Page 36 of Claiming Xan (Shifters of Greymercy #7)

RIVER

“I’m feeling peckish,” Xan announced.

I snickered, then eyed my Omega, stretched out on the couch like some sort of Egyptian prince—except one wearing nothing but a baggy hoodie and a pair of boxers with kissy lip-prints all over them.

“What are we, British?” I asked.

He huffed. “Oi, mate! I said we’re peckish, so we’re peckish,” he replied in the worst fake British accent I’d ever heard in my life, but it made me laugh anyway.

I shook my head. “And what is the baby hungry for today?”

Xan hummed and stroked his hands over his tummy, like rubbing the big jade Buddha statue at the Chinese Buffet.

“Mmm… Pork tenderloin, extra pickles and ketchup, and a side of fried cheese curds,” he decided. “It’ll go straight to my hips, but I don’t give a single fuck. Besides, I’m sure we’ll work it off later.”

He grinned wolfishly at me, and I laughed, a deep laugh. Damn. I really was falling for this silly Omega who tied my heartstrings in knots on a daily basis.

I stood, spreading my arms out on either side of me. “Okay, then. Where to?”

Xan hopped up and clasped his hands together with glee. “Bixby’s! It’s right on the square, in the heart of town. Everyone loves Bixby’s. It’s locally owned and operated by a couple from our pack, actually.”

He chattered away about the mated couple, Adam and Fletcher Rose, as we bundled up in our winter gear and went out and got in Xan’s Chevy. He stuck the key in the ignition and the engine purred to life despite the chill to the air.

“Unfortunately, Fletcher is barren and can’t conceive, so they decided to open a restaurant in Greymercy instead,” Xan explained.

I made a face. “Not quite a suitable replacement for a baby.”

Xan simply shrugged. “Everyone grieves differently. Their food is the bomb? So they’re doing something right.”

He parked on the square and the two of us went inside the small hole-in-the-wall restaurant—though restaurant was kind of stretching it. It was more of a diner with a homey touch.

Bixby’s boasted a bar up front, with padded leather barstools, and booths and tables clustered about on the main floor, which was two steps up.

The floors were a checkered black-and-white tile, but everything else was decorated in a soft sea-green. The walls were tiled as well, about halfway up, before it gave way to the strangest wallpaper—old newspaper clippings, hodge-podged together like an art project.

Behind swinging double doors was what I presumed was the kitchen, by the large “Staff Only” sign hanging above it, and all of the waitresses were wearing the same cute teal skirts and white blouses with a bit of frill in the front.

The sign when we first walked in said, “Please, Seat Yourself,” so we did. We chose a booth near a window and settled in, shrugging out of our coats, since it was pretty warm in here.

Our waitress was a curvy Alpha shifter—a feline of some sort, by the scent of it. Instead of asking what we wanted to drink or what she could get started for us, she tossed her caramel-colored curls over her shoulder and looked at Xan with a big smile.

“When’re you due, sweets? You look about ready to pop!”

Xan puffed out his chest proudly. “Early March,” he said.

“You must be excited.”

“Very.”

She turned her golden cat-eyes on me, lofting a brow. “And what about you? Are you the proud Alpha?”

I stared at her a moment, then glanced at Xan to find him looking right at me. Once again, I felt that tugging on my soul.

“Yeah,” I murmured, my voice taking on a bit of a rumble.

“Congratulations.” She flashed a toothy grin.

“We just found out my Omega is pregnant this past week. He’s over the moon.

My parents? Not so much. He’s a dog. I’m a cat.

You know how it goes, but love conquers all, am I right?

” Pulling out her scratch-pad at last, she asked, “Now what can I get you?”

We ordered, then chatted while waiting for our food. When it was delivered, Xan was practically drooling before the plates ever hit the table. “Enjoy!”

“Oh, we will,” I assured the woman with a smile as Xan began to dig into his meal, everyone else forgotten. He took a big bite and groaned happily.

“So yummy.”

“Not peckish anymore?” I teased. Xan kicked me underneath the table. It smarted. “Ouch. Damn.”

He stuck his tongue out at me.

The tenderloin was good though, I had to admit. I was thoroughly enjoying it—until I saw him from across the room. My mirror image, staring at me in shock, wearing teal corduroys and a white polo with his blond hair brushed off to one side.

Sky.

Inside of me, my wolf went still with a low, low growl. I froze, my food still gripped in my hands. Shit. Sky said he was working at a restaurant in town. Was it this one? I couldn’t honestly remember.

Unfortunately for me? I was about to find out.

Sky began walking towards our booth and the food I’d been savoring turned to sawdust and sank like a lead weight in my stomach. Fuck…

“What are you doing here?” he all but demanded, staring holes into my soul with his two-toned eyes. I couldn’t tell if he was happy to see me, or pissed I was here.

My wolf bristled with a low growl.

Sky’s gaze cut to Xan—or rather, to Xan’s stomach, swollen with child. I watched the shock and the pain shutter across my twin’s face before he shook his head, backing away from the table.

“No,” he uttered hoarsely.

“Sky!” Almost instantly, I could feel that old anger rising like a tide to batter my soul. A growl burst free, unbidden. Sky didn’t listen to me; instead, he spun on his heel and fled behind the swinging half-doors.

I was on my feet, my wolf gnashing his teeth, ready to take chase, when Xan stepped in front of me.

“River. Leave him.” His voice was soft but strong. My nostrils flared, another growl rippling up my throat. Our eyes locked and for a moment, I feared my beast might take Xan’s assertion as a challenge…but the gentle hand on my arm seemed to settle the rage in my soul, if only just a little.

Damn it. I hadn’t realized how much I’d calmed down, being away from Sky for so long. How well I’d adjusted. Fuck!

With a growl, I pulled away from Xan and yanked my wallet out of my back pocket. Dropping a crisp fifty-dollar bill on the table, I slipped past my mate and made a beeline for the exit. Suddenly, the place seemed impossibly small. It was caving in on me. I couldn’t breathe.

I escaped into the cold air, the bells on the door jingling my farewell. I heard Xan call out after me, but I didn’t stop. Couldn’t stop. I felt like my control was slipping and I couldn’t hurt my mate.

Still, Xan didn’t let me get far. I’d only made it as far as his Impala when he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my torso, hugging me tightly from behind. Holding me. Anchoring me.

I shuddered and pinched my eyes shut. “Why do you put up with me?” I whispered, bitterness seeping through like ink staining the page.

“Because I love you.” The words surprised me, though I suppose they shouldn’t have.

“You love me?” I asked, my voice rough.

“I do,” he murmured, his face pressed into my shirt. “I have for awhile, I just… I wasn’t sure you were ready to hear it. You’re probably still not ready to hear it, but YOLO, right? C’mon, River. Let’s get in the car and go home, okay?”

I took a deep breath. Everything would be okay. It had to be. “Okay,” I agreed.

We cuddled in bed until Xan had to go to work. I tried to distract myself with video games, tried to redirect my anger into shooting people on the screen and hearing them scream and run for cover.

I was just beginning to calm down when my phone began blowing up, buzzing wildly across the coffee table. Text after text after text, all of them Sky, all of them accusing.

I read them all, and with each one, my anger mounted. You replaced me! one text read. And you got him PREGNANT? What about me? What about US?

Heat blistered beneath my skin. My hands shook as I quickly tapped out a reply: I’m trying to move on with my life, Sky! Move past all that shit that happened to us, and you should too!

But Sky kept texting me, each one sending me further and further into a spiral until I turned my phone off and stuffed it between the couch cushions.

Fuck him. How dare he? I paced the floors, gnashing my teeth and stomping my feet, my claws digging into the palms of my hands as I fought to keep my wolf at bay.

I yanked at my hair. The beast was just under the surface. He was coming out. I needed to get out of here. Gracie would be home soon, as would Xan. I didn’t want to see them, afraid I would snap and hurt them. Hurt the baby.

Just like the monster I was.

I thought of my mother and her cries, of how close I’d been to losing control and ripping into her, right in the center of town. No. That couldn’t happen. I couldn’t hurt anyone else. I wouldn’t.

I threw open the front door and let the beast slice through my skin, then tore off into the woods, my anger bubbling like acid.

Maybe I should’ve let Sky die that day in the woods, the day we showed up here in Greymercy. Then I’d be free of this Alpha-Omega curse and Xan and I could be happy.

Bloody images of me tearing out my brother’s throat filled my mind, gory and vicious. You’re a monster!

No!

I shuddered, shaking my head and pushing harder, running faster, my legs and lungs aching—and then I slammed into someone, sending us both toppling to the forest floor.

I scrambled to my feet and spun around with a snarl, my hackles bristled and my tail raised. My heart beat what felt like a thousand miles an hour, wedged in my throat to choke me as I turned my sights on whoever had just gotten in my way.

It was Kace, and he wasn’t alone. Pike was with him. They shifted back to man, raising their hands up in front of them in a show of peace. “Easy. What happened, River?” Kace asked, his voice a thrum in the quiet. “What’s wrong?”

I thrashed my head back and forth, pacing and growling. I felt so damn wild, so out of control. I needed Xan. I needed my mate, but I was so scared of hurting him… I would never forgive myself.

Fighting for control, I forced myself to shift into my human form and sank to the forest floor, my head in my hands. “I-I saw my brother for the first time in months. We got into a fight. My wolf is very angry. I needed to leave before I did something I’d regret,” I managed to eke out.

“Can we do anything to help?” Kace asked, kneeling down beside me, but not touching me.

“I… I need Xan. He’s the only one who seems to be able to calm my wolf’s rage, but I’m scared. I don’t want to hurt him by accident, Kace. I couldn’t live with myself if I did.”

“Shh. It’ll be okay. I’ll be right here. I’ll stop you if anything bad happens, alright? Xan’s a big boy. He can handle himself.” He gave a nod to Pike, who changed back to wolf and darted off.

Kace knelt beside me. He placed his hand on my back, a steady pressure. A strange comfort. It helped eased the sharp bite of anger in my soul, though the hurtful words of my twin still rang in my ears.

I didn’t know how long we were out there, how long it took for Xan to arrive. It could’ve been minutes, but it also could’ve been hours. My mind wasn’t fully my own. I smelled him before I saw him and I lifted my head, searching the darkness.

He approached slowly, still wearing his work clothes, his hair sweat-damp and rumpled. “Baby?” He sounded out of breath. “I came as soon as I could. What happened? Are you okay?”

A whole-body shudder worked through me as I reached for my mate, hating how needy I was. Xan closed the distance between us, and I buried my face in the side of his belly, hugging him around the backs of his thighs. Breathing him in.

Xan stroked my hair. “Shh, it’s okay. I’m here.”

With each breath, Xan’s sweet scent filled my lungs and slowly calmed my rioting heartbeat, but it replaced it with a different kind of ache. I realized, right then, that I loved this Omega…and that scared me.

Because everyone I’d ever loved had hurt me.