Chapter 105

Rachel POV

"Wait here for me?" I murmured to Tyler, not wanting to wake up either of our wolves while they were drowsing in contentment.

Tyler made a sound of consent before sliding out of the car, taking my hand to help me out on his side. I'd spent the entire trip stuck to him like glue so it was easy to slip out beside him. We were pressed together chest-to-chest and my face flushed for an entirely different reason than before.

Would I ever get over how sexy my mate was?

I tilted my head up to meet Tyler's eyes, surprised to see a gentleness there I didn't know he was capable of showing. His eyes stayed on mine as he slowly lowered his lips to meet mine in a soft kiss which quickly grew harder, more demanding, our mouths opening as we struggled to taste each other.

Tyler's hard body was a perfect example of masculine excellence and I molded every curve of my body to his hard planes while he kissed me until I was dizzy and clinging to him.

I didn't break away from his kiss until I was startled by a loud bang which turned out to be nothing more sinister than Art slamming the door to the sedan closed while stretching beside the car.

I'd never get used to how big he was but even his massive size and good looks didn't wake me up inside the way even a simple brush from Tyler's hand could.

Tyler was the sexiest Alpha in the world as far as I was concerned. I didn't care if I was blinded by our mating bond: my mate was a gorgeous beast and he was all mine.

"I better go before Art gets any more testy."

Tyler looked over my shoulder then back to me with a meaningful arch of his brows; I turned to see Lindy shifting awkwardly from foot to foot beside the car. She hadn't gone into the rest stop or even tried to leave her side of the car. I bet it had taken her a lot to even get out and close the door behind herself.

Had this girl ever been allowed to go anywhere?

I was afraid to learn the answer. I didn't want to pity her any more than I already did.

"Lindy, come with me to the restroom? I hate going alone. I'm always afraid someone will be lurking in a stall."

"Do people do that?" Lindy asked, her dark eyes going wide with shock.

I wasn't sure what to say so I just started walking toward the restroom and hoped she'd follow along. I let out a breath when I realized she was coming with me without any other questions. I spared a thought for the wisdom of leaving all the men together alone before shrugging it off.

Art would keep them civil. He was one Hell of a deterrent as far as I had seen.

We took care of our business separately and met up again while washing our hands at the sinks. Lindy kept sneaking looks at me. I caught her looking at my belly in the mirror.

Smoothing my outfit down, I held my hand under the bottom of my bump so she could see. I turned from side to side before sighing.

"I'm going to be the size of a whale before I'm done with this pregnancy, but I'm not sure I care. I love her already, you know? She's the size of a grapefruit and I'd fight an Alpha to the death for her."

Children had been a sore spot for me. I knew I wanted to be a good mother -I had been lucky with my mother- but I doubted how well I would manage. Sometimes I felt completely adrift, lost in a strange sea where what was happening to me was actually happing to someone else and I was just clinging to the edge of their liferaft, watching it all happen.

"I want kids."

Lindy blurted it out then looked around as if afraid someone would overhear or chastise her. I didn't need her to tell me she was encouraged to keep private thoughts private.

"Do you know how many?" I asked, curious to see what she'd say even though I already thought I knew the answer.

She'd grown up an only child so the idea of even one sibling was probably exciting to her. Lindy seemed the type to want the so-called 'perfect family' with a husband and a family pet and one girl and one boy and a white picket fence.

Expecting her to say 'two,' I was shocked when Lindy stated, "Five."

"Five? Five children? How can you want five children?"

I turned to lean against the sink while I stared at her in amazement. The idea of such a large family made my head swim as if I'd gotten lost from that raft I'd been clinging to before.

Lindy grinned and I saw a hint of how gorgeous she was when she wasn't a red, splotchy mess from for hours.

"With five children, I can have two who keep each other company growing up, one who keeps me company when those two get too big to want to spend time with their boring mom, and when I'm more mature? I'll have two more who'll keep me and my husband young."

Lindy had a better picture of her future than I did of mine. I was impressed in spite of myself. She wasn't completely clueless. She just seemed so young compared to myself. I didn't know what else to say to her.

Luckily, Lindy didn't wait for me to say anything.

"Do you still love Nathan?"

Jerking back, I said the truth as it came to me, "I'll always love Nathan. He was my first love. There will always be a part of me who remembers being a teenager in love for the first time with the sweetest Alpha in the world."

"He's my first love, too," Lindy murmured, blushing prettily.

"Have you ever---had a boyfriend?" I settled on asking.

"No," Lindy admitted, "I've never been allowed to be alone with men or boys. My father worries about me a lot. Didn't your father worry about you?"

My father had worried about his bookies. He'd worried about his bets winding up with him buried somewhere like a bone meant to be remembered yet only to be forgotten.

"My father had other priorities. He loved my mother a lot, too, though. I remember him being different when she was alive."

"How'd she die?" Lindy asked, blurting the question out all at once as if she'd been waiting and waiting to ask it.

"Cancer. She tried to beat it, but even an Alpha werewolf can only heal so much damage. Disease comes on even our kind like---"

"A thief in the night," Lindy finished for me, shrugging one shoulder as she looked down, "I read a lot. I've never known someone who had cancer in real life though."

I didn't think Lindy had ever known 'real life' at all.

"Rachel! Get out here! Now!"

Running to the door at the urging of Tyler's voice inside my mind, I called to Lindy, "C'mon! We have to run!"

A screeching sound -rubber tires on hot asphalt- had me racing even faster to the car where the men were already loaded up again. I threw myself into the backseat and Tyler practically threw Lindy on top of me before climbing in and slamming the door shut.

Adam threw the car into reverse, backed up with a squall of our rental's tires and floored the gas pedal.

The car lurched forward with the engine sounding like some hungry animal and the sedan I had grown used to riding in growled as it raced to follow us out of the rest stop parking area.

"What's happening? Tyler?"

"That's one of my father's cars! He sent someone for me."

Lindy didn't look excited about being found. Her expression was grim enough I felt my own spirits sink, nausea sweeping over me as acid bubbled in my belly from anxiety.

"What's he going to do? They wouldn't hurt anyone would they?"

"My father can order things to happen. Sometimes they're bad things. He always means to do what's right for our pack. I don't think he's bad himself. He just doesn't understand how it's not really okay to do something wrong even if it's for the right reasons."

Tyler was twisted around in the seat, taking up so much space Lindy was practically on top of me as we were squashed against our side of the backseat. He spared a look for the girl before turning back to watch the car pursuing us.

"Are they armed? Do they carry guns?"

"I don't know. Maybe? Yes? I think they carry guns when they leave the land. I've seen them with guns before."

Tyler pushed at us, motioning to the floorboard, "Get down. Both of you get down. If they shoot, the car will shield you. Be ready."

"For what?" I asked, knees hurting as I crouched on the floor of the car.

"A fight," Tyler stated with a grim finality which shook me to my core.