Ty walked toward the house from the fields, moving slow, trying to clear his head. His head hadn’t been in his work all morning, even before his run in with Parker; after that, he’d been good for nothing. She was all he could think about.

And the pup was only part of it.

He scrubbed his hands over his face. He knew he was confusing her, but he was confused himself. His reactions to her were never what he thought they would be. Everything about her was unexpected, from the baby to his wolf’s reactions to her. He was unsure of how to handle it.

Ty wanted her; he knew that much. Wanted her with a passionate intensity that stole his breath. He wanted more than anything to explore the possibility of her being his mate.

Two things were stopping him, though. Or at least making him hesitate.

What if she wasn’t his mate? What if his wolf was more broken than he thought and just confused? They could both get hurt. Ty didn’t care much about hurting himself. He’d spent most of his life being hurt in one way or another and he was used to it.

But he would never in a million years want to hurt Parker. He’d do anything possible to avoid hurting her in any way. It would kill him to see that happy light she usually had in her eyes fade or see the pretty smile she always wore go away. It was the last thing he wanted to do.

We’ll never hurt her.

Ty cursed and kicked at the ground. That. That right there. His wolf says shit like that, with an idiotic grin on his dumb wolfy face, but he was never clear. Ty wanted his damn animal to tell him why they’d never hurt her. Why he was so much saner while she was around. Not just saner, but downright content around her.

Shouldn’t his wolf be telling him that Parker was his mate, if she truly was? Shouldn’t he be urging Ty to pursue her? Demanding that he claim her?

Ty willed his wolf to speak more, to say the words, but he was silent inside of him. Tyler groaned in frustration.

His animal’s reactions and lack of fucking telling him what was going on were only adding to the pressure of all of the concerns weighing him down.

Which brought him to the second reason he was hesitating.

What if he hurt her? He wanted to be with her, in every way, but she was pregnant, and he was so much bigger than she was. She was tiny, whether she believed she was or not. That bullshit he’d heard her say about being chubby and the vipers Wendy and Hannah’s words to her were absolutely insane. All of them were certifiable.

Everything about her was gorgeous. From her raven black curls, stunning eyes and creamy skin, to her generously shaped body. Even those black framed glasses she wore were sexy as fuck. Yes, she was curvy, but it just made her look like a goddess, far above mere mortals like Wendy or Hannah.

Curvy and short. So much smaller than he was. She barely reached his chin. He towered over her, and he had to be almost twice as wide as she was. He was heavily muscled, and she was so delicate.

Add in his shifter strength, and he could break her without even trying. He hadn’t hurt her that one night back in March; at least he didn’t think he had, but she was carrying his pup now. Maybe having sex during pregnancy was a normal occurrence for humans, and nothing ever went wrong. But they weren’t shifters with inhuman strength, either.

So many things could go wrong with the pregnancy. There was so much that could happen to Parker, with her fragile human body, and so many things that could harm the baby. He refused to be one of them.

As much as he longed to take her to his bed, no matter how badly his body yearned for her and ached to feel her against him again, he was going to stand strong.

They would do what he’d invited her to do to begin with. They’d talk, go slow, get to know each other. There was still so much he didn’t know about her, when he wanted to know everything about her. And maybe by the time she had their pup, he’d know whether they were mated and meant to be. Or whether they weren’t.

Ty sighed heavily and nodded at Chase as he passed the equipment shed where his brother was tinkering on something. “Chase. Everything looks good. I’m going in to shower.”

Chase waggled his eyebrows. “Want to look and smell good for your ladylove, huh?”

“Fuck off,” Tyler said as he walked in toward the house.

“Only if you answer me one thing, big brother. Why the hell was Parker asking me what pigs eat?”

Ty grinned to himself as he let himself in the house. For being born and bred in a ranching and farming community, Parker sure was a city girl.

Tyler sat back in his desk chair, impatiently waiting on the old desktop computer to boot up. He had the finances to deal with today and paychecks to pay out to the farm hands. All of them had direct deposit, which made things easier in a way, but trying to do payroll on the dinosaur in front of him could be a nightmare.

Letting his mind wander once more while he waited, he thought back to lunch. Parker had just been coming in the house when he’d gone downstairs after his shower. She’d been slightly flushed, ponytail bobbing with the force of her enthusiasm as she talked about the photos she’d taken of the farm.

She’d been rocking the hell out of those shorts and the flowy, low cut tank top she’d been wearing, too.

Ty shifted uncomfortably in his chair, adjusting himself in his jeans. He couldn’t allow himself to think about how delicious she looked, wouldn’t let himself go there. It would only make this harder.

Pun intended, he thought this a wry smile.

It had only been him, Parker, and Leah for lunch. He’d been surprised at how comfortable and at ease Parker was with Leah as he listened to them banter back and forth. He’d finally taken his head out of his own ass and paid attention to how Parker was around people. He remembered how she’d been so uncomfortable at Crazy Pete’s, both times they’d seen each other there. How she’d been around Wendy, Hannah, and even Garret.

She was shy and a little bit awkward, but he thought it was cute. And it filled him with a weird sense of pride, because she wasn’t like that with him. She was open and herself with him in a way she wasn’t usually with others, and he selfishly wanted to keep it that way.

Which was part of the reason he’d gotten her away from Sam. He didn’t want her uncomfortable and they’d been talking openly. He hadn’t wanted to ruin it.

He’d never admit it out loud, but he hadn’t wanted Sam around her himself, either. Sam was a great guy and he’d never say anything to upset or offend Parker, but he was a handsome, charming bastard. At least the ladies seemed to think so, and Ty wasn’t taking any chances with Parker.

The computer finally booted up and Ty opened the spreadsheet program, settling in to wait once again while it all loaded. He rubbed his full stomach, thinking again about lunch. The food had been good, but the best part had been seeing Parker relaxed and happy, a smile on her face like she was enjoying her time here.

It had maybe been the best lunch he’d ever had in his life.

Sighing, he decided to get something to drink while he waited for his program to load. He knew from experience that if he tried to rush it and start before it was done, it would go to hell fast. He walked from the room and then paused as he caught sight of Parker. She was in the sitting room, all scrunched up on a chair, laptop balanced on her knees. She couldn’t be comfortable like that.

“Hey,” he said, walking into the room. “What are you up to?”

Parker looked up at him, a mischievous smile on her face. “I’m just sitting in my chair, doing approved activities.”

“Smartass,” Tyler replied as his lips quirked up. “You know what I meant.”

“I downloaded the photos I took of the farm. I’m just going through them, seeing if there’s anything I like or anything I need to reshoot.”

Ty’s eyebrows raised. “You’ve already downloaded all of the pictures you took this morning?”

“Well yeah. It doesn’t take that long.”

He eyed her laptop, wondering how powerful it was. How new it was. She’d done what it would take hours for him to do on his computer, and she’d done it in the time it had taken his to just turn on. Impressive. And a little humbling. A lot of shit needed fixing or replaced on the farm, and his computer was high on the list. The farm had been in danger of going under for so long, though, that he hadn’t wanted to replace something that technically still worked. Their finances were slowly righting themselves now, and he was hopeful he would get off of the need list and onto the want list soon.

Forcing his thoughts away from that rabbit hole, Ty cleared his throat. “That position doesn’t look very comfortable.”

Parker smiled at him, and the sight struck him right in the chest, like it always did. “I sit like this at home, so it’s all good. This chair is actually pretty comfy.”

“Alright then. If you’d like to join me in the office, though, you’re welcome to. My desk is huge. There’s plenty of room for you and your laptop.”

Parker stilled for a moment before her smile widened. “Really? I wouldn’t be bothering you?”

“Of course not. Besides, we wanted to get to know each other better, right? And you need to know stuff about the farm. You can ask me whatever you want as you need to.”

She shut her laptop and stood up, stretching. She cringed a bit, and Ty made to rush forward but she waved him off. “It’s nothing. Just a twinge in my back. I get back spasms, have had them since I hurt my back when I was a teenager. They’ve become a little stronger and more frequent as I get further along, but they’re nothing, I promise.”

Ty frowned but nodded and stepped back. Back spasms didn’t sound like nothing to him, but he was trying hard not to hover. He’d done so much of that already since she’d been there that he was surprised she hadn’t run all the way back to California by now.

“I’m going to grab something to drink, and then I’ll meet you in the office. Do you want anything?”

“A glass of sweet tea would be great,” she replied softly.

He nodded as he turned and headed toward the kitchen. Quickly filling two glasses with ice, he poured the tea before rushing to head back, ignoring Leah’s knowing look as he did so. Leah always thought she knew everything, and knew everything best, but she’d been like a mother to him and Chase after their own mother died, so he let her have her moments. Besides, nine times out of ten, she was right.

He walked into the office and his breath stalled in his chest when he saw Parker with a chair pulled up to a corner of the huge desk. She had her laptop open and she was intently studying what was probably the images she’d taken of the farm. With those black glasses, she definitely had the sexy librarian look down. Now he just needed to see her looking exactly as she did now but with a book in her hand. In his bed. Waiting on him.

Shaking himself out of those thoughts, he sat her glass by her side before sitting down in his chair with his own. His spreadsheet was finally finished loading, but he found himself continually sneaking peeks at Parker instead of focusing on his work.

He forced himself to concentrate, but it hadn’t been long before his eyes drifted over to her again. This time she caught him.

“I know you’re busy, but do you want to see the images I have so far?”

“I’d like that,” he replied, moving his chair around the side so he was sitting next to her.

It took him a moment to focus on what she was showing him. He could feel the heat from her body seeping into his, smell the tangy lemon scent of her body wash, and the sound of her musical voice was washing over him, although he wouldn’t be able to tell anyone what she was saying. He just loved the sound of her voice. Everything about her was invading his senses, and he lifted a hand to rub at the ache in his chest that being so close to her had brought on.

“Ty? You okay?”

Jerking his attention to the screen, Ty muttered, “Sorry. Go ahead.”

Parker clicked on an icon of the farmhouse, and Tyler straightened in his seat. It was a stunning picture, with the angle of the sun hitting the house just right. He sat in silence as she clicked through several more pictures, each more eye catching than the last. She even had one of him walking in from the fields.

She cleared her throat. “Well? You’re awfully quiet. It’s okay if you don’t like them, I can take others—.”

Ty hushed her. “Parker, these are amazing. They look like they were done by a professional photographer.”

“Thank you,” she said softly, a blush warming up the pale creaminess of her skin. “It’s been a hobby since I was a kid. I do it when I need to take a break or de-stress. Do you have any notes or anything you don’t want on the website?”

He shook his head. “They’re all great. I completely trust your judgement, Parker. Use whichever ones you’d like, now and later.”

Parker grinned and Ty’s chest tightened as his gaze dropped to her lips. Lush and full, they were an invitation that he was having a harder and harder time resisting. He felt himself leaning toward her, drawn like a magnet, before he caught himself. Pulling back, he tried to make it look like he was in the process of standing up. He knew he had confused her a few times, with his words and with his actions. He didn’t want to do that again, and he had to stand firm on not taking it to the next level again. Her safety, and the safety of the pup, always came first.

Even if resisting her was the hardest thing he’d ever done.

They spent a couple of hours working together, mostly in an easy silence, only speaking occasionally. Even though things were quiet, Ty enjoyed it. He spent a lot of his afternoons locked away in here by himself, and having someone in the room with him was actually nice. The fact that it was Parker made all the difference, though.

He was just finishing up payroll when Parker stood and stretched. He couldn’t help giving her a thorough once over, lingering on her generous curves. He’d never get enough of looking at her body.

“I think I’m going to go walk around for a bit and stretch my back out before dinner.”

“Do you need me to go with you? I can finish this later.”

Parker waved a hand. “No, you finish up your work for the day, and we can maybe hang out after dinner? I don’t want you to interrupt your normal routine for me while I’m here. I promise I can walk around the house without hurting myself.”

Ty smiled wryly at her. “I’m not sure of that, but we’ll see. I’ll see you at dinner.”

Parker gave him another breathtaking smile before heading out of the room. He was still sitting motionless, staring after her and lost in thought, when his brother walked into the room.

“Still mooning after Parker like a moon struck calf, I see,” Chase said as he pulled the chair Parker had been using back around the desk.

“Go fuck yourself,” Ty muttered as he turned back to his computer.

“That’s a physical impossibility, big brother,” Chase replied with a grin.

“Then I guess you’ll stay a virgin forever, pup. What do you want?”

“I just came in to tell you I won’t be at dinner tonight. You can make puppy eyes at Parker all night without worrying anyone will see you.”

Ty looked up from his computer, narrowing his eyes at Chase. “You’re going over to the Anderson’s place again, aren’t you?’

Chase rolled his eyes. “Don’t start with me over this again, Ty. You know I go to support Ian.”

“At fights. Shifter fights.”

“What’s your point, Tyler?”

“Something is going to go bad at one of those, Chase. I don’t want you in the crossfire.”

“Nothing’s going to happen. They’re organized. I wish you would go with me to one, so you could see for yourself,” Chase replied, getting defensive.

“No thanks. I don’t want anything to do with that shit, and neither should you. It’s basically shifter exploitation.”

Chase tensed up. “Don’t be a dumbass, Ty. How can it be exploitation if no one but the fighters know they’re shifters? And you’ve always loved a good fight. At least you used to. When the hell did you turn into such a pussy?”

Ty surged out of his chair and leaned across the desk. “Say that to me again, pup.”

Chase got out of his own chair, mimicking Ty’s pose. “Don’t be a p--.”

The sound of a throat clearing had them jerking away from each other. They both looked to see Leah standing in the doorway, hands propped on her hips.

“Now, boys. There have been a lot of fights between y’all in this room. A lot of fights in this house. I can’t count the amount of furniture you two have broken over the years. I never minded it much because boys will be boys, and I know it’s how you two get your frustrations with each other out. But do you really want Parker to come in here and find you two brawling like teenagers, instead of the grown ass men you are?”

Both of them shook their heads and Leah nodded, satisfied, before she left the room. Ty shifted for a moment, clenching his hands into fists and finally heaving a sigh.

“Look, Chase. I don’t approve of these fights, and I would rather you didn’t go. But you’re a grown man. You can make your own choices. Just try to stay out of trouble.”

Chase hooked his hands on his hips as he shook his head. “You’ll never understand it if you don’t give the fights a try. They’re not what you think they are. Yeah, they can get rowdy, but they’re controlled. And you’ll never bend on Ian if you don’t see it for yourself.”

“I’ve always liked Ian. You know that. Still doesn’t mean I can let him and his fight club shifters stay here. Especially not with Parker here and expecting a baby. I can’t bring that kind of trouble around her.”

“Then they don’t have to stay in the house. They can stay at the old place over across the river. It’s just sitting there empty anyhow, and this is a good, easy income. You’re always bitching about how we need to work harder to bring more money in. And I’m sure you could use more, with the pup and all.”

Ty laughed but there was little amusement in it. “You call them your friends, yet you’d put them in that shit hole? It’s still a no, Chase. But I’ll think about going to one of the fights with you to see what it’s all about. If it all checks out, I’ll at least promise to stay off your ass about it.”

Chase nodded before walking out, saying that he’d see him in the morning. Ty wearily rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. He worried about his little brother, even about Ian. Eagle Creek wasn’t exactly a hotbed of crime, but they had some, and who knew what all the fighters were mixed up in?

Ian had been a good kid, but time changed people. If Ian had gone dark, Ty didn’t want him taking Chase with him.

He’d been weighed down with concerns before. They’d been just a few months away from losing Red Moon when their dad had finally done them all a favor and kicked the bucket. He’d been twenty, and he’d spent the last eight years working his ass off to save the farm and get them to where they were today.

During that time, he’d dealt with losing Cassie. First to Jared, and then to death. Most of the time, he hadn’t thought he would make it long enough to leave the ranch in decent enough shape for Chase. Because after Cassie’s death, he’d been a breath away from needing put down.

The night he met Parker had felt like the first time he could take a deep breath in years. He’d still been sure that it was just a matter of time before his wolf needed ending, but he’d felt like Parker had given him more time to get the farm in order.

That’s around the time that the worry started, too. First it was worry over Chase, because Ian had come back to town with his fighters. Ty had been handling that, though.

Then Parker blew back into his life, shaking his cool with her pregnancy, and now it felt like all he did was worry. And he didn’t know how to handle it. How to handle any of this.

Before, his biggest concern had been for a piece of property, and the money to keep and run it. Now, his concerns were people. Chase, Parker… the pup. They were so much more important than this land or money. How was he going to keep them all safe? His wolf wouldn’t be able to handle another loss.

He needed to find some time to shift, to go wolf for a bit and work through some of his emotions. And his wolf didn’t seem particularly concerned about any of this, so even if he worked through nothing, he would at least get some much needed peace.