As soon as Jonah was out the door, Lyla burst into tears. She had wanted so badly to tell him she was pregnant. To beg him to stay, to abandon such a dangerous mission; a mission that could leave their child without a father, her best friend completely and utterly family-less.
She just didn’t have it in her to confess the truth to him. How could she ever live with herself, knowing what a damn coward she was? Lyla’s tears didn’t seem to have an end. All she wanted to do was call Jonah back to her; to feel his strong arms around her body once again; his warm lips starting fires in places where only he could put them out. But she had all but driven him away. And who knew if he would ever come back again?
It was better than the alternative, though, wasn’t it? A man like Jonah had a job to do. People to care for and protect. She couldn’t let herself be selfish enough to distract him from that single, lofty goal. It seemed to be the defining factor of his personality; Jonah, the strong and brave. The protector of all. Jonah, her hero.
Lyla puttered to the kitchen, where the leaking pipe had left a puddle on the floor near where Jonah had been standing. She could still smell him in the room with her, and kicked at the faulty pipe. The little bungalow had been a terrible investment. She had to get out of there. Right that moment. Nothing could keep her in Stonybrooke now. She had all she needed of her grandfather in her memories. Returning had been a mistake.
“Are you absolutely sure about this?” her realtor asked a few moments later.
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life,” Lyla said, looking down at her abdomen and stroking it gently for the first time since she’d found out she was with child. “I need a change.”
“All right,” the realtor said. “Let’s get this rolling then.”
Within twenty minutes, her bungalow was on the market, and Lyla was packing the most important things she owned into a few small boxes and carrying them to her car; the car that was still dented by the bear shifter that had attacked her for no apparent reason. At least the windshield was repaired. It wasn’t safe for her in Stonybrooke, and it certainly wouldn’t be safe for her baby. It was time to make a clean break, whether she liked it or not. Sometimes, the best course of action to take was the hardest.
Without any further hesitation, Lyla climbed into the driver’s seat of her car and turned the engine. She didn’t know exactly where she was going. All she knew was that anywhere would be better than being a sitting duck and a liability to the man she loved. And nothing would ever change her mind about that.
***
“Miss Winston, maybe you should sit down…”
Lyla scowled. The hormones had really been getting to her lately. Her stomach had blossomed in the past six months.
Nobody had warned her about just how rapidly the pregnancy would proceed, and in a way she was sad that it had already gone by so quickly…even if that meant having mood swings over well-meaning people offering her a seat.
“I’m fine standing,” Lyla said curtly. “I’m uncomfortable either way. At least on my feet the baby isn’t on my bladder.”
“If you say so.”
Ken, her new landlord, a tall, skinny young man, and his wife was constantly checking in on Lyla to make sure she was all right. They seemed to understand that hers was not the typical pregnancy seen in the mountains; she had nothing to do with either the bears or the other humans in the area. In fact, Lyla was beginning to suspect that one of them, probably Mrs. Nelson, her landlord’s wife, was part wolf shifter herself.
“The missus told me to bring you this,” Mr. Nelson said, offering Lyla a brown paper bag. “She knows what the sixth month can be like. Her mother was a midwife.”
Lyla nodded and took the bag. “Thank you, Ken.”
“She left you a note in there about how to use that stuff,” Ken continued, not acknowledging Lyla’s gratitude. Maybe he was part shifter himself. It was sometimes hard for her to tell. “Too much can be bad for the baby. But if you use it right, you can tell the difference immediately. ‘Specially with the little booger on your bladder like that.”
Lyla smiled, her irritation giving way to a deep feeling of love for Ken and his wife. They had taken her in without question, allowing her to pay in cash. She had left the bungalow quickly, and had changed her cell phone number so that nobody, not even Betsy, would be able to contact her. It had been the hardest six months of her life, waiting for the bungalow to sell and not having anyone near her. She had abandoned her best friend and lost the man she loved. She was alone, destined to be a single mother for the rest of her life. And as difficult as it was, it was worth it to protect Jonah, and their child.
After Ken left, Lyla opened the brown paper bag and smiled to herself. It was an herbal mix; something she was positive her grandfather had told her would aid in the pregnancy and birth of wolf shifter pups. When she smelled it, she was taken back to the small, comfortable den where they had spent many an evening chatting and exchanging stories in her youth. The baby kicked and Lyla smiled. If it was a boy, she would name it after her grandfather. He had told her so much about Stonybrooke that it had immediately felt like home.
The thought sent a jolt of pain through her. That was a feeling that had been short-lived. She would have done anything to take it all back; to resist Jonah’s tempting arms and the seduction of his handsome smile. But the truth was, he was everything she had ever wanted in a man, and if things were different, she could have spent the rest of her life happy with him.
She felt a twinge of nausea when she considered the possibility of returning to Stonybrooke. Jonah would never forgive her for running away; for keeping such a huge secret from him. The baby was already almost born and he wasn’t there. It was unforgivable. He would probably never look at her the same way again. She would be lucky if he didn’t kill her on sight, really.
And Betsy…she had abandoned her best friend just at the same time as her brother was being deployed. Betsy, who had known she was pregnant; who was keeping her secret. Betsy, who would have done anything for anybody. Lyla felt like the scum of the Earth for what she had done. But had she had any choice? She’d had to protect her child, her lover, and even her own life. It was the hardest thing she had ever done, but she hadn’t had a choice.
The pup kicked again and Lyla sighed.
“It’s just you and me now, little guy,” she whispered down to her stomach.
Another kick, and then the baby she had conceived with Jonah was still.