Hunter had just scooped a mouthful of stew into his mouth when Ash walked into the busy dining area. The male nodded in greeting since his mouth was full of food.

Ash walked straight up to the male. “Hi, can I have a word?”

Hunter’s eyes glinted with humor. The male nodded, still chewing.

“Um … alone … it’s a private matter.”

“Can I finish my meal?” He looked down at the steaming bowl and then back up at Ash. He couldn’t deny Hunter a meal. The male had been out scouting the last few days. He would be really hungry.

Ash nodded once, he pulled a chair out and sat opposite Hunter, watching as the male put another forkful into his mouth.

Ash forced himself to sit still. Forced himself to try to calm down, but it was damned near impossible.

Hunter swallowed and narrowed his eyes. “Whatever’s gotten up your ass, is that bad huh?”

“It’s serious,” Ash said, hyper-aware of all the eyes and ears around them. This was nobody’s fucking business. Hunter had a good standing with the rest of the Alphas. He was also someone Ash trusted. Winston was bogged down with his own stuff right now. Hunter was his guy.

“Okay.” Hunter put the fork onto the plate, covering the meal with a napkin. “Let’s go.”

“You can finish up first.” Ash pointed at the plate.

“What, with your nervous energy?” He shook his head. “Let’s have our talk so that I can enjoy my meal in peace.” He grinned, inadvertently letting Ash know that he was okay with the delay.

Ash nodded. “Thank you.” They stood up and made their way outside. Both of them kept on walking, the village at their back.

Once they were far enough away, Ash sucked in a deep breath. He jammed his hands into his pockets and stopped. “It’s very important. I specifically waited for you to get back. I don’t trust just anyone. I hope you can help.”

The male looked like he was mulling it over. Then his stance relaxed. “Well, I’m glad to hear that. As Alphas, we’re on equal footing.” The male shrugged.

Ash began to pace. He couldn’t help it. There was a layer of light snow on the ground, it crunched beneath his boots. His breath came out in white plumes. Even though he wasn’t cold, he stuffed his hands into his coat pockets.

“So,” Hunter folded his arms and leaned up against a tree. “What’s got you so rattled? Does this have something to do with that sweet, little human you’ve been seeing?” Then he narrowed his eyes and stood upright. “I hope you’re not considering mating her all of a sudden.” The male looked concerned. “So, if that’s what this is all about, you might want to reconsider. You’re an Alpha. The others look to you for direction. Leadership.” He sighed, a puff of white wafted from his mouth. “We have our lists for a reason. Males cannot start running around mating any female they want. Even us Alphas. Especially us Alphas. Fuck!” he growled. “The locals would haul out their shotguns and polish up the silver bullets. They’d lock away their sisters and daughters. It would be—”

“She’s pregnant,” Ash blurted. “Alice says it’s mine. That’s bullshit right? She wasn’t in heat, so it has to be bullshit.” Please let it be a crock of shit. It has to be.

“What the fuck?” Hunter snarled. The panther Alpha paced towards Ash. For a moment it seemed like he was going to punch him, but Ash stood his ground. He could take the male, no fucking problem.

“Look,” Ash huffed out a heavy sigh. “I need advice and not a fucking lecture.”

Hunter narrowed his eyes and Ash widened his stance.

Hunter groaned in what sounded like frustration. He gripped the hair on the top of his head for a second or two before pacing away. “Did you use a condom?”

“It was just the once. An accident. I fucked up okay?” Ash snarled. “She didn’t scent of heat. Not even a little bit. I told her that.”

“Humans are seriously fertile. They’re not like our females. They can house seed inside them for days.”

“She didn’t scent even remotely of her heat though.” It was his turn to rake his hand through his hair. Fuck! Fucking hell! “I made a dumb mistake. We used condoms every other time. It was just that once.”

“Once is all it takes, I’m afraid. I assume she’s not on those pills that stop pregnancy?”

“No.” Ash shook his head.

“If you forgot to use a condom, then your female should have taken one of those pills that keep them from getting pregnant. The one they should take after it happens. It’s not ideal, but—”

“Alice said that she took one and …” he raked a hand through his hair, “I believe her.” He swallowed thickly. It was hard to admit and yet, it was true. He trusted Alice. This couldn’t be true though. It couldn’t be. His heart raced.

Hunter sighed. “Humans are fertile and our seed is strong.” He shrugged. “Simple fact.”

“Do you really think the baby … the babies ‒ if she’s pregnant by me then it’ll most likely be twins ‒ do you think that they might be mine? She didn’t scent even faintly of her heat.” He knew that he was repeating himself. Grasping at straws. “Fuck!” he snarled. This was the last thing he needed. It was something he didn’t think he could handle if it was true. Fear iced up his veins.

“Look, there is a small chance that it might not be yours." Hunter slapped him on the back. “However, there is a good chance it is.”

“You just said—”

“The fact is that we can normally scent if a female is headed for her heat. You say you didn’t scent anything abnormal. It might be that she became pregnant by a human male and is trying to pin it on you. This wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened.”

Precisely what he had thought. What he had hoped. No, truth was, he hated the idea of another male touching her, but he hated the idea of the other possibility even more. He could not comprehend Alice being pregnant with his children. “I don’t think Alice would try to trick me like that.” Fuck! Fuck!

“How well do you know this female? You’ve spent a couple of nights with her all in all.”

“No.” He shook his head. “She wouldn’t lie. She’s not that kind of female.” Why had he assumed the worst? Maybe because he didn’t want this. Understatement of the century. He fucking hated the idea. Panic welled. Ash struggled to breathe. He was sweating profusely despite the cold. In short, he was shitting himself. Fucking dying inside.

“Are you okay, bro’?”

Ash shook his head.

“You look terrible!” Hunter squeezed his shoulder. “Look, just because Savannah—”

Ash twisted away. “I don’t want to talk about that. Not right now.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “I can’t bear to think about that right now.”

“Understandable,” Hunter spoke carefully. “We need to call a meeting with the rest of the Alphas. No one can know about this for now.”

“Okay.” He nodded.

“I mean it. No-one, not Winston, not any of your packmates. No-one.” Hunter frowned. “You understand that don’t you? You need to make one hundred percent sure that the baby is yours, first.”

“Okay, although I’m not sure—”

“You know the deal. Although, I guess it’s different. This female is human.”

Ash snarled. Anger, confusion, pain, blinding fucking fear. He felt all of the emotions course through him.

Hunter clasped his shoulder again. “I know this is difficult. I can’t imagine what you must be going through. You don’t know this female. You were just fooling around and now …”

Ash’s first instinct was to set the record straight, but Hunter was right.

“You will need to scent her belly. Put your nose up against it. She will have become pregnant the last time you were in town, so you should be able to catch the scent quite easily. Possibly even if you are in the same room as her.”

Fuck! He hadn’t thought to take in her scent and really evaluate it. He was too shocked at the time. “Okay.” He nodded. “I am sure though that she wouldn't lie about something like this.” He grunted and squeezed the bridge of his nose. “I fear that she is going to be very angry with me. When she told me she was pregnant, I automatically assumed it was another male’s child.”

Hunter choked out a laugh. “I’m glad I’m not you. Human females can be sensitive about things like that. Hell,” he laughed some more, “all females are sensitive when it comes to that. You really put your paw in your mouth.”

“I don’t want a mate.” He grit his teeth. “I already have a son. I don’t need …” He let the sentence die.

Hunter nodded. “I understand.” That was the second time he had said it. The male was unmated.

“You couldn’t possibly understand,” he growled.

“You’re right. If she is pregnant by you, then it is already done though. There’s no turning back the clock. The rest of the Alphas will need to talk this through. We’ll need to come to a decision.”

“What kind of a decision?”

Hunter’s expression became pained. “Whether or not you will be permitted to mate her. Whether or not you’ll be excommunicated.”

“No! Surely not.”

“Just because we are the Alphas does not mean that we can do as we please. That is not our way. Everything should be for the good of the pack.”

“Everyone makes mistakes. I made several in this instance.” Again, he thought about his reaction. How hurt Alice had looked. He’d fucked up big time. “I don’t want a mate. I can’t go through this all again,” his voice was raw with emotion, “but I can’t leave Alice to raise my cubs on her own either. I refuse to be excommunicated.” His voice had dropped several octaves. His chest rose and fell in quick succession. What about Ethan?

Hunter took a step back and put up a hand. “I’m trying to help you. I know how the rest think. Much will depend on whether your human is willing to come and live with us. If not, you will have to stay in Sweetwater to watch over her and the cubs.”

“My son cannot come to …”

“Ethan would have to stay with the pack and Gage would become Alpha in your place.”

“Not a fuck.” He gripped Hunter by the shirt. There was a ripping noise as the fabric shredded in his hands. “That fucker is not taking my place. He will never get his hands on my son.”

“Best you fucking get on your knees then. Convince her to come and live with us. Otherwise, you will need to choose. The human and your unborn children, or your son and your pack. Think about it, a shifter amongst humans is asking for trouble.” He shook his head, looking worried. “This is a fuck up. It looks like we must warn our males. This could happen more often. Your female must be very fertile; that, or her scent doesn’t alter as much as it should.” He paused. “There is another reason this could have happened though.”

Ash frowned. “Yeah?”

“You have feelings for this female. You might have pushed her into her heat. Your seed and …” He frowned. “Did anything else happen that you’re not telling me about?”

His heart began to beat faster. Ash tried to play it cool. “Nothing else happened.” His voice was gruff. Too gruff. His mind raced. The bite. No damned way! It was lust … plain old lust.

Hunter stayed silent for a while and Ash had to work not to move. “It’s possible that you imprinted on her scent. It would have become good to you. Very good!”

“Her scent is amazing. It is one of the things that attracted me to her. It’s no big deal. I’ve been with her all of three times, seen her four times, over five or so months … there’s just no way. There has been no other communication between us.” He shook his head.

Hunter laughed. He all out laughed, and Ash had to keep from punching him in the mouth. One quick pop to shut the cat up. Instead, he waited. Patience wasn’t one of his strong suits. “You sound like a human,” Hunter finally said, when he came up for air. “We’re part animal, Ash. I’m sure your bear knew the moment you laid eyes on that female, certainly the moment you got a snoutful. Look,” he patted Ash on the back, “it’s just a theory. One to think on.”

Fuck Hunter and his ridiculous theories. “Let’s go and call a meeting and then you can head to Sweetwater to sort out this mess. On second thought, maybe you should head over to Sweetwater and make sure first. No use rattling everyone if it’s a false alarm.”

Ash sighed. He shook his head. “Let’s call the meeting.”

“You should first—” Hunter stopped what he was saying and widened his eyes.

“I’m the father. I don’t have to check. I know.” Ash nodded his head as he choked on the words. His throat felt tight, his chest felt tighter. How the fuck had this happened?

“Will you keep an eye on things for a few hours? I need to speak with Alice.”

“There will still be hell to pay with the packs, but if you can convince her to live with us, it will be half the problem solved.” Then Hunter smiled. “You are in such trouble. I would suggest chocolates and roses and,” Hunter looked pointedly at Ash, “just be honest with her. Explain things. You never talk about what happened. Maybe it will—”

“Okay, okay. I get it. I’ll do my best.”

“You need to do more than your best, you need to get her to agree to come here. The Alphas must still meet but I am sure they will insist that she becomes your mate.”

“One step at a time,” Ash growled. He couldn’t handle thinking beyond that. Not without losing it.