I smell river and Riley’s pain. Minus the river.
Parked in front of the gas station is the VW hippie bus.
And now Riley sprints in that direction.
She’s here.
There’s also some commotion in front of the town hall.
Grey rushes inside. Joel jogs over with shock on his face.
“That’s Riley’s mate,” Tyson gestures across the street.
“Yeah,” Joel says. And then he jerks his chin back toward the town hall. “Grey just said he smelled his mate.”
“His mate? Where?” I ask.
He shakes his head looking perplexed. “He’s been with her over an hour, just left her alone in that cell. She wouldn’t talk, wouldn’t say a word. She’s done somethin’ to disguise her scent, too, so don’t know how he knows, but we came outside, plannin’ to meet up with all of you to debrief and Grey spotted that VW pull in over there and was about to call over to Riley. But then we saw you comin’ and as soon as Rye ran for her, Grey’s body locked up tight and it was a weird, delayed reaction, ‘cuz like I said… he was with her for the last hour. But he said, ‘I smell my mate, too. And she’s downstairs. She smells like gun powder’.”
Epilogue
Amelia
“So, things are complicated, then.”
“Yeah. Understatement,” Mason replies. “Greyson’s takin’ her home now. She’s refusing to talk about why she’s tryin’ to hurt our pack. But as soon as he saw Riley run for Erica’s van, it came over him.”
And it’s definitely complicated. The guys got into a mini argument over whether or not Greyson should take her out of that holding cell. She’s clearly dangerous. He said he’d stay in there with her before he left without her. But Tyson and Mason both agreed and talked the other guys around to it, Mason stating that until they had mates of their own they wouldn’t fully get where Grey was at and that if they stopped him from taking her out of there, they’re interfering in the cardinal rule of getting between an alpha and his mate.
And we were all witnesses to some ugliness that happened when Riley ripped the door of that camper van open. The sound of Riley shouting. The sound of things crashing in there. And then things went quiet.
And when it went quiet, Mason and Ty took us out of there.
The phone just rang, and it was Lincoln, telling us that Riley just left. He left her there! And she’s still parked.
“What does that all mean?” I ask.
“They’ll work it out,” Mason tells me.
“How do you know?” I ask.
“Ty and Ivy worked it out. You and me did, too. Love conquers all.”
“But that can’t happen if they’re not in the same place.”
“God, you smell strange,” he says, again, taking a whiff of my throat.
“Gee thanks,” I mutter. “You sure know how to make a girl feel good.” I roll my eyes and sniff my pits.
“No, not bad… you don’t smell remotely bad. You smell like you’re mine. It’s just… I don’t know…” He inhales me at my hair. Then he inhales at my throat before his nose moves down to my chest.
“Ooh. Now we’re getting somewhere,” I quip.
Suddenly, Mason is squatting and running his nose down my torso.
I laugh.
And then I’m lifted by my hips and set on the kitchen counter.
He rises to standing and looks into my eyes.
He’s got a really weird look on his face.
“Wildberry,” he says softly.
“Hm?” I ask. My belly growls. “God, I’m starving.”
“Baby,” he says, and wraps his arms around me.
“What?” I whisper, smiling. He’s acting so odd.
He looks at me with a gentle expression. “I think you’re pregnant. I think I’m smelling our baby inside you.”
I stare at him for an eternity.
“No,” I finally whisper.
“It’d have to be early. Like… real early obviously, but I’m pretty sure that’s what it is.”
My throat clogs up. He’s got to be wrong. There’s no way. No way in the world…
God, this isn’t fair. This isn’t funny. I don’t think he’s trying to be funny. I think he’s wrong and it hurts because it just… hurts.
His mouth touches mine. “I think so, baby. Let’s call Cat. Let’s find out if we can get a test.”
“Mason, please stop this. This hurts too much.” I turn away from him.
“Amelia,” he says sternly. “Trust me. I know what I’m talking about.” He taps his nose. “The first to smell a baby coming is that baby’s father.”
“Maybe we should get a test,” I whisper.
***
We’re on our way to Drowsy Hollow. Stan’s drug store is open until midnight. Mase phoned Cat and she told him we can use a regular pregnancy test. She said to get an early test but also said hormone levels tend to spike sooner with shifters and those pregnant by shifters (case in point: when Carrie was pregnant with Bailey), so if Mason thinks he can smell it, we should take a test. If it’s negative, we should come see her at the clinic.