by J. D. Light
"If anyone got him, it'd be Arry, Burke and me. We all saw him first." Pretty little Rory said, crossing his arms where he stood in front of Green, behind the couch, with the big man's arms wrapped loosely around his waist.
Davis pressed against my side, his face saying he was caught somewhere between embarrassed and amused. "I can't believe I said that out loud," he mumbled against my chest.
Chuckling, Foster leaned forward so he could get just a bit closer to Davis. "When the time is right, your body will start to produce a hormone that naturally loosens the birth canal. But yeah, I'm pretty sure it probably stings."
"Oh my gawd. I'm so embarrassing," Davis whined, making me chuckle.
"No way. You are a breath of fresh air." I tilted his chin up, looking into his pretty, light brown eyes. "I have never met a person as innocently straightforward as you. You're perfect."
"Timeshare!" Bennett exclaimed, excitedly.
"Can we get back on track, children?" Flynn asked, eying Bennett with his usual mix of annoyance and amusement. "And Davis isn't a condo. Adorable or not, you can't pass him around like a joint."
My alpha smiled sweetly at my mate, making my heart soar. They all loved Davis already. Whether he realized it or not, we could be exactly what he was missing in his other life. And I still had a couple days to prove it.
"I'm actually really glad everyone is here." Flynn readjusted his pregnant mate on his lap, pulling Ridley's head to his shoulder, while the long man draped his legs over the side of the chair and melted into the alpha with all the comfort a mate provided. "Foster, some of his team and I, think we might have a plan to catch he remaining members of this leap that are involved with the cult.
"The problem is, knowing what we do, we also have reason to worry about a chemical attack. That means we are going to have to plan this 'meeting' in a relatively controlled environment." Cringing, he looked around the room at all the couples. "And mates will have to be left somewhere safe. And probably under the care of Thompsyn."
"Uh, Flynn." Bennett held a hand slightly in the air like he was in school asking for permission to talk. "I don't know if you noticed, but my mate is kind of a badass. I know protecting mates is super important, but wouldn't Syn and his nose be better suited for helping take out the assholes?"
"Well, his super nose and his strength will definitely make me feel more secure about leaving all our mates behind." Flynn frowned at the couple curled up on the chair. Overflowing the chair, actually. "Plus I wouldn't let him anywhere near a possible chemical substance in his condition, anyway."
"What condition?" Bennett asked, just before Thompsyn stood suddenly, placing Bennett on his feet on the floor, and sprinting out of the room in the direction of the bathroom.
The sound of retching was loud enough for even the non-shifters in the room to flinch a little.
Bennett turned toward the bathroom, already striding that direction. "What on earth could make my mate so damn sick? I swear he has had the hardest time keeping food down."
"Seriously, Benny?" Ridley sounded a hundred percent exasperated with his friend.
The throwing up in the other room seemed to tame down, and shortly after, water was running. Thompsyn stumbled out of the bathroom, Bennett going to him immediately and helping him stumble back to the chair.
Taking a seat, Thompsyn looked around apologetically. "Sorry guys. It's so weird. I'll be feeling completely fine and then suddenly, my stomach turns."
"Neither of you have had very much experience with pregnant people, have you?" Green asked, sounding amused.
Thompsyn shook his head, but creases were forming in his forehead, making it clear he was starting to catch on to what we were saying.
"Just Ridley." Bennett said, still not getting it.
"But I'm not sick in the mornings. I'm just sick randomly during the day." Thompsyn's eyes were wide, and a smile was starting to creep onto his face.
"Wait. What?" Now Bennett's eyes were widening.
Davis gasped, pointing at Thompsyn. "Are you a chosen? Seriously? You're enormous. Not that you shouldn't get pregnant just because you're a giant. I'm sure giants have to have babies too, or there wouldn't be any giants. Wait, are there giants? I've never heard of one outside of books, but I had never heard of shifters until yesterday, either. Do they live in caves or something? Wait, do you? I thought you were a bear, not a chosen."
Thompsyn blinked at my mate, and then smiled. It was a blinding smile that in all honesty, made him even more attractive.
"Morning sickness isn't just for the morning. It shares with the other times of day too," Ridley said too perkily, rubbing his belly.
"Thompsyn's pregnant?" Bennett's amazed whisper, as he went down on his knees in front of his mate, made an unexpected tightness in my throat.
Together, they both placed their hands on Thompsyn's very flat stomach.
"I'm going to have grizzards," the young leopard whispered, pushing his face to the giant's belly, making Thompsyn roll his eyes, and the rest of us chuckle.
Well, all of us except my mate, who had no idea what a grizzard was, and was still waiting for an answer to his question.
"So, giants? Do pregnant bears with leopard mates live in caves, and what's a grizzard?"
"I'll explain it all later. Okay, Hot Stuff?" I kissed my amazing mate on the head when he nodded, and a round of congratulations went around for Bennett and Thompsyn.
"Okay," Flynn said, smiling at the room with obvious happiness for the members of his leap. "So, we need to organize a run for the leap. I haven't had one since Ridley and I announced our mating anyway, because I've been too nervous to get everyone together after Ronny and Foster found out about the chemical, but we have to get rid of every single cult member, now. If they keep recruiting, there will be nothing left of our leap.
"It might seem a bit suspicious to leave all humans and children out of something they are usually more than welcome to attend, but I can't risk that they might get exposed to this chemical. We'll just have to invite the elders and have a full-on command meeting and run. It's probably time to tell everyone the good news about Ridley anyway, considering he's definitely showing now."
"I'll be sure to have the proper masks, but the key to actually catching them will have to be the metal detectors. The smoke bombs themselves were set off in aluminum containers, but the pins are metal." Foster tweaked Burke's glasses, when the guy sighed, clearly not liking the plan. "Either they will go through the metal detectors with the chemical grenade, and set off the detector, or they will see the detector and veer off. We'll have my team set up just outside the parking lot, waiting to see if anyone turns back once they see the equipment, or drives through and leaves. Those will be the ones we have to search and question."
"And my big, strong, pregnant mate will protect the chosen, and keep him and our precious little grizzard safe." Bennett was glowing.
"Ward," Foster got my attention. "I've noticed you're a pretty observant guy. Do you think you might be able to do what you always do, and keep a lookout for anything suspicious? We all will, obviously, but I've noticed you always seem to know exactly what is going on at any given time because you were paying attention when nobody else was."
"I'll do whatever needs to be done." When my mate looked up at me with nervous, confused eyes, I pecked a quick kiss to his soft lips. "Anything to keep my gorgeous mate safe."
Chapter Six
The phone call I'd been dreading, came before we even made it back to the hotel room. When I saw my father's number on the screen, I thought long and hard about ignoring it…forever.
But, even though we'd established that we were supposed to have a future together, we hadn't done anything in the way of actually planning it. I didn't want Ward to think that I was trying to push him toward anything, so I took a deep breath and answered it on the fourth ring.
"Hello?"
"What the hell took you so long? And don’t' tell me you were busy because we both know you hav
e nothing better to do," my father snapped instead of greeting me.
Ward growled, and I shivered, trying desperately not to get a hard-on as I spoke to Alder Sanders on the phone. Talk about needing therapy after something like that.
"I was digging the phone out of my pocket, Father." I didn't dare call him anything like Dad or Daddy. He'd always insisted he was called by his proper title.
"Of course you were. You've probably gained another twenty pounds since you've been away."
I felt the car jerk, and then Ward was pulling over on the side of the road, and trying to reach the phone in my hand, while I pulled back, swatting his hand out of the air. "Did you need something, Father?"
His comments about my weight were completely normal, and almost didn't hurt at all anymore. But my overprotective mate wasn't showing the restraint I was. I couldn't let him have the phone if I ever expected to be allowed back in my home again.
My house. It had never been a home. Now, more than ever, I knew that.
"I want you back home by tomorrow morning. I can't believe nobody told me Ward Butler's books were about fairies. I can't have that shit being published through my company." My father continued to harp in my ear, but Ward was patiently waiting with his hand out.
"What are you going to say?" I whispered, knowing it wasn't going to be anything nice.
"You're not going back there. You're staying here with me, where you belong. I'm going to let him know."
Gasping, I looked into the dark green eyes of the man who'd changed my entire life in a day. "Are you sure? We haven't known each other that long. What if you decide you can't stand me? You know how I am. I'm…well…me. I say the wrong thing almost all the time. And all this extra weight might be novel now, but you wouldn't be the first guy to realize I'm not what they thought they were getting."
My head jerked back when he growled down at me. "First, don't ever mention any of the idiots that came before me, and couldn't figure out how amazing you are. They have no idea what they were missing. You are perfect." Grabbing a handful of my stomach, he growled. "This is perfect for me."
"Second," he said, continuing to massage my waist. "You were chosen for me, because God knows what I want, what I need. You are the absolute perfect match for me, Davis. He didn't make a mistake. And I don't need to know you for years and years to see that."
Swallowing, I finally nodded, nervous, but happy about the way my life was about to change. "Okay," I whispered. "But you better keep me forever, because I won't be able to go back there and I have nobody else."
The relief was a wash of emotion across Ward's handsome face. I even thought there might have been a tear in his eye. He leaned forward and captured my lips. It was a quick peck and then he was whispering, "Thank you" again and again against my mouth.
The squawking phone was what finally snapped us out of the emotion of the moment where we'd just made the biggest decision of our lives sitting on the side of the road, while my father yelled like an absolute idiot through a muffled phone.
Putting the phone to his ear, Ward's face changed immediately. Gone was the reverent look from moments before. Suddenly, the cold fury I had felt billowing off of him earlier was back.
"Hello, Mr. Sanders. This is Ward Butler. I'll give you back to your son in a moment, but first I felt I needed to warn you. If I ever hear of you mentally abusing your amazing child again, I will take you, and your entire company down with little to no effort. Not only do I know people in low places, I know some in high places as well. Who knows what avenue I will take if the need arises. Maybe both at the same time. So, I want you to think about that when I hand the phone over to this precious man. Because I don't bluff, Mr. Sanders. I will retaliate if you hurt him in any way."
Ward's eyes bore into mine, as he slowly passed over the phone. Probably warning me, as he had my father, that he wouldn't put up with the shit. I was his, and he protected what was his.
"Hello, Father." I managed to sound confident. And honestly, I was starting to feel that way.
This beautiful, perfect specimen of man was looking at me like I was the moon in the sky, and the only guiding light left on earth. In his arms, I was safe. By his words, I was his, and he was mine. I had every reason to be proud of who I was, as a person, and as a mate.
"What is going on, Davis? You're hanging out with that queer?"
"Well, that is why you sent me here, right? To talk him into signing on with Sander's? Is it really such a mystery that I actually am?"
"Don't sass me, Davis. I have a feeling you knew the whole time what kind of books that nasty man was writing. If you don’t' get on the next flight back home, you can kiss every ounce of your inheritance goodbye."
"Do. Not. Talk. About Ward that way, Father. He is a better man than you will ever be. He does what is right instead of what is easy, or what he thinks will make everyone else happy. And you can take that inheritance and shove it up your ass, Father. I figured out a long time ago that you were never actually going to give me my inheritance anyway.
"Now, because you couldn't take no for an answer, and sent me to Purdy, Nebraska to talk to Ward, I've found the man I plan on living the rest of my life with. And I'm going to get a job teaching, because it makes me happy, and I'm going to have a perfect life.
"So, I guess I actually owe you a thank you. Thank you, Father. For accidentally giving me the best gift I've ever received."
"You are going to regret this, Davis!" My father screamed into the phone, making me jerk the thing away from my head, and actually laugh.
He sounded like some kind of crazy, movie villain.
"There is no way on earth some man is going to keep you for more than a couple weeks. We both know you don't have what it takes to make someone happy."
Before I knew it, the phone was ripped from my hands, and I heard Ward growl into the thing. "I warned you, Alder. And I also told you I don't bluff. Trust me when I say, you will regret how you have treated this wonderful man. Sleep well, for now, Alder. You aren't going to for long."
His voice was deep and terrifying, and for some crazy reason, sexy as hell. When he hung up, he sat there, staring out the window, breathing hard and holding the phone in a grip that I was pretty sure was going to crack the screen.
Not that I cared. My father was really the only one to call me on that phone anyway, and something told me, he wouldn't be doing that anytime soon.
"I'm sorry," Ward said, after almost a solid minute of sitting there, trying to get his bearings.
Blinking, because I may have been watching his powerful chest move with his breathing, and his forearm tense where he was holding the phone, I looked over at his beautiful face and frowned. "What are you sorry for?"
"I just got a little crazy on you. I basically forced you to stay, and then I took the phone and threatened your father. I shouldn't have done either of those things. Especially without making sure staying here and spending the rest of your life with me was what you actually wanted."
"Ward, you might be a lot bigger and definitely stronger than me, but I'm not afraid of you. And I'm definitely not worried you will hurt me. You are far too good a man for that. Trust me, I know what a domineering dictator looks like, and you aren't it. I knew at any moment during that little episode, if I told you no, I didn't want to stay with you, you would have accepted it, and let me go back to my awful father, and a job I truly hate.
"What you gave me, even though you made it sound like the only option, was a choice. To continue living the way I have for my whole life. To be completely alone in the world and do things that made me unhappy. Or to stay here, and live with the man who was made absolutely perfect for me. To live a long, happy life with someone who only cares about my happiness and protects me, who worships me. To have a chance at teaching, which is something I've wanted since the moment I graduated, but knew I wouldn't get a chance to do."
He started to open his mouth, but I held up a hand. "And if you think, I believe it's an either or ty
pe situation, I don't, Ward Butler. I know without a doubt, that if I decided I didn't want this life, you'd do everything in your power to make me happy. But this is the life I want. I want it so bad. I wasn't lying when I thanked the old man for accidentally pushing me in the direction of my perfect life. I honestly couldn't have done better if I picked it out of a catalog.
I smiled, leaning forward to kiss the tear that rolled down Ward's cheek, not even caring when my less than lean waist dug into the center console. If he really did love my extra weight, then I had absolutely no reason to worry about, or change it. He was the only man in the world I wanted happy with me.
"So," I whispered, still a little nervous about this particular part, because though he said he wanted me to stay, he still hadn't actually mentioned this. "Are you going to claim me? No rush! I just didn't know if that was in the plan."
Grabbing my face between his hands, he looked into my eyes like he was in awe. "I would love to claim you, Hot Stuff. Whenever you're ready." He pecked a kiss to my lips, and then another, and then another, seemingly unable to stop. "I was ready to claim you the moment I saw you, all gorgeous and soft. So, you just let me know when you're ready. I'll always be ready to make you mine, Davis."
"I'm ready. I'm more than ready."
***
I was nervous when we got back to the room. We'd done some stuff already. Lots of really great stuff. And he'd already seen me naked. He knew what my body was, and I was finally starting to understand that he liked it. But I still wasn't sure about my performance.
I'd always let someone else lead in bed, and later had lovers complain that I was too passive. That all my bulk should be used for something.
All my bulk? I'm fat, not built like Ward.
I kicked off my shoes and socks haphazardly. Ward frowned down and the mess I made, and sat in a chair to remove his, stacking them nicely next to the door, and doing the same with mine.