Picture by Maya_2011!!!

I knew the conversation couldn't be avoided, I just didn't want this to turn into the meeting it had been earlier. So I made sure to get Mikko's attention before making my way outside. Nikki knew the plan, so she hung back. She'd come join my walk if Mikko didn't follow me in five minutes.

I barely made it to the trees before I heard Mikko following me. He stomped loud so that I could hear him. I knew that he could probably be just as quiet as Nikki.

"How far are you planning on walking?" He asked after following me for a few more minutes.

"I don't know." I answered. "Far enough that our talk won't become a pack meeting."

It didn't take much for him to catch up with me. "So this is about talking."

I nodded once. "I didn't lure you out here to reenact our meeting." I said with a hint of a joke to it.

He smirked. "And here I'd been hoping..."

We walked for another minute or so without saying anything.

"I shouldn't have let my wolf tell you what it did." At least he sounded a little regretful. "It wasn't appropriate."

"Do you think that's what would happen if said bad guys came for me?" He nodded once. "Then it was good you told me. But I still don't want to leave my home."

"They can visit. The drive isn't so bad."

I shook my head. "That's not the point. I always imagined that this was where I was going to raise my family."

"Plans change." He offered carefully. He seemed to be learning fast how to deal with the hormonal pregnant woman. "I don't want to put you or the babies in danger. Not to mention the rest of the pack. If I knew who would be ballsy enough to come after you, I could set up a few guards. But even they might not be enough. I can't stay here."

"What's so wrong with being here?"

He huffed. "The walls are thin in the alpha’s house. I wouldn't last long without hurting my brother-in-law. I can hear him fucking my sister every night."

I did my best not to show any reaction to that, but it still stung knowing that I had been replaced so easily. Apparently I was just a replaceable spot in some people's lives. I had probably just been the temporary replacement in Mikko's bed that might.

"Do you still have feelings for Eddy?" That question wasn't so well controlled.

"It's not that I have feelings for Eddy in an intimate way anymore." I confessed with a shake of my head. "I just hate feeling like I'm replaceable." I wiped my face when I could feel those dumb tears. It felt like I cried all the time some days. "So now that we're free of distractions and away from everyone else's opinions, we can work this out."

He eyed me carefully before nodding. "I guess this as good a place as any."

I nodded once. "Then I guess I should just put it out there that I have no intention of following you back to your packs lands." The look on in his eyes told me that he thought I was being stupid again and he immediately opened his mouth to tell me so, but I stopped him. "There's no immediate threat and no one's coming for me."

He sighed once. "Right now there's no threat because the rumor hasn't spread, but it will, Emily."

"Then have the alpha order the pack to keep its mouth shut."

"It could already be too late for that." He put his hands on his hips and looked at the ground. "What can I say that will convince you to come with me?" He looked up, making eye contact now.

"Right now, nothing. I don't know you. You're just the guy who happened to knock me up that night."

"If you don't come with me, then I'll have to stay with you. I can't take the risk of something happening to my kids."

I nodded. "Fine. I'm sure the alpha would be okay with you staying there."

He shook his head with a mischievous smile. "No. I'm going to be staying wherever you are."

I felt my stomach drop. I didn't want him at my house! It was bad enough that I had to wait for my dad to leave the house when I had…urges, but if Mikko stayed I would never be satisfied!

One of the many side effects of pregnancy that most women get to enjoy is an increase in their sex life. Being without a boyfriend, and too busy to find one, my vibrator had to do the job. That wasn't something I could do when a werewolf was keeping tabs on me.

"We don't have a guest bedroom." I said quickly. I didn't want him at my house! I needed the privacy!

"I'll sleep with you." He said like it was an incredibly simple solution.

I instantly started shaking my head. "No way."

He smirked. "Come on, I'm trying to compromise here."

"I-I thought you said that you couldn't stay here." Maybe I could convince him that he didn't have to be here. "When someone finds out, or I'm put in danger, then we can talk about you sleeping at my house."

"I'd just be back in a week to check things out."

"Then you can travel!"

He stared at me for a good two minutes before speaking again. "Fine. But when I even hear a rumor about someone that I feel is threatening to you, you're going to do this my way."

I shook my head. "I'm not doing this your way. I can't have you around 24/7."

"Trying to sneak around a boyfriend?" That damn smirk was back.

"Maybe I am." I tried to be vague so he couldn't tell what the real answer is. "Maybe I have things that I don't want you getting involved in."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine. Whatever you want, princess."

"So you're going to go home?"

He nodded. "Until I feel like I should be the one protecting you. Your father will suffice for now, but he won't last forever."

"My father is not weak."

Mikko shrugged. "But he's compromised by the loss of his mate. It still haunts him."

I didn't know that after all this time my mother's death still followed him around. He was getting better at keeping an act when others were around. She wouldn't have wanted this for him. It made me wonder if the whole pack was as perceptive to my father's pain as Mikko obviously was.

"You also can't go around telling people about twins. That will make it more worth the risk to anyone thinking about revenge."

"Fine."

----------

Once we got back to the pack house, I was exhausted again. I just wanted to go home and sleep in my bed. So I found my dad.

"I'm ready to go." I told him as I hovered over the card game he was playing.

"Give me ten minutes."

"We could be home in ten minutes." I whined as I leaned on his shoulder. "I'll probably fall asleep in the car."

"Have Nikki take you home if you can't wait." He snapped irritated.

I shoved myself off of him. "Fine." I shot back just as irritated. It wasn't my fault he had to start a stupid game.

"Nikki!" I shouted as I walked away from him. I knew my dad's quirks. Yelling right next to him pissed him off. His old werewolf ears were sensitive, it was a jarring experience…for him. "Nikki!!" I didn't even bother moving towards where I thought she was. I wanted to piss my dad off, and from his huffs and puffs I knew it was working. "Nikki!" I shouted one last time, louder and longer than the previous two yells.

Dad’s chair scraped against the hardwood. I pivoted on my heel to look at his wolf's golden eyes.

"Shut up child." The wolf growled threateningly. His eyes held a challenge that I instantly knew I was going to test it…I couldn't help it.

I breathed in deep and dramatic. Dad's wolf was a bit more hands on than my father, but I usually knew when to stop antagonizing. I ignored the alarm going off in the back of my mind. I was two years old again, unwilling to back down or listen.

When I started to yell again, a large hand covered my mouth, muffling the yell considerably.

"Will you stop being a pain in my ass for ten minutes?" Mikko murmured into my ear as he pulled me back towards him.

Dad's wolf's attention immediately switched to Mikko. "Let her go."

"I don't think so." Mikko growled back. He let go of my mouth, but still held me close. My entire body shivered from the sound. I liked it. "For the time being, she's not yours."

What?! I thought, but I wasn't going to get into any more trouble when wolves were playing a dominance game over who had more rights to me. I felt like nothing more than a possession, but I was used to it. I'd find some way to get some kind of payback.

"She's always been mine."

The side of Mikko's face was pressed against mine, so I felt Mikko smirk. "For the next year or so, she's not."

"You're not taking my daughter from me." Dad's jaw clenched shut tight. His hands had balled into a white knuckled grip.

"You sure you want to do this? I can guarantee it won't end how you want it to." Mikko taunted. He wanted to fight with my dad. I had a pretty good feeling that everyone knew this was going to happen...eventually.

Dad didn't answer Mikko; the wolf in control wanted this fight. He wanted to keep what was his, and I was all he had left.

Mikko nodded once with a smile I had never seen before on any face. "Good. Go to whichever place your pack holds its challenges, I'll be there in ten."

"Here and now." Dad's voice was rough. "I'm not afraid of you."

Mikko shook his head. "Not with little Emily around." He put his hands on my stomach to highlight the reason why everything was going so crazy. "Now go." He ordered my father.

Dad snarled very much like his wolf as he made his way towards the sliding glass door. It shattered into a million pieces when he slammed it open. I flinched at the booming sound it made.

Mikko picked me up as I stared at my father's retreating back. I was honestly afraid for my father. If Mikko was what everyone claimed, how did my father stand a chance against him?

Nikki started following Mikko once we passed her. "Come up in five." Was all he said to her. She instantly stopped and smiled weakly at me.

Mikko took me into the room that I had woken up in that morning. "You need to stay in here tonight." He said gently as he sat me down on the edge of the bed. "I'll be back soon enough."

"What are you going to do to him?" I asked as I watched him go to a bag and pull out some shorts. "You can't hurt my father."

Mikko glanced over his shoulder at me. "You're not a wolf; this doesn't make sense to you." It wasn't something that required an answer, but I shook my head anyway. He set the shorts down on the bed before coming close and crouching in front of me. "Normally, this wouldn't be such a big deal. But you come from a werewolf father and you didn't wait to be claimed before getting pregnant from another wolf."

My jaw dropped. "What? So it's my fault that you came around and knocked me up?" I asked defensively. "What you're about to do is because werewolves are stubborn and unwilling to bend."

He smiled up at me. "Yes, I supposed that has something to do with it." He put a hand on the bump where his kids grew. "It's happening because I won't let your father push me around." I could see the amber streaks slowly starting to form in his eyes. "I won't let him think that he has control over my children and, by extension, my woman."

"I'm not your woman." I said carefully.

He smirked. "The way I see it, so long as there is a piece of me growing in you, you're mine."

He stood up and took his shirt off and threw it at the bag of clothes. The clothes he had been wearing were kind of nice; he probably didn't want to ruin them in a fight with my dad.

I couldn't really think of anything with what to respond to him because his shirtless torso was very distracting. I needed to get out of the room before my increased sex drive kicked in. I had taken two steps towards the door when I heard the zipper of his pants unzip.

By the time I was close to the door I heard him laugh. "I'm decent." He teased. I turned and glared at him. "You'd think that all your time around werewolves had made you okay with a little nudity."

"Well I'm not okay with your nudity." I tried to keep my glare, but he was still shirtless.

He was so hot when he smirked. "Those hormones amp up your sex drive already?"

My cheeks grew hot. I was blushing and it gave me away! "That's none of your business!" I felt thoroughly embarrassed.

He barked a laugh. "Oh, come on! We can have a bit of fun with our situation."

He came towards me. My cheeks were still hot with embarrassment. He cupped my face with his hands. "That decision I'll leave to you."

He brought his lips down to mine before I could even process the proposal he had given me. It felt like it would be so easy just to give into whatever he wanted. The kiss went from sweet and innocent to a hardcore make out session in seconds.

The last person that had kissed me so intensely had been Mikko on the night I had conceived. That had been so long ago and it was so nice to feel wanted again like that by someone.

A knock on the door didn't completely bring me out of my lust induced haze, but it sure affected Mikko. His kisses weren't so intense anymore. I didn't want him to leave yet. I knew that once he did he would be facing my dad and I didn't want my dad getting hurt.

Mikko pushed himself off me and the bed with a second knock. "I'll be back in an hour or two."

I just nodded because I couldn't do anything else. I was still trying to catch my breath when Nikki came into the room.

Nikki came to the foot of the bed and stood there with her hands on her hips. "You need to be careful around him Em."

I took in one last deep breath, finally breathing normal. "I'm trying." The arousal I felt wasn't going to go away anytime soon though.

"Well, try harder." She chastised. "Mikko's about to go beat your dad's ass and you were making out with him!"

"My hormones are making me want to be intimate with a guy! Any guy! Sometimes it's like being turned on all day long, and being tortured because I know that I have no one at home to help me out."

Nikki sighed. "We'll find you a boyfriend." She suggested. "One that won't make the pack call you a rank-climbing whore behind your back." Nikki slapped a hand over her mouth.

And just like that, the lustful high I had was gone. The desire that had come to rest between my legs was gone.

"They're calling me a what?" I really didn't need her to repeat it. I heard what she had said very clearly.

It felt like I had been stabbed in the gut. Her look of guilt told me that it was true and also that she had been trying to keep it from me.

"I'm sorry Em. I shouldn't have said anything." She slowly sat on the foot of the bed. "It's not the whole pack. It's only a few guys. Everyone else understands what happened."

"Why would they call me that behind my back? I've never done anything wrong. This is my first slip up."

Nikki nodded. "I know. They're just being assholes about Mikko being the babies' father."

I felt tears collecting. Pregnancy had also made me become a fountain much easier than before. "I just found out that he was a werewolf. I met him at a club!" I sobbed. "I didn't know who he was!"

Nikki crawled over to me and wrapped her arms around. "I know that. They're just being assholes."

"Is that why Dad's been so easy to piss off? Is he hearing what I'm being called?"

She bit her bottom lip nervously. "You shouldn't worry about this. You have enough on your plate."

I felt faint. "Daddy knows." I whispered to myself. I sat up and put my hands in my hair. "Daddy knows!"

Nikki cringed. "He didn't want you to."

"But now I do." I felt the tears falling without even needing to blink. I looked back at Nikki. "Who's been calling me that?"

Nikki shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Mikko will put them in their place."

I shook my head. "No." I wiped my eyes and got off the bed. "Who is calling me a whore Nikki?" She looked at the bed spread and shook her head. "Nikki, I'm your best friend. You have to tell me who's talking shit about me."

She groaned. "It'll do no good if you yell at them."

"Tell me." She shook her head. So I played the trump card. "The longer I stay stressed out, the longer the babies are smothered in this bad energy. Tell me so I can relax."

She glared at me. "You can't use the baby card on me!"

"I just did." I snapped. "Tell me."

She did.