Craving Tori: White Timber Pack(9)


Kelly and I both look at each other, then chuckle. The joys of being pregnant. Her belly is a fair size for only being five months along. Elizabeth told me that shifter pregnancies are different than human ones. Shifters are only pregnant for seven months. That’s insane. Will it only be seven months for me? Will my body allow the baby to grow? There’s so many things running through my mind right now. I’m worried I won’t be able to get pregnant.

A few minutes later, we’re finally out the door and ready to head home. Elizabeth complaining about her feet the whole ride. I can’t wait to get home, I have a date later with my mate, and he’s going to be teaching me some self-defense moves.

God, I’ll be drooling over Ryan without a shirt.





Supper should be ready soon. The smell of ham drifting through the house makes my stomach growl. After all the shopping and running around this morning, I’m starving. We had a light lunch, but it didn’t fill me up like I thought it would. And I love ham, my mouth begins to water just thinking of the juiciness of it. I head to the kitchen to see if Mary needs any help with anything. When I enter, Mary’s head tilts up and she smiles.

“Can I help with anything?”

“You can cut the ham, if you’d like. The potatoes are already done up. The gravy is almost finished simmering,” she mentions.

I walk around the counter and grab the knife out from the block. I take the carving fork and push it into the ham, holding it in place as the knife slices through the ham easily. I cut most of the ham. Once I’m done I turn around to see if Mary needs anything else to be done.

“All done, anything else?” I ask.

“If you could let Darren and Ryan know that supper is ready and for them to sit in the dining room that would be great.,” she replies.

I nod my head.

“Sure.” I give a smile before leaving the kitchen. I make my way to the living room, where I’m sure Ryan and his father are. As I get closer to the living room, I hear the TV playing, indicating that I was right. I turn the corner and see Ryan spread out on the couch. Darren is on his lazy boy with his legs up.

A smile creeps up the corners of my lips as I stare at my mate. It’s like he knows I’m there, his eyes snap over to me and he smiles.

“Supper is ready. Mary told me to tell you both to take a sit in the dining room.” Ryan nods and gets up from the couch, stretching before making his way over to me. He wraps his arms securely around my waist.

Each day, I fall a little deeper for him.

Darren only grunts in reply while closing the lazy boy. He stands and stretches. “Damn, when did I get this old?” he jokes when his back cracks. Ryan chuckles softly against me as I snicker behind my hand.

We exit the living room and make our way to the dining room. The table is all set and ready for us to take our seats. Darren looks lovingly at his mate. “This looks amazing, Mary,” Darren exclaims.

Mary blushes. “Oh, this, it was nothing. It’s just ham and potatoes,” she mutters under her breath.

A giant smile spreads across my face. That’ll be Ryan and me someday. Flutters begin in my stomach just thinking about it. Darren and Ryan’s stomachs decide to growl loudly as they take their seats. Mary and I look at each other and we break out laughing at them.

“Dig in while it’s hot,” Mary mentions.

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Darren replies, filling his plate.

We all get our plates filled with ham and potatoes and dig in.

A few minutes after stuffing our faces with food, Darren looks up from his half empty plate to Ryan, then to me. “How are things going with you two?” Ryan tenses a little beside me. I put my hand on Ryan’s, he looks up at me and I smile at him. I know his father is wondering how things are moving for us, if we’ll be mated soon. I know enough about shifters to know how dangerous it is for a couple to be together and not mated.

I give Darren a smile as I answer him before Ryan can. “Things are going very well for us. And the mating will be very soon,” I mention. Ryan starts choking on his food slightly, and I pat his back a little before he turns his head my way, his eyes wide with shock.

“Are you sure?” he asks, swallowing roughly. I nod my head with a blush on my cheeks.

He’s my mate and I’m ready to pledge myself to him for the rest of our lives.

Darren perks up, excited about the news. “That’s great news, right Mary?”

Mary nods her head with a huge smile on her face. “Yes, it is. I’m getting another daughter,” she says softly. Mary looks over at me with love in her eyes, a love a mother would have for a daughter.

Supper turned out great, the food was amazing. The ham was delicious. Mary keeps spoiling me with these meals. I just pray that I can live up to Mary’s cooking for Ryan. I don’t want to make something for him that’s awful. I haven’t done much cooking, but since living in the Jackson house, I’ve been helping with the cooking where I can in order to learn.

These past five months have been amazing. It doesn’t even feel like it’s been that long.

Ryan mentioned that he’s going to have a surprise for me. I’m giddy, like a little kid in a candy shop, wondering what it could be. I have a feeling deep in my bones that it has something to do with a house after we’re mated.

Crazy to think that I, a plain Jane, will have a mate and my own house to run. Elizabeth does amazing, cooking and cleaning, but I’m worried I won’t live up to his expectations. I can only do the best I can and hope that’s enough.

J. J. Marstead's Books