Disclaimer: Patricia Briggs owns all characters and lore

Silent Love

I'll run away with your foot steps
I'll build a city that dreams for two
And if you lose yourself
I will find you

- Zedd
(Find You)

Adam was not in a good mood.

Granted, that was not entirely a surprise- his werewolf temper tended to overshadow and affect his mood on a regular basis. However, this particular time, he was in a really, very bad, bad mood.

It had a lot to do with his eighteen-year old daughter. Jesse. Although realistically, it had more to do with the naked boy he'd just found sleeping in his daughter's bed.

Jesse's new boyfriend, Damien, had already been close to the top of Adam's annoyances and irritants list.

This particular situation had skyrocketed Damien to public enemy number one. A position worthy of death by werewolf.

"Dad!" Jesse shouted, though it didn't look as though he could hear her. His eyes had glowed a fierce yellow the moment he'd understood what he was looking at. This creature taking advantage of his daughter. He had begun shifting to wolf immediately, albeit not on his own volition. Rather his shift had begun by the irrational and intense reaction that his wolf was experiencing. "STOP!"

Adam paid his screeching daughter no mind. He would tear Damien limb from limb and eat his heart out and relentlessly tear up anything recognizable.

Since it took at least several minutes to shift from human to wolf form, Damien had time to try and plan escape. Though, he was far too freaked out and frightened to do much of anything. The added time did, however, allow Adam's mate Mercy time to evaluate the pulsing anger she'd felt through their mate bond. It had nearly knocked her sideways when her husband's ire had hit her. She was up and running up the stairs before she could process what was going on.

"MERCY!" Jesse tried, knowing her step mother was the only person capable of stopping her father from ripping Damien to shreds. He would. She knew he would. "Mercy hurry the fuck up!"

At the word "fuck" Adam released a loud growl, directed at his daughter for swearing. He never swore much himself, being raised a gentleman in the fifties, and expected his daughter to follow suit.

Jesse felt a tiny sense of relief. If her father was focused on her instead of Damien, it might delay him enough to allow Damien to escape or for Mercy to diffuse the situation. Adam would never hurt Jesse, no matter what, and she could use that to her advantage.

"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!"

Adam's still shifting body turned towards Jesse and glowered at her. This kind of anger had never been directed at her and she felt it chill her bones. He was her father and he would never hurt her, but he was still a werewolf and she was still human. Ergo, he could still scare the hell out of her.

"SHIT! DAMMIT! FUCK! HELL! SHIT!" She continued as she heard Mercy's footsteps race up the staircase.

"Adam what the hell is going on?!" Mercy yelled, her voice flowing into the room as she neared Jesse's bedroom.

Adam heard his mate's voice and his ears flattened, his wolf evaluating if there was danger to her if she came into the room. Once it was evident that Damien- who had finally gotten pants and a t-shirt on- was no threat to Mercy he returned his attention to his source of anger. Damien.

"DADDY- DON'T."

He growled again. If it were just Adam, he might listen to his daughter. But his wolf was more than in control. He'd taken over. Adam could do little to nothing to stop what was about to happen even if he wanted to.

"Adam," Mercy said breathlessly, finally appearing in the doorway, appraising the situation. Once her eyes focused she sucked in a deep breath. "ADAM."

His ears flickered in acknowledgement but he didn't turn his attention towards her.

"Mercy tell him!" Jesse met Mercy's eyes with a plea of desperation. Mercy looked bewildered before Jesse's words settled down and made sense to her. "Tell him now!"

"Jesse now is not the time."

"He'll stop," she insisted, glancing worriedly between Damien and her father. Damien had shrunk into the corner by the window, looking absolutely petrified.

Adam could smell his fear fresh in his nose and it pleased him. Jesse had already moved between her father and Damien, but it wouldn't last. Adam was an Alpha werewolf; he was certainly capable of having the speed to get around his teenage daughter, especially when he could smell Jesse's scent on Damien, which displeased him even more. "You have to tell him."

Adam obviously heard the conversation but the words weren't important to him in the moment. He could ask later what they were talking about. Right now he needed to focus on ripping that scum's throat out. He growled at his daughter again, warning her to get out of his way. Tears had started streaming down her face and it fueled his anger, as he blamed the boy for the whole situation.

"Adam," Mercy said carefully. She knew she could find her Adam that was currently being overshadowed by his more tempermental wolf. She could always find Adam. Her voice was soft and comforting and immediately sent weak signal signals of calm to Adam's wolf. His fur softened the slightest bit, but it was not nearly enough to stop the attack. "Adam, sweetheart, please."

He growled softly in her direction, acknowledging his mate. His shift was almost complete. It was only a matter of moments before Adam lost it completely and murdered the poor boy, something that would no doubt haunt him forever, not to mention destroy his relationship with his daughter.

Jesse heard other footsteps on the stairs and knew that whoever in the pack was in the house was coming to see what had triggered Adam's anger.

Adam was inching closer to Damien's terrified figure, determining his best plan of attack.

"Adam," Mercy said again in the same voice, carefully stepping towards her husband. They had been married long enough for her to know how to calm her overly agitated mate down. She'd seen this level of anger before, but only on mortal enemies that she wanted dead anyway. She was certainly not Damien's biggest fan, but she certainly didn't want him dead. She'd never had to talk Adam down from this kind of anger before. She feared she wouldn't be able to.

Darryl, Honey, and Ben appeared in the doorway, each one looking a bit shell shocked.

Darryl and Honey backed off, knowing that having more dominant wolves in the room would only temper Adam's anger. Ben stayed where he was, aware his presence wouldn't do much, but that it wasn't wise to come any closer. It was up to Mercy.

"Adam," Mercy's voice was slightly more firm now. "Baby please, come here to me."
The words reached Adam and his wolf. He whined a bit, letting her know that he wanted her to stop so that he could continue with his task with his hunt. It was hard to focus on killing Damien when Mercy was talking to him like that. The glow of his yellow eyes dimmed ever so slightly.

"Mercy," Jesse was hissing now. "Just tell him. It's the only thing that will stop him. You need to distract him." So I can get Damien out of here. But she didn't say that.

Mercy shook her head. She crouched down. "Adam, come here. It's ok. I'm here. You don't need to do anything. Jesse is safe. I'm safe. We're safe."
Protect. Protect. Protect. Adam's mind was chanting. She was right. Mercy was safe, safe as she ever was anyway, and Jesse was unharmed. He should calm down.

His posture softened a bit more.

It was working.

"You don't want to do this Adam. I know you, you won't be happy if you do. Think of Jesse. We can talk about this when you're human again," Mercy continued.

"But everything is ok. I am ok. Jesse is ok. You are ok."

Adam whined again but stopped his dangerous saunter towards Damien.

But it was then that Damien decided to make the mistake of breathing a sigh of relief accompanied by a soft "fuck me," effectively re-triggering Adam's wolf.

All of Mercy's words were forgotten as the dark wolf snarled at Damien and moved towards him faster than he had before. Evidently, Damien had re-triggered Adam.

"MERCY." Jesse begged, crying out as more tears came hard and fast.

Mercy paused but only for a moment. Her step daughter was right.

"I'm pregnant!" she blurted, knowing those were the only words she had in her arsenal to possibly stop Adam from his attack.

It worked, freezing Adam- and everyone else apart from Jesse- in their place. The moments where everyone stayed still felt like ages, but Mercy eventually rose from her crouched position as her husband turned to face her.

He growled.

Mercy frowned, when she'd thought about this moment in her head it had not looked anything like this. Adam had definitely not been growling at her as wolf in those scenarios.

He didn't believe her. He thought she was just trying to distract him from his hunt, from his prey. He growled again when she didn't reply immediately.

"I am pregnant," she said again. "Adam. I promise I am. I'm not lying. I didn't exactly want to tell you like this, but here we are."

Damien, completely forgotten by Adam at this point, struggled to his feet with Jesse's help.

Adam's next growl came accompanied by words in her head through their mate bond. Prove it.

"I don't know how!" She replied out loud. "We can go to the doctor or get a pregnancy right now if you want."

He soundlessly snarled- her answer clearly unacceptable to his wolf.

She threw her hands up in exasperation. "What am I suppose to tell you?"

Adam had begun moving closer to Mercy and further away from Damien, who was finally starting to have color return to his skin. Mercy walked toward Adam slowly, knowing his anger was still far from dissipating.

Honey cleared her throat behind them, intentionally calling attention to herself. Adam met her eyes and she immediately dropped them, soothing Adam's Alpha wolf ever so slightly in her act of submission.

"Yes Honey?" Mercy supplied for Adam, knowing he was wondering the same thing.

"When someone is pregnant," she started. "Werewolves can generally smell the baby's scent. It's only slightly different from the mother's and blends pretty easily, but if you know someone is pregnant you should be able to differentiate." She looked at Mercy. "How far along are you?"

There you go. Mercy said through her mate bond to Adam, not knowing if the words were actually going through. Just sniff me then.

He growled at the sassy way she'd sent the words, proving that their mate bond was improving more as she could send him clear words and emotions.

Out loud she answered Honey: "I think two and a half months."

He growled again. Why hadn't she told him?

"I found out last week!"

His wolfish expression didn't change.

"That should be long enough that the baby should have its own scent," Honey quietly provided.

Mercy looked at Adam. "Just sniff me dammit."

He rumbled again at her cursing but closed the small distance between him and his mate slowly, his snout raised in the air, scenting for anything unusual.

He knew Mercy's scent better than his own. If she was pregnant and the baby smelt differently surely he would have noticed by now. It had been two months after all.

He didn't smell anything out of the ordinary until his nose was an inch from Mercy's stomach. His snout twitched and she gently lifted up her shirt just as Damien and Jesse slipped soundlessly out of the room. Adam pressed his nose entirely against her abdomen and inhaled deeply.

His senses filled entirely of Mercy, giving him instant comfort, joy and arousal. But there was something else to. It was similar to his own scent, but different. He took another breath and scented Mercy's skin as deeply as he could. Something was… Different. Not alien or intrusive, just- altered. He inhaled again.

Mine.

The sensation was overwhelming; the possession that struck through his body he had only felt once before.

Whatever scent he'd picked up on was telling him all that: that whatever he smelt belonged entirely to him. The mixture of his and Mercy's scent plus something entirely its own was his. His and Mercy's. Theirs. He remembered feeling the same sensation when his ex wife Christie was pregnant with Jesse, though not until six or so months into the pregnancy, certainly not as intensely.

Adam backed up slightly and threw his head back to howl loudly in satisfaction, his anger replaced by pure joy. The love of his life, his mate, was having his baby. It was a good thing he was a wolf because words wouldn't be able to express his joy.

He bent forward and licked her stomach endearingly, obviously pleased. The anger that had surged through the pack had admonished, replaced by indescribable happiness. Honey and Darryl were grinning and even Bed had stopped looking less miserable than he usually did.

"Bloody hell Adam," Ben commented, his accent thick as ever. "You've gone and knocked a coyote up."

Honey and Darryl laughed and Adam sneezed, acklowledging his amusment at Ben's commentary.

Mercy smiled. She'd been worried about telling Adam because she wasn't sure if the news would be welcome or not. Having a baby with a werewolf always had complications, especially if the child was any part werewolf. They'd agreed to wait longer to try and find out more- no one was quite sure a baby between an Alpha werewolf and a shifting coyote would mean- but life happened.

Adam whined again, but this time it was a happy whine as the remaining people in the room began to smile and offer quite congratulations to Mercy and Adam.

Adam trotted around the room, his back proudly arched as his eyes shined with happiness. He howled and barked excitedly, running back every so often to nudge Mercy with his nose to show how pleased he was. The whole pack would be at their house soon to celebrate.

His baby. Mercy's baby. Their baby. Together.

"I know," Mercy said, tears shining brightly in her eyes. She couldn't have asked for a better reaction. "I know," she whispered again, staring at him happily.

Adam had taken over from his wolf and could think of nothing more joyous. Something that was fully his and Mercy's was enough to keep him uplifted for weeks, maybe even months.

It wasn't planned but it didn't matter. He was over the moon.

He grinned at her in his wolf form but his eyes were Adam's again- the warmest shade of hazel. Mercy returned his grin, feeling the and joy grow magnanimously in his heart as she sank to her knees.

He barked and then ran to her, burrowing his massive form in her outstretched arms, needing to be close to her. Their audience, after deciding that Mercy was, in fact, truly pregnant, had left the couple to this intimate moment.

"I love you," Mercy said, knowing her husband was unable to reply verbally.

I love you. Adam's voice came through loud and deep in her head, sending her body into arousal alert. When he spoke to her like that there was next to nothing to stop her from wanting to jump his bones. And I love our child.

Essences of love and belonging radiated from his being into hers, resulting in a feeling of bliss for both of them.

She clutched him closer and whispered, "change back. Please."

His massive head nodded against her shoulder as his wolf subsided and Adam regain full control of his being. His shift back to human would take at least fifteen minute of scorching pain as his bones broke and reformed and his skin split. But it would be more than worth it to tell Mercy how eternally grateful he was for her existence and presence in his life.

When his shift was complete, Mercy was waiting patiently on the floor of Jesse's room, the door now closed, looking expectantly at her gorgeous husband.

"Pregnant," he finally managed, sitting on the floor, naked and staring at his mate in awe.

"It appears so," she said, unable to keep the raw joy out of her tone.

"You…" He started, fumbling on his words. He was an Alpha werewolf- he only ever fumbled when it came to Mercedes Thompson. "Wow."

She tentatively smiled. "So you're not mad? You're happy?"

Adam was suddenly surrounding her, in both scent and being. She felt the warmth of her skin pressed against her and wanted to sigh in contentment. There was no better feeling than being wrapped in his embrace.

"I wish you'd told me when you knew," he said softly. "But yes. Of course I'm happy. I don't think I could be more happy." He pressed a kiss strong and true to the side of her head.

She snuggled into him, loving the feeling of his touch.

"Why didn't you tell me? You told Jesse."

Jesse had, after all, been the one to force Mercy into talking.

"I was scared," she admitted, a bit hesitantly. "We said we were going to wait. And talk about it more. And I freaked out. I was going to tell you, I promise, but I was just trying to figure out the right time and place."

"So you told Jesse?" There was an odd sense of jealously in his voice.

Mercy laughed and rolled her eyes. "She found out. Busted in on me in the bathroom while I was peeing on a stick, then insisted on going to the doctor with me afterwards."

That was his Jesse, always overstepping boundaries.

Speaking of which, Adam suddenly grunted and unwrapped himself from Mercy. The joy receded and Adam's anger threatened to return.

"I'm going to kill that kid." Damien. Stupid Damien. Evil Damien.

Mercy was appalled.

"Adam, we're having a baby."

His eyes were soft again. "I know and I am overjoyed. But that doesn't change the fact that I found that- that mongrel in my daughter's bed. Naked. You know what that means Mercy. To my Jesse. They were-" he was winding himself up enough to splinter his speech.

Mercy rested her hand on his arm. "She's an adult Adam, she is allowed to make her own choices. You need to accept that. She's not your little girl anymore. She doesn't need protecting."

"She'll always be my little girl," Adam said, his tone growing somber as he remembered his sweet baby girl when she was tiny enough to fit in his arms.

Mercy rubbed his arm. "Of course she will be. But she is also an adult. You need to let her make her own choices and trust that you raised her well enough to made good decisions. Which, from where I'm standing, you did."

"I never liked that kid." Clearly, Adam wouldn't be able to say Damien's name ever again.

"No," Mercy agreed. "I don't like him either. But if that's what Jesse wants you have to respect her, and him. And if it's a mistake it's hers to make."

"He was naked," Adam growled.

"Sweetheart, they're nineteen years old. Don't tell me you weren't having sex at that age."

Adam looked like he wanted to throw up when she said the word sex.

"It's different," he eventually spat.

Mercy rolled her eyes again. "It's not."

"They shouldn't be doing… that, in my house."

This time she laughed. "Maybe, maybe not. She definitely should've known better in a house of werewolves, that's for sure."

Adam's hand found hers. "Thank you for stopping me. You were right. I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself for killing him, no matter how much scum he is."

"You wouldn't have hurt him."

"Believe me," Adam said, still feeling the remnants of his wolf's anger. "I would have."

"Not my Adam."

He just nodded and locked eyes with her. "Yours."

"Mine," she agreed, squeezing his hand. She moved their intertwined fingers to her stomach and pressed down on it. Their mate bond pulsing heavily between them.

They looked at each other, their abundant joy plain on their faces, undoubtedly thinking the same thing.

"Ours."

"Can we come in?" Sounded a knock at the door a little while later.

"No," Adam grunted. He was wrapped comfortably around his wife and his unborn child on the carpet of Jesse's room and he wasn't going to move unless someone made him.

"Yes," Mercy called louder, propping herself up on her elbow. To Adam she said, "We have other kids to think about, you know that."
Adam sighed, but grumpily turned his face into the carpet. "Fine." He muttered.

The door creaked open as Mercy and Adam untangled themselves, moving so that Mercy leaning against Adam's chest as he rested his back on the bottom of Jesse's bed, both of their hands clasped over her abdomen.

Jesse stuck her head through with a guilty smile. "Hi daddy," she said sheepishly.

He laughed a bit. "Hi Jess."

She let out a sigh of relief that he wasn't angry anymore and burst into the room, sliding to her knees and wrapping them both in a hug. "I love you guys."

"We love you too," Mercy supplied for the both of them.

"I'm, um, sorry about earlier," Jesse said.

"Aren't we all?" Aiden had appeared in the doorway. "That was awkward for everyone sis."

Aiden was their semi adopted, semi fae, semi elderly but fully loved ten-year old son. Adam's pack was a band of misfits, so it made sense that his family was a bit quirky too.

"Come over here," Adam said. Aiden, who'd been a bit abrasive and reluctant to join their family at first, surged over engulfed them all in his arms.

"I love you guys too."

Mercy kissed Aiden's cheek and felt her heart overwhelmed by the amount of love she had for the people in their little huddle. Adam. Jesse. Aiden. And now this baby. This baby would be the most cherished baby in the world.

"So we're gonna have a little werecoyote running around? That's gonna turn some heads," Aiden muttered.

They all laughed and released each other, though stayed sitting in a circle on the carpet.

"Maybe," Mercy agreed. "We really don't know how this kid is gonna turn out. Could be werewolf. Could be coyote. Could be human. Hell, maybe it will somehow be fae or vampire."

Adam growled at her last sentence. She smiled at him and pinched his leg. "Just kidding."

"I know one thing," Jesse said. "This kind is gonna be the biggest rascal. Always getting into trouble."

Adam looked at Mercy, then at the rest of his family, thinking about his unborn son or daughter. His heart was saturated with love and bliss. He wouldn't have any of them any other way. He would do anything to protect the people in this room. He would do anything to protect his own. Always.

"I want to say no," Mercy said. "But you're probably right."

Any child of hers was prone to being a troublemaker, a trait she could attribute to Coyote her father-but-not-father.

Adam laughed and pressed a kiss to the back of his mate's head.

"Definitely right," he said and Aiden nodded in agreement.

"So," Aiden said, glancing around at the faces of his newfound family, please to be a oart of it. "What are we gonna name this little pup?"

A/N: Hellllllo to all my lovely readers who haven't heard from her in so so so long, if you're even reading this because it's not GG lol

Anyway I just finished the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs and love the characters so completely I just needed to write about them. For those of you that have not read the books the stories and adventures in each are amazing and the creativity in Briggs' work is phenomenal. Not just your typical werewolf fic I think, but I don't actually read many werewolf series either, so what do I know? Anyway what I love most is she creates this incredible world you can't help but fall into a rabiit hole for and I think that's truly amazing. Would def recommend!

For those of you who have read this series please let me know what you thought of the chracter portrayal and about a lil bb for the Colombia Basin Pack! I really thinkk Patty needs to make this happen int he books because I think it'll give her a fresh way to write about all of the characters as well as this new one!

Thanks for reading, please drop me a review if ya can!

DM/Review if you have any questions!