by Chris Savage
“We’re pretty fucked, Casper, but it’s all in theory. Nothing has happened to us yet, and we’re trying everything possible to make sure it stays that way,” he said as he put up an expression that said he was not going to say any more.
“So how can I—”
“Your training with Gary is to prepare you for any possibility,” Mark interrupted him, and maintained the expression.
“Gary trains like I’m a stronger wolf than him. We both know I’m not learning anything from him anymore, it’s already a waste of time.”
“We both? Did you say both? Who, you and I or you and Gary? Because as far as I’m concerned you are not improving one bit. Your potentials are the greatest I’ve ever seen in any wolf at this stage, but that’s all there have been to it for a while now. You’re not putting in the necessary work to be better, and that’s because you don’t listen to Gary. You hear him, but you don’t listen. And that’s just sad. The fact that you’re a natural is making you lose sight of the things you really have to learn. And I tell you, no wolf ever thrived on natural instincts alone. So stop whining and do what has to be done.” Mark’s voice remained calm as he scolded Casper for acting spoiled, and he still maintained his expression.
“Wow Mark, wow. You know, if you were so concerned about my growth, why don’t you come train—”
In an instant, Casper suddenly stopped speaking and grabbed his stomach tightly. He cried out in pain and stretched out his hand, gesturing to Mark to hold it.
“Casper! What’s going on?” Mark asked. “Casper! Come on! What’s happening to you?”
Casper held his stomach tighter with both hands as he writhed on the ground. Mark took a few seconds in his confusion to figure out whether or not it was a reaction from his wolf side. But he realized it was not. He feared for the worst as he had never seen something like it in all his years. His instincts instructed him to lift Casper and help him up, and to run as fast as he could back to the cabin, but Casper suddenly began to calm down. In no time he was settled and stood up. His hair was messed up, scattered, and dirtied from the dust on the ground, and he looked blank as he stared at Mark, who was simply speechless.
“What in the heavens just happened to you, Casper?” he finally managed to say as he stared at Casper in absolute surprise. “I’m taking you to the medic.”
“You will do no such thing!” Casper’s reaction was surprising once again to Mark, as he noticed the young wolf’s claws suddenly elongating and sharpening. He was turning. He was taking a defensive stance against Mark for something Mark absolutely had no idea about. His feet dug firmly into the ground as he growled silently, his facial hair beginning to spring out of his skin.
“Casper… Casper… easy now, what’s the problem? We were just talking… remember?” Mark knew something was seriously wrong with Casper, and he was beginning to get ideas on what exactly the problem could be. He decided not to risk the situation getting worse and took action by swiftly knocking out the omega.
Casper woke in a hut-like structure with a man wearing a lab coat standing over a table with his back turned against Casper. He had a mild headache as he woke up, which began to fade immediately when he opened his eyes.
“Hey… where am I?”
The man turned around and looked at him with cheerful eyes. “Hey Casper, welcome back. I’m a doctor here with the pack. I just examined you and you’re pregnant, Casper. Congratulations!”
Casper did not understand the source of the doctor’s happiness as he spoke. He had absolutely no idea wolves could get pregnant. He began to freak out, but was soon calmed by the happy doctor.
“Hey, hey, it’s nothing to be afraid of, okay? I’m sure William will be so happy with this development, and of course he’ll explain everything you need to know to you. I can see a million questions on your face right now.”
“Where’s Mark?” Casper silently asked with a croaking voice. Just as though he had been listening, Mark stepped into the room and smiled at Casper.
With pitiful eyes, Casper looked at him from where he lay and helplessly asked, “Where’s William?”
Chapter 13
“So wolves can get pregnant?! So I can get pregnant?” Apparently, the doctor’s soothing words had no effect on Casper. He was beginning to freak out all over again. Mark had the responsibility of calming him down now.
“Casper, calm down.”
“I’m already laying down here, Mark, the least you can do is answer my question!” he yelled at Mark in frustration.
“Your question about whether you can get pregnant? You… heard what the doctor said right?”
“Don’t get sarcastic with me now!” He was beginning to notice Mark’s amusement again, just like in the woods.
Mark smiled mildly. “Okay Casper, to answer your question better, yes, you can get pregnant, and you are in fact pregnant right now. What else would you like to add?”
He was not exactly going to give up the sarcasm. Casper looked away and did not reply him. He was a vessel of hormonal changes, and he was not sure whether or not he was supposed to be happy as he carried a baby in him, or to mad at Mark and particularly William for not telling him that he could get pregnant in the first place. He imagined if the incident in the woods had happened in a publicly occupied place, or if it happened in the presence of a person he was not familiar with, or he did not know at all. Even worse, he imagined if he was examined by a different doctor, one who knew nothing about human wolves, but had no choice than to examine him. He imagined how shocked the poor fellow would have been to find a man pregnant and with wolf DNA.
“When can I leave?” he asked the doctor
“Well—”
“I’ll… take him home now, don’t worry, he’ll be fine,” Mark said, interrupting the doctor.
“I’m not going anywhere with you, Mark,” Casper said in protest.
“Yes, you are, you’re going with me to meet William. Now,” Mark simply replied, recognizing that Casper was only throwing a tantrum.
“You’ll have to literally carry me if you want me to go anywhere with you. William should come see me himself if I’m more important to him than the war. You can return to the Settlement to break the ‘good news’ to him. I mean, it’s good news, right? Huh? And why is that area of the woods called Naltice Settlement by the way, this is modern day, not the Stone Age.”
“Casper, it’s called the Naltice Settlement because it was initially a settlement of the Naltice ancestors. Now, if you really want me to knock you out again and carry you all the way to the cabin, I can easily do that, but we both know I won’t feel good about myself. And I really don’t need that on my conscience right now.”
“Yeah, you have enough there already, after betraying me.”
“I did not know you were pregnant, Casper.”
“You knew I could get pregnant, didn’t you? You didn’t tell me about that,” Casper said, still throwing a tantrum.
“Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t keep lessons of your anatomy in mind, particularly the fact that you could get pregnant! I just assumed your mate told you everything, you know, William, A.K.A the real person you should be angry at instead of me?” Mark was getting tired of Casper’s childishness. If he was going to act spoiled to anyone, Mark thought, it should be William, and not him. He decided to act serious and change the mood.
“Let’s go,” he said with a straight face, and moved out of the room immediately, to await Casper. Casper mouthed let’s go as a way of mocking Mark, before getting up and following him back to the camp.
Mark was silent for most of the trip back to the cabin, as he could not risk another possibility of an outburst from Casper. He was not sure if he had enough maturity in him to handle it a second time. They both walked silently in the woods on their way back. There was a lot of wind that afternoon, and for a while Mark kept smiling as he became one with nature, basking in the wind. He was glad that Casper finally cooperated and they were luckily on their way back at that pa
rticular time. The wind was heavy in a way that did not signify the possibility of a downpour; it was just pure wind, God sent wind, Mark thought to himself.
Casper was beginning to feel uncomfortable at the fact that Mark had not said a word to him since they got on their way. He occasionally looked at Mark, who apparently had no problem with the silence.
“Mark,” Casper remorsefully said, breaking the silence. Holy heavens, not again! Mark thought to himself. He was not ready to hear anything from Casper at that moment, either a continuation of his protests or an apology for his childishness. Not because he was mad at Casper for anything, but because he was on a high vibe with the weather and Casper was beginning to ruin that by speaking. If for no other reason, there was a higher possibility of getting angry at Casper for that reason alone.
“Yes, Casper what is it?” he asked. “You know what, on a second thought, can it wait?” he added. Casper got the impression that Mark was angry, and was dejected. He thought back at when they were at the doctor’s, and how unreasonably childish he acted towards Mark, blaming him for things that were not his fault. He maintained the silence as they moved forward, but finally spoke again.
“Mark.”
“Yes, Casper. What’s up?” Mark asked, acting interested this time.
“I’m sorry,” said Casper, keeping his eyes down. Mark noticed how remorseful he looked and decided to maintain it for a while.
He create a moment of awkward silence for a moment and finally looked towards Casper. He decided to have fun at the expense of Casper’s feelings and teach him a lesson.
“What exactly are you sorry for Casper?” he asked, feigning ignorance.
“You know what I’m sorry for Mark—”
“You know, if that would be the answer to my question, then you probably should not have apologized in the first place. Because apologies signify remorse, and what you just did not represent anything close to being remorseful.”
“Fine,” Casper finally said, as they both walked down a silent path on the woods. Mark smiled inwardly.
“I’m sorry for being such an idiot to you at the doctor’s. You were only trying to help me. And I knew that, but I was still an asshole. So I’m deeply sorry about that.”
‘Oh, come on, Casper I wasn’t even mad at you at all. You realize you’re pregnant right? It comes with the hormones. And besides, you were upset, confused, I was the only familiar face you could vent to. So I gladly accept being the one who helped you get all the frustration off your chest,” Mark said, putting Casper’s mind at ease.
“Oh the frustration is not off my chest, Mark, believe me when I tell you that. I’ve still got plenty pent up here, and all of it is meant for William.”
“Yeah I was going to mention that just now. He deserves plenty of it. Keep it in there and lay it all on the table when you see him. I hope I’m there to watch,” Mark said. They both broke into a round of laughter.
The Cabin door burst open, to the surprise of the seven wolves on the large table in the biggest room of the cabin. One of them stood to check out who it was, as William had given strict orders for them to meet him when he was done meeting with the generals.
“Wait,” William suddenly said. “It’s Casper.”
They all stood from the table, including Shane, in an attempt to afford the alpha and his mate some privacy.
“Hold on, you don’t have to leave,” he said to his generals. “Casper, come on, come in here.”
“They have to leave!” he yelled. William was confused as to what the problem was when he heard his mate raise his voice in dismissing his own generals from a very important meeting involving planning strategies for the war already at their doorstep.
“Leave,” he said to all of them, and gestured towards Shane to stay. He better have an explanation for this, he thought to himself.
Casper stepped into the meeting room and kept staring at Shane, which also signified that he was not going to say anything until Shane went out as well. As Shane stood up to leave, William tried to stop him but Shane stated that it was for the best, as they both needed their privacy. He patted Casper on the shoulder as he walked past him outside the room.
Casper stared at William with a blank face in some seconds of awkward silence. He most probably wanted the frustration to reach the highest possible level, as he stared at William, reminiscing on every second they had spent together and how William had failed to mention the fact that he could get pregnant.
“I can get pregnant?” he shouted. His voice surprised William, who was shaken.
“I… guess so,” William replied, unsure of what the most appropriate reply was for that moment. He was just starting to realize that his mate was out for blood, his blood.
“You guess so? William? You guess… you fucking guess so? Great! Okay, just great!”
“Err… Casper, what exactly is the problem?”
“Oh, now you’re interested in knowing the problem. Okay, I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you so I can put you out of your guessing misery. Oh wait, you want to guess something else, you know, apart from guessing so?” He was letting it all out now, and was beginning to freak even William out.
“Casper—”
“I’m pregnant! William! I’m pregnant! Why the fuck did you not tell me that I could get pregnant? Huh? When apparently, you have been getting me pregnant all along!”
He was gone now, he had let it all out. The only remaining part was to wait for William to react, so he could do more shouting.
But that was not going to happen. William’s face suddenly went from shocked to soft, with excitement written all over it. It was exactly as the doctor had told Casper, who was relieved as he saw the excitement on William’s face. He was however also equally disappointed that all of his intentions to make a scene in different ways possible, by one show of happiness by the alpha.
William suddenly pulled him closer and passionately kissed him without letting go. Casper reciprocated by pulling his mate closer during the kiss, as they stayed glued together in their pool of emotions for several minutes.
“Thank you,” was all William said. That was all he could say. Now it was time for Casper to be dumbfounded. The joy in William’s eyes could not be controlled, and at that very moment, Casper realized the futility of all his rants and anger. Nothing, nothing in this entire world beats this, he thought to himself.
William drew him close and whispered to him, “We’re in this together? Okay? We.” Casper had never heard anything reassuring as that in his entire life. Not even when he was granted the coveted internship at Hagen Medical. He was about to tell William how much he was scared to find out he was pregnant when William whispered further, “I’m sorry,” as though he read his mind.
There and then, Casper felt the safest he ever felt, for as long as he could remember.
Chapter 14
The degree of joy in William’s mind could not be over quantified, not could it be quantified at all. He could not remember when last he ever felt that happy, of if he indeed ever felt that happy. He held Casper more tightly than he ever had, and Casper reciprocated, establishing that he felt safe in his arms, despite what he hid from him about his ability to get pregnant. He automatically gave him the benefit of the doubt, assuming that William did not intend to hide it. He closed his eyes and listened to William’s heartbeat, hearing his own in the process. He listened to both heartbeats simultaneously, as they raced at an alarming rate. He felt accomplished at being able to tell both heartbeats apart. He smiled because he knew the reason why their hearts raced. He knew that it was not due to being nervous, but excited at the love that floated to the surface at that very moment. He was certain that William was who he wanted to be with at that point and forever, till the end of his days.
He grabbed William tighter and noticed that he had been overcome by the sensual feeling he had, to the extent that some of his wolf features were beginning to surface. As he held William, he realized his nails had extended and sharpen
ed, and dug into William’s skin passionately. As they kissed, he noticed his canines extending into fangs, and he passionately bit into William’s lips, feeling the blood trickle. Just like the night they first met, he surrendered. He surrendered every part of himself to William, who in turn explored every aspect of his body with double the passion, and three times the energy.
Casper was high off the passion. He imagined the moment never ending, that they continued to make passionate love right there forever. He imagined there was no war, that William was not the alpha, that there were no responsibilities for either of them, that Shane was not always reminding William of the urgency of the work they needed to get done, and that nobody else existed, just the two of them, exhibiting an apex level of passion.
His thoughts were soon interrupted by a sudden knock on the door. The knock continued successively, and apparently, not only his thoughts were interrupted. He jumped up from where he was with William as the alpha felt his grip loosen from his body. He looked up and towards the door as he felt the urge to laugh. They both felt like two forbidden lovers who were sneaking around making love, and must not be caught. William speedily began to get dressed and Casper joined him.
“Yeah?” William called out, trying to make his voice sound authoritative.
“It’s Shane, William.” Smart man, William thought. It was the cabin, not William’s house. Shane could have walked in, as the cabin was accessible to every member of the pack. But Shane had a pretty good idea what was going on inside the cabin, and did not want to put himself in the most awkward position anyone could ever get into.
“Can I come in, William?” Shane asked after a while. Casper could not hold in the laughter any longer. Shane’s question made Casper understand that he was not oblivious of what was going on inside. Maybe not the full details, but a pretty good idea. In no time they were both dressed, straightening their hair and adjusting wherever necessary.