by Dizzy Hooper
Something inside me clicks into place, and I know. It's done.
We survived my season, and more than that…
We're going to have a baby.
Our pack is going to be a family.
13 Epilogue
Three months later…
Something isn't right.
Fortunately, at this point, I can put my finger on what it is immediately.
I have to pee. Again.
"Ughgh," I groan, casting off the covers and rolling vainly toward the edge of the bed.
The good and bad news about being a shifter is that pregnancy only lasts about six months. It's over fast, but it's intense.
Halfway through my gestation, I already feel like a whale most of the time. My hips and back are sore, but not for any of the good reasons. Maneuvering around my increasingly enormous belly is becoming a serious issue.
I heave myself forward one more time and manage to get my feet on the ground.
"Everything okay?" Grady mumbles, still half asleep.
I hate that I keep waking him—or whoever else I'm sleeping next to like this, but there's not exactly a lot I can do about it. I've offered to sleep alone, but that idea has been soundly rejected from all quarters.
Turns out, my mates might have been possessive and protective before I got pregnant. But now that I'm round with their pups, they're positively rabid.
A little flame of pride ignites inside me. I was sure their matings had taken by the end of my season, but it was with excitement and anxiety both that I waited the couple of weeks it took to find out for sure. The instant the test came back positive, my heart grew about three sizes. I rushed to the kitchen to tell my mates the news, only for Grady to break down crying and Landen to beam. Colt looked stunned, unexpected happiness dawning over him like the sun, and relief flooded me. He may have been unsure at first, but now that this is real, he's one of the most fiercely protective of me and our pups.
That's right. Pups, plural. Three beautiful little babies growing quietly inside me. It's impossible to know for sure, but I like to imagine there's one for each of my mates. That each male's seed took root and bloomed.
Not that it matters. They're all fathers. Who did the actual siring doesn't matter. Not to our pack. Not to our family.
I shiver with remembered pleasure as the rest of that afternoon floats back to me. Apparently, I've never been sexier to my mates than I am now that I'm bearing their children. They made love to me for the rest of the day and long into the night, caressing my swollen curves and muttering words of happiness and desire into my ears.
That hasn't lessened any in the intervening months, either. If anything, our sex life has gotten more intense since I found out I was expecting. Their continued interest is a blessing, because God knows I don't feel very sexy these days.
Especially not at times like this.
Lurching forward in the dark, I head to the attached bathroom and take care of business. My balance isn't great; I've become more and more of a klutz as my body has grown. I manage not to injure myself, in any case. Once I'm done, I stumble back to bed and climb inside with the same complete and total lack of grace with which I left.
Grady doesn't seem to care, of course.
Humming, he reaches for me and pulls me in. I go happily, curling myself into the warm cocoon of his body.
He wraps his arms around me, letting one hand settle on the growing curve of my belly. Internally, I preen.
"Do you think you can sleep some more?" he asks.
I nod and burrow in. Sleep has been hard to come by while I've been pregnant, and sometimes when I wake for the call of nature, I'm up for an hour or more afterward. But not tonight.
Tonight, I feel happy, warm and protected. My alpha is lying beside me, unable to keep his hands off me. My other mates are sleeping down the hall. They're proud fathers and perfect partners, ready to defend both me and our pups with their lives.
When I wandered into this house the better part of a year ago, it was in desperation. I was without a pack, abandoned by my kin. My mates were just as lost, their entire clan all but destroyed decades earlier. Their loss and their grief was eating them up from the inside. They felt so alone.
Now here we are. In love. Fat with child.
And three months from now, we'll have a family all our own.
Reclaimed By The Pack
Broken Ladder Wolf-shifters Book 3
Chapter 1
It hits me in the weirdest moments.
One minute, everything is fine. I'm draped out on the couch, surrounded by my perfect, loving, adoring mates. As I lie back against Grady's broad chest, Colt massages my feet. Landen sits on the floor with his shoulders propped against the sofa, his head just grazing my enormous belly.
I'm fat with their pups, bred to within an inch of my life. Five months into the typical six month shifter pregnancy, I'm healthy and happy and cared for. These three prime alpha males wait on me hand and foot, eager to cater to my every whim. They've seen me through the nausea of my first trimester and the bizarre food cravings that followed. They've kept me in a state of near constant orgasmic bliss as my sex drive has roared into high gear, here in the final months.
There's nothing in this world that I could want for.
And yet…
It starts innocuously enough tonight. We're watching some romantic comedy that I picked out, and it's my fault—it is.
But that's hard to keep in perspective when the heroine's pregnant best friend arrives at her baby shower only to be embraced by her mother. I stiffen in Grady's embrace. Colt slows the motion of his hands on my feet, and Landen sits up straighter.
The loss of my mother is an old wound, but it's one that still smarts from time to time. She died a long time ago. I miss her fiercely, though, especially in times like this.
On screen, the mom-to-be embraces cousins and friends, and my eyes mist over.
Her grandmother presents her with a christening gown, handed down from mother to mother over the better portion of a century, and something deep inside me aches.
When my father and his horrible new mate, Katarina, cast me out of our family's lands, my heart felt like it tore in two. Nearly a year has passed since then, and I've done my best to forgive their betrayal. Their cruelty is what drove me into the waiting arms of my perfect mates, after all. I wouldn't change it—not for anything.
But regret still burns in my heart.
I rub my belly, feeling the life growing in my womb. The three beautiful pups I'm about to bring into this world will never see their mother's home. They'll never get to know their grandfather or any others of their kin. I was an only child, but I have cousins who would have happily taken on the roles of doting aunts and uncles, had they only been given the chance. Both they and my children will never get to have that connection, now.
My babies will never receive an heirloom christening gown.
"Jessica…" Grady's hand intertwining with mine brings me back to the here and now.
I blink, bringing my vision into focus. My cheeks are damp and my heart sore. I swab roughly at my eyes and shake my head. Colt is staring at me in concern, and Landen has shifted to look at me, too.
"I'm fine," I lie.
Colt frowns. "Jess—"
"I'm fine. Just. Hormonal." It's my go-to excuse, and I hate that I have to keep using it.
I hate feeling like this.
These final few weeks of my pregnancy should be filled with happiness and excitement—and they are. But pangs of melancholy keep hitting me, stealing my joy and reminding me of all I've lost.
I feel like there's a hole inside me I can't remember how to fill. There's something missing, and it doesn't matter how many times I sweep this sense of absence under the rug.
It returns, again and again. Tonight it's a scene in a movie, yesterday it was a picture in a freaking ad. Who knows what tomorrow's crying jag will be.
Grady squeezes my hand, and my eyes sting.
&nb
sp; He can see through my misdirections. He can tell that I'm hurting, and he only wants to help. Landen and Colt echo that same lost, helpless worry.
My ribs go tight as I glance between them.
I know that I should share my feelings with my mates, but the source of my unhappiness only makes it harder to confess.
We said it when we mated: our pasts are behind us. Our futures lie ahead.
I don't want my history to be weighing me down. I don't want them to ever for a moment think their love isn't enough.
Their love is everything.
That they're doubting it for the shortest fraction of a second is too much.
"Come here," I say, pulling Grady closer.
Not for the first time, I curse my current lack of mobility. Grady doesn't let me struggle, though. He shifts, helping me to sit up straighter. Leaning in, he cups my face and searches my gaze.
I shut my eyes and tug him down. When our lips meet, the kiss tastes like all the quiet secrets kept between us. His devotion and his concern mix and mingle with my desperate instinct to protect him from these pangs of loss.
If I can just get through these last few weeks, it'll all be fine. Once we have these babies in our arms, none of my wistfulness will matter. We'll be a family, a pack. What I've left behind won't haunt me the way it does right now.
I swear to God, I'd never use sex as a distraction. But the parts of me that want to deflect and change the subject are in perfect agreement with the parts of me that go hot and needy at my alpha's probing kiss.
Opening for him, I run my fingers through his hair, then down his neck and over the muscles of his chest. I keep going, lower and lower, until I'm teasing at the waistband of his jeans.
"Jessica…" The way he says my name is half lust and half warning.
I shake my head. "Come on, please…"
This isn't out of character. I've been insatiable these past few weeks. Late pregnancy is a time for back aches and constant trips to the bathroom.
But it's also a time for shifters and their mates to bond, and what better way than by making love?
Over and over again, I've begged each of my mates to fill me and love me. Each time we've come together, I've felt closer to them. More steady and confident that they'll take care of me and our pups.
Less upset about the things that I can't have.
"Again?" Colt asks, chuckling as he runs a hand up my thigh.
"What?" Breathless, I pull away from Grady to glance over my shoulder at him. "Can't keep up?"
"We can definitely keep up," Landen promises.
"You better." With that, I turn back to Grady.
But hesitance still colors his eyes. "We're going to have to talk about this eventually."
I want to tell him there's nothing to talk about, but I can't bring myself to lie to him that baldly. Instead, I press myself against him. Taking his hand, I place it on my breast. Electricity zings through me, from my swollen nipple to my pussy and back.
"Please." Plaintiveness creeps into my tone. "I just need to feel close to you."
He searches my gaze for a second, and my chest burns. Will he deny me?
Seduction may have only been a portion of my motivation a couple of minutes ago, but now that we're touching, I suddenly ache with desperation. It's almost as bad as going into my season. I feel like if I don't get fucked this instant I'm going to die.
"Baby…"
And just like that, he breaks.
The hand on my cheek goes from gentle to grasping. With his fingers tucked behind the corner of my jaw, he hauls me in, possessing my mouth. I groan into his kiss. When I open for him, he presses his tongue inside, and my pussy throbs. Slickness gathers in that hot, needy space between my thighs. He squeezes my breast, and I shudder, my nipple shooting off achy sparks.
I want to climb into his lap and grind down hard. I grunt in frustration, too big and clumsy to make the move.
Thank God my other mates are mind-readers.
"Easy," Colt murmurs, sucking the tender spot behind my ear.
"We got you." Landen grasps me by the hips. Together, he and Colt lift me and turn me. Grady repositions himself so he's sitting with his back against the arm of the couch and his legs stretched out on the cushions. I land with my knees astride his thighs, my belly grazing his abs, and I'm so close to what I want, but not close enough.
I let out a whine, but again my mates are there. Hands tug at the waistband of the soft lounge pants I've been wearing around the house, pulling them and my underwear down. Cool air hits my throbbing pussy. My scent permeates the air, and Grady's amber eyes go darker.
As Landen and Colt help me get my shirt and bra off, Grady cups my needy cunt. I moan as the heel of his hand presses against my clit. He slides a finger inside, and I want to howl.
"Come on, come on." I grasp at his clothes, trying to wrench them off.
Genius that he is, he opens his jeans and pulls himself out.
I just about salivate at the sight of his fat alpha cock. It's hard and ready for me. I pull away from Landen and Colt, eyes on the prize.
They don't let me go, though, and I'm so grateful. With their hands on my naked body, they lower me down. Grady takes himself in hand, holding himself up, his cock an offering he's surrendering to me, and I'm going to take it.
Sliding deep into a sexual frenzy, I glide my wet pussy all along his length, coating him in my juices. The thick head of his cock nudges up against my clit, giving me a taste of the satisfaction I'm dying for. Red hot pleasure shoots through my veins. I shift my hips forward, gliding my slickness across his crown until finally, finally, he's right there at my opening.
Landen and Colt slow me, but I push myself too hard all the same. I'm so fat with their pups that there's no room left in my body, and yet I insist on being filled. I bear down, sinking onto my alpha's enormous cock. Over and over, I fuck myself onto him. He slides a little deeper with each surge of my hips, until finally my thighs meet his.
I drape myself over him, covering his mouth with mine. Jesus, he's so deep.
My constant need for sex while pregnant has forced us to get creative over the past few weeks. We've done it with me in every position we can think of that accommodates my giant belly.
This might be my favorite, though.
Riding my alpha's cock allows me to set the speed and the depth. I swear he hits deeper and feels thicker like this. I could sit on his cock like this for hours, just feeling him, grinding on him, kissing him.
He doesn't seem in any rush to go anywhere, either.
"You feel so good like this," he moans, guiding my mouth. His hands travel on my skin, and I feel like I'm lighting up inside.
All three of my mates clearly enjoy the changes pregnancy has brought to my body. Landen appreciates my growing tits, while Colt can't seem to get enough of my wider hips and ass.
Grady loves the whole package, though. He cups my swollen breasts, massaging my nipples with his thumbs until they're sore. It mortified me the first time, but he only gets harder when I start to leak. He rubs the drops of milk my body is starting to make into my breasts, then drops his hands lower.
He caresses the huge curve of my belly, feeling out every bit of taut skin, every sign of the evidence that he's claimed me and fucked me and bred me. That I'm his; that I'm carrying his pups.
Our pups.
God, yes—this is what I needed. My worries and sorrows from earlier fly out of my head. Forget the past. My present is perfect. Breaking the kiss, I gaze down into my mate's eyes, and he stares at me in perfect adoration.
Together, we move, building up a symphony of pleasure and connection. He keeps his hands on my belly, while I hold onto his shoulders. I fuck myself on his thick cock, reveling in the fullness until the love I feel for this male becomes too overwhelming.
But just when I feel like it's too much, like I'm going to explode, he slips a hand between us to press his thumb against my clit.
I shatter, going to piece
s around him. My womb echoes the pulsations taking hold of my body. I clench and seize, my vision flashing to white. Grady holds me close and whispers my name.
His hot come shoots up inside me, and it feels like balm, taking my broken pieces and gluing them back together. His pheromones combine with mine, and yes—yes. This is why our biology does this to us. Our mating bond sings in my bones, soothing my fears, filling the places inside me that felt empty, only…
It's not enough.
I collapse over him, boneless, aftershocks still rushing through me. Kissing my hair, he runs his hands up and down my spine, but this restless uneasiness still skitters around just under my skin.
I peel myself off of him. My womb spasms again. My leaking, aching tits scream to be touched and kissed, and my pussy demands more cock. Twisting at the shoulders, I lock eyes with Landen, then Colt.
"More."
Landen surges forward, claiming my lips even as I'm sitting there, impaled on Grady spent cock.
"I'm so fucking glad we knocked you up," Colt says, palming my ass.
A clenching throb of desire rockets through me. I'm insatiable like this, but I'm also too freaking big to do what I really want, which is to have all three of them inside me at the same time. A couple of times over the past few months, Colt's taken the time to stretch out my ass and give it the thorough fucking it's been craving, but there's no way I can take it in both my ass and my pussy while I'm like this.
But if I can't have all three, I'll take the next best thing.
I pull away from Landen's mouth and hold out my hands. "Help me up."
Grady lets out a soft sound of loss as he slips out. His seed leaks down my thighs, and my wet pussy pulses, sending more of his come slipping out of me. But it doesn't matter that he's just filled me to the brim—I still want more.
With my mates' help, I climb down to the floor. Landen shoves the coffee table out of the way, giving us room to move. I set up on my hands and knees, my swollen belly hanging down, ripe and full. I raise my ass and look up from underneath my lashes. I lick my lips, then show my mates my tongue.