“No idea, hot stuff. But I do what I do, you know?” He winks before sidling up and winding his arms around Finn’s waist.
Finn nods at the banister. “You’re pretty good at that, too. Leo giving you lessons?”
“Yup, when Lauren isn’t home. Frankie pretends she doesn’t hear or see us.”
He giggles, and Finn feels a soft wrist on the back of his neck and a cool nose in his throat; scenting and being scented in return.
“Have you ever tried?”
Of course he had. Who could resist Leo when he was turning on the boyish charm? Not him, that’s for sure.
But Finn hadn’t been as graceful as his omega, so he changes the subject for fear of revealing his less-than-attractive bumbling.
“How are you? I feel like I’ve checked you over in ages.”
“Good, better—best, actually. The babies are moving; wanna feel?”
How was that even a question?
Placing his hand on Nix’s growing abdomen, he is met with a hard bump that moves away before it pops back up again in greeting.
He catches Nix’s eye, and then he can’t look away; sharing this moment never gets old.
“They’re amazing.Youare amazing,” Finn whispers reverently.
No matter how many pregnancies he had been witness to, none will ever be as magical as theirs.
“They’re so big now. I feel like I’ve doubled in size since we arrived. My wolf is happy that we can’t hide it anymore, you know? It was weird that Carnell and Withers didn’t notice.”
Finn agreed, but it had occurred to him, based on the previous day’s events, that maybe they’d had some extra-special help keeping the babies invisible to those who might have wanted to do them harm.
He doesn’t say so, because he is a “man of science,” but he has to admit his own beliefs have shifted, especially given that he had heard Them as he’d watched the last atoms of Aleksander Withers float up and disappear into the Wolf Moon.
Continue to do what you feel is right, and use your wonderful mind and heart to protect your pack. You are a good alpha, Finn Merritt. They love and need you just as you are.
The words had slipped across his consciousness, easing the ache in his skull, and while he had gotten used to hearing Nix there, these words were lighter, more melodic, and they vibrated into every area and cell of his brain.
“Finn?” Nix asks, a frown between his brows.
He realizes he’d zoned out, his hand still pressed to Nix’s baby-belly. “Maybe we should lie down before dinner?”
“I’m okay, but I won’t turn down some Finn-Nix time.”
He teases, no matter that he looks and probably sounds like an idiot using one of the several “ship” names Luca had takento using in the last few months. They were surprisingly effective and, well, fun.
There’s a sudden shriek of laughter from the back of the house, and with a grin, Nix leads him through to the back.
Gideon has Jay pressed up against the counter as water runs in the sink and something boils on the stove. The aroused scent of a rain-soaked forest is currently overpowering what had been Finn’s much-anticipated meal.
Gideon has one hand down Jay’s pants and the other sunk deep into Jay’s hair, while the pack alpha devours Gideon’s mouth. Neither of them notices Finn or Nix, but Nix presses a small finger to his lips in ashhhgesture anyway.
No, Finn wouldn’t interrupt, even to turn off the tap. Which he will not be thinking about (all that wasted water!) for the next twenty minutes, no sir.
When Nix slides the glass doors open to the pool deck, Finn can hear someone in the pool splashing, followed by Luca’s loud cackle. Grayson and Leo are wrestling in the pool while Rowan (person-shaped, thank goodness) tries to swim with Luca attached to his back like a barnacle.
“Nix! Come and save me from Octo-Luc!” Rowan yells as he pretends to be strangled by the smaller man on his back, eyes rolling dramatically while he flails his arms and splashes waves of water over the side of the pool.
It’s met with a giggle and a roar. “No, he’s mine!”
