Wolves of the West Book 2

“Open mine next!” Rachel squealed as she handed me a yellow box. I forced a smile onto my face and took the box from her.

I shook it lightly, earning myself a glare from Rachel. I laughed and tore into the paper.

“What is it?” I asked. I stared at the odd picture on the box and frowned.

Dakota chuckled. “I think it’s some sort of blender thing…”

Rachel snorted and rolled her eyes. “You two are hopeless! And I’m not even the one who’s pregnant!” Rachel took the box out of my hands and turned to face me.

“It’s a baby blender. It’s made especially for making homemade baby food. After it’s blended, you can leave it in the container! It’s less dishes, see!”

I grimaced. “Homemade baby food? I was just going to use that stuff from the jar…”

Rachel gasped dramatically. “You are not feeding my godchild that processed garbage!”

I rolled my eyes. “I never said you were going to be the godmother.”

Rachel laughed. “But you never said I wasn’t going to be the godmother.” She winked at me before flitting back over to Dakota, who was leaning against the wall.

All of the women of the pack had gathered for my baby shower.

I was officially seven months pregnant and scared out of my mind. But I was also excited at the same time.

I remembered the day I told Logan that I was pregnant. I didn’t think I had ever seen him smile so big.

“Darling?” Eleanor called. Eleanor is Logan’s mother who was currently waving the next gift in front of my face.

Most of the women had brought me money, which I wasn’t complaining about. I had more clothes than I thought the baby could wear, and I was basically drowning in kids' toys.

“Mmhm?” I was disoriented as I came out of the memory.

“Here’s the next gift. It’s from me.”

I took the gift with a smile and tentatively opened up the box. It was a sterling silver wolf that was carefully carved. It looked real.

There were a lot of appreciative whispers as everyone looked at the gift in my hands.

“Oh Eleanor—this is beautiful, you shouldn’t have.” There was no doubt in my mind that it was an expensive piece.

Eleanor smiled. “Oh don’t worry about it dear. It is a family heirloom, and it’s the first thing I want your child to have from me. It’s a proud symbol of our heritage.”

I grinned and reached out for a hug. “Thank you so much, he’s going to love it.”

I knew I was having a boy. I could just feel it. Whenever I thought about having a child, I always pictured a tiny Logan, there was just something that screamed boy in my mind.

“I think it’s going to be a girl!” Rachel shouted.

I glared and instantly reached for my stomach, “No! It’s a boy, I can feel it.”

Dakota laughed, “I’m with you, Hav! I’m feeling the manly vibes!”

Rachel glared at both of us. “You guys don’t know anything. She’s having a girl!”

Eleanor chuckled. “No matter what gender, your child will be beautiful,” she said quietly.

I smiled and tucked the silver wolf back in its box. I didn’t want it to break. Realizing that all of the gifts had been opened, I slumped down in my chair, feeling exhausted.

“Let’s eat some cake!” I called. There was laughter and a shuffling of feet as everyone shifted toward the food.

“Psst!” I turned around in my seat to see Logan poking his head through the door, looking around curiously.

“Logan? What are you doing here?”

Logan caught my eye and smiled before moving forward to wrap me in a hug. “I wanted to see how you were doing.”

I snorted. “You know how I’m doing.”

Ever since we mated, Logan and I could feel each other’s emotions. Not all of them, but the strong ones like anger, fear, extreme happiness or sadness, and of course when there was sexual tension.

Logan shrugged. “It’s different when I can’t see you.” Logan brushed his fingers along my cheek, sending shivers down my back.

I laughed and pushed against his chest. “Get out of here.”

Logan shook his head and growled before nuzzling his head into my neck. “Can’t I stay?”

I shook my head again. “Not a chance. Go do some Alpha business.”

With a defeated sigh, Logan turned around and left the room, leaving the door wide open. I rolled my eyes and closed the door with a flick of my wrist.

I turned back to the party with a smile and stood up to retrieve myself a piece of cake. Everyone moved out of the way for me and my massive baby bump, but I didn’t mind.

I really wanted cake. As I devoured the chocolate icing, I couldn’t help but miss my aunt’s presence, and of course my mother’s.

My aunt Sarah was at home sick with some sort of bug. She didn’t want me and the baby to catch it, so she insisted she stayed away. I reluctantly agreed with persuasion.

I was forced to tell my aunt I was pregnant when I started to show and could no longer hide under huge sweaters. The fact that it was the summer time didn’t really work well with the hide-under-huge-sweaters strategy.

Luckily, I had warmed my aunt up to Logan considerably before I told her. My aunt adored Logan and often whispered in my ear that he was a keeper, unknowing that Logan could hear every word she was saying.

She didn’t take the news that badly, but then again, it could have gone over a whole lot more smoothly.

I laughed as we all exchanged stories. The female werewolves of the Silver Eclipse pack sure had some hilarious stories to tell.

I loved the ones about their mates, especially since a lot of them were big and respected within the pack. To hear that they had done something stupid or funny made them seem more human.

I laughed so hard a piece of my hair fell out of its clip and fell onto my face. I sighed and clipped the black streak back into its place.

No matter how many times I dyed the darned thing, it always went back to black the next day.

The shower came to an end, and the boys were let into the room, running over to their mates. Logan and a few of the guys helped bring all of the gifts up to the nursery.

Logan and I had convinced my aunt to let me live in the pack house with everyone, and to my surprise, she agreed, so long as I went for dinner a few nights a week.

“Hey babe, can you grab that box?” I asked Logan, pointing to a random kid’s toy. He nodded and picked up the box with ease. Since becoming a full Alpha, he’d become a whole lot stronger.

When everything was put away and the day was done, I lay in bed with Logan and stared up at the ceiling as we listened to wolves howling just outside our window.

We knew it was the pack members that were on patrol calling to each other, but all the same, a wolf’s howl is always majestic.

“Everything is perfect,” Logan mumbled against my hair.

I stayed silent as I listened to the ongoing howls. Maybe everything was too perfect.