by Grey, Aspen
“Can you believe it? I barely can.”
“I can,” he said firmly. “I knew from the moment I met you that we would be here like this now. It was my plan all along.”
“A man of action,” I smiled. I sat forward and kissed him, but was thrown back by another contraction.
“Okay,” Clarice snapped, satisfied for the moment with her work on Alexander. “Enough yapping around. It’s time to push!”
“Okay,” I replied, finally ready to do what needed to be done. I looked at Alexander. “Ready to be a father?”
“I’ve never been more ready for anything in my entire life.”
“What should we call him?” I asked. “We never decided on a name.”
Alexander thought a moment, but a thought came to my mind and I blurted it out.
“Audrey,” I told him. “After your mother. Audrey can be a boy’s name too, right?”
He didn’t even have to say anything. I could see by the look on his face that he loved it. He seized my hand as a hot wave rushed through me, culminating in a triumphant contraction that left me with no choice.
“Oh, he’s coming!” I grimaced, clenching down on Alexander’s hand as I prepared to do what needed to be done.
“Time to push,” Clarice said.
“Yes, I know,” I replied. I looked deep into Alexander’s eyes, snatched his head and pulled it to mine and kissed him deeply. And then I pushed.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Alexander
One week later…
I held baby Audrey in my arms and looked down at his pudgy little face and glowing skin. He was an alpha. He had Blue’s black hair, and my blue eyes. But he was sleeping now—and so was Blue, who lay beside me on the couch. I looked down beside me at my mother’s ring where it sat on his finger. The whole scene felt so poetic that I almost couldn’t believe it was real. Everything had come together even better than I’d imagined. It was perfect. My life was perfect.
It had been a long week for Blue as he was the one responsible for the nursing baby boy we’d brought into the world together, but I was doing everything I could to help out. I could have hired a nanny or something, of course, and there were also Jasper, Clarice and Mr. Mitchell to help out when needed, but I wanted to be the one to do it all. He was my mate and it was my job to take care of him.
I had been doing everything from going out and getting food, to cooking, to just cleaning up the room and making sure everything was tidy, to holding Audrey so Blue could sleep, to just lying there with him so we could be together as a family. It was bliss.
Thankfully, Audrey’s birth had coincided perfectly with Blue’s January vacation from school. He had a week off and had called in sick for another, claiming to have the flu. He was, for sure, the only student at Sleepy Hills High who had to take off time because he’d just given birth!
It would be difficult when he had to finally go back to school, but I’d be able to handle things during the day. He’d leave me the milk and I’d watch over our baby boy until 1:30 when Blue came home. Of course he could have dropped out of school and I could have taken care of him, but he only had half the school year left and we all thought it would be best if he got his diploma. After all, he may want to do something with his life in the future besides simply staying at home, so we wanted to keep our options open.
“Heading to the store,” Jasper said as he came into the living room from the kitchen. “You guys need anything?”
“Could you pick up some grapefruit juice?” I asked. “Blue’s been dying for some lately.”
“No problem.”
“In fact, get two cartons. He’ll probably go through one this evening.”
“I thought omegas got pregnancy cravings,” Jasper chuckled as he threw on his winter coat. “Not post-birth cravings.”
“Well, my omega is special,” I chuckled, looking down at his face, peaceful as he slept.
“Back in a few,” Jasper said as he stepped out into the snow. I lay there a while, holding my child to my chest, feeling the warmth of his body and the rise and fall of Blue’s breath beside me. After a few minutes, Terrence entered the room. He took a seat in front of me and looked at his grandson.
“Is he asleep?” he asked. An innocent question, but I knew what he was getting at.
“You can take him,” I smiled. I got up slowly and handed the little bundle over to Terrence. Mr. Mitchell’s face beamed as he took him from me. It warmed my heart to see that. Blue had of course told me about what had happened between him and Louis, Blue’s other father, and I couldn’t help but think that Audrey would help fill a bit of the void in Terrence’s life since losing his mate. However, I’d also heard rumors of another pack coming to Sleepy Hills and couldn’t help but hope that there was an omega among them that Terrence would take to.
It wasn’t until Audrey was out of my arms that I realized just how hot I was. I waved a hand in front of my face.
“You got him?” I asked. “I’m going to grab some of that fresh, cold air.”
“All right, pops,” Terrence joked as I pulled open the door and stepped outside.
It was snowing, but it was the light, quiet snow like you always picture in movies or fantasy novels. I was hotter than I realized, and tugged off my t-shirt and let the flakes spill fall down on me, melting as soon as they touched my skin.
The peak was beautiful this time of year, the tall pines standing stoically beneath the heaps of snow that lay across their branches. The world was quieter too, the snow acting as insulation. It was a wonderful time to go out for a night run beneath the moon. I turned and looked back through the glass where Terrance was rocking Audrey while Blue slept on the couch.
I smelled him before I heard him, and turned around to see Eric, in wolf form, emerge from the trees. Steam rose from his body as he padded towards me. He’d been taking several runs by himself every day, claiming that he was patrolling our territory for invaders, but I knew better. That was simply a cover-up story. He was uncomfortable in the house after what had happened with the Kurrens. He’d handled it completely wrong and he knew it. There had been an unspoken understanding between us for a while now that we needed to have a serious discussion, but Eric had been avoiding me, and as such, I’d taken up the position of leader of the pack. It just wasn’t official yet.
He shifted as he reached the driveway. His eyes were fixed on me as he approached, and I knew that this was finally going to be the time that we really spoke.
“Alexander,” he said.
“Eric.”
“Fine day, isn’t it?” He asked.
“It is.”
“How is Audrey?”
“Good,” I smiled. “Inside with his father and grandfather.”
He stopped in front of me and fixed his eyes on me. I could see he had something he wanted to discuss, and it wasn’t too hard to guess what, but just as I thought he was about to speak, he turned and gazed out across the property with me. There was something unspoken going on between us and it had been going on for a long time—ever since the battle with Larcon actually. Finally, he spoke.
“I’ve been thinking, Alex.” His voice was low but strong. Whatever he was about to say, he’d been thinking about it for a while. “I think…I think I made some mistakes in the past.”
“Oh, yeah?” I asked. It was a bit snippier than I’d anticipated, but I guess I got a bit touchy when it came to Eric’s betrayal and selling out Blue to the Kurrens like he did. Eric glanced over at me nervously.
“Yeah,” he replied. “I did what I did because I wanted to protect the pack. I thought that maintaining the peace was the only way to do that. But I ignored your feelings in the process. I didn’t think, or care, what happened to Blue. I just wanted to maintain the peace.”
“I know why you did what you did, Eric. That didn’t make it any easier for me though.”
“I know it didn’t,” he said. “And that’s why I think it’s best that you take over as pack leader from here on.”
“Yeah?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yes. I’m not cut out for it. I—I know what’s right but I just don’t know how to go about it.”
“It’s not easy,” I nodded. “And I understand.”
“I want you to be pack leader, Alex.”
I nodded and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Thank you, Eric.”
“I’ll step aside.”
“No, you won’t,” I told him. “You’re going to be my second-in-command.”
Eric’s eyes lit up. It was an offer he hadn’t anticipated. He was touched.
“After everything I did?” he asked.
“You said it yourself. You know what’s right. I need a man by my side like that.”
Eric hung his head for just a moment, then looked up and stood tall. I saw a fierce determination in his eyes.
“Will you accept my offer?” I asked him.
“Of course I will,” he replied. Eric extended his hand, and I shook it.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Blue
“Can you believe it, dad?” I asked as he cradled little baby Audrey in his arms. I’d never seen my father so happy. After what he’d gone through with Louis, leaving Santa Monica and making the difficult decision to move us to Sleepy Hills, I hoped that somehow my child and my new family would bring a meaning to his life that he had lost.
“I can’t believe that I’m okay with a teenage pregnancy!”
We both laughed. He was right. If this had been a human relationship, I’m sure the parents would have been livid. But shifters didn’t look at breeding and having children in the same way as humans. You’d never find a shifter who wanted to prioritize his career over family, and as far as I was concerned, it was better to get started early rather than later. I’d have more energy as a parent and there’d be plenty of time to have more children if Alexander and I chose to.
“It’s going to be a lot to manage,” I replied. “Having a baby and going to school.”
“Well, you know you’ve got Alexander to watch him for you,” dad replied. “And the rest of the pack as well. Clarice and I are always down for babysitting duties.”
“I know,” I smiled. “But I want to make sure I’m with him as much as possible. I still have five months until summer vacation!”
“I’ll just put a little brandy in his milk. That’ll put him right to sleep and he’ll be waking up when you get home in the afternoon!”
“Stop!” I laughed, slapping him on the shoulder. “You’ll turn him into an alcoholic!”
“You know they used to do that, right?” my dad asked me. “Put brandy in the baby bottle and it would help them sleep.”
“I bet it would! The poor little guy was drunk off his ass!”
Audrey stirred in my father’s arms and produced one of those adorable little baby gurgles that’s something between a laugh and a cry.
“Oh, I think somebody’s hungry,” my father said. He gently handed my baby boy back to me. I took him and he instantly latched on and began to feed. It was such an incredible feeling to let your child nurse from your chest. It was truly providing for another life in a way that was beyond money or things. It was pure, primitive and instinctual and provided me with a sense of accomplishment and pride that I’d never felt before.
“He’s a hungry little boy,” I cooed, looking down at his adorable little face and pursed lips.
“He’s an alpha,” my father replied. “He’s got a lot of growing to do.”
“He smells just like both of us. Like someone baked a peach cobbler pie and added some spice to it.”
“He’s going to drive those omega boys crazy.”
“Don’t say that!” I laughed. “I don’t want to think about that this soon!”
My father smiled to himself. Of course, I’d given him a lot of trouble myself as an alpha-crazed omega, but for now I was content to simply relish in my newborn’s presence. In time, life would throw plenty of curveballs our way, there was no reason to start thinking about them now.
I looked out the front door and saw Eric and Alexander speaking on the steps. Eric was naked, obviously having just returned from a run, something he was doing quite frequently these days. He must have been doing some serious thinking, and I could easily guess what about. I’d been hoping he and Alexander would have “the talk” soon, and not the one about how babies were made, but the one about who was going to lead this pack. Eric was obviously not the best choice, and if I was being honest, I was a bit peeved at him still for what he’d done to me.
We got along still, relatively, as I didn’t want to bring any kind of tension into the house, but if I ever let myself think back to that day when I arrived home to find Larcon waiting for me, the emotions I’d felt came rushing back to me as though I were reliving it again and again.
I watched as they spoke to each other, secretly wishing I could have heard what they were saying. Then, they smiled and shook hands and I understood. Eric had passed the torch. They turned and came back inside.
Alexander looked different. Not physically, of course, but in the way he carried himself. His chest was out just a little bit more than normal, and his shoulders were pulled even farther back. His eyes carried with them a new responsibility beyond that of the parent he’d recently become.
“I’ll get some clothes on,” Eric said. He headed off to his room and Alexander called out.
“Clarice? Jasper? Can you guys come in here?” he turned to me. “Where are the other omegas?”
“The kitchen,” I replied. “I think Francis is making Bolognese.”
Alexander peeked into the kitchen. “Can you guys come in here for a minute?”
He returned to the room as Eric was coming downstairs, now dressed in a pair of worn jeans and a gray t-shirt. Clarice and Jasper came in from their rooms and the omegas slid in from the kitchen, bringing with them the smell of dinner.
“Wow, this feels like one of those family meetings where the parents tell the kids they’re splitting up,” Jasper said as he sat down.
“No one’s splitting up,” Alexander replied. “In fact, this is a good meeting. Eric, do you want to kick it off?”
There was an undeniable “something” in the air that everyone felt, and I think we all saw it coming, but it was still important for Eric to have his say.
“Alexander and I have had a discussion,” he began. I’d thought he’d be more nervous than he appeared, but he actually looked relieved. It was then that I realized just how much being pack leader had been weighing on him. “And we’ve decided that it’s best that I step down as pack leader and Alexander takes my place.”
No one spoke. Eric looked at the faces gathered round and smiled.
“It’s fine, guys! You can cheer or clap or something. I know it’s what you’ve all wanted!”
No one clapped—but they did laugh.
“Eric will be my second-in-command,” Alexander continued. “He’ll advise me and stand by me, but the final decisions for the pack will be mine. I know this probably doesn’t need to be said, but I will say it anyway—if anyone has problems with this, now would be the time to speak up. If anyone wants to challenge me, now would be the time.”
Obviously no one was going to speak up, but Alexander made the gesture anyway. It was a sign that he still respected the other members of the pack and the way we did things. If we were anyone else, things may have gone differently, but we were all so close—basically family—that no one had any issues with him taking over. In fact, Eric was probably right; we had all wanted this change for a long time now.
“All right then,” Alexander smiled. “It’s official. If anyone wants to make me a cake or buy me a big belt buckle that says ‘boss’ on it, feel free!”
Everyone laughed, got up in turn and either shook Alexander’s hand or gave him a hug.
“We’re going to go finish dinner,” Francis said as he and the omegas headed back to the kitchen.
“Should be ready in about an hour.”
“Sounds perfect,” Alexander replied. He moved over to me and looked down at Audrey, who had finished feeding and was now fast asleep with a full belly. “I can think of something I could do in the meantime.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Alexander
I’m a new man, I thought with pride as I threw Blue down on the bed and climbed on top of him. My cock was already hard beneath my pants and I wasted no time stripping him completely bare. Audrey was fast asleep in his crib, but even so, we’d have to be quiet while we went about our business.
“I knew it would happen someday,” Blue whispered as I kissed his neck and collarbones. “You deserve it, baby.”
His voice was hot and heavy. He gripped me tightly by the lat muscles, then grabbed my t-shirt and pulled it up over my head. I sat up as he did so and pulled my cock out of my pants and presented it to him. As always, his eyes lit up. He sat forward, opened wide, and took it into his mouth.
“Mmmmm,” I growled. I placed my hand on the back of his head and forced him way, way down on my shaft. I wasn’t in any mood to hold back. I’d just taken another huge step forward in my life and become pack leader. I had my first child, my fated-mate and my investments were going better than ever. I was making money hand over fist. Life couldn’t have been better.
I reached behind me and felt for Blue’s cock, which was almost completely hard already. I licked my hand and began to stroke him, encouraging him to reach his full size. It didn’t take him long. He looked up at me as he sucked me, giving me those “fuck me, please” eyes, but as I knelt over him, I had a different idea. Instead of getting off of him, bending his legs back over his head, exposing his tight little hole and sliding inside, I spat on my hand, rubbed it all over Blue’s cock, and sat back.
Blue’s eyes went wide as his cock touched my hole, and I took a deep breath. I’d never actually had a cock inside of me before, so I wasn’t used to it, and as I lowered myself onto him and felt his tip penetrate me, I readied myself for the sting of pain I was going to feel. But it didn’t come.