by Kallie Frost
“Yes, you can always tell. In time, you'll learn to sense if someone is an alpha, beta, or omega as well. And in your wolf form, they may have a lingering scent of what type of shifter they are. But, generally speaking, it's hard to tell species.”
Our server came with the check and to see if we needed anything else. After I signed the check and returned it, I turned around to take another look at the bar. He was gone.
“Crap,” I muttered. “Did you see him leave?”
Elliott winced. “No, I'm sorry, Rion. I must've been distracted when the server came.”
“It's okay, let's go straight home, just in case.”
He nodded, but a frown of concern crossed his face. “In case of?”
“Werewolf hunters,” I said grimly. “Not here, I'll tell you later.”
We walked swiftly home, while I kept an eye out for trouble. There was nothing out of the ordinary, I almost wished there was. I would have preferred to face down the strange man right then and there. Although I was itching to defend my mate, I was relieved when we made it back to the apartment without incident.
I was on edge for a few days, but as time went by the strange man didn't show. Whatever reason he had for glaring at Elliott apparently wasn't a personal one. By the time the next full moon rolled around the incident at the restaurant was nearly forgotten.
Chapter Eight
Elliott
Thump thump thump thump
I couldn't stop the smile that spread across my cheeks at the sound of the baby's heartbeat.
“It sounds like a galloping horse,” Rion chuckled.
“It should,” Nolan said with a smile. “Congratulations, it's a girl.”
Rion's hands tightened around mine and I met his gaze with a big smile. It may have been the four most beautiful words I had ever heard.
“And it looks like… I'm pretty sure she’s a beta. It’s a little harder to tell with girls,” said Nolan. “Let me print out a couple of pictures for you, she's in a great position right now.”
“Thank you,” I managed to say. Tears of joy unexpectedly filled my eyes. I swallowed around the lump that had formed in my throat and tried to hold back the tears.
Nolan handed the pictures to Rion and wiped the goop off my stomach. “That's it for today, Elliott. Everything looks and sounds great. I'll be seeing you in two weeks. You're just about halfway there!”
“Halfway?” I yelped.
“Three months,” he reminded me with a grin.
“We don’t even have a nursery yet!” I said. “Are we even going to stay here? I mean, this isn't where you live normally.”
“Yeah, we should probably discuss that,” Rion said. “But don't worry, I'm sure we'll manage.”
“Quite honestly, you really don't need to worry about a nursery,” Nolan said. “I know it's a big deal to get it all ready and everything for some parents, but the safest thing is for the baby to sleep in your room, at least for the first six months. Not in your bed, but in the same room.”
“My year away will be over by then,” Rion said. “We could move back to Half Moon… If you want to, that is…” He looked at me nervously.
Unless it was my imagination, Nolan sped up his packing. “I'll see you in two weeks then,” he said quickly. “If you need anything, don't hesitate to call.”
Rion eyed me in concern as the doctor left. “Everything is moving so fast, we really haven't talked about what will happen after the baby is born…”
“I only came here to get a change of scene,” I said. “I agreed to let you change me into a wolf, so that I can spend the rest of my life with you, and start a family. I guess I kind of assumed that I’d go with you back home. You do speak pretty fondly of it and it sounds beautiful there.”
“You’d come with me?” He sounded extremely relieved.
“Of course I will, I love you.”
“And I, you.” He put a hand on my belly and kissed me on the forehead. “And I have to say, it's a relief to hear that we don't actually need a nursery. But I guess we still need to do a lot of shopping.”
“We sure do! I'll start making a list,” I said. “Now that we know the gender it will be even easier.”
“My mother is going to be thrilled,” he chuckled. “She has mostly boys. And all my sister has had are boys. And I think Mom is a little bummed that she can't have any more children.”
“Why not?” I asked. “I mean if we are immortal and super healthy, shouldn't she be able to?”
“Legally!” Rion's eyes flew open wide. “I should've said something sooner. We can only have up to four alpha children. Since this one is a beta, we could have at least five children, if we want to now. But as soon we have four alphas, it's done.”
“Why is that? Seems like kind of a weird way to do population control. Is it because alphas are more aggressive?”
Rion shook his head. “Actually, it is population control. It's because alphas can turn humans into omegas. Even though, we can only turn one, you still don't want that many running around. If each couple is limited to four alphas, we can be assured that, in theory, there will only be four additional omegas.”
“That makes sense.” The baby twisted around and kicked. I honestly couldn't imagine getting pregnant even one more time, much less four! Then again… I looked at the pictures that Rion had set on the coffee table. She had her little hand up in one of them, with five perfect fingers. Just the sight of it was enough to make me tear up again.
“Shall we start that shopping list,” he offered.
“Let's do it!”
~~~***~~~
Two Days Later
My second full moon came and went. And honestly really wasn't that bad. I kept thinking back to what Rion had looked like after the first couple of moons, before I was with him. I expected to wake up all cut and bloody, but it never happened. We spent the day cuddled up together, recovering. Rion insisted I stay on the couch, so he treated me to all kinds of food. We put together a shopping list for the baby and went out the following day.
The baby store was overwhelming. I couldn't believe how much stuff there was. Even though Nolan said we didn't need a formal nursery yet, we still spent quite a bit of time looking at the cribs and other nursery furniture. Rion insisted that we get a rocker or a glider for my comfort. Based on experience with his sister and mother, something comfortable to sit on the middle of the night was indispensable. Woodland animals were apparently incredibly popular, so we had a ton of stuff, including clothing, with adorable wolves printed on them. Even though we didn't need a nursery or a crib yet we had a full set of sheets, curtains, changing table covers, and assorted storage boxes with wolves on them. And while I never considered myself the kind of parent who would cover a girl in pink frills, we had several dresses. I guess being able to envision my own daughter in them was a game changer.
As we wheeled toward the checkout counter with two overflowing carts I hesitated. “Wait a second, can we even afford this? I still have student loans, and my cell phone bill, and our apartment rent…” I trailed off, realizing we had never talked finances.
Rion smiled at me. “Have you ever noticed how often Nolan references my family?” I nodded. “That's because we pretty much own half of the island.”
“Physically? Or do you just mean the businesses?”
“Both. My grandparents purchased the island, oh close to three-hundred years ago now.” He lowered his voice. “They started it as a safe haven for shifters. Most of the income now is from human tourists, but most shifters who live there are quite well-off, especially my family.”
“I thought you worked as a bartender,” I said, puzzled.
“I do… in the restaurant that my family owns.” He grinned, flushing. “That I get profits from… on land that I also get profits from…”
“So, what you're saying is…”
“You're marrying rich and you’re set for your entire life.”
“How was this never mentioned?”
“Any other big secrets I should know about?” I teased.
“I don't think so.” He caught me in a hug and pressed his lips against my ear. “I do turn into a wolf…”
“I noticed,” I chuckled. “So do I.”
It wasn't until we were almost fully checked out that we realized there was no way we were carrying all of it home. Especially considering that Rion wouldn't let me carry anything heavier than a small bag of clothes. We solved the problem by buying a wagon. Anything that didn't fit in the wagon I put in the stroller. Together, we headed home with our loot.
I imagined the not-too-distant future, where we were pulling our children in the wagon. It would easily fit two, if we had them close enough together. I'd be pushing one in the stroller, maybe even pregnant with another one… I laughed at myself, wondering how many children I was planning on having. Even with the four in my little fantasy we still could have another one, and if we had another that was a beta, we could have even more. For every adorable little girl outfit I found there was an equally cute one for a boy and I knew that I was already on board with the idea of more children.
I turned to voice my thoughts to Rion, and noticed a black SUV out of the corner of my eye. It was coming down the street slowly behind us. I don't know why, but I was convinced I spotted the same one in the store parking lot. I turned fully to get a better look and it started moving at a normal speed. It went by us, and turned down the next street, and out of sight.
“Elliott? What's wrong?”
“Nothing… I was just thinking about how many kids we can have.”
Knowing that I was being paranoid, I kept an eye out for the black SUV as we walked and talked about the future. But when I spotted what I was sure was the same one coming up the street behind us again, I realized that maybe I wasn't just anxious.
This time, I decided I should probably mention it. “Hey, Rion?”
“Yes, my love?”
“In a second I'm going to turn around. When I do I think this car behind us is going to drive by. Will you try to get a look at the driver when it does?”
“What?!”
“Just do it.” I turned, just like I had before. Sure enough, the black SUV picked up speed and continued down the road. Once again, it took the very next corner. “Did you see him?”
“No… He had on sunglasses and the windows were tinted…” Rion turned to me, concern etched across his face. “How did you know he'd speed up like that?”
“It happened a few minutes ago. And I'm pretty sure I saw the same car in the parking lot too.”
A soft growl emanated from my mate. “I don't like that at all.”
“Neither do I.” I thought about the angry man who had been glaring at me in the restaurant. “Could it have been the man from our date?”
“That's what I'm wondering. I didn't get a good enough look at him.”
The thought made a shiver go up my spine. When we got home from the restaurant, the night of that date, Rion explained that werewolf hunters actually did exist. Most of them were unaware about the true nature of shifters, but took a more traditional werewolf hunter approach, arming themselves with silver bullets and things like that. And while silver itself wasn't a threat to us, a bullet certainly was. In spite of the full moon erasing their memories, the most dangerous self-named werewolf hunters had an obsession with werewolves or had enough repeated encounters with our kind that the full moon didn't do its job quite as well. They retained enough lingering memories to keep them interested in us. And the more they remembered, the weaker the moon’s hold over them would be.
I walked faster, a hand over my belly as if I could protect my unborn child that way. We made it home safely and I sat by the window, watching for the car.
Even though he was obviously on edge too, Rion tried to lure me away by offering to go through all the baby things again with me and make sure we ticked off everything on our list. I knew it was just a bit too paranoid to stay by the window, so I agreed. We went into my room, which I basically didn't use any more, and started unpacking our purchases.
“Just think,” he said, “all this stuff is going to belong to our daughter.”
“Our daughter,” I repeated with a smile.
It did work to take my mind off the person following us. Soon we had a load of laundry going and all of our daughter’s other future belongings stacked neatly against the wall.
“Now all we need is a name,” I joked.
“You wouldn't want to name her after someone in your family, would you?” he asked.
I was touched by the suggestion but shook my head. “It's sweet, but not really. I was never close enough with anyone to want to name the child after them. But what about your mother?”
“She'd love that… Come to think of it, I don't know that I'd be that opposed either.”
“What’s her name?”
“Verona.”
“Oo, that’s pretty. I really like that,” I said. “Let's go with that.”
“Great,” Rion said with a sort of disbelieving chuckle. “We just named our daughter.”
“We did.” I put my hands on my back and stretched.
“Does your back hurt?””
I nodded.
Rion smiled at me. “Let's go take care of that.”
He sat me down on the edge of our bed and pulled off my shirt. After settling in behind me, he started on my shoulders and began to work his way up and down, using just featherlight fingertips, sending shivers down my spine. He started to mix in harder pushes, until he was running his knuckles up and down my back, hard. I could feel the pain receding as he worked. I was almost sorry it was over, until he had me lay back and started on my feet.
“How did you know?” I groaned.
“You were on your feet a lot today and I know they’re hurting you. And don't forget we’re linked now. I feel your pain.”
His fingers found a sore spot and I melted into his touch. Before I knew it, he stripped me naked and was massaging me thoroughly. He alternated between deep, hard kneads of my muscles, to just ghosting over my skin with his fingertips. He mainly focused on my feet, ankles, and my back. But he took care to work on my neck and my hands as well. I was in heaven.
Then as his hands massaged away at my thighs they slipped inward and one wrapped around my dick. For a moment I honestly thought he was going to massage that too, the way he gently rubbed it. Then he urged me onto my side and lay down behind me, spooning me. I moaned in pleasure as he stroked my cock. His own hard cock pressed against my buttocks. I would have welcomed the penetration, but it seemed that his concern for our child extended to sexual positions as well. Instead he jerked his hips against mine, rubbing against my ass.
Rion nuzzled the back of my neck, kissing and nipping lightly. One hand continued to tease up my chest, sliding pleasurably over the mark. My body molded perfectly to my mate’s as we rocked together. We both howled as we came. Even though it wasn't as intense as some of our orgasms, the shared pleasure still made it incredible. Everything I felt was intensified as he felt it along with me. I may have been the one actually getting a hand job, but I knew Rion had felt it too.
“I love you, Rion,” I muttered sleepily.
“I love you too, Elliott.” His arms tightened around me and he snuggled against me.
“Rion?”
“Yes, my omega?”
“I have to pee.”
Chapter Nine
Rion
One Month Later
The pain was so unexpected I gasped, and nearly dropped the knife I was using to chop dinner. It wasn't my pain, but it was enough to stun me.
“Elliott?” I cried. My mate was the one in real pain. I followed our bond to his bedroom. He was doubled over his old bed, obviously in the process of folding another batch of new clothes for our daughter. By the time I reached him, the pain had stopped. “Are you all right?”
“Fine,
just a contraction.” Elliott smiled sheepishly.
“That didn't feel like the false contractions you've been getting,” I told him.
“I'm not sure if it was… You think we should call Nolan?”
“Let's make sure that they’re real first,” I suggested. No sooner were the words out of my mouth, then Elliott gasped and grabbed his stomach.
I clutched the doorframe as the pain washed over me like a wave. “I’m gonna call Nolan!” I cried. “I think this is the real thing.”
“Dr. Nolan Craik’s medical office, this is—”
“Avery!” I yelled. “I think Elliott's in labor!” He cursed under his breath. “What's wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong,” Avery said quickly. “It's just that Nolan is in the middle of another house call. I'll let him know right away, but if you factor in the driving time it's going take him a while to get there…”
“How long?!”
“Probably just under six hours? But don't worry, depending on how long ago the contractions started that should be plenty of time. Just give me a call if anything changes.”
“Okay… Thanks Avery.” I clicked the hang up button and just stared at my phone for a minute. Should I have asked more questions about what to do? Was I going to have to do anything?
“Rion? Is everything all right?”
“Yeah, it's just going to take Nolan a little while to get here.” I forced a smile at Elliott, knowing that he could probably sense me panicking.
“How long is it going to take him to get here?”
“Six hours,” I admitted.
Elliott's cry of alarm turned into one of pain as another contraction hit him. “God, this sucks,” he said.
“Walk around,” I suggested. “If it is just Braxton Hicks that should stop it, right?”
He nodded and stood. I watched nervously as he paced the living room. Even without our connection I could tell it wasn't helping. I checked the clock and only twenty minutes had gone by. I heaved a sigh and tried to think of other ways to help him. I nearly had a heart attack when my cell phone rang.