Liam's Bride: BBW Werebear Romance (Clan Conroy Brides Book 1) (12 page)

She wasn’t ready to face Liam. Meredith figured the best way to duck a Bear with a nose in a town this size was to go to Tamar's house. She was sure Liam didn't know where her best friend lived, and the house was far enough outside city limits that it would take more than the typical five to ten minute in town drive to get there.

They made dinner- well, Tamar did most of the cooking while Meredith played with the baby. She picked her up and went to the nursery, a charming room her industrious mother designed to mimic a magazine cover. Only this room was designed using dollar and thrift store finds. Looking at the framed letters, pretty hand sewn bedding and small touches here and here, Meredith couldn’t tell the difference. It gave her hope that raising a child on a limited income was possible. Though, if she sat down and thought, she had to smack herself on the forehead. Looking back, she realized that even though her mother had never complained about money, it must have been tight. Father in jail, Mom working sometimes two jobs. But their home- especially, ironically- after Dad was gone was always clean, always cheerful. Meredith never felt poor, especially since she was a natural DIY'er.

She wondered how many of the fun weekend projects were because Mom just hadn’t had the money for new and fancy.

Meredith busied herself by playing dress up with baby, taking care to hang up the frilly little skirts and dresses when she was done parading baby around and snapping pics on the cell. Tamar poked her head in the door, saw what was going on and snorted.

"Divas, dinner is ready."

Meredith picked baby up. "Come, sweetbee, time to eat. And let's put on this pretty little bibby so baby don't get her little dressy all messy."

And she was glad she'd put the bib on, feeding baby a bottle of breastmilk while her mother enjoyed eating her dinner slowly for a change. Meredith was happy to give Tamar a small break- especially since she fully intend to swipe a big piece to take home for lunch tomorrow. The woman could cook. Meredith realized she was going to have to brush up on her skills as well. She defaulted to chicken and veggie stir fry or salad or tuna little too often.

The doorbell rang, a halfhearted buzz that ended in a low drone as the visitor continued to punch it. 

Tamar frowned. "Who the hell could that be?"

There was a clear line of sight from the kitchen to the open living room so Meredith watched curiously as Tamar opened the door. Stared.

"How the hell do you know where I live?" the woman demanded.

"Is she here?" a deep male voice growled.

Meredith’s eyebrows shot up. It sounded like-

"I can smell her." He pushed his way into the house.

-Alphonso.

"Hey! You can't come in here!"

Meredith rose, picking up the baby, wary from the sudden fury and alarm in Tamar’s voice. Something was wrong hand it activated every instinct inside her. Her lip curled back, a growl escaping her chest as she folded her arms around the toddler.

Alphonso stopped short, staring at her. Tamar hurried after him, also staring when she saw Meredith.

"Mere?"

"Danger," she said, guttural. A flood of protective fury rose and she backed away from Alphonso.

"Meredith-"

Tamar began to walk towards her, but Alphonso grabbed the woman’s wrist. "Be still. She's just reacting to the alarm in your voice. Stay calm and it will go away." He assessed Meredith. "I’m not going to hurt the baby. Liam is looking for you." He inhaled. "You're reacting like a Bear female- interesting. I know he didn’t bite you. Must be the pregnancy. That's a good thing- means the baby inside you will be a strong Bear. Are you eating enough? You'll need more calories, and meat, to keep your energy up. Why don’t you give Tamar the baby so you can sit down and finish your dinner?"

He continued to ramble in a low, monotone Meredith found soothing. Her expression softened, shoulders drooping as she began to feel normal again.

She blinked. "Oh. Um, yes. Baby should finish eating, too."

Tamar approached, wary but calm, and took her daughter, sitting her back in her seat.

"Come on, Mere, you should eat."

She may have been calm, but a vein of tension still ran through the other woman, who refused to look at Alphonso. Meredith looked at her, head cocked, wondering what was wrong.

"Al, you delivered your message, you should go now."

He nodded, began to turn away and glanced at the baby again. "Cute kid. The lasagna smells good, too. Might have to put you on kitchen-"

Alphonso froze, turned back around, eyes bright as his attention latched onto the child. Tamar rose immediately, picking the baby back up.

"Leave, Alphonso," she snapped. "I have to get ready for work tomorrow and you're bothering me."

He took a step towards them, staring at the child. He inhaled again, a long and deliberate breath. Tamar began to back away, turning as he approached. Stalked.

"You can't run," he said, a hoarse whisper as if he were trying to keep from roaring. Meredith stood back up, about to speak. His head snapped towards her, fangs flashing a warning. Even a week ago she would have stumbled back, but whatever predator hormones were flooding her system reared to the surface with a vengeance. She snarled back with her human teeth, body feeling as if there was a beast trying to get out.

"Jesus! You two stop!" Tamar yelled. The baby began to growl, tiny high pitched rumbles as she kicked in her mother’s arms.

Meredith was shocked out of anger, staring at the child.

"That’s right, little Bear," Alphonso murmured, satisfaction glinting in his eyes. "Strong." His face hardened as he looked at an ashen Tamar. "How long did you think you could keep her from me?"

"Wait- what?" Meredith was floored. The implication- she looked at Tamar, and knew the implication was more than that. Was truth.

"Oh. My. God. I thought you said the daddy was this white guy in Seattle."

"I’m the white guy from Seattle," Alphonso replied, dry as dragon's breath. “Though I take exception to the ‘white.’” He looked at Meredith, expression flat. "Liam is trying to reach you. I told him you'd be here."

She folded her arms. "I don’t want to talk to him."

"He is Alpha. You will not defy him. Go now, or I'll take you myself."

"Hey, you can’t talk to her like that," Tamar interjected.

Alphonso smiled at her. His fangs had not receded. “We have talking to do, woman. I'd suggest you take a seat.
Go
, Meredith."

CHAPTER

13

The hormones that gave her courage to confront Alphonso must have spurred her on to meet Liam even though a part of her wanted to find the darkest movie theater and hang out for a few days. He knew she was pregnant; he knew his baby was the grandson of the man who had killed his father. Meredith didn't know how any man could handle that kind of doozy without snapping. She just hoped it wasn’t their relationship that was going to give- and braced herself for the worst.

It was late by the time she pulled up outside Liam's house. She sat in her car, leaning back in the seat with her eyes closed for several minutes. Trying to gather energy for the coming... discussion. It wasn’t until the car door opened that she realized she'd fallen asleep.

Meredith blinked, lids flying open as the sudden movement startled her into wakefulness. She managed to squelch her yelp of surprise and gave her heart a few beats to settle back in her chest. Until she saw the look on Liam’s face, and it started up again.

Or the lack of look.

Liam turned, leaving the door open, and walked toward the house. Meredith emerged slowly, fussing with the lock, stalling. He paused at his front door, waiting for her to catch up.

"I don’t think I need to come in," she said, shifting. "Um… this talk won’t take long. I mean- it's late and I don’t want to keep you-"

He looked at her, hand on the knob. Meredith shut her mouth, proceeding him into the house. He took her arm, leading her to the kitchen and putting her on a stool like a toddler. Meredith frowned. When he placed a sandwich and glass of milk in front of her, she stared at the plate.

"Alphonso said he interrupted your dinner," Liam said. His voice was different, devoid of its usual warmth.

"I’m not really hungry."

A brownie slid under her nose, right next to the sandwich. Eyeing the thick square of fudge, Meredith’s hand edged toward the treat when it was yanked away. She gasped, head jerking up to glare at Liam.

Dark eyes implacable, he said, “Sandwich first. Brownie second.”

The sandwich disappeared one resentful bite at a time, more to avoid wasting the food than for any other reason. Liam could afford wasted food, but that wasn’t the point. The silence was becoming oppressive. She didn’t know whether to be uncomfortable or angry at this kind of passive aggressive temper.

"You lied to me," he said when she was done eating, words inflectionless.

"Not really. I tried to tell you, but you said-"

"I know what I said."

Meredith tried to put herself in his shoes. Her growing anger softened almost immediately- she didn’t feel guilty anymore for Harvey, but she could still feel compassion for the son who'd lost his father.

"I’m sorry, Liam," Meredith said, staring at her plate. "I’ve felt guilty for years because of what my Dad did. I felt it was my fault." She swallowed. "That day- he and Mom were arguing about the farm. They couldn’t afford the payments and the bank told him it was being bought by Kyle Conroy. And there was a new pair of shoes I wanted." She tried to smile. "Disney Princess. I was so mad that I couldn’t get my shoes, and I blamed him, and I blamed your Dad. And he just looked at me, then he took the shotgun and left. The look on my mother's face... I don’t know if she knew. We haven’t talked about it."

It hit her then, that her baby would never know its grandfather who by all accounts had been a good man and a good Alpha.

"I’m sorry." Tears pricked her eyes. "I should go."

She started to rise, blinking rapidly. "Sit down," Liam said, icy. The tears began to gather in earnest, spilling down her cheeks. He swore, muttering under his breath.

"It's not the baby," she said, trying to muffle her crying in her hands. "I feel so bad."

She felt the heat of his body and then arms swinging her up against a broad chest. He walked out of the kitchen, taking her to the living room where he sat down on the couch, cradling her.

"I’m handling it," he said. "You don't have to cry. I know it's not your fault. It's just a shitty coincidence. Where is he?"

She sniffed, swiping her arm over her eyes. "He moved into a place, got a job."

"Yeah. Norelle told me. I had to hear this from
Norelle.
She's kicking up a fuss with the entire Den." He swore, viciously, arms tightening aground Meredith. "Damnit, Meredith. If you'd told me I could have been prepared to deal with the fallout."

She glared up at him. "You said that unless I was an ax murderer you didn’t care what my family had done!"

He grimaced. "I'll never do that again, I promise. Is there anything else you should tell me?"

Her bottom lip poked out. She didn’t appreciate the sarcasm. He was as much to blame as she was, but- he didn’t seem mad, just distant and grim. She could deal with that. Give him time and space and things would be alright.

"What about the baby?" she asked, plucking at his shirt. She lowered her eyes, not wanting to see disappointment or denial.

"Sweetheart, I'm ecstatic about the cub."

She took a deep breath, relief loosening some of the tension in her muscles "Are you going to ever talk to my Dad? We can't keep the baby away from him."

He stiffened against her, chest harder than granite. "That bastard isn’t coming anywhere near my cub," he growled.

Meredith held back her response. But... they had at least nine months, and time after that as well, for him to come around. And push come to shove, she could just... figure something out when Liam wasn't around. It was then she realized she'd forgiven her father. Otherwise she wouldn’t have been concerned whether he saw the... cub. She rested her head on Liam’s chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart, tired.

"I need to get home," she said.

"Is your laptop with you?"

"Yes. In the trunk."

"Then stay the night." His lips brushed the top of her head. "There's some things in the top drawer for you." Liam paused, sighed. "I’m not happy about this, Meredith- but it isn’t the end of things. You’re mine, and that isn’t going to change because we encounter difficulty."

By 'this' she knew he meant her father, and not the pregnancy. "Okay."

He carried her to the room and set her on her feet, leaving her to wash up and crawl into the cal king bed, drawing the quilt u to her chin. She stayed awake for a while, listening for his footsteps. But he didn’t come.