I woke up to the smell of eggs and also something else refreshing permeating the air.

Smoothies, I thought with a smile. Someone’s making smoothies.

I could smell the carrots at least—and apple. It probably wasn’t Terry, so that meant another member of his pack who I hadn’t met yet. I’d seen them briefly, but formal introductions hadn’t been made, and I was honestly a little nervous about introducing myself.

I yawned, stretched and swung my legs out of bed.

“Babe?” I called out softly. “Babe, are you here?”

No answer.

I sighed, stretched again and followed my nose down the hall and into the living room. An enormous alpha with dark curly hair was sitting on the couch. He was frowning, obviously thinking hard about something. If my memory was right, he was Preston, the pack leader. Another alpha, clearly Latino, was grumbling as he mopped up a spill on the floor.

“Uh, hello?” I said softly. The alpha on the couch looked up.

“Ah, hello!” He said, a smile replacing his frown. He quickly got to his feet, came over to me and extended a hand. “Scotty, right? I’m Preston. We haven’t really formally introduced ourselves.”

“That’s right,” I smiled, shaking his hand. “I’m Scotty…Vanderton. And I do apologize for that.”

Preston roared with laughter. What I’d said wasn’t that funny. Obviously whatever was on his mind

“Yes, well there are some things in this world we can’t control aren’t there?”

“Sadly, yes,” I replied.

He released my hand and stepped back, keeping his eyes on me. He was examining me, searching for something, and for a moment, I couldn’t help but feel like an animal in a zoo. I shifted uncomfortably.

“Quite a temper on that one,” the other alpha grumbled, getting to his feet.

“Ah, Scotty, this is Juan,” Preston said, introducing us. Juan nodded and headed to the kitchen.

“Pleased to meet ya,” he muttered.

“Sorry,” Preston replied, motioning to the couch. I followed him over and sat down in front of him. His eyes scanned over me and again, I felt like he was trying to figure something out about me.

Where is Terry? I thought, breaking eye contact to gaze around the room. The farmhouse really was pretty modest, especially when compared to my ultra modern downtown apartment, but I loved that about it.

You could see the care that had gone into it, and I knew that the addition that contained Terry’s bedroom had been built by hand by the pack. I didn’t even know the names of a single man who worked on my building.

“So, Scotty,” Preston said, getting my attention again. “What made you come back?”

It was a completely unexpected question and I was taken aback. But now I understood why he’d been examining me. He didn’t trust me.

“He’s my fated mate,” I replied quickly. “It’s as simple as that.”

“As simple as that, huh?” Preston asked skeptically.

My eyes narrowed. I could feel an implication in his voice and I didn’t like it.

“What are you getting at here, Preston?” I may have been an omega and he may have been the alpha leader of my mate’s pack, but I wasn’t about to just take shit from him. I had taken enough grief from my family over the years, I didn’t need it here.

“I just find it interesting that you bailed so quickly on him, and now here you are again out of the blue.”

“I’m pregnant,” I told him.

That ought to shut him up.

It definitely did register, but I could see he still wasn’t convinced.

“Congratulations,” he said slowly. Where the hell was Terry? This was insanely uncomfortable and not the way I’d hoped to be introduced to the pack.

“Thank you,” I replied flatly.

“So, what are you going to do when your family comes here looking for trouble?”

“I—I don’t know,” I admitted. It was a chink in my armor and I felt vulnerable as I knew this was a legitimate problem that I wasn’t quite sure how to solve. But when I’d left to come here, I wasn’t thinking about anything other than getting back to Terry.

When the front door opened and I turned around to see him coming back inside, my heart leapt with joy.

“Baby!” I cried out, getting to my feet and throwing myself into his arms. His strength was exactly what I needed and I felt a warm sense of relief sweep over me as he pulled me tight and held me.

“Was Preston here bothering you?” He asked. He said it to me, but he was obviously directing the question to Preston. Not wanting to start anything, I shook my head.

“Oh, just a little,” I said, making light of the tense situation. “Where have you been?”

“Just getting a little air,” he said. I could tell by his tone that he had been blowing off steam. Obviously I wasn’t the first one Preston had been questioning this morning. “How are you feeling?”

“Good,” I smiled, looking up at him. He pouted his lips for a kiss. “I haven’t brushed my teeth yet.”

“What do I give a shit?” He smiled, kissing me passionately. As always, my soul flared as we embraced and all the tension from my conversation with Preston melted away.

“Can we talk for a second, Terry?” Preston asked.

“Nah,” Terry replied. “Not right now, Preston.”

Wrapping his arm around me, Terry led me back down the hall and into our bedroom. He closed the door behind him.

“Did he give you a hard time?” He asked me.

“A little,” I admitted.

“Goddamn it,” he cursed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been outside when you got up. I didn’t think you’d be awake so soon.”

“It’s fine,” I replied. “I mean—I can understand. He has a point.”

“That you’re a spy for your family?”

My eyes went wide. “Oh…he never mentioned that to me.”

“Yeah, well he did to me,” Terry growled. “And I didn’t appreciate it much either.”

“You know that’s not what’s happening, right?” I asked.

“Don’t be stupid!” He replied. Instantly, I felt like an idiot. “Of course I know that.”

“I’m sorry,” I apologized, nuzzling into his chest, coating my face with his scent. He stroked the back of my head and shushed me.

“Don’t apologize,” he told me. “There’s a lot of shit going on and we’re all just worried about how things will turn out.”

“But not with you and me, right?” I asked.

“Of course not,” he assured me. “No matter what else happens, you and I will be together.”