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JACOB FELT SORRY for this young woman. Mac had reacted in typical alpha Wolf fashion yet he hoped she would understand in time. He touched her cheek. “I will send Tala to you when we return home. She will answer your questions, even those you are uncomfortable with.”
Hannah stared at the older man. “Will I really give birth to a puppy?” She almost choked on the words.
“Ah.” Enlightenment. Mac had spoken without thinking. A Wolf referred to all children as pups. That this woman, who had no experience with their world, believed she would birth an animal should not have surprised him. He shook his head. “He spoke in haste, daughter, and then in anger without thought. The child you carry will be normal in every way. If it is a son and he carries the Wolf trait, your mate will know and will train him, though the first change will not come until much later. Do you understand?”
She hiccuped. “It won’t be furry?” She hated the whimper hiding beneath her question.
Jacob smiled reassuringly. “I promise, daughter. Your child will not be furry when it comes into this world. And I make another promise. Your Wolf will love and cherish both you and your child. Your life will be much easier if you can find a small piece of your heart to give him, even if you cannot fully love him in return.”
She hiccuped again as she shook her head. This was too much to think about right now. The growl from the front of the cave sent a shiver of fear up her spine.
Jacob jerked his hand away and eased back from her. “Wolves are possessive, daughter. It would be wise to keep your distance from the rest of us, as we will you. Nature has conspired against the Alpha. He has much on his mind—the mission, your mating, and the Blood Moon approaches. We are all on edge because of that. Please do not judge him or us too harshly until you come to an understanding of your place in our world. Can you do that, daughter? Will you?”
Could she? Hannah had always thought she was open-minded. That was one reason she’d been tagged by the General for this assignment. Mac hadn’t hurt her physically. Oh, his words had sliced her heart into pieces and he’d scared the shit out of her, but she had to admit he'd mostly been gentle with her, had eased her through the taking of her virginity. She put away the thought of losing her virginity. She’d think about it later, when things weren’t so...moonstruck. Her right palm curled over her abdomen. Was a baby truly there? Had she conceived? Did the old Indian know for sure? God, this was all too much. She’d resigned herself to being alone for the rest of her life. She’d refused to own a pet, afraid she’d become that caricature of an old lady with seven cats her only family. And now this? Could she live with an overwhelming alpha male?
She looked at Jacob, her eyes begging for understanding. “I don’t know,” she whispered. Her voice grew a little stronger. “Once we get home... Once everyone is safe... Then I’ll think about it and decide what I’m going to do.”
Jacob watched her, listening with his heart for the true meaning of her words. Mac was a very lucky wolf indeed if this woman consented to be his mate. Her consent and acceptance would go a very long way toward making their lives happier. She was strong, intelligent and resilient—all traits necessary to survive in the world of the pack, especially as the mate of the Alpha.
He stood up and smiled down at her. “I will send Sean in to check your injuries though I warn you, the Sergeant Major will not be far behind.” His smile became a smug grin. “Wolves are not known for their tolerance of other men getting close to their mates.”
Hannah snorted. That had to be the classic understatement of the year.
Jacob had a few choice words to deliver to his team leader. As predicted, he found Mac standing just inside the mouth of the cave. He roughly shoved the bigger man outside and bared his teeth when Mac growled at him.
“You may be Alpha but I am Elder and you will hear me, Wolf.”
Mac rubbed his forehead with his right hand. “This is turning out to be a royal cluster fuck.”
“You are an ass, Ian McIntire.” He glared the bigger man into silence then continued. “You left that child thinking she is going to have a litter of puppies.”
Mac groaned and ducked his head. Christ. Hannah was only human. For all her intelligence, she actually knew nothing of his world. He’d reacted like an unchanged juvenile to her words. He realized, in retrospect, that she'd also spoken without thinking. He hadn’t offered her words of love or commitment. For all she knew, he’d take off, leave her high and dry. No wonder she’d reacted with threats. He stared at Jacob, his own suspicions confirmed by the look in the older man’s eyes. Hannah carried his child. And, he’d probably screwed up any chance at having a decent relationship with her.
While Jacob put Mac in his place, Sean slipped into the cave. He found Hannah, arms curled around her knees with her back pressed against the rough stone of the cave wall. He could tell she’d been crying and his nose told him most of the rest of the story. Known as one of the mellowest member of the squad, even he was uptight. The Blood Moon was only a week away. They needed to be well away from this place and each other before the moon hung full and ripe in the night sky.
The Blood Moon was the traditional time of pack challenge. The Wolves had a very definite pecking order based on their military ranks. During the time of the Blood Moon, every alpha felt the urge to assert himself, and even betas and omegas were restless. Wolves in the military were all alphas at heart so they took leave and just stayed far away from one another. As long as there wasn't another Wolf around, there was no need to thump chests, get furry, and bleed an opponent to establish dominance. The Blood Moon coupled with the new mating of the Alpha and the screwed-up mission really complicated things.
“Hey.” He squatted next to her. “How're the ribs?”
Hannah refused to look at him. “Fine,” she mumbled.
“Want to pull up your tee shirt so I can take a look?” He grinned as she flicked her eyes up at him. “No offense, but I don’t want the Alpha to chew off my hand for touching you.” She snorted but did as he asked. “Looks better this morning. I think they’re just bruised. Having any trouble breathing?”
“Only when I get hysterical.”
He chuckled. Yeah, the Alpha was definitely going to have his hands full with this one.
“Why do you call him the alpha? He’s a sergeant major.”
He rocked back on his heels putting a little more distance between them. “All of us are alphas,” he explained, “or we wouldn’t have made it into the 69th. Wolves in the wild...” he chuckled again as he interrupted her bewildered look and amended his explanation. “When we're in the civilian world, we have a tendency to follow a pack structure. Each pack has a leader, the Alpha, with a capital A. Mac is our Alpha. In the military, the man who’d normally be the Alpha in the real world always seems to have the rank to be in charge.”
Hannah nodded, her brow furrowed in thought. “Will you answer another question for me?”
“Depends,” he replied honestly.
“What’s the significance of a blood moon?”
“Ah. Once again, semantics. It isn’t a blood moon; it’s the Blood Moon, again capitalized. That’s the full moon when all the alphas can challenge each other for pack dominance.”
She gulped. “You mean you guys will all turn furry and try to eat each other?”
He shook his head. “No. We don’t challenge in the squad. Counterproductive. Normally, we’re all on leave and far, far away from each other. But, in the week or so leading up to the full, we get a little cantankerous and cranky.”
“Uh huh. A little cantankerous and cranky? That’s not exactly what I’d call it.” While her sarcasm was obvious, she also unconsciously rubbed the goose bumps on her arms.
For the first time, he saw the bruising on her arms and recognized the shapes as fingers. His eyes flicked from the bruises to her face. “Did he hurt you anywhere else?” He didn’t realize he was growling.
Her eyes narrowed as she stared back, trying to figure out why he’d gone all snarly. “Who? The Bosnian?” Then she noticed he was looking at her arms. She could see the marks Mac’s fingers had left on the inside of her biceps. “Oh.” Until that moment, she was unaware Mac had marked her in his anger. Her cheeks flamed and she ducked her head. “No,” she answered quickly. “And I don’t think he meant to do this. I bruise easily.” God, she hated herself right then. She was making excuses for him even if her response was the truth. She didn’t care if he hunted her to the ends of the earth, but if he ever touched her in anger again, if he ever abused her, she was gone. She blinked. She was already considering staying with him. Good lord, what was wrong with her? She’d lost her virginity to the man and now she was going all goo-goo and dopey and....shit. This wasn’t like her at all. She took a deep breath, gratified it only hitched in her chest at the very end.
Sean nodded, as if he’d read every thought flitting through her head. In a way, he had. The major’s face was most expressive, her emotions rolling across it like a movie. He relaxed. Some Wolves went bad, or were born that way. Abusing others became second nature to them. He'd never thought the Sergeant Major would become one of those. He wasn’t sure he could take the Alpha in a fight but he’d have to challenge the other man if he ever hurt this woman again. He stood up and smiled down at her. “Come on outside when you feel up to it.”
She watched him walk away, his stride long and lanky, much like the man himself. The last thing she wanted to do was face the unit, but she also refused to cower alone in the cave. She found one of Mac’s bandannas and his canteen. Wetting the cloth, she wiped her face. Resigned to the inevitable, she pulled her BDU blouse on over her tee shirt but didn’t button it up.
She was just turning the corner to the entrance when Mac turned the same corner and they smacked into each other. Instinctively, Mac grabbed her upper arms to steady her. She grimaced in pain and he swore, the words hissing out between his clinched teeth. Before Hannah could react, he'd peeled her blouse down from her shoulders. He growled at the bruises on her arms.
“Down, boy,” she snarled. “Before you do something else stupid.”
Stung by her words, he dropped his hands. He’d been the one to mark her and was shamed by his loss of control. Before he could stop himself, he reached out and brushed her cheek with one finger. “I’m sorry. I’ve screwed this up from the get go. Can we start over?”
Mac waited while she gave him a cool once over. He deserved her disdain, and probably more. He was afraid the little cry that escaped her lips was one of fear until he saw the gleam in her eyes.
She stared up into his burnt amber eyes. She saw regret there—regret for the way he’d treated her, and sorrow as well. Other emotions lurked beneath the golden depths—tenderness, possessiveness, admiration, and just maybe, there was respect there, too. She took a step back so she could look him up and down. She fought the grin struggling to stretch her cheeks. If she had to be tied to a man for the rest of her life, she could have done a lot worse. Lord but he was some serious eye candy. Before she could stop it, a slightly hysterical giggle escaped. Embarrassed, she pressed a hand to her mouth. She could do this. She would do this. Oh, hell. Who was she kidding? She had to do this. And he did make her go weak in the knees every time she looked at him.
“Fine,” she replied, her tone tart. “But you ever lay a hand on me like that again, I will cut off your balls and eat them with hot sauce.”
