Wolf Tales 11 Read Online Free Page A

and saw pale green metal walls, a white toilet. The tile floor beneath her was clean, thank goodness, since she was obviously sitting on the floor in the stall of a public restroom somewhere.
    The mall. The big one in Corte Madera.
She’d gone to the mall with Tala and Lisa, one last shopping trip before the babies arrived. Babies? Dear Goddess, were her little ones okay?
    Panic lent her strength. She reached out with her mind and tried to find Luc.
Shit.
Pain knifed through her head, a blinding, agonizing headache that pulsed directly behind her eyes. Had blood loss and shock screwed up her mindtalking? There was no sense of Luc at all.
    No sense of anyone. Where were Lisa and Tala?
    Slowly, bits and pieces of the day filtered into coherency, until the pattern of the morning began to take shape. They’d been planning this shopping trip for days. Christmas was less than a month away and Tala and Lisa were almost eight months pregnant. Tia’s twins had come early—they’d agreed they were running out of time to do any shopping.
    Tala had been determined to get at least one more trip in before she had two little ones to care for. Conversation filtered through Tia’s memories—Lisa teasing Tala, something about already having two big ones who were high maintenance.
    Mik and AJ. Dear Goddess … did they know their mates were missing? Or were they okay and was she the only one not found?
    Tia’s nausea ebbed and flowed with her memories—the beautiful drive across the Golden Gate, coffee at that neat little shop in Sausalito, arriving at the mall early.
    Tala’d been so thrilled to get out of the city. Lisa, too. Tia and Luc had made a few trips to the mountains with the babies, so Tia hadn’t been nearly as frantic to escape, but she’d still been excited about a day with her girlfriends, especially knowing the twins were safely in Nick and Beth’s capable hands. They’d decided to shop at the big open-air mall just off the freeway, the one with the trees and fresh air between stores.
    Poor Tala. She was big as a house from carrying twins fathered by Mik and AJ. This pregnancy had been a lot more difficult than she’d expected, but nothing would stop Tala.
    Nothing stops Tala. Nothing.
Fading in and out of reality, Tia leaned her head back against the metal wall. Should she try reaching out for Luc again?
Damn. It hurts. Everything hurts.
    Something terrible happened.
What?
She couldn’t recall much after they’d locked the car and walked to the mall. Lisa holding on to Tala’s arm, both of them cracking pregnant lady jokes. Tia prancing ahead of them, showing off her slim, trim, eight-months-post-baby self. Laughing about whether or not Tala would ever get her tiny waist back, or if Mik and AJ were really going to change diapers.
    No one doubted Tinker. Lisa sounded so smug when she talked about her mate, but she had a right to. Tink was a gem. How many guys would willingly take on a woman’s labor pains? Tinker had, when Tia had her twins. Then he’d helped care for her babies once they got home to San Francisco, and they weren’t even his.
    He’d been there for every second of Lisa’s pregnancy, whether she was hanging over the toilet puking her guts out or worried about peeing her pants when Tink’s unborn daughter practiced her soccer kicks.
    Of course, Mik and AJ were just as terrific. Not quite as comfortable in the caretaking role as Tinker, but still wonderful and loving. No one could be like Tink—he was a natural. Still, the guys were there for Tala, worried and afraid, yet always supportive. As Luc had been for Tia.
    Luc.
She really needed to reach Luc, not lie here on the floor of a public restroom with her mind wandering and her body bleeding, but she couldn’t seem to organize her thoughts. What the hell happened? She ran her fingers along her lower abdomen, gently probing for the source of the pain.
    Holy shit!
There. At the sharp curve of her hipbone. A tear in her jeans and a fiery