Four Days (Seven Series #4) Read Free

to take me in. The choice was mine.
    But I loved and respected the Weston pack. I couldn’t imagine feeling content anywhere else.
    “Well, if Mr. Austin doesn’t light a fire tonight, then he’ll certainly be lighting one before the week’s end.”
    “Yay!” She went bounding toward our enormous house in such a hurry that one of her hairclips came loose and fell in the grass.
    I followed behind at a slow gait, looking up at our historical home. Lynn, Lexi’s mom, had chosen a light color for the exterior and had the men paint the house earlier that year. A long porch wrapped around the front, and a small attic window on the third floor overlooked the property. Austin kept the small attic space locked since we didn’t have enough personal items or furniture to store up there. Tall grass covered the open land on the right, and a long driveway stretched from the private road up to the left side of the house by the cars. Denver had built a horseshoe pit next to the house that got a fair amount of use. Everything about this secluded life had charm, including the flower gardens Lynn had planted.
    When I reached the wooden porch, I sat down on one of the steps and admired a planter overflowing with colorful petunias. Our pack had made plans to eat lunch at a Breed restaurant in a few hours, something Austin arranged every so often. Lynn wouldn’t be able to make it because she had a project to work on for her interior-design class. Lexi had signed up for a course on decorating cupcakes to brush up on her baking skills since her new bakery wouldn’t be ready for several months. The work Lynn had put into this house was breathtaking—something many of us said she should get paid for. She didn’t like her old job, and suddenly this seemed like an opportunity to receive payment for something she loved doing, so Lexi had talked her into pursuing a new profession.
    The door swung open and Izzy appeared. Her coppery hair lit up in the sunlight and she took a seat on the step beside me.
    I placed my hand on her swollen belly. “How’s the baby this morning?”
    She tipped her head to the side and leaned back on her elbows. “I have a feeling this one’s going to be wild like Jericho. It kept me up all night.”
    I patted her stomach. “Be nice to your mother,” I said in a playful voice, scolding the baby.
    “Jericho’s going to fatten me up if he keeps buying me donuts.”
    “Is he still doing that?”
    Her eyes sparkled when she looked at me. “If he’s not walking in with a box in his hand, he’s making me breakfast. Not that I mind, but you’ve never had Jericho’s cooking, and I don’t have the heart to tell him he’s just awful at it. He just doesn’t know what to do with himself. Sometimes in the middle of the night, he shifts in his sleep and his wolf guards my belly. I love Jericho’s wolf, but he sheds all over the sheets and keeps me awake with his low howls. I guess it’s the man’s version of nesting or something.” She lowered her voice. “Don’t mention this or he’ll know I’ve been snooping, but I don’t think he’s smoking weed anymore. I haven’t seen any in our room or in the house, and he doesn’t smell like it when he comes home from a show.”
    I touched her shoulder. “Parenthood changes people.”
    “Hell’s bells, I think he’s more excited than I am. The Relic said it happened the first time we had sex, and I wasn’t even in heat!”
    Shifter women didn’t have the same biology as humans. Pregnancy occurred during our heat cycle, and only in rare cases did it happen outside of that. “It’s meant to be,” I said. “The little one couldn’t wait to be born and already knew who her parents would be.”
    She smiled and her green eyes settled on mine as she sat up. “A girl? I told the Relic I didn’t want to know. You know how every Shifter wants their firstborn to be male because they might be an alpha. It’s driving Jericho mad. What makes you think it’s a