Accidental Surrogate

Sinclair

I’m resolved to buy Ella a ring tomorrow, but we still have to get through tonight first.

She was distant on the ride home, sitting across from me in the back of the limo rather than tucked up against my side the way I prefer. Moreover she didn’t say a word until we got back to the house, and then her only message was that she wanted to sleep in her own rooms this evening.

“Are you angry with me?” I ask, furrowing my brow in confusion.

“No, I just think a little space would be good for us.” She answers, hugging herself in a clear defensive move.

Maybe she’s right, I think, though it’s not easy to hear my thoughts with my wolf snarling in protest. I still haven’t gotten to the bottom of her reluctance to indulge our shared desires, and I don’t want to press her if she really isn’t interested. Even if she is, I think it would be a mistake to push her too hard or fast and risk spooking her. “Okay.” I agree eventually. “I’ll notify the guards.”

My wolf is whining like a pup as I stride away from her, and I can’t believe how attached I’ve become to the sweet human in so short a time. I don’t like letting her out of my sight when I know she’s under threat, but this is so much more than that. I’ve gotten so used to sleeping with her warm little body snuggled in my arms or sprawled out on top of me, that I’m not sure I’ll be able to rest without her.

I prepare for bed, I try to make my wolf settle, but it’s nearly impossible. In the end, I realize I didn’t scent mark Ella tonight, and if anything will calm my wolf, I imagine that will. I pull on

arrive outside Ella’s rooms I immediately pick up on a strange tension among the guards. I look around at them curiously, but their stiff postures are only compounded by their refusal to look me in the eye. A moment later a soft whimper emanates through Ella’s door, and I understand. It’s not a sound of worry, sadness or fear, but one absolutely dripping

silently order the guards away – knowing Ella would be mortified if she realized my men can overhear her touching herself. My own mind is divided over what to do – I doubt she wants me to hear this either, though she probably wouldn’t mind if she realized just how open shifters are about sex. Even my men weren’t embarrassed, simply nervous over my reaction to them being near Ella at an intimate moment. She might not be my mate, but she is carrying my pup, and that’s a claim every bit as powerful and sacred to our kind. They know how possessive I am of her, how protective. They probably thought I’d rip

the least objectionable audience to Ella, considering the intimacies we’ve already shared. Still, I have to keep telling myself this reminder as time passes. Every time I begin to wonder if I’m using her protection as an excuse to eavesdrop, I put myself in Ella’s shoes and recall how humiliated she would feel about so many strangers hearing her

listen to Ella finding her pleasure this way, because every small pant and moan fills my head with a thousand explicit images. I can imagine exactly what she’s doing, and the tiny sounds she emits every now and then egg my wolf on. He’s in a near frenzy, demanding we go in and put a stop to this immediately. I should

by the fantasy that I give in. Still, she’s clearly worked up

it might be the pregnancy, her hormones, or simply the fact that she’s a

near the end of this – I’ve given up all thought of scent marking her. If I go in there now, I won’t be able to restrain myself or my wolf. I’m hard as a rock on my slacks, and as soon as Ella’s need for privacy is over, I’ll let the guards return and trust her safety to them once more. Afterwards I’m going to have

is quickly running out of patience. I can’t understand his behavior. I’ve had sex with plenty of she-wolves over the years, and he’s only ever pushed me

Ella even if I wanted to. And I don’t want to… right? It’s just