“That was so kind of you to bring us…so much. It will last us a good week.” Or a month, she added silently. She forced her attention away from the wrapped meat and smiled wider at Valiant. “What is the occasion?”

“Slade informed me that you were the one who thought up asking our women to come here. Twenty of them arrived yesterday. I have seen some of them from afar and am very pleased with the selections. I asked you to find me one female but you brought many for me to meet. I wanted to say thank you. I knew it would be bad form to just bring the entire carcass so I skinned and gutted it for you. I even removed the limbs and head.” He motioned to the large thing on the table. “I wrapped it to prevent blood from dripping on your carpet.”

“That was so very kind,” Trisha got out, trying hard to be polite, despite her shock. She stepped closer to him but then stopped. “May I have a hug to say thank you?”

He frowned. “Why would you want to hug me? You just said thank you.”

“It’s a human thing.” Brass grinned. “They seem to hug each other. Just deal, Valiant. She harasses me if I don’t allow her do that to me sometimes. It’s nice.”

Valiant sighed deeply. “I guess I should get used to being touched since I want a mate.” He opened his arms. “Go ahead.” He looked completely disgusted.

Slade suffered another fit of laugher but Trisha ignored him. She had to stretch up on tiptoe to put her arms around the huge man. Valiant held still while Trisha gave him a quick squeeze around his waist before she stepped back.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“No. You smell nice.” Valiant shrugged. “It wasn’t bad.”

“Thank you.” She glanced at the wrapped hunk of meat before flashing her gaze to Slade. “Why don’t we have a barbeque? You and Brass can cut it up, freeze what we don’t use, and we’ll have some of that for dinner.”

Slade smiled at the big lion-like man. “That sounds great. Thank you, Valiant. Do you want to stay for dinner?”

Valiant shook his head. “I have women to meet and a mate to find.” He fled the house.

Trisha pointed at the plastic that blood stained from the inside and whispered in case Valiant remained within hearing range. “What is it?”

“Hell if I know.” Slade shrugged.

“I’m guessing deer,” Brass whispered. “There are a lot of them out by his place. Deer steaks do sound good.” He stepped closer to the table. “Let’s get this into the kitchen.”

“Use the back porch, please,” Trisha instantly corrected. “That way you can hose the deck off after you cut it up.”

“Yeah.” Slade grinned. “That way you can hose off the deck once you cut it up, Brass.”

“You’re helping,” Brass growled at Slade. “I’m not a butcher.”

“Neither am I.”

“Well, don’t look at me.” Trisha frowned when both men turned to stare at her.

“You are a doctor and should be good at cutting things apart.” Slade flashed a hopeful grin.

“No way. Nu-uh. I’d be so sick. I’m the pregnant one, remember? I feel morning sickness coming on just at the thought of doing that.” She put her hands over her stomach and batted her eyelashes at Slade. “You are the big predator, after all. Isn’t that what you always tell me? So go…hunt up a knife and get busy.”

“So bossy,” he groaned.

Trisha laughed. “Want to watch me storm away?”

Brass chuckled. “You look at her ass and I’ll find some sharp knives and freezer storage bags.”

Trisha turned, presented her backside to Slade, and smiled at him over her shoulder. “Call me when you’re done. I’m going to go get na**d and take a bath. Thank you!”

“Tease.”

Trisha strolled toward the stairs. “You got that straight. Call me when dinner is ready. You’re the best.”

“Keep walking,” Slade growled. “Shake it a little, sweet thing.”

Trisha walked into the master bedroom still feeling highly amused. Some of her clothes had been returned to her that morning. Someone had salvaged them from the damaged cabin. She pulled out a summer dress and underthings from the dresser then moved into the bathroom.

She studied her na**d body in the mirror, seeing that she’d already starting showing her pregnancy despite the early stage of it. It worried her a little, no one knew what to really expect, and it could be dangerous. She had already experienced morning sickness, which marked the pregnancy as odd right from the beginning.

Slade had sneaked her into the new medical facility earlier that morning before dawn where they had an ultrasound machine. The facility wasn’t up and running yet but the equipment had arrived. The baby measured bigger than normal. It made her wonder how large a New Species baby would be at birth. The baby seemed to be developing at an accelerated rate as well. The way Slade had grinned at the sight of his child had warmed her heart. She had no doubt he wanted the baby as much as she did.

Slade was mixed with canine and their pregnancy cycles were far shorter than a human’s. She worried that the baby might grow and develop faster with Slade’s altered DNA. She’d have to keep a very close eye on the baby’s development to figure it out and try to estimate a due date. She’d talked to Justice by phone and asked if he would order more medical equipment to do just that. He’d readily agreed to get whatever she wanted.