The Wolf’s Pregnant Rejected Mate (Bluebell Valley Wolves #2)

Chapter 16 - Ryder

Ryder wasn’t sure that Tess still wanted to train with him, but he asked her a few days after her release from the clinic. She ought to be healed up enough now. Tess was just coming off a long day of nannying but reaffirmed her desire to learn how to fight. He expected her to bring up the incident with Lenard, but she seemed determined to ignore it.

The next afternoon, they met in Echo’s backyard. Ryder lived with his mother for the time being; he was busy enough that he didn’t have the time to search for a new home for himself. Besides, he liked being around for Echo’s sake. Though she had almost fully recovered from the demon possession, she was getting older. Some things were more difficult for her than they had once been.

It was a large yard, fenced in at all sides, with a shed in the far corner. The patchy grass was soft underfoot as Ryder and Tess faced each other.

“We’ll start in human form so I can give you quick feedback,” Ryder told her. He ignored the happy snorts his wolf kept doing. “First, let’s go through some warmup exercises.”

He led her through jumping jacks, lunges, and other movements to warm up the joints. Afterward, he started her on basic kicks and punches. Though she was well coordinated, she was awkward with the blows and held herself back. Before every strike, she paused, and it was clear she was taking stock of everything before she made her first move.

“You’re overthinking,” Ryder told her. “Your body knows what it’s doing. Let yourself go on instinct. Like you did in the cabin.”

Tess’s head snapped up. Her blue eyes widened as her cheeks turned pink. She opened her mouth, then shut it again.

Did she regret their time together? Was that why she had been avoiding him over the last few days? Ryder lifted the punching shield and gestured for her to go at it again. Tess concentrated, her expression growing serious. She punched but pulled it at the last second.

Ryder sighed. “You’re not going to hurt me through this thing.”

Tess took off her gloves and shook out her hands. “This doesn’t come naturally to me.”

“I saw you fighting the demons. It does. You just need to let yourself listen to your body. Stop trying to be perfect, Tess. Form is important, and we’ll get more into that later. Right now, I want you to hit this like you mean it,” Ryder growled. He lowered his voice. “Tap into your desires. Tap into the rebellious part of you that won’t take shit from anyone.”

She hit harder this time.

“Good! Again. Don’t let them tell you what to do,” Ryder encouraged. “Don’t let them say that you’re not a fighter. You are a fighter. You’re a warrior.”

Tess growled and double-punched the shield. The blows landed hard enough that Ryder had to brace himself to stop from stumbling. His wolf pranced around, excited. He grinned, nodding his encouragement to her. She punched, and he started to move backward, leading her into a dance. Tess kept advancing, continually beating on the shield. Her dark hair, pulled into a bun at the back of her head, glistened in the sunlight.

Sweat beaded her forehead and neck. Her breathing grew harder, and so did Ryder. The concentration in her expression, the way her lips pulled together. The solidness of every blow. She really was amazing, even for being so uncertain at the start.

After ten minutes, Ryder called for a stop. “Get some water, and we’ll stretch out your arms,” he said. “We don’t want to overwork those muscles.”

Tess nodded and jogged over to the water bottles. Ryder took the opportunity while she wasn’t working to adjust himself, to make sure his bulge wasn’t showing in his loose-fitting pants. He joined Tess at the water and took a few sips of his own.

“I was imagining Elin’s face,” Tess said, not looking at him. “Mica says I need to be civil with her. I don’t get it; Elin was so cruel to her, too. But I’m the one that has to be the bigger person, even though she’s the one that told my parents about us.”

Ryder scratched his chin. Ah, there it was. He wondered if she was going to bring up the cabin again. However, he would have preferred her to have actually brought it up rather than do it this roundabout way.

“When I got home that night, Mom knew we’d slept together,” Ryder said stiffly. He wasn’t a fan of Elin, but he didn’t want Tess to unfairly blame her. “She could smell you on me. No doubt people could smell me on you, too. Everyone we talked to would have known Tess. And with this town being the rumor mill it is, it’s no wonder how your parents found out so quickly.”

Tess screwed the cap back onto her water slowly.

“I don’t think Elin told anyone,” Ryder continued, looking up at the sky. “It was just obvious. I understand if you wish that it hadn’t happened that way. I’m sorry that—"

“No, don’t apologize,” Tess whispered. She stared down at the ground, her cheeks turning red. “I don’t wish it hadn’t happened. I just wish that it could have stayed between the two of us. It felt so… um… well, it was special. When we were in the cabin. It wasn’t this huge life-changing event that permanently changed me, but it was just so special .”

Ryder wasn’t sure how to take that. Not lifechanging? He felt that it should be a blow to his ego. But calling their time together special had a way of softening it. He felt the same way. He was the same person as before; nothing tangible had changed. But being with Tess had been different than he expected. It meant something important, and he didn’t want anything to cheapen it.

Tess kicked the ground. “I suppose this means I owe Elin an apology. I should tell Mica, too. She won’t have smelled it.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Ryder agreed.

Tess brushed a hand behind her ear in habit, since she had no loose hair. “But I just want to make sure that you know the whole thing about my parents? It doesn’t change anything.”

Ryder took a swig of water. “Doesn’t change what?”

Finally, she looked back up at him. “It doesn’t change what I said in the cabin. I don’t expect anything from you, and I don’t expect you to take me as your mate. And as for what my father said about… well, about me possibly getting pregnant.”

His wolf grew still, waiting in eager anticipation.

“I did the math, and it’s very unlikely that I’d be ovulating, which means it’s highly unlikely that an egg would get fertilized, much less all that other stuff about implanting and whatnot.” Tess waved a hand, her face bright red. “And even if, by some weird coincidence, I do end up pregnant, I still won’t expect you to make me a mate.”

Ryder scowled.

“I’m not pregnant,” Tess said quickly.

“It’s not that. Your dad is just a dick.” He shrugged.

It was a testament to how dickish he actually was that Tess didn’t protest that language. But despite his words, that wasn’t what made Ryder scowl at all. It was this insistence that they weren’t going to be mates. It was what they agreed on. Besides that, he wasn’t in the market to have a mate. He had too many responsibilities.

But something about the way Tess kept saying it bothered him. Why? Was it because it was essentially a rejection? That didn’t sound right. She was just telling him that the agreement they had already made was still intact.

Before he could imagine what life would be like if she got pregnant from their one-night stand, he put down the water bottle.

“We’re going to try some punching and dodging now,” he said.

“I thought we were going to stretch out my arms?” One of Tess’s black eyebrows arched.

Ryder shrugged. “Changed my mind. Now. Get into your stance.”

Tess put her water away and got into the right stance. Feet apart and slightly askew so she could adjust her weight however she needed. He walked through a slow trading of punches before he called for her to put it into practice while he moved around her. Tess’s face screwed up in concentration as she punched and lunged at him.

“You overstepped,” he told her when she stumbled past him, her arm swinging wildly.

Tess recentered herself and swung again. After several minutes, she came at him with her left hook. When he sidestepped, her right fist drove into his stomach. It was a solid punch, driving the air from his lungs.

“I did it!” she crowed, jumping up and down. “I hit you!” Her sweaty face glowed with triumph even as she blushed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to hit you that hard.”

Ryder chuckled as he straightened. The way she danced around while being simultaneously embarrassed was just too damn adorable. He rubbed his stomach. It was impressive that she’d managed something that hit that hard after the trouble she’d been having earlier.

“You did well,” he said once he regained his breath. “It was a good trick. I’m impressed.”

“Impressed?” Tess beamed. “Here, I thought it was that sort of thing that turned you on.”

Her cheeks went even redder as her eyes widened. She clapped her hands over that pretty mouth of hers and shrank back. Clearly, she expected him to be angry at her. When he was quiet, though, the worry in her eyes shifted. Curiosity radiated from her.

She lowered her hands. “Is it?”

Ryder nodded. “This whole afternoon is one big turn-on for me.”

“Oh.” Tess glanced around at the high fence around them. “Then… will you teach me more about sex, too?”

“More?” he repeated. He searched her face as his wolf growled in pleasure.

Tess nodded slowly. “One time isn’t enough to learn everything, is it?”

“No. It’s not.” Ryder took her hand.

Where, though? They couldn’t have sex here on the lawn. Anyone could look over the fence. Worse, his mother could come home and look through a window. The shed. It was kept clean enough and would give them privacy.

Ryder led her toward the shed. His heart pounded with excitement. Her scent surrounded him as he shut the door behind them. Tess melded against him, and their mouths crashed together. Fuck yes! Ryder gripped her hips and pulled her tight to him, grinding himself against her. This was exactly what he needed.