The next morning …

Ash pushed the crumpled piece of paper back into his pocket. His heart was beating fast. His mouth twitched with the need to smile. He wouldn’t allow himself to do it though. This was a problem. A big problem. Alice had reached out to him, and he was glad. He shouldn’t be there though, should just turn and walk away. Especially since he didn’t want to and even more especially on account of how happy he was that she’d sent him the stupid note.

Shit!

This would have to be the very last time. She had said it was urgent. His cock throbbed. Yup, it was urgent for him too. One more time and they were done. Alice was becoming somewhat of an addiction ‒ sexually of course ‒ and it had to stop. It was no good for either of them since it couldn’t go anywhere.

Ash knocked on her door. Within a half a minute he heard the lock turn. Ash realized how desperate he was to see her. To touch and hold her. To kiss her. It couldn’t be helped, as the door swung open, a grin appeared on his face.

By Claw! What a female. Her legs looked long considering they were on such a tiny female. Her hips were flared. Her breasts were large … very fucking lush. Even hidden behind the thick coat. He groaned low in his throat and reached for her.

Alice sidestepped him. It was then that he realized how her eyes were blazing. Her mouth was set. Her shoulders stiff. Her whole stance was rigid. What? He felt himself frown. “Are you okay?”

She turned and walked back into the apartment, her sweet scent hit him deep in the snout. So delicious it had his mouth watering. It was even better than he remembered. Two months was a long time, and he was fucked if his dick didn’t harden up a whole lot more despite Alice being pissed with him. Maybe because of it. They did like to play this little cat and mouse game. He loved the hell out of it.

Once he caught sight of her in the living room, he felt his frown quickly return. Her eyes weren’t just blazing with anger. There was hurt in them too. What had he done? He’d left her happy, hadn’t he?

He hadn’t texted her like he said he would, but he had ultimately been nothing but straight with her. Fuck! His gut was trying to tell him something. What though? “Are you okay?” he asked again.

She walked towards the other side of the living room facing away from him. She seemed to be composing herself. Then she turned. Her eyes were on him, they still blazed. Alice folded her arms and huffed out a breath. “You said it would be okay. You promised me.”

What the fuck! Ash had been extra careful not to make any promises. Truth be told, he shouldn’t have spent so much time with one female, but he couldn’t help himself. Look at her. Just look. So beautiful it took his breath away sometimes. Another pussy thing to say. If it wasn’t for how hurt she looked, he would leave right now. Moreover, this behavior wasn’t like Alice. Something was up. Something was wrong. His skin prickled. His nose twitched. It was something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. He didn’t like it.

She played with the quick of one of her nails, and her lip wobbled. It fucking wobbled. A rush of adrenaline hit him. The need to get the fuck out of there rose up, but he quelled it. He needed to figure this out, and then he needed to leave. “I didn’t … I would never. The only promise I ever made was to give you plenty of orgasms.”

She grit her teeth and gave a small shake of the head. If he didn’t know better, he would say that she was counting. To ten maybe? Why was she so angry? “You did make me a promise, Ash. A fundamental promise and you lied.” She sounded pissed. Alice wiped her face and blinked a couple of times. Her eyes filled with more tears. He could scent her anger. Peppery. There was something else there too.

What the hell was going on? Everything in him told him to go to her, to wrap his arms around her and tell her that everything was going to be okay and then to make it so, come hell or high water, but Ash stopped himself. That wasn’t how this was going to go down.

“I would never lie to you.” It was true.

“I’m pregnant,” she blurted.

Oh fuck!

Holy shit!

He felt his eyes widen. Felt the room close in.

Yes. Yes, she was.

Now that he knew, it was glaringly obvious. The change to her scent. It was more enticing. Even now his cock throbbed. Her breasts were larger, even lusher. It was hard to tell because she still wore the thick coat, but the more he thought about it, the more certain he was. Her cheeks were flushed … glowing was the right word. There was even a slight bulge under the coat. Did she have an ever so slightly curved belly? Maybe.

Then the meaning of what she was saying set in and his hackles went up. His teeth sharpened. “Fuck,” he snarled, sounding more animal than human. His blood turned to ice in his veins. They had sex without a condom. No way it was his though! No damned way! She hadn’t scented of her heat. It couldn’t be his. He refused to even contemplate such a thing. “Who is the male?” Deep and menacing. The need to kill took hold of him.

She frowned. “What are you talking about?”

Ash took a step towards her. “Who did you fuck?” Shit! He needed to get a grip. His eyes were probably glowing. His shirt pulled tight as his muscles bulged. If he wasn’t careful he was going to shift. He struggled to breathe. Yeah, that was it. She had fucked someone else. As much as the thought angered him, it was the best explanation. The only explanation.

“You are such an asshole. I’m sorry I sent you that note. I’m not the one screwing anything with two legs. That’s you. All you.” She looked at him like he was a piece of shit on her shoe and tried to push past him. Ash blocked her path. Her eyes widened with even more anger. “Don’t you dare try to bring me down to your level.” Even though her eyes were filled with tears, she made a snorting noise. “Then again, I can believe you would think the worst of me.”

“Who is he?” Ash forced himself to breathe deeply. Calm the fuck down! “Fine.” He moved to the side. “You don’t have to tell me, it’s none of my business.” It hurt though. No, it didn’t. What was he saying? Fuck! It felt like she had betrayed him. Then again, they didn't owe each other a damned thing. They had been fucking. No more and no less. What was he saying? He definitely didn't give a shit who she was fucking. He was done anyway. It was the emotions talking. If she thought for one-second that she could pin this on him, she had another thing coming. His chest squeezed so tight that he struggled to breathe.

Alice threw him a dirty look as she moved past him. “You know what … you can go to hell!” she yelled. She opened the door and held onto it. “I would like it if you left now. I don’t need you. It was a mistake to involve you in the first place.”

Ash wanted nothing more than to put her to his back and to never see her again. "You're welcome to come to me for a booty call if the father isn't going to be in the picture." For whatever reason, he felt the need to hurt her back.

Alice turned to glare at him. Her eyes were filling with more tears by the second. He forced himself to ignore them. To harden himself to her. “For your information,” her voice was soft, “not that you care …” She paused, he could see that she was working to keep herself under control. “It’s yours.”

What?

What was she on about?

Oh! Fuck!

So she was trying to pin it on him. Of course she was. That’s what this whole thing was about.

Alice narrowed her eyes. “You lied when you said that I wasn’t in heat. You lied when you told me it was all fine.”

Ash stepped through the threshold and turned. “I didn’t lie. You weren’t anywhere near your heat.” He swallowed thickly. Adrenaline coursed. His blood rushed. His chest ached. “I don’t believe this whole little ploy, but tell me one thing, why didn’t you take that pill?” He shook his head. “The one that would stop this from happening.”

“I did take the damned pill.”

“Well then. The kid isn’t mine. I can’t believe anything else. I won’t.” The alternative was too horrific to contemplate. It was his worst fucking nightmare all over again.

Ash took a step forward, but the door closed in his face. The baby. The. Baby. His. No fucking way! No. It was just a ploy. It couldn’t be true. Could it?

He felt like he couldn’t breathe. He wanted to knock on the door and demand answers. No. No damned way. It was Alice who was lying. There had been no sign of her heat the last time they were together. He’d accidentally rutted her without protection, and she'd gone out and gotten herself knocked up just to get her claws into him. There was no way she could pin this on him. Ash ignored the nagging voice inside him. The voice of reason that pointed out that Alice wasn't like that. He ignored the hell out of that voice.

He may have come inside her by accident, but there was just no way … Was there? No! He raked a hand through his hair, trying to calm the fuck down and failing dismally.