A Girl and Her Wolf (Howl, #7) (6 page)

Chapter 9: Emma

It was starting to get dark out, but Emma entered the woods anyway. She ran as quickly as her gray paws could carry her. She wasn’t sure what was inside the woods, but she had a feeling that there was something there that she needed to see.

Ever since she’d become a werewolf, Emma had learned to trust her own instincts. First, there had been the time when she’d sensed that Joe McKinley’s legendary talisman was missing. And then there was the other incident, with Samara. . .

*

“So, do you want to go see a movie at the mall today?” Emma asked. “I heard that new one with Sandra Bullock is really good. Or there’s that one with Channing Tatum. It has a lot of action, which isn’t my thing, but I’m willing to watch it with that level of hotness in it.”

Samara shook her head. “No, that’s okay. I would rather just stay in.”

“
Again
?” Emma asked exasperatedly. It had only been five weeks since Luke had died, so it was to be expected that Samara would still feel broken over his death. It was even worse than losing a loved one; she’d lost her
mate
—someone who she’d been physically, emotionally, and mentally connected to. Of course it was going to hurt, even if Declan was her mate, too.

As patient as Emma had tried to be with her best friend, though, she didn’t think it was healthy for her to stay locked inside her bedroom all the time. It was just so . . . sad.

“I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me, Em,” Samara replied.

“I know, but . . . what about Declan?” Emma questioned. “I’m sure that he’s missed seeing more of you, too.”

“Actually, we’ve been seeing each other a lot lately,” Samara replied, her face brightening a little. “He’s been bringing me my homework every day and then he usually stays until bedtime.”

Samara had opted to finish the rest of the semester at home. The school had been very cooperative over it, since she was grieving the loss of her husband. Emma missed seeing her best friend every day, but she understood how hard it would have been for her to go back to the same school hallways that Luke had once walked. It even made
Emma
sad sometimes if she allowed herself to think about it.

“Well, I’m glad you’ve been spending time with Declan at least,” Emma replied. “I know I’ve missed you, though. And so has the rest of the pack.”

“I’ve missed you all, too,” Samara replied with a small, sad smile. “I’ll come around, though, in my own time—probably soon.”

“Good.” Emma smiled and opened her mouth to fill her in on some of the gossip about their fellow classmates that she’d missed out on since she’d been home (mostly to have something to talk about, because she really didn’t care all that much about gossip anymore) when Samara’s stomach took on a beautiful blue glow. The light radiated through her shirt; it was obvious that it was coming from the other side. Emma stared at it for a few moments and then glanced up into her best friend’s eyes. “Sam, do you have something under your shirt?”

Her best friend raised her dark eyebrows at her and then glanced down at her stomach. “No. Why?”

“Because your stomach is glowing. It’s blue,” Emma explained. “Don’t you see it?”

Samara shook her head. “No. . .”

Emma wondered why her best friend couldn’t see it, even though she could. A thought crossed her mind. “I know this is going to seem like a strange thing for me to ask, but . . . do you think you could be pregnant?”

Samara blinked and swallowed hard. “I-I don’t think so. . .”

“When’s the last time you got your period?” Emma asked.

“I don’t know. It’s been a while,” her best friend murmured with a frown. “But it’s probably just because I’m stressed.”

Emma shook her head. “No . . . no, I have a gut feeling about this, Sam. You’re pregnant, and it’s a boy.”

Samara laughed. “I don’t think so.”

“I don’t want to be too nosy, but what type of condoms were you and Luke using? They’re not all as effective. Colby and I use Beastly Pleasure, but even those aren’t one-hundred percent effective, I guess. If you guys were using Maximum Howls, it’s actually really likely they didn’t work. Those aren’t much different from human condoms, supposedly.”

Her best friend narrowed her eyes at her. “Human condoms? What are you talking about? Aren’t all condoms made for humans?” She laughed a little. “We were just using Trojans . . . when we used them at all.”

“Oh, no. No one told you how fertile we are, did they?” Emma asked. “Or that you need to use werewolf condoms when you have sex?”

“No, I didn’t even know there was such a thing,” Samara replied, starting to look a little panicked.

“Human condoms don’t work for werewolves, since we’re much more fertile,” Emma explained. “You need to take a pregnancy test, Sam. Right now.”

“I guess we need to go get one,” Samara agreed, rising to her feet.

“Actually, that won’t be necessary.
 I carry one with me at all times,” Emma replied, pulling a foil-wrapped test out of her purse. When her best friend stared back at her with wide eyes, she explained, “You can never be too careful.”

Samara took the pregnancy test from her, but she hesitated for a moment. “What if I
am
pregnant, Em? What am I going to do?”

Emma turned to her best friend. “You don’t have to worry, Sam. I know your parents would be supportive, and we’re all here for you—the whole pack.”

“What about Declan?” Samara whispered, a look of fear in her eyes.

“He loves you. I’m sure that he’ll learn to accept it,” Emma replied, and she wasn’t lying. She didn’t think that Declan’s love for Sam was going to change just because she might have been pregnant with her now-deceased mate’s baby. Declan was the type who would stand by her side through it all, no matter what. Emma could just feel it.

“I don’t know. . .”

“Just take the test and we’ll worry about Declan later, okay?” Emma said.

“Okay,” Samara agreed before turning away from her and heading out into the hallway for the bathroom.

Once her best friend disappeared, Emma sat down at the chair to her computer desk and thought about everything. Even if the pregnancy test gave a false result, did it really even make a difference? Her best friend hadn’t had a period in who knows how long and, more importantly, it was possible to get a false negative on a home pregnancy test.
 

Emma! Emma, you need to turn off your own thoughts for, like, a second and just listen to me,
Colby told her, sounding frustrated, through mind-speak.

What is it
? Emma asked. She hadn’t even noticed that he’d been trying to speak to her.

I’ve been trying to reach you for the past ten minutes, but you’ve been thinking over me
, Colby replied.
I just wanted to tell you that even if Samara takes a thousand of those pregnancy tests, they’ll all turn out to be negative. Human pregnancy tests don’t work on werewolves. A sample of her blood would need to be sent out to the werewolf lab for testing.

Oh, I didn’t realize that,
Emma replied to him through her thoughts, just as the door was flung open.

“See, Em? It’s negative,” Samara said, waving the pregnancy test in front of her face.

But then Emma explained what Colby had told her.

The next day, Sam had gone to the doctor and had her blood drawn. Declan had been excited about the idea of a baby even before they got the test results back, luckily.

When the test results came back, sure enough, Samara was pregnant. Not long after, they learned that she was having a boy—which explained why the light that radiated through her stomach had been blue, rather than pink. Emma didn’t quite understand why she was the only one who could see Samara’s stomach glowing.  

Eager to see if her own stomach glowed, Emma ran through a clearing and glanced down into a stream. In the rippling water, her stomach looked just the same as it always did. If she was able to tell that Samara was pregnant, how come she wasn’t able to sense whether she was or not, too?

Maybe it was because Emma’s premonitions only seemed to work on everyone else, but not on herself. Or maybe it was because she was too afraid to find out the truth.

A twig snapped from somewhere behind her.

Hello, Emma
, a familiar voice said.

Chapter 10: Emma

Realizing why she’d been drawn to the forest, Emma stood frozen in her tracks.
What are you doing here?

What do you mean, what am I doing here?
Her stepdad, Gary, snorted.
I live here. I have no place else to go.

That’s not true, and you know it
, Emma replied. She noticed that Gary’s hair looked matted and mangy, almost as though he had some sort of nutritional deficiency. He also looked a lot thinner than he had been the last time she’d seen him.
You can’t tell me that you’re not lonely out here, living all alone in the woods. Do you even have a pack?

He sat down, staring at her evenly.
 
No, I don’t have a pack. I should have been a part of the Tala, I suppose, but everything seemed to be in limbo when Samara bit me. Things changed too much, and I somehow got lost in that.

How do you even know about the Tala?
It seemed like her stepdad had a hermit-like existence living out in the woods. It made no sense that he knew any pack names.

I’ve come across a few werewolves over the past year. Enough to learn the ropes,
he explained.

So, why didn’t you join one of their packs?
Emma pressed.

Because I prefer to be alone,
Gary replied, but he didn’t sound too convincing.

You can’t be that happy being alone
, Emma replied, shaking her head. She knew her stepdad. He’d always been extremely social. He’d been the life of all her parents’ parties, and he’d been a bigwig business guy. There was no way he could be content with what his life had become.

He didn’t say anything in response, which only confirmed her suspicions.

Just be honest with me, Gary. Do you miss her?
Emma asked.

Her stepdad stared back at her with a sad look in his eyes.
Of course I miss her, Emma. We were married for thirteen years. It’s not that easy to fall out of love.

A feeling of hope washed through her. Maybe there w
as
still hope that she and her mom could reconcile, after all.
Then why don’t you tell her?

Because it doesn’t seem fair to her
, Gary replied.
Your mother married a human . . . not a werewolf. And there’s always a chance that I could end up hurting her if we were to stay together. Humans are much more fragile than werewolves, you know.

Yeah, I know,
Emma replied, trying to understand his point of view. She couldn’t help but think that there had to be another option—a way that the two of them could be together without there being any risks to her mother. A light bulb went off in her head and she turned to Gary.
What would you say if I told you there was a way the two of you could be together without you needing to worry?

What is it?
Gary asked.

Bite my mom
, she replied.
Turn her into a werewolf, too. That way, you can’t hurt her, and she can’t be mad that you’re a werewolf when she’s one, too. Plus, then, there’s a chance that neither of us will outlive her. She’ll become an immortal, too.

I don’t know,
her stepdad hesitated.
It doesn’t seem fair to her. She shouldn’t have to turn into a werewolf against her own will.

I guess you’re right
, Emma replied. This whole idea suddenly hit too close to home, which made her feel guilty for even letting the idea cross her mind, let alone suggesting it. Troy hadn’t given her the option to change into a werewolf; it had been completely against her will. It had taken her a long time to get past it and, even though her best friend had good intentions, it hadn’t been her stepdad’s choice to become a werewolf, either.

After a few moments, Emma came up with a second idea.
Why don’t you give Mom the choice to become a werewolf, then?

Gary hesitated.
She would never say yes to that.

We won’t know that for sure until we try. Please?
Emma asked, giving him puppy eyes. It’d always worked on him when she was in her human form, so why not now?

Gary let out a little sigh.
Fine. Meet me at her house tomorrow at six o’clock . . . okay?

Perfect
, Emma replied. She felt so pleased with him giving in that she didn’t even think to ask how he would know what time it was.

*

When she got back to the house, Colby was standing in front of the oven wearing his apron that said “Kiss the Chef.”

“I’m back from my walk,” Emma told him with a small smile.

“I see that,” Colby replied, as he pulled a pan out of the oven. He glanced over his shoulder at her. “Are you still mad at me?”

“I’m not mad at you,” Emma told him, feeling guilty about how she’d acted earlier. “What’s for dinner? I’m starving.”

He grinned. “You better be. I made your favorite—chicken Alfredo and garlic bread. I also made some salad.”

That was probably a good thing. Emma knew that protein was most important for growing werewolf babies, but it couldn’t hurt to add more vegetables to her diet, too. She figured that the more nutrients she took in, the better.

Colby set the food on the table and took off his apron. He pulled a chair out for her.

Her stomach growled loudly as she sat down. She glanced around the room, noticing how quiet it was for the first time. “Where’s Daven?” she asked.

“He’s sleeping. Surprisingly early, too,” Colby replied as he sat down in a chair next to her.

“He’s been sleeping
a lot
lately,” Emma noted as she bit into a piece of garlic bread. “Much more than he does when we usually babysit, I mean.”

“It is sort of odd,” Colby agreed with a nod. “He seems to be okay, though, and I can’t say that I really mind.” He glanced over at her. “I’m glad we both decided to take the week off from work. It’s a nice start to our summer. We might not be on a real vacation like the rest of our pack, but it’s still nice to be able to spend some time alone with you . . . aside from Daven, of course. Not that I mind having him around, but we don’t get enough time with each other.”

“It is really nice,” Emma admitted.

“What do you say we forget about the food for a bit and take advantage of his nap time?” Colby asked.

Emma didn’t even need to think twice about it. Maybe it was early pregnancy hormones, or maybe it was because of how stressed out she’d been ever since her doctor’s appointment. But either way, she moved over to his chair, leaned down, and kissed him hard.

He kissed her back, rising to his feet, and they made their way over to the kitchen island where Colby pulled off the tank top she was wearing. Through ragged breaths, she unbuttoned his shirt.

Colby pushed her against the island, meeting her lips again.

As she tugged at his curly blonde hair, Emma opened her eyes and yelped when she noticed Bennett standing there behind Colby. She kept her body hidden behind Colby.

When Bennett had both of their attention, he said, “I was going to wait until you were done, but since I’ve gotten your attention, you might want to know that Master Davenport has crawled out of his crib.”

“Oh.” Emma covered as much of herself as she could as she picked up her shirt from the floor. She slid it back on and headed off to their bedroom to check on Daven.