Page 9 of Bullied Pregnant Mate (Silver Meadows Wolves #7)

Later that night, I can’t sleep. It’s got nothing to do with nightmares and everything to do with the hungry look in Jenks’s eyes when he came crashing through the bathroom door.

I wanted to see that expression on his face every day of my life… to be desirable to him, for him to want me.

I want it so badly, I can’t possibly trust it. Was it really naked desire I saw, or just shock?

Shock that the little ice princess was naked in front of him… and even uglier under the clothes than he ever imagined?

Groaning, I turn over and bury my face in the pillow. My cheeks are hot and my blood is on fire, but none of it is from shame. This is pure, naked lust. When I had it bad for him in high school, I had no idea how much my body could crave. How intense that feeling could become when it was allowed to ferment for several years.

Even though I’ve done it so many times already, I summon that moment again—the sound of the bathroom door opening making me jump like a bolt of lightning, striking fear into my bones before I saw who it was. Then realizing it was Jenks, and freezing in his gaze like a deer stuck in the middle of a trail.

Who else was it going to be? It’s his house.

I chuckle to myself. Pure common sense has absolutely no place when adrenaline is running high. I didn’t know what I expected to see when I looked at the door, but it certainly wasn’t Jenks, standing there with his hand on the doorknob and his eyes so wide, they were rimmed in white.

Stranger still was the effect that moment had on me. Normally, I’d want to cover up as quickly as possible. I’m not the kind of girl who flaunts her body, and certainly not comfortable with nudity the way shifters are. But as that moment stretched into seconds and my mind got past the initial shock, I realized I didn’t want to move.

Look, Jenks. Look at me. See me. Then tell me how you feel…

As hard as I want to examine this incident critically, to spare my own feelings if my deepest desire isn’t true, I can’t see that look in his eyes as anything other than hungry.

Starving. Ravenous, in fact. Like he could barely stop himself from crossing the distance between us in three short steps, grabbing me around the waist, hurling me to the floor, and slaking his hunger by burying his face in my pussy…

I shout into the pillow, wriggling under the covers. Jenks and I have only lived in the same house for just over twenty-four hours, and already my lust is consuming me.

I stood there for far too long. Almost as if I was tempting him, hoping he would take me…

I couldn’t keep it up, though. Somewhere inside me, doubt overcame desire, and I quickly covered myself up before he could start teasing me. I know who he is, what he is, and I’m lucky I had a shred of sanity left that saved my dignity.

Except…

Except I haven’t seen that guy. The bully, the party dude, the one who makes fun of everything and anything. Last night, after the wedding, he said some things I didn’t like, but looking back on it, he wasn’t bullying me. Not like the old days. He really did look sorry, and he went to a lot of trouble to make it up to me.

I smile, thinking about the huge breakfast he cooked. No one has ever made breakfast for me in my entire life. He asked me how I make my coffee and paid close attention to the food I like.

He even took it a step further at the supermarket, asking lots of questions about my favorite meals and even what soap and shampoo I liked. I can’t see the old Jenks doing that. No way.

Okay, then, if he’s so obsessed and overflowing with desire, why did he run from me and lock himself in his room?

I want to believe that he was respecting my privacy and trying to make me comfortable, but far back in my mind, flickers of doubt whisper.

Maybe he couldn’t stand to look at me and wondered what the hell he’d gotten himself into?

I sit up suddenly, hurling the pillow to the floor. My skin feels hot and itchy, and my muscles are cramping from stress. I want to just march straight down the hall, knock on his door, and demand that he answer my questions.

He’ll open the door slowly, rubbing sleep from his eyes. When he sees me, he’ll go quiet, eating me up with his gaze. I’ll just pull my nightgown off over my head and stand in front of him, whispering, “Don’t you want me?” And all his savagery will come out in an instant as he throws himself on me, and we make crazy hot love right there in the doorway…

I giggle in spite of myself. I’m not the kind of girl who could ever do something like that, even if I was completely assured my little fantasy could come true.

And I’m not sure. At all.

Sighing, I throw myself back down on the bed, shaking my head. I take long, slow breaths, trying to calm myself down. I don’t know how to face him after this, now that he’s seen me naked.

Do I just say good morning and pretend it never happened?

Stop it. Just get some sleep.

I take a long breath and hold it for three heartbeats. Then I release it and hold it for the same amount of time. I’m so exhausted, both mentally and physically, that it doesn’t take long for the relaxation trick to work. As I start to drift off, Jenks fills my mind, but the images are soothing, not ridden with anxiety.

I see the soft look in his eyes, and his gentle smile. These are real, not my imagination.

He’s a different guy now. But how different?

I sink into sleep, waiting for a lucid dream. But instead, I feel like almost no time has passed when I blink my eyes open in the early dawn light.

Strange, to not remember my dream. That almost never happens.

I know everyone dreams every night. The people who say they don’t just aren’t remembering them. That can be dangerous if it happens long-term.

Dreams link the conscious and subconscious worlds. They’re our connection to truly understanding ourselves and having control of our willpower. For witches, it can be the highest magic, but it’s important for everyone to learn how to navigate their own mind.

I stretch out a bit, feeling relaxed and comfortable. Even though I don’t remember my dream, I do feel well-rested, which is all that really matters right now.

As I sit up, I feel a little thrill of electricity run across my skin. My ears pop and ring.

Spirits!

A sudden change in air pressure usually means ghosts or incorporeal beings are around. They can be impressions of humans who have died, or even stranger creatures that were never human.

I grab my robe and slippers, hurrying out the back of the house. I run across the deck to the wide-open backyard that leads straight into the forest.

Extending my arms and my aura, I cast a magic circle, throwing my response out into the ether.

I am what you seek. Appear, those who are lost!

Immediately, I sense spirits gathering around me. I’ve always been strong and had a natural talent for communicating with ghosts, showing them the way to their unfinished business. As for nature spirits, they often tell me how to care for plants and wildlife, preserving the balance while keeping us well-fed and sheltered.

Out in the canyon, my powers were vital. We would have perished in the first few years if we hadn’t had the spirits to help us.

The entities crowd around me, whispering. Even though they all talk at once, I can understand them. I let their vibrations throb through me, and they blend their magic with mine.

A sharp breeze blows down from the peaks. I flinch a little, waiting for the shock of cold. To my surprise, it never comes, and I look around trying to understand why.

The wind is still tearing into the valley, bringing ice with it, but none of it is touching me. Instead, eddies whirl around my magic circle, held at bay by a pocket of warm air that stays close to my body, keeping the air around me still and temperate.

I didn’t even do that on purpose. Do I have control of the weather and earth now, too?

Excitement rushes through me, giving me goosebumps. The spirits chatter even louder, and their words become clearer to me. I gather myself, drawing in my magic so I can extend the magic circle and test my new strength.

Wait.

Nearby, I can sense two solid presences. I can see their souls, their consciousness, moving towards me through the forest.

And they aren’t ghosts.

The realization chills me, and as soon as I falter, my new powers dwindle. I can still sense the creatures in the trees, but I can’t directly see them, and I don’t know what they are.

I’ve always been able to sense auras, but I’ve never seen anything living that clearly before. Is it someone we know, or just forest creatures?

Keeping as much of my magic wrapped around me as I possibly can, I take a few steps towards the trees, trying to pick up on the energy signatures again.

“Hello?” I call, wrapping my robe around me as the icy wind finally penetrates my circle. “Who’s there?”

A low growl rumbles through the air, soft but menacing.

Now it isn’t just the chill making me shiver, but a heavy dose of fear.

“Hello?” I try again, but this time, my voice is quiet.

Two wolves break the tree line, one to my left, the other to my right. They emerge at the exact same time, obviously hunting in a tandem pattern.

Hunting?

Shit!

My breath is caught in my chest, and my stomach is flipping so hard, it feels like it’s trying to jump right out of my body. I take a slow step back, desperately trying to convince myself that these have to be wolves I know.

It’s not, though. How did enemy wolves get so close?

“It’s okay,” I say softly, taking another step back. “We can work this out. Nobody needs to get hurt.”

Both of them bare their teeth, and the one to the left of me growls and snaps, bouncing forward on his front paws. I’m so scared that I can’t even look away, let alone move, but then the other wolf bounds forward, barking and snarling.

I turn and run towards the house, screaming at the top of my lungs.