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few hours ago as he packed his bags.  
    “Bethany, it’s done,” he’d said to her with a hard edge to his voice. “I’m not trying to be a hard-ass or a jerk, I’m really not. It’s just not safe for you there, plus I need to focus on this job, and I won’t be able to do that if I have to worry about you and the baby.”
    She was fuming but also really hurt. How could he just desert them like this? For a job? Of course she wasn’t shy about saying it out loud.
    He’d zipped his duffel with a finality she didn’t like one little bit. “That’s a low blow and you know it. I’m not deserting you and I never will. Don’t you get it? If I don’t take this gig, I’m done with the Council. Finished. Now correct me if I’m wrong, but giving up my paycheck when there’s a baby on the way probably isn’t the best parenting move in the world, is it?”
    He was greeted with crossed arms and a stormy glare. She wasn’t going to let him off the hook so easily. He’d taken her on other jobs like this since they’d been together. She didn’t see what was so different about this one.
    “Well, for one thing, it’s a Brotherhood stronghold. Hopefully by now you understand that these aren’t just kind people with strong beliefs who will give you funny looks. These are dark, dangerous werebears who have been known to kill for less things than carrying a half-breed baby.”
    The words hurt as much as if he’d slapped her face. Half-breed? Did he really call our baby a half-breed?! The sight of him was turning her stomach.  
    “Get out,” she whispered, color rising in her face
    “B, I didn’t mean—“  
    “Out! Get out! Get out of my sight, you fucking asshole!”
    She needed him to leave before the tears came, because they were coming and it would be a flood. Screeching at him was the only way to stem the tide…for the moment.
    He’d just nodded, grabbed his bag and walked out.
    “He said he couldn’t afford the distraction,” she whined to Paul, conveniently leaving out the part about why her presence would be a distraction. “Didn’t even kiss me goodbye.”  
    He was quiet for a moment, assessing her. She hated when he did that, mainly because he was seeing things she wasn’t sure she wanted him to see.  
    “Can you blame him?” he finally asked gently.
    She gaped at him. “Yes, yes I can! How do you fly off to Alaska, of all places, and not kiss the mother of your child goodbye?”
    Paul chuffed at her. “Um, let’s see, because you were acting like a total biatch, maybe? I could hear your screaming through the walls.”
    He got up and rummaged around in a cupboard. How he didn’t crumple into a bloody mess from the daggers her eyes were shooting into his back she didn’t understand. She hated him for telling her what she already knew.
    “So this is all my fault? Thanks, pal.”  
    “Oh, calm down, Alex Forrest,” he said, planting a plate of Mint Milano cookies in front of her. They were her favorite, and he knew it, damn him.
    Stuffing a cookie in her mouth, she grumbled, “Who?”
    Paul rolled his eyes, as if everyone should know who he was talking about. “Alex Forrest? The crazy lady Michael Douglas impregnated in Fatal Attraction ?”
    She stopped mid-chew and just stared up at him. He was comparing her to Glenn Close’s bunny-boiling character! As much as she wanted to storm out in righteous indignation, she couldn’t stop her lips from turning up at the edges. A moment later, cookie crumbs sprayed everywhere as she burst into laughter.  
    “You’re…an…asshole…” she said between guffaws.
    Laughing right along with her, Paul wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a side hug before sitting back down. When the giggles quieted down, he picked up a cookie and nibbled at it.
    “You know I love you, B, but you have to admit you’ve been a little rawr lately.” He raised his hands up like claws when he said it.  
    Ashamed, she stared into her mug.