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Nonetheless, they'd made the trek from Morris Hill to these sandy beaches three times in the last five years. When the constraints of the Pack, with its growing population and the constant press of people, turned from supportive to smothering, they'd slip away. Some regular trading routes had become more reliable and more heavily traveled, making the journey less dangerous than maybe it once had been. They'd hook up with a trusted caravan and tag along until they reached the scattered beach towns that had reestablished themselves on the reshaped shorelines. Some towns had started to vaguely resemble the sunny vacation spots he remembered from his youth, and it was in those towns they'd lingered, forging friendships with people of all varieties, Alpha, Beta, and Omega.
It was easy enough to integrate as, Jake discovered, there was always work for a strong Alpha who knew construction. The near-continuous expansion of Morris Hill had honed his knowledge and skills even further. While he worked in trade for food or whatever passed for money, Zorah took odd jobs: childcare, mending, and even waitressing at an open-air restaurant or two, including one that served nearly perfect fish tacos. She'd joke that Jake ate away all of her earnings, stuffing his face with them, but he knew she loved to see him sated and happy.
Tonight, they'd strolled down to the beach to enjoy one last sunset before starting the long journey north in the morning. Ever since Zorah had become pregnant, Jake planned to have her back in the protective confines of the Pack before she delivered. She would need other Omegas around, and he would feel better with Hunter's doctor skills nearby in case anything went awry. They'd already delayed too long, and the trip would not get easier as she got bigger.
Travel weighed heavy on his mind. The world hadn't become entirely safe since his dark days in OT, but parts of it trended in that direction, as people remembered, or discovered, the freedom that a safe society provided. As he well knew, it was hard to make a full life hunkered down, cowering against every potential threat every minute of the day. In his darkest, most secret thoughts, he might've been tempted to live that way, to hole up with his Omega and never fully integrate into society. But he loved Zorah too much to keep her from anything and everything she wanted.
As he'd promised on the riverbank in River Bend, he awoke every morning with the overarching goal of making every wish or whim of hers come true. She wanted to see the ocean? Done. She wanted to work doing something other than childcare? No problem. She wanted a home with more than one room, in the village proper, near the other mated Alpha-Omega pairs? He made it happen. She wanted a child of her own? Well... okay.
That last one had been the most fraught. Memories of Ava rarely surfaced now, but it took effort —a lotof effort — to stifle the anxiety that linked a pregnant woman with danger and grief. The fear, that despite the trappings of civility around them, that this child, one he already loved with his full heart, would be somehow denied to him. But he dealt with it. Breathed through the panic, soothed himself after the nightmares, and looked into Zorah's perfect face, and knew he would endure anything rather than deprive her of this wish.
"Hey!" she called, done floating and now bobbing in shoulder-deep water. "Aren't you going to come in? One more time?"
Without hesitation, Jake dropped his shorts and waded nude into the sun-warmed salt water. When he reached a deep enough spot, he took a shallow dive under the waves and swam to his waiting mate. Finding her shapely legs, he trailed his fingers upward, earning an adorable wiggle of her hips to the ticklish caress. He broke the surface, water sluicing down his face and dripping from his hair.
With a dazzling grin, she slipped her arms around his neck and snuggled close, or as close as she could get with her bulging belly. Warmth from the curve of her abdomen seeped into his skin, a luscious contrast with the refreshing water.
"I could hear you brooding clear over here," she said with a knowing glint in her eyes. "There will be plenty of time for that once we're on the road."
Jake laced his arms around her back and stroked up and down the pronounced furrow of her spine and the pregnancy-exaggerated lumbar curve. "You think so?"
"I know so. Besides, everything is going to be fine." She smoothed a hand over the top of her firm baby bump. "This little Alpha is going to be strong and healthy and perfect."
"Little Alpha, is it?" Jake raised a brow. "You feel sure about that?"
"No. Could be an Omega, too, and she'll be just as strong and healthy and perfect."
"Like her mama." He swooped in, dusting her with a kiss as soft and gentle as a summer wind.
Zorah hummed a pleased note, her lips warm and sweet against his own.
Breaking apart, Zorah cocked her head to the side. "I never asked you: do you care? Boy or girl?"
"Not a bit," he said with absolute confidence. "All I want is a healthy baby and my healthy mate on the other side."
Her plump lips spread in a stunning, heart-stopping smile. Framed by freckles and lit by the orangey, golden rays of the setting sun, she looked like an angel. Maybe she was. At times like this, it felt that way, like she'd been sent from some pitying god to reach inside his barely-beating heart and breathe him back to life. He didn't know how many years he'd have, or how many lifetimes he'd survived, but he understood what Hunter had said all those years ago: despite it all, he was pretty happy where he landed.
THE END
