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Morning After
Blake
Hisheatbrokein the early hours of the second morning. We’d fallen asleep after with Kade spooned against me as I remained knotted inside him. My last knot lasted for much longer than all the ones before it, only going down as the heat had finally broken and Kade had slipped into a deep, restorative sleep. I held him close and watched him rest, stroking curls from his face and tracing the lines of his face, mapping each of the freckles that decorated his fine features, until sleep pulled me under too.
Kade stiffening roused me. He slowly tried to edge away from me and grimaced as my cock slipped free of his body. A pool of our fluids collected on the bed sheets.
I stroked my hand over his arm to reassure him, but he flinched away from me and leapt from the bed. “No, no, no, no. This cannot be happening!” He slapped a hand over the still healing mate bite and whimpered.
Slowly, to not spook him, I eased out of the bed and tried to move towards him. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. You wanted this. You said yes.”
“I did not!” His indignant face was cute. His cheeks flushed, and he pulled at his tangled hair.
“Sweetheart,” I attempted to soothe him while feeling ill that he thought I would violate him, “the bite wouldn’t have taken if there wasn’t consent.”
“But —“
“No, you wanted it. I asked clearly, and you said yes.” I said quietly but firmly. My wolf brushed along my mind, full of pride for being level-headed even when my heart wanted to break.
“I was out of my mind with my heat!” The Luna help me that hurt. It wasn’t true, but it still stung.
The more I thought of it, the more pain bloomed and cut deep. I’d never take advantage of anyone like that. Except, “you weren’t in heat. Not until after. The bite threw you into it.”
Later, when I could find humor in the whole thing, I would swear that Kade stamped his foot. “I was so!”
Deciding not to argue the point with him, I gave him an out. “Okay, so what do you want to do about it? I’m your fated. We were destined to meet and bond. You wear my mark.”
“You don’t wear mine.” Damn, another shot hit the target and I couldn’t help my flinch.
More reassurance came from my wolf. “True, but I hope that one day you’ll mark me back. We just need to decide what to do now.”
“Do?”
“The mark will wear off if we don’t complete the bonding, but with us being fated, it won’t be easy. The bond will pull at us and our wolves won’t be happy.”
Kade muttered something that I didn’t quite catch. “Sorry?”
“I said, I can’t feel my wolf.”
I could feel the color drain from my face and I staggered backwards and dropped to the mattress. Shit, it was worse than I thought.
“It’s not that bad,” Kade said, moving forwards automatically to reassure me. “It also should be temporary.”
“Are you sure?”
He became defensive, putting up his walls. “As far as the doctors can tell. It’s why I passed out at the pack house. Thank you for taking me to the hospital, by the way.” His sweet voice turned cutting. “Oh, and I’m probably infertile, so we really should just let this bond lapse. Better for everyone.”
I felt sick. Children had always featured in my dreams of my future, but here was my fated telling me it likely wasn’t possible. My wolf surged forward to rescue us both, probably realizing that I was about to say something stupid. I really wanted kids to be a feature of my future. My wolf sent calming vibes and reassurances. Together, we recalled all the pups in the pack without parents over the years.
“It doesn’t matter,” we lied. Our feelings were secondary to our mate’s. We needed to save him from pain. I wanted to gather him into my arms and use touch to soothe him. “There are other ways. Adoption, for instance. The Luna sent me to you for a reason and I refuse to reject her gift.”
Kade’s mouth gaped until he recovered from his shock. “You’re a pack alpha. I’ve researched your pack. Your family has ruled for generations. You need an heir!”
While that was true, I recalled instances where alpha leaders hadn’t had children with their omegas before. Fertility was an issue for shifters. “Yes, but I’m willing to wait to see if something can be done. If not, I have an alpha cousin. He took the family name. His line could carry on the family. There’s nothing to say they have to be blood related. We could adopt.” As I offered our potential solutions, I willed myself to keep my voice steady and not betray an ounce of pain that I carried in my heart. My poor mate.
“Whoa! This is... this is too much. You need to slow down.”
“I know.” I held out a hand for him, hoping he’d join me on the bed, breathing a sigh of relief when he settled close to me. “Why don’t we just see where this goes? Date a little?”
