Juliet

The sick feeling in my stomach didn’t get any better when we got to the little pub down the street for lunch. I’m sure some of it was due to the morning sickness. But not all.

As soon as we placed our orders, I excused myself to go to the ladies’ room. I stayed in the bathroom stall a few minutes, waiting to see if I was actually going to get sick.

When my stomach calmed, leaving only the knot of tension and fear there, I took a deep breath and moved to unlatch the door. Before I could get to it, the outside door opened and I could hear a few people walk into the bathroom.

“Oh my God, did you see Alyssa walk in with Mason’s baby mama?”

I froze, my hand flying to my mouth. Who was out there talking about me? I hadn’t even had a chance to meet many people in town outside of Mason’s family and friends.

“Two peas in a pod, if you ask me. Alyssa’s just like her mother. Always trying to get one of our shifter men on the hook.”

“I don’t know. It seems like Alyssa and Kaden are true mates. Did you see the mark on her neck? There’s no way Kaden would claim her like that if he didn’t think she was his mate.”

“I don’t know about that.” The original speaker took up the conversational thread, cattiness and pure spite clear in her voice. “But I did notice little baby mama isn’t sporting a mark of her own.”

“Ugh, poor Mason. He’s going to be tied to that woman forever. What happens when he finds his real mate?”

“Maybe once she sees she can’t get anything from him, baby mama will take her little bastard and go back to wherever she came from.”

Every protective instinct I had surged to the surface. And given the fact that I was indeed a bear shifter and, as the women so obnoxiously put it, a baby mama, those mama bear instincts were considerable.

I burst out of the stall, and I could feel the she-bear inside me trying to claw her way to the surface. As one, their jaws all went slack and their faces pale.

I laid into them before any of them could recover. “I think there are a few important facts worth noting here. One, I notice that while Mason can’t keep his hands off his baby mama, he isn’t with any of you people. And judging by the nasty attitudes, my guess is it’s not for lack of trying on your parts.” My eyes skimmed the necklines of all three women. “And judging by the lack of claiming marks on any of your necks, I’d also guess that most of the hot guys around here, shifter and otherwise, aren’t real interested in what any of you have on offer.”

The woman on the end wrinkled her nose and opened her mouth, I’m sure to spew more of her venom. But I’d be damned if I’d stand there and listen to it.

“Bless your heart,” I said with the deepest southern accent I could muster. “You think you still get to talk.”

I leaned into her and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that my eyes were glowing the electric blue Mason caught a glimpse of the other day.

This time when I spoke, the saccharine sweetness was gone and my words came purely from my inner she-bear combined with years of defending myself as the system shuffled me from one hellhole to another. “Shut your mouth and keep it that way or I just might have to shut it for you. And that instruction isn’t just for today. You have opinions about Mason and me or Alyssa and Kaden, you keep them to yourself or it might just be the last bit of vile nastiness you spew. Ever.”

The three of them stared at me, fear clear on their faces. Two of the three nodded. The ringleader didn’t move a muscle to acknowledge my words, and I could see the loathing mixed with the fear behind her eyes. But I couldn’t help but notice that she kept her mouth shut.

I straightened and smiled at the bunch. “Y’all have a good day now, ya hear.”

I turned and sauntered slowly out of the ladies’ room despite the desire I had to run as fast as my feet would carry me. Putting on a show for those three was all well and good, but it didn’t take away the wounds their words inflicted.

Because they might be mean and catty and a whole host of really not good things. But that didn’t make the words they spoke out of pure spite any less true.

“You okay?” Alyssa asked when I got back to the table.

“You know what? I am feeling a little off today. Would you mind if we got the food wrapped up and giving me a ride back to Mason’s house?”

Her eyes clouded with concern and she hopped up from the table. “Of course. I…” Her voice trailed off and her eyes narrowed, her gaze moving to a spot over my shoulder.

I glanced back to see what grabbed her attention and saw my three new buddies shuffling out of the bathroom. The fear lingered in their faces, but the bitchiest of the bunch pushed her nose in the air and started walking in our direction.

“What did they say to you, Juliet? Are you all right?”

“Nothing they’ll ever say again if they know what’s good for them,” I said in as hard a voice as I could muster just as they sashayed past us. The woman on the end tripped little, and glanced at me over her shoulder, her eyes wide.

When I glanced back at Alyssa, her eyes had grown big as saucers and she had a grin to match.

“Never mind. Maybe they’re the ones that should have my sympathy.” She laughed and waved down our waitress. “I don’t know what you said to them to put the fear of God into them, but boy do I wish you got here two month ago. I could have used some backup.”

I laughed along with her. “Well, you’ve got backup now.”

A little voice inside my head whispered that might not be true for much longer. How could I stay with Mason knowing he’d never be mine? And what happened if I did stay and his true mate showed up in a year or two?

Walking away from him now would break my heart. Sticking around for a couple of years and then having his mate show up might just destroy me.

“Still want to go home?” Alyssa asked.

“If you don’t mind. I think I’ve had all I can stomach today.”

* * *

Back at Mason’s house—I couldn’t bring myself to think of it as home anymore—I paced along the windows in the great room. I could feel my bear pacing right along with me, agitated and snarly.

My mind tossed around all the options I had. The one thing that was very clear was that I couldn’t stay here another night. I knew Mason cared about me. I knew he wanted me. But now I also knew he could never love me. Not the way bear shifters were fated to love their intended mates.

Not the way Kaden loved Alyssa. His fierce protectiveness made itself clear anytime they were in the same room together. The feelings between those two were tangible.

Maybe at one time what Mason and I had between us would be enough for me. We cared about each other and about the little family we were creating together.

But knowing how a shifter was supposed to feel about his mate, and knowing no matter how much love I poured into Mason, he’d never be able to fully return it, I also knew I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t stay here.

And I definitely couldn’t spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder wondering when the woman Mason really loved would show up.

So I had to go.

That decision made, I stalked upstairs, intent on getting packed.

It didn’t take long. I hadn’t arrived with much, and I hadn’t added anything to my meager possessions while I was here.

I pulled the zipper closed and then sat down on the bed next to my suitcase. Packing was as far as I’d gotten in my planning.

The phrase all dressed up and nowhere to go started dancing through my head. That was me. All packed up and no place to call home.

I sniffled and, startled by the sound, reached up to find my cheeks wet with tears.

Crap. This was not the time for a pity party. Damn pregnancy hormones. I wiped my cheeks with the backs of my hands.

I needed to think and come up with a plan. I’d packed up all my stuff.

I obviously wasn’t cut out to have a family, and I hated to think what that meant for my baby.

I rubbed my hand over my belly. “Sorry, Bruiser. You deserve a better mommy. But I’m the one you’ve got. I promise I’ll make sure you never feel like you don’t have a family. You’ll always have everything you need.”

Now I just had to figure out how to keep that promise.