My rational side rejected the thought immediately, even though there was an uncomfortable wiggle in my stomach that made me think the impossible had just become possible. It matched with all the weird conversations and things I’d overheard over the previous day or so, and since no one else was freaked out by the wolves and bears and people getting shot... I shivered.
Maybe he was a bear. Maybe Max turned into a bear. Sure. Why not.
He grumbled under his breath, his shoulders tense, and I concentrated on breathing and holding my stomach and waiting for the baby to move. Nugget had to be okay. The baby had to be fine, even if it was too scared to move.
Hannah squeezed my hand and took a deep breath. “Just hang on, Caroline. Doc Warner is a crusty old man but he’s seen pretty much everything under the sun, and he’s a good guy. He’ll make sure the baby is okay, and then we’ll all be able to relax a bit and talk about what’s going on.”
I wished I believed her, at least about the relaxation. I didn’t know if I could ever relax around Max again, not while knowing that he turned into a bear. Which meant... Maybe the polar bear was also a person? And some of the wolves? Jed had disappeared, after all, and the six or seven men who were at the ranch house when they grabbed us...
Only Jed and the passenger had been human, while everyone else disappeared and instead a half dozen wolves ran around us. I shook my head, trying to reject the thought. I didn’t want to live in a town where people turned into animals and had running battles the day before Thanksgiving. Or where people got kidnapped because of something someone else did, since apparently there had been bad blood between Jed and the Sanders family.
The pain radiated from low in my back, like the worst constipation in the world, and I clenched my jaw against a groan. I didn’t want to draw any attention to myself, not with Max pulling up in front of a cozy ranch house with smoke curling up from the chimney and rocking chairs on the front porch. Four people stepped outside, peering at the truck, and waited as Max killed the engine and leapt out of the driver’s seat, still buck naked. He opened my door and reached in to help me, and I jerked back, leaning into Hannah to avoid his touch.
Max froze and Hannah sucked in a breath, though she didn’t shove me away.
Max retreated a step, his expression twisted with pain and betrayal, and his voice went rusty with some emotion I couldn’t identify as he held out a hand. “Let me help you. Doc will take care of you.”
I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to rely on him, not when he could go crazy and hurt me or the baby or everyone, including the kindly-looking older couple on the porch and the gangly teenagers who stood next to them. I didn’t know what to do. A spike of pain lanced through me and I froze, tensing up until stars dotted my vision. Maybe we were running out of time before we had to have that conversation about him turning into a wild animal.
The older gentleman approached the truck, his iron-gray hair at odds with his lively eyes, and folded his arms over his chest as he studied Max. “Well, young man, should I ask why you’re naked and this lovely young lady is in her current state?”
Max choked and I stared at the doctor, wondering why he, too, didn’t sound more surprised. Had everyone lost their ever-loving minds?