Gray Back Alpha Bear by T. S. Joyce Read Free Book Online Page B

needed to hear it from him.
    “Because I want to know my kid.” He rubbed her belly gently. “And because I want to know you. I’d be shit at being a mate, I really would, but I want to help you with our kid. I want to provide for him and you. I don’t want you to struggle through this thing alone. I know if I’m scared, you’re scared, too. It seems a little less terrifying going through it together.”
    “A united front.”
    “Exactly.” He pulled to a stop in a dirt clearing that faced huge machines with claws. Thick metal wires swayed in the wind and stretched from a towering tree pole down the mountain and out of sight.
    “And what happens when you bond to another woman?” Her heart ached just thinking about him with someone else, but she knew how this worked. He could bond to a mate someday, and where would that leave her? Raising their child as she watched him fall in love with his true mate. Watched them hold hands and kiss. She’d have to live her life pretending she didn’t care for Creed like that. “What happens then?”
    Creed’s hand glided from her belly to her thigh, and he squeezed her leg gently. “You don’t have to worry about that.”
    She opened her mouth to ask why not, but Creed shoved the door open and got out. He was fooling himself if he thought he’d never bond. Sure, there was a chance it might not happen, but it very well could. Right now, he felt like he could do this—grow a family with her. But what if someday he was sitting in the bar and laid eyes on her ? The one his bear chose. It could happen, and then she would be the consolation prize family. The one he cared for less.
    She’d known this would be complicated—coming back here and trying to make things work until she knew how to take care of the little shifter child she was growing. Best case scenario was that she moved to Saratoga where Creed could see his child when he wanted and she could have some semblance of a life, not just waiting for Creed to find the one Gia couldn’t compete with. She didn’t want to live a half-life, so that’s what she’d have to do. Stay here until she got a grasp on shifter life, then find a job and an apartment in Saratoga. This plan felt safest. This plan would protect her from latching onto a man who couldn’t ever truly be hers.
    Gia’s eyes were wide open to all of this.
    Even if Creed was beginning to feel like her mate, she wasn’t his.
    The first step out of Creed’s truck smeared mud onto her navy slip-on shoes. Clearly, she wasn’t as prepared for the landing as she’d thought she was. She should’ve asked Willa what to wear. Shoes be damned, she grabbed the satchel she’d packed in case she got bored and turned to run smack into Creed’s chest. Sweet sugar, he was fast.
    “Tell me you’ll at least think about staying,” he murmured, steadying her by the elbows.
    Staying in Saratoga? “Okay.” She wouldn’t ever try to keep Creed’s child from him.
    “Good.” Uncertainty flashed in his eyes as his gaze dipped to her lips.
    Her breath caught in her throat. He was so close and smelled so good—all animal and whatever spicy body wash he’d used in the shower this morning. Raw power wafted off him as he stepped closer and brushed his fingertips against her quivering belly.
    Creed leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. There was no tongue or biting like there had been before when they’d both been desperate for a drunken quickie bang in the back of his truck. This was soft lips and sipping.
    Splaying her hands against his steely chest, she sucked gently on his bottom lip. A soft sound came from his throat, and he pressed her back against the side of the passenger seat. His hand slid up her neck, and he brushed his thumb across her cheek as he angled his head.
    She was melting. Something strange was happening to her legs, and now Creed was having to hold her up. His other hand pressed on the small of her back, dragging her hips closer to him,