wall surrounding his back courtyard, Mario listened on the phone as Danny ranted, “Someone was here… in my place. Looking through stuff.”

“How do you know?”

“I know, all right? I leave things around, just in case.

But the house wasn’t broken into. Nothing taken as far as I can tell. But things aren’t… the same.”

Mario shook his head. Danny was becoming obsessed with being watched. “How aren’t they the same?” he asked, trying to hide his exasperation with his cousin.

“I… I leave pieces of hair glued with saliva across my desk drawers. The hairs were broken or no longer there.”

Hair? Saliva?

Mario shook his head. “A re you sure they didn’t just drop on the floor? Fall off? That you opened the drawers and forgot to replace the hairs?”

“No. I check them every time I get home.”

“Did you have anything important in the drawers?”

“No.”

Mario let out his breath. “Then no problem.” He figured Danny was just being paranoid. That nothing had truly happened.

“I found a bug in my phone.”

His face heating, Mario said slowly, “Which phone?” It had better not be the one Danny was talking on now. Or if it was, he’d better have gotten rid of the bug.

“It’s gone,” Danny said, reassuring him. “But the Feds have been here.”

“How did they find out about your place?”

Danny didn’t speak for a while, then said, “Hell, I don’t know. Cicero said something about Tony getting my key and making a copy of it. But I didn’t believe it. And anyway, even if Tony did get a copy of my house key, he wouldn’t have known where my house was.”

“Why didn’t you tell me Tony had gotten a copy of your key?”

“I changed the locks. The key wouldn’t have worked even if he had found the house.”

“You should have told me Tony got a copy of the key to your house, Danny. What were you thinking?” Mario watched the oak tree’s leaves flutter in the dry breeze.

“A ll right. So you didn’t have anything in the place that could cause any problems. Right?”

Danny didn’t say anything.

“Right, Danny?”

“The gun I used to whack Missy Greiston and Tony? It’s gone.”

When Jake, Alicia, Tom, and Peter arrived at Darien’s house, Lelandi greeted them looking so anxious that Jake was afraid something more was wrong.

But Lelandi quickly asked Alicia, “A re you all right?

Peter said you fainted at the bank.”

Jake was glad that was all that was the matter.

“I’m fine.” Alicia explained the situation about her father and the birth certificates, but although Lelandi listened, Jake could tell that wasn’t what was concerning her.

“You look awfully pale,” Lelandi said, and Jake suspected she knew Alicia was pregnant but was trying to prompt her to tell without being asked.

“Jake and I are going to get married,” Alicia said, taking hold of Jake’s hand and pulling him closer. “Right away. We’ll get the justice of the peace to do it.”

Lelandi’s lips parted, but she didn’t say a word, her gaze quickly shifting to Jake.

Jake tried not to react in any way, yet he tensed. He couldn’t help it. His kind just didn’t get married. And he didn’t like the inference that he couldn’t be faithful without a marriage license, although he had to remind himself that probably wasn’t bothering Alicia as much as having a name for the babies. He planned for Alicia to be a Silver anyway. Once she was one of the Silvers, no one would question her about getting a new driver’s license or anything else she might need in her life.

“Marriage? By the judge? No way,” Lelandi said, her red brows furrowed.

Jake wasn’t entirely surprised by her reaction. But he would marry Alicia in the judge’s chambers, no matter what Lelandi or his brother said about it, since that’s what Alicia felt she needed.

“But Jake said he would. And I won’t feel right until it’s done,” Alicia insisted, determination in her voice.

Jake wrapped his arm around her shoulder, but before he could defend their decision, Lelandi raised her brows at Jake, smiled, and patted Alicia on the shoulder. “What I meant to say is that if we’re going to go against tradition, we’re going to do this right. We’ll have a proper wedding.”

Proper wedding?

Jake groaned before he could catch himself. Tom chuckled. Peter grinned but wisely didn’t say anything.

Even Alicia didn’t look pleased with the notion.

“First, we need to get you a wedding dress. You’ve been married before, so a cream-colored dress would probably be better. A lthough, what the heck, since we don’t do weddings, you can wear whatever your heart desires. No sense in sticking to a tradition we don’t even have.”

Lelandi took Alicia’s arm and pulled her away from Jake and headed for the sunroom. “We do have a bridal shop for the humans in town. And the owner is a wolf, of course. She will be ecstatic to be our consultant. Her shop also carries formals for special occasions and Victorian ball gowns for our Victorian festival. The men rarely dress up except for that, so this will be fun.”

“I didn’t want to go through a whole lot of pomp and ceremony,” Alicia said. “I just wanted to make sure we had a marriage license. And I have been married twice already so it’s not like I feel the need to go through any kind of ceremony.”

“Nonsense. It’ll be fun. Silva and I can help you decide about the festivities afterward. Darien can give you away.

We’ll have a ball.”

Jake felt for Alicia. She clearly didn’t want to go this far.

Tom shook his head at Jake, his mouth curving in a small smile. “Darien will love to hear he’s been volunteered to serve as the bride’s father in a wedding when we’ve never taken part in one before.”

“I’m not certain Alicia’s any more excited about it than I am.” Jake glanced at Peter, expecting news about the calls he made earlier.

“I called about the autopsy. The report on Ferdinand Massaro’s body showed no signs that he’d had intercourse prior to his death,” Peter said. “In other words, he couldn’t have raped Alicia shortly before he died.”

Jake felt a little light-headed and sat down on one of the couches.

“The triplets are yours,” Tom said, smiling. “Who would have thought you’d find your mate before me, as picky as you’ve always been. And now you have a whole family on its way in record time. You’re the first one to have a wedding, too. I mean, for any members of the pack.”

“They’re mine,” Jake said softly, still not believing it. He glanced up at Peter, who was smiling at him, too. “You’re absolutely sure?”

Peter spread his hands in a way that said there was no other possibility.

“I’ve got to get cribs and all that stuff. Everything that Lelandi’s been stocking up for her babies when they’re born.” Jake had thought all her purchases and the way she’d been stressing over the upcoming event had been unnecessary. That half of the stuff she’d bought was not even needed.

But now he was rethinking his position. Now when he had his own triplets on the way. He rose to his feet, wondering why he was sitting around when he had so much to do.

“They’re not going to be here for several months. You’ll have time,” Tom said, looking immensely amused. “My advice to you though is, don’t make the nursery pink just yet.”

Jake dragged his fingers through his hair, ignoring his brother’s teasing, and then took a deep, steadying breath. Hell, now he had to get married. In a real wedding, of all things.

Peter said, “The other news is that I had some men check out Danny’s place. You should have seen the way he rigged up the place. Strands of hair stuck to drawers in the event anyone opened them.”

The guy was nuts.

“We replaced them, though. Found a gun in a desk drawer and some papers having to do with racketeering that we sent to the Feds—in a surreptitious way. They’ll probably get a search warrant and nail the bastard.”

“He’s not a wolf?” Jake asked, surprised. If Ferdinand Massaro had been and Mario might be, he’d thought for sure Danny was. But Peter wouldn’t have sent the Feds incriminating evidence if Danny had been a wolf.

“Nope. And no wolves had been in the house. So unless someone changes the equation, Danny’s free to go to prison—for as long as he should live.”

Darien entered the house with his cell phone to his ear, his expression grim and his brows raised as he acknowledged Jake, Tom, and Peter. Jake had the sneaking suspicion that more bad news was on its way.

Darien signed off with whomever he was talking to on the phone. “The police in Denver want to speak with Alicia about Ferdinand Massaro’s murder again. They believe she witnessed the murder and want to put her in the Witness Protection Program.”

“They can’t,” Jake said.

Darien sighed. “I know that, Jake. But you, Tom, and Peter will have to accompany her to Denver. A long with some men for backup guard.”

“What if she shape-shifts?” Jake asked.

“Just pray she doesn’t,” Darien said, glancing in the direction of the sunroom, undoubtedly hearing some of Lelandi’s conversation and probably wondering what that was all about.

Lelandi must have been talking on the phone as she said, “Oh, yes, a real wedding. What do you think for bridesmaids’ gowns, Silva? Alicia says she wants you to take part, too, and wanted your opinion.”

Darien gave Jake a questioning look.

“We’re getting married.” Jake spoke as if he didn’t want any discussion about the matter.

“Married? Bridesmaids’ gowns?” Darien asked, his voice low.

“We were all set to just go to a justice of the peace, but Lelandi wouldn’t hear of it.” Jake shoved his hands in his pockets, almost wishing Darien would make Lelandi cease and desist. But he knew Darien wouldn’t. “Guess who gets to give the bride away.”

Darien looked at Tom, who was grinning big time now.

“Don’t look at me,” Tom said. “You’re the pack leader.”

Darien groaned. “Hell, if it wasn’t for Lelandi’s temperamental condition, I’d put my foot down and say absolutely not. So when the hell is it scheduled?”

Jake sighed. “What do I know? The women have taken over.”

“That’s what happens when the women are pregnant,” Peter said, although since he wasn’t mated, he hadn’t had to deal with all the ups and downs himself.

Darien’s gaze swung back to Jake.

This time Jake couldn’t contain the delight in his expression or tone of voice. He sounded like a kid at Christmas. “Alicia’s pregnant, Doc says. With triplets.”

Darien was still frowning. “Yours?”

“A ppears that way.”

That’s when Darien’s smile first appeared. He said to Tom, “You’re next, little brother. We’ll have a boomtown here before we know it.”

The next morning, on the drive to Denver to see the police about Ferdinand Massaro’s murder, Alicia had a panic attack. Although it wasn’t really a panic attack because the panic was for real. The moon was at its fullest, and although it was daytime and the moon wasn’t easy to see, it was there all the same.

And Alicia knew, despite trying to stop it, that she was getting ready to shift. She was worn out from the discovery the day before about her father and learning she was pregnant with triplets, as well as Lelandi’s rush to help her find a gown before Alicia couldn’t wear one unless it was a maternity gown, and Jake loving her all night long. She’d been sleeping with her head in Jake’s lap as Tom drove the SUV to Denver, while Peter sat in the front passenger’s seat and remained quiet. Another SUV filled with four more pack members followed, making her feel safe and protected and totally overwhelmed by all of the events of the past couple of days.

But all of a sudden, she began to get really, really hot.

That brought back into focus how she wasn’t herself anymore. The first thing she did was worry about the babies. Would the shift hurt them? Then she realized that werewolves had lived like this for a very long time, and they’d survived all these years, so everything would be all right.

But Alicia still had little control over her shifting, and she desperately needed to get out of her clothes. Lelandi had explained that stripping out of their clothes in front of other pack members was a natural process, and the shift happened so quickly that no one got much of a look at anyone else anyway. But none of that made it any easier to swallow.

Alicia bolted upright, and immediately Jake stiffened.

“What’s wrong, Alicia?”

Peter glanced over the seat at her. Tom looked in the rearview mirror to see what the matter was.

“I’ve got to shift.” She climbed in none too ladylike a way over the back of the seat to get into the rear seat, more hidden from the view of the bucket seats that Tom and Peter were sitting in up front. And then she began stripping out of her clothes.

Darien had tried to convince the Denver police that Alicia had been feeling too poorly to see them right away, due to her pregnancy, but because the police were investigating a murder and had no clues as to who had done the crime, they wouldn’t hear of any delays.

They would treat her with care, they assured Darien.

Jake and the rest of the pack hadn’t been worried about her pregnancy but this business with shape-shifting. By the time she got her clothes off, she was shape-shifting.

Jake said, “You’ll be fine when we’re speaking to the police officers, Alicia. You can get it out of your system for now…”

She growled at him. She meant for it to be a grumble, but she wasn’t sure how to make a grumbly wolf sound.

It just came out an irritated growl and was a lot harsher to her ears than she had intended. Peter and Tom smiled. Jake reached over the back of his seat and scratched her between the ears.

She bumped his hand with her nose, trying to make up with him, and he smiled. “You’ll be fine,” he repeated, but the undercurrent of tension relayed a promise. The pack would take care of her—and the police officers—if she screwed up.