Free Saving Scarlett by R. E. Butler

been with anyone else and you didn’t use condoms.  To be entirely honest, I haven’t gotten my period but I assumed it was stress.  I’ve never been so wigged out in my entire life.  Between having to leave you and my dad’s plans for my life, I couldn’t eat right, sleep right, or concentrate on anything.”
    Wes grimaced.  “I’m sorry.”
    She put the lid on her apple juice and gave it to Ray.  Then she launched herself at Wes and he tumbled to the bed while she giggled.  “Don’t be sorry!  I’m pregnant.  It’s our baby!”
    Wes felt like his heart was going to pound out of his chest.  He kissed her firmly and then brushed her hair from her face.  “I’ll never be sorry again.  You’re going to have a baby.”
    She grinned and her eyes danced.  “This changes our situation entirely.  My dad can’t ignore my pregnancy.  I thought that once he discovered we were mated that he probably wouldn’t let me anywhere near Bent Creek, but my pregnancy cements our relationship.  We’re mates and I’m carrying your pup.  He can’t use me anymore.”
    “Cub.”
    “What?”  She blinked big blue eyes at him.
    “Lions have cubs.  Wolves have pups.”
    “Oh, right.”  Her nose wrinkled.  “Our sweet little cub.”
    “Give me some of that sugar, sweetheart,” Ray growled in happiness, and Scarlett crawled over to him and they kissed.  Wes rolled to his side and reached for her hand.  She clasped it as she kissed his brother.
    When the kiss ended, she looked at both of them.  “I still want to wait until after we mate, but I think we can go back to Bent Creek and tell my dad what happened.”
    Wes’s stomach clenched at the thought of her facing her dad.  “As long you as know we won’t be leaving your side.”
    “I know.  I don’t want you to.”
    She leaned back against Ray, and Wes sat up and kissed her stomach.  “Hey,” he whispered to her navel.
    She laughed.  “He or she is too small to hear.”
    “Still,” he said with a smile.  He looked up at Ray, who was grinning so broadly that it looked like his cheeks would crack.  “That’s part of us in there.”
    She stroked her hand through his hair.  “You’re not worried about whose baby it is?”
    Wes kissed her stomach again and sat up.  “We’re twins, so it might be hard to say, but it wouldn’t matter anyway.  He’s my brother and he’s your mate, so we’re a family together.  Any kids you have are ours together.”
    Her eyes suddenly glistened with tears and she sniffled.  “I have the best mates.”
    “We’re the lucky ones, Scarlett,” Ray said, kissing her neck.
    “It’s a tie.  Now, where are those crackers?”
    After Scarlett ate two handfuls of crackers and drank all three of their apple juices, she declared she was ready to eat a real breakfast.  As he and Ray watched her walk to the bathroom to shower, Wes said, “One of us should go get a pregnancy test.”
    Ray nodded, then got up from the bed and picked up the dirty clothes from the floor.  “I will after breakfast.”  He carried the clothes over to the separate laundry room and Wes heard the washer lid clang as it hit the back of the washer.  Ray walked out a moment later and canted his head.  Wes heard the shower turn on and Ray said, “I don’t think we should take her outside or back to Bent Creek anytime soon.  I know she’s pregnant, but even after we mark her… there’s a part of me that doesn’t trust her father.  I mean, this is a guy who thought nothing of giving his only daughter away to a complete stranger.”
    Wes nodded.  “I was thinking that when we’re ready, we should go to Ashland first and maybe invite her parents down there instead of us walking into a literal wolf pack.”
    “Good idea.  The pride will back us up if it’s necessary.”
    Wes didn’t want to think that Scarlett’s father would ignore her pregnancy and mating, but he didn’t know what to think of the man who had tried to