“Pretty much. Because even missing her head, I’m not sure she’d actually die.”

They stepped into the long hallway and found more children than had originally been there. They stood around Lock, staring up at him with wide eyes. They were waiting for something.

Jess walked up to them and raised her brows at Lock.

“I’m not a dancing bear,” he complained.

“Please?” Jess pushed lightly, giving him a smile that made Gwen want to deck her.

Appearing more embarrassed than Gwen had seen him, Lock looked down at the children—and roared.

The children screamed and took off running, scattering in all directions while Jess clapped and laughed.

“And today’s Lack of Dignity award goes to…” Gwen muttered.

“Shut up.”

“They love the roar!” Jess enthused, before her attention was quickly snagged to what was resting on the stairs. “What’s that out there?”

“It’s for you,” Lock explained. “A little something in honor of—”

“Getting knocked up,” Gwen cut in.

Instead of being insulted, Jess clapped her hands together again. “Gifts for me! Gifts for me!” she cheered, making Gwen and Lock laugh.

“Show me,” Jess insisted.

Lock went back outside and grabbed the drop cloth-covered chair; together they followed Jess into the living room. Setting the chair down, Lock pulled off the cover and stepped back. Gwen could tell from the look on his face that he was nervous as hell about his gift. She didn’t know why. It was exquisite.

Jess gazed at the chair, May and Sabina coming up behind her. Then they all gazed at the chair. Gazed and said nothing.

It was a rocking chair, large and roomy. Definitely too big for Jess alone, but once her baby had gotten much bigger, the chair would be a perfect fit for mother and child to sit in together. Maybe while Jess read to him or her. Gwen could picture it perfectly in her head and it made her smile.

“Do you like it?” Lock asked. “If you don’t, I can—”

Jess held her hand up. “It’s…perfect.” She swallowed and walked around the chair. “Really. Perfect.”

Gwen almost rubbed her hands together in villain-style glee. Excellent.

Lock watched Gwen closely as she leaned forward, studied the arms of the chair, said, “Huh,” and leaned back.

While all three women peered at her, Sabina spoke first. “What was that?”

Gwen blinked, giving that same innocent expression she’d given Lock’s uncles. “What was what?”

“That ‘huh.’”

“Nothing.”

“You lie, feline. Tell me what you know!”

“Y’all,” May cut in. “No reason for everybody to get crazy.” She ran her hand across the back of the chair. “Maybe this chair is simply not to Gwen’s tastes. If she’stasteless.”

Sabina didn’t seem to be buying that as she walked around the chair.

“What are these?” Sabina demanded, pointing at the wide arms of the chair. “Cut into the wood.”

“Those are Nordic runes,” Lock explained.

“Nordic?” Gwen asked. “Oh! You mean like Nazis?”

Turning on her, Lock exploded. “Nazis?”

“Hey, hey,” she said, holding up her hands. “It was just a question.”

“You give us chair owned by Nazis?” Sabina demanded.

Lock couldn’t believe this. “Of course I didn’t!”

“You are Nazi lover!” Sabina accused.

“I am not!”

“Everybody calm down!” May let out a huff. “This is ridiculous. We all know Lock. Been knowin’ him for years. He’s not a Nazi lover. Are you, Lock?”

“Of course I’m—”

“So you say,” Sabina cut in. “But you tell us nothing of this chair. Perhaps it was made by Nazi lover.”

Lock glared at Gwen. “This is ridiculous.”

Gwen gave the smallest of shrugs, a tiny smile on her lips.

“Ridiculous or not,” Sabina said, “our Jess will not sit in your Nazi chair until we know where you got it from.”

Jess, who’d been about to put her butt in the chair, stood back up. “Oh, come on!”

“Do you want to promote Nazism?” Sabina demanded of her Alpha.

“Jesus Christ!”

“Blasphemy,” May muttered under her breath.

“Shut up.” Jess folded her arms over her chest. “Lock, just tell us where you got the goddamn chair from so we can stop all this foolishness.”

Lock’s jaw popped as he kept his focus on Gwen. How the hell did she manage it? For the last three years he’d been giving his stuff to Jess and her Packmates and not once had they asked where he got it from.

They’d never cared, usually too busy amusing themselves with the gift instead. But without breaking her word, Gwen had gotten them to do what they’d never done before!

Understanding his body language more than she should this far in to their relationship, Gwen explained to him, “I’ve been best friends with Blayne Thorpe since ninth grade and she’s more dog than wolf. So do the math, Jersey boy.”

“Well?” Sabina pushed. “Tell us where you got this or get your Nazi chair out of here.”

“It’s not—” Lock stopped, took a deep breath in an attempt to remain calm and keep the embarrassment at bay. “It’s a combination rocking chair and Viking throne,” he explained. “I looked at some of the old Conan the Barbarian art and stole some ideas for the chair from that and combined it with a standard rocking chair design. Hence the Viking runes—not Nazi.”