“Good morning.”
Janie woke with a start to find Dean smiling at her. She at first felt a surge of warmth, remembering the night before, but for some reason, she couldn’t help but feel a little bit uncomfortable. Hadn’t she vowed not to sleep with Dean?
“Good morning,” she said, happy to see him despite herself. Just because life was going to get confusing from now on didn’t mean she had to be weird about it. They had made their choices and now they would just have to live with them.
“I’m going to make us some breakfast. Do you have anything you like?”
“You cook?” Janie asked.
Dean laughed. “Just because I’m rich doesn’t mean I’m useless. Yes, I cook.”
“Then yes, I’d love some eggs or something like that. Do you mind if I take a shower?”
“Not at all.”
“Thanks.”
Dean smiled kindly at her and got up, stretching before he pulled on the sweatpants she had pushed off of his unbelievable body the night before. Bits and pieces were coming back to her, and it almost made her wish that she could have a repeat of some of the events.
When Dean had left the room, she scurried around to gather all of her clothes and shuffled into the bathroom, where she frowned at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Something was different. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but whatever it was would have to wait. She needed a shower.
Janie stepped inside carefully and began washing herself. When she got to her belly, she stopped. Something was off. She furrowed her brow and gazed down at her stomach. It was harder than normal, and a little streak of purple was beginning to form around her navel.
She quit washing abruptly and got out of the shower, shaken. Janie rushed to the mirror to examine herself more closely. Something was definitely strange, and she had an unpleasant feeling that she knew exactly what that was.
But she wouldn’t let herself panic. There was no way of knowing for sure. She would just go home and try to be as calm as possible. Maybe do some research or something. It couldn’t be what she was thinking. She dressed and headed for the kitchen.
“There you are,” Dean said. “I was worried that by the time you were done, your breakfast would be getting cold.”
“I’m sorry,” Janie said with a sheepish smile. “Let’s enjoy breakfast together now.”
Dean grinned at her and she sat down at the table in the dining room where he had initially brought her to tend to her wound. It was feeling much better, but now she was feeling sick to her stomach.
“Are you all right?” Dean asked, frowning.
“Yes, I’m fine,” Janie said quickly, pulling the plate closer. She forced herself to eat, despite the fact that every bite made her want to vomit. She wasn’t feeling well at all, if she was going to be honest. It was a difficult thing to hide from somebody as in tune with how she was feeling as Dean was.
“You don’t look very fine,” Dean said, furrowing his brow. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just don’t think I got enough sleep, that’s all. And…my head hurts.”
The last part was only half a lie, but she thought that maybe it would be enough to keep him off of her back. He sighed and nodded.
“I can drive you home when you’re finished,” he said. “Unless you’d like to spend the day here. But I will have to go in to the office…I don’t think that Kiera and her bear shifter pals are going to let me off the hook that easily.”
“I can work,” Janie said quickly. As long as she didn’t eat anything, she would be fine.
“Are you sure?”
Dean’s eyes narrowed in concern and she sighed. He could probably see right through her. And if her condition was what she thought it was, would the shifters be able to smell it?
The thought made Janie panic and she sighed deeply. Once Dean was finished eating, he summoned the limousine and he instructed the limo to make a pit stop to a fashion boutique.
“What are we doing here?” Janie asked, frowning.
“You can’t go to work with the same clothes on from the day before.”
Janie’s cheeks burned in embarrassment.
“Be quick,” Dean said, giving her a small wad of cash. She opened her mouth to protest, but his eyes were dark and uncompromising.
She hustled inside and bought the first outfit in her size that caught her eye, a dark blue dress with a black blazer, and returned to the limo. She could feel Dean’s eyes devouring her and she swallowed hard.
“All right,” Dean finally said to the driver.
They rode to work together in silence. When they walked in, Janie could feel all eyes turned on her, and blushed deeply. What was everybody looking at? Could they all tell that she was hiding something? Something she wasn’t even sure she could admit to herself yet?
But when she got into the space she had been sharing with the other members of the PR team, she took a sharp inhale of breath. Yes, everybody was looking at her, but not for the reasons she was expecting. On the middle of the table was a stack of newspapers with pictures of Dean walking, buck naked, cradling Janie to his chest.
“Shit,” she whispered under her breath.
Most of the other team members weren’t in the office, but one woman, whose name was Mona, was sitting near the window.
“The bear shifters got some juicy news last night,” Mona said quietly, sipping a small cup of coffee. “I’m not sure what happened, but I’m sure you both have a good explanation.”
“We’re not…it’s not like that,” Janie said, but the words sounded hollow, even to herself. Especially when she could feel her belly start to swell. But nobody was paying attention to that part. Not yet.
“Well, no matter what it’s like, it doesn’t look very good. You know how old Dean is. This is exactly the kind of thing he doesn’t need right now. You know that.”
“Of course,” Janie said miserably, slumping down into her seat. “I was taking him to meet someone and we stopped for dinner. Kiera was there and they started fighting.”
“Well, no matter how it happened, most people are saying that Mr. Resner started the fight and finished by throwing you over his shoulder like a caveman and taking you home with him. When you arrived today in the limo with him, you can only imagine…”
Janie felt sick, and not just because of the strange little issue with her abdomen. Everybody was spreading rumors about her, and about Dean. It was almost more than she could bear. Especially since there was a small ring of truth to them. Neither of them had wanted this to happen. They had agreed that staying professional was best for everybody. And now look! One slip up and the whole world was falling apart around her.
“It’s really not what they think…” Janie said, more to herself than to Mona, whose round eyes were peering at her from over her little coffee cup. But it didn’t matter what any of them thought, because the truth was always so much worse than fiction. Just ask the child growing inside of her.
***
“Ms. Alexander, Mr. Resner would like to see you.”
All eyes turned on Janie and she blushed profusely as she stood, praying that nobody would be able to see the little swollen mound of her abdomen. If anybody found out she was pregnant with shifter pups, what would happen to her? She knew it was dangerous, and not only that, but it was forbidden. What would her fate be if anybody were to find her out?
“Ms. Alexander, thank you for coming.”
Janie froze in fear at the sound of Kiera, Dean’s ex-wife. She turned to face her, frowning in anger and surprise.
“What are you doing here? Where’s Dean?”
“Dean isn’t here right now. Seems to me he is cleaning up the little mess that the two of you basically spoon-fed to the tabloids.”
“How did you get in here?” Janie exclaimed. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
“Oh, we have our ways.”
Suddenly, out of the shadows of Dean’s office, the group of bear shifters from the day before appeared.
“We came to offer you a little deal, Ms. Alexander.”
“I don’t want anything from you. Any of you.”
“Well, unfortunately, you don’t have much of a choice in the matter. I suggest you sit down and listen.”
One of the bulky bear shifter men brought a chair close to Janie and used a thick hand to push her roughly into it. Kiera beamed at her and strutted in front of her, looking down at her with false sympathy etched on her face.
“You poor thing. You never meant to get right in the middle of things, did you?”
Janie frowned as the bear shifters went to work, rummaging through Dean’s office. They threw papers on the floor, scouring all of the information they could that might prove useful to their cause.
“Why are you here?” Janie demanded.
“Oh honey, it’s just business, that’s all,” Kiera said. “Now I know you understand the power of the tabloids. It’s unspoken how intrigue and mystery can make one so compelling. And most people say any press is good press, right?”
Janie kept her mouth clamped shut, waiting for Kiera to get to the point.
“Well, that might be true for Dean in this case, right? Everyone will see that he’s got just as much potential to be a pedophile as anyone else.”
“A pedophile?” Janie exclaimed. “Hardly. I’m an adult!”
“For what, six months?” Kiera laughed. “You would be his downfall.”
Kiera pulled a chair across the room and sat down facing Janie.
“Let me tell you a little secret,” Kiera said. “Nobody with half a braincell reads the tabloids because they believe them. They read them because it’s fun to speculate. But…”
Kiera waved her hand and one of the bear shifters immediately placed a yellow envelope into her hands before he continued on in his search.
“Some of the pictures we got here were not just speculation. The picture that was leaked was relatively tame compared to this one.”
Kiera handed Janie the envelope and watched with sadistic mirth as Janie opened it, pulling out a collection of photos of her tryst the night before with Dean.
“This…” Kiera said, tapping the envelope. “This is too good to be true. All I have to do is tell the courts that you’ve been my husband’s mistress all this time. Everyone will believe it. You’re young, you’re decent looking, you’re everything the public would perceive as the mistress of a billionaire. In short, you’re a god-send.”
“What do you want?” Janie asked, doing her best to keep her voice even. “Why are you telling me all of this?”
“Because you can help me,” Kiera said. “All you have to do to keep these pictures from going public is drop the PR campaign. We’re not stupid. We have sources, and we know exactly what you’re trying to do with Dean. It’s not going to work, but on the off-chance that it does? We can’t risk that.”
“So I just have to stop the ad campaign and you’ll get rid of the photos?” Janie asked, furrowing her brow.
“Well…that and maybe stay the hell away from my ex-husband. It’s not very attractive to go eating another girl’s leftovers. They’re still warm, you know? Give him some time. He doesn’t know what the hell he’s thinking right now.”
Kiera smiled brightly at Janie and stood, ready to leave, when suddenly the door slammed open and Dean walked in.
“Get the hell out of my office!” Dean shouted. “Now!”
The last word was more like a growl as he shifted into his wolf form and pounced one of the bear shifters closest to Janie. Kiera laughed at the spectacle as the men began to run at Dean, knocking him down to the ground with a painful thud.
“Dean!”
“Fuck!”
Janie’s eyes widened as one of the bear shifters cursed in pain, gripping a gaping wound on his shoulder. The smile was wiped off of Kiera’s face as Dean quickly tore through the bear shifter men, one by one, until all of them were lying in pools of their own blood. Dean shifted back and stalked toward Kiera.
“You’re fucking trespassing! I could have you arrested!”
“And have the Stonybrooke PD catch you with your pants down with this girl again?” Kiera asked brightly.
Dean snatched the photos away from Kiera and glowered.
“What the hell is this? What were you doing spying on me?”
“It used to be my house too, you know,” Kiera said, her eyes flashing with malice.
“Give me the pictures,” Dean growled. “Give me every single copy of the pictures or I’m going to have you arrested for trespassing. I swear to God.”
Kiera sighed and circled the office, getting her beat up men up off the ground.
“You’re really lucky these guys refuse to shift indoors. It’s some kind of shitty law or something,” Kiera said, glaring at Dean. “I’ll send you your stupid pictures, but that’s not going to be enough to save this place. Soon, I’m going to be the one sitting as head of this office, and when I do, you’re going to regret you ever laid eyes on me.”
“I already do,” Dean said darkly.
Kiera scowled at him and left, and Janie gasped when Dean finally turned to face her and she saw that Dean’s chest was covered in blood.
“Are you all right?” she exclaimed, rushing to his side.
“Of course,” Dean said, waving her away. “I just need to wash this out.”
Before he had a chance, he slumped forward, just barely catching himself on his desk. Janie gasped and ran toward him. She had to help him. It was still too early for most people to be in the office, but fortunately, she had taken a first aid course during college and she knew just what to do.
“Come on,” Janie said, lifting Dean to his feet and helping him to the bathroom in his office. “I’ll clean you up.”
Dean grinned at her, his head lolling forward. “I just get a little dizzy sometimes,” he mumbled. “I don’t like the sight of blood.”
“Really?” Janie asked, skeptical. “You were just fine with my blood.”
Dean shrugged and didn’t argue anymore, knowing that she had caught him. He just didn’t want her to make a fuss over him, but that was just too bad.
“Stay still,” Janie said, filling a glass of water and handing it to Dean. “Drink this while I clean this out. We should probably go to the hospital and stitch you up properly.”
“Pfft,” Dean said. “I’m not leaving my office unattended after that!”
Janie sighed. She wouldn’t be able to make him do anything against his will, so she would just have to try to do her best to help him now.
“I never knew being with somebody could be so dangerous,” Janie sighed.
Dean laughed and winced in pain. “It’s a dream. I’m a dream come true.”
Janie shook her head and they stayed quiet as she finished cleaning out his wound and bandaging it.
“You’re going to need to take it easy for a while,” Janie said. Suddenly, an overwhelming surge of nausea struck her and she backed away from Dean just in time to throw up into the toilet. He chuckled heartily.
“Looks like I’m not the only one who has trouble with the sight of blood.”
Janie froze. She could tell him the truth now. But how would he react? There was no way of telling what might happen if she confessed. Not only would she be in trouble with the other shifters in Stonybrooke, but it would make Kiera’s case against Dean unimaginably more colorful to the tabloids. They could get rid of the photos, but they couldn’t get rid of a child.
“I guess we all have our weaknesses,” Janie said, deciding that there was no way she would be able to admit her pregnancy to Dean. Besides, it wasn’t for sure yet. Although she knew from the signs and symptoms she had read about long ago that she was probably with a child of the shifter variety. The symptoms were going to set on fast after the first week, and before long, she would be delivering a beautiful child.
But that wasn’t the issue. The issue was what the bear shifters might do to her if they knew she was pregnant with a shifter pup, or pups, as it were. There were often more than one child in a litter. There was also the issue of what Kiera might do to Dean’s reputation if Janie gave birth to Dean’s child.
There was no good that might come of her pregnancy. Nothing she did would keep the child or Dean safe except keeping this to herself. She just hoped she would be able to plan a safe escape before it became too obvious that she was hiding something.
“What’s wrong?” Dean asked, standing painfully from the counter where he had perched himself so that Janie could work on him.
Janie couldn’t bring herself to answer, and tears welled up in her eyes.
“Hey, don’t you worry about a thing,” Dean said, pulling her close into a warm, comforting hug. She laid her head against Dean’s broad chest, and allowed him to comfort her for what might just be the last time.
She would do anything to protect Dean and make sure she delivered his child safely. But that meant she was going to have to make some hard choices, and fast. If shifter biology had anything to say about it, then she didn’t have much time.