Once the anxiety wore off and I was able to really process the news, I got excited. It helped that my pack was practically beside themselves with joy and excitement, and none of them were worried one single bit.
“Because there isn’t anything to worry about,kotenok.”Dimitri gives me a genuine smile then rolls his eyes as Leon says, “Except how big our baby is going to be. Six months along and you already look like you’re ready to pop. There is no doubt in my mind that the big guy contributed the most when it came to creating this beautiful life growing inside of you.”
Tears well in my eyes as I look between Leon and Dimitri, my hands lifting instinctually to rub my belly. I think they might be right. Not that it matters which of my mates helped make our baby, it belongs to all of us and that’s all that does matter, but I’m pretty big for six months along. Again, the specifics are not important, not really, but it would mean so much to all of us if this baby is Rune’s.
“Hope not.”
“Oh stop,” I sniffle, smiling as I swipe the tears from my cheeks. “Our baby would be lucky to share genetics with every single one of you.”
Rune huffs from his place in Dimitri’s lap, his head resting on a pillow on D’s thighs while the alpha traces circles around the large scar in the middle of Rune’s chest.
We almost lost him.
Wedidlose him.
When Hayk shot him, the bullet nicked the right ventricle and he basically coded trying to keep Tati and Bee—who he had put in the closet with our girl—safe. He was so close to bleeding out, so close to leaving us forever. It wasn’t until I kissed him that I felt a pulse. A faint, almost imperceptible, slow beat in the side of his neck despite how cold his lips were, and we moved faster than any of us ever had before to get our alpha out of there and to someone who could help.
Who ended up being a mob doctor with an alter ego Alexei knows.
Talk about panic. All I could think about was losing my scent match, our alpha and mate, and I didn’t care where we went as long as it meant we could save him. It wasn’t until we got thehe’s out of the woods for nowspeech from Dr. Locke that I was able to really grasp the situation.
He’s legit. By day, he’s a renowned psychiatrist with all kinds of credentials backing him up and a reputation that makes him seem like a saint, but he works for guys like Alexei and Ransom on the side, and all under the radar.
I didn’t give a shit about any of that as long as he could save my mate, but after he did, that’s when I had aholy shitmoment and felt like I was living a scene straight out ofThe Godfatheror something.
But, Dr. Locke saved our alpha’s life and if he didn’t perform that extremely scary and intense surgery on his dining room table at two o’clock in the morning, Rune wouldn’t be here now.
He stares at me for a few seconds, those dark eyes moving over my face before they drop to my big belly and the alpha who’s now singing to it, and I don’t miss the small smile that curves his lips or the thought that runs through his head.
He’s happy I’m pregnant, thrilled that we’re having a baby, but he’s terrified it’s going to be anything like him because Rune still doesn’t think he’s good enough for us. He doesn’t think he’s smart enough, feels like everything about him is less than, and he’s worried he’s going to pass something like that on. Rune is also extremely concerned that the baby is going to hate him and he’s going to be a horrible father, despite how absolutely absurd that is. It just isn’t true.
But I know my mate is excited.
They all are, and they’re all going to be amazing fathers.
This baby is so lucky.
They—I hate usingitortheybut the majority ruled and we’re waiting to find out the sex—have so many people who love themalready. Five fathers ready to spoil and protect, to teach and nurture. Granted, some of the things they want to teach the baby are very illegal, and protection might mean never leaving the property, but the fact that all of my mates are thinking like that when we still have a few months before we even get to meet our baby, is more than I could have asked for.
Tatiana is beyond thrilled.
She knows this baby is technically her niece or nephew, that she’s really an aunt even though they’ll only have a five year age gap, but she’s acting more like a big sister, and I’m perfectly fine with that. Especially since I understand how she feels. That beautiful little girl is my sister in law but it’s hard not to feel like her mom, not when my pack is raising her like she’s always been with us, like she’s one hundred percent ours, and knowing her parents are gone only makes those feelings stronger.
And I love how excited she is for our pack, our family, to grow.
Our baby even has the extended family Ididhave but wasn’t allowed to see. Aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents.
Mine were ripped from me the second my father found out I was an omega, and after I left that stupid compound, all hope I had for getting them back vanished in the wind.
But my baby won’t have to worry about that.
I thought Styx’s parents were going to fly right out of here and through the ceiling when we met for the first time. His mother was a mess of emotions already, meeting her baby boy’s pack and the people who love him more than anything in the world, but when we told them I was pregnant, I was worried she might explode into a supernova. Even Ransom was happy when he found out. As happy as he gets, anyway, and Sage is already planning playdates for them.
This baby is going to have the best of everything, including a huge family who will love it forever. Our baby is going to havethe life I never had, he or she will have the one I always wanted, and that’s more than I could ever ask for.
“And they’ll have you.” I look down at Leo as he wraps his arms around my waist and gives me a tender smile. “Our baby will have you, and that makes them luckier than any of us could have dreamed.”
Ignoring how emotional that comment is making me, I smirk and say, “You’re just sucking up because you’re hoping for morning sex.”
