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You’re practically vibrating with energy, flower.Syler added, and I knew he’d shared that thought not only with me, but with the pack when they all agreed.
“You guys make it impossible to do something nice for you.” I pouted, but deep down, there wasn’t a mad or frustrated bone in my body. Calling forth the gift box I’d magicked away earlier, I held it close while I gazed at each of my mates in turn. “I have something for you.” Suddenly, I was unsure who to give it to. I didn’t know who the father of this child was, but it didn’t matter to me, and it wouldn’t to them either. The few times we’d talked about starting a family, we’d agreed whatever children we had would be just that…ours.
Let the alpha open it, Syler told me, helping me with the indecision he’d caught in my expression.
I kissed him on the cheek, and then gently handed the box to Dason.
He shared an intense look with me when he took it. “You don’t have to get us things. You know that, right?”
I wanted to tell him it was somethingtheygaveme. Okay, fine. Something we made together. I bit my lip, trying to hold back a smirk. I couldn’t wait until he saw it. “Just open it already.”
“If you don’t, I will. The suspense is killing me,” Axel whined, and he was only half joking. For someone who liked to plan surprises, he was terribly impatient when it came to receiving them.
After another beat of studying me and trying to figure me out, Dason lifted the lid and stared into the box. It was silent when he lifted the mobile I’d created and held it up for my mates to see. There was a figurine for each of us. A puma for Dason. A gray wolf for Chayton. A fox for Jolon. A grizzly for Syler. A white wolf for Tye. A hawk for Axel. A panther for Kota. In the center was a wolf in my signature purple color with a golden little pup by her side.
I opened the connections. Elation, shock, a smidge of fear and panic, joy, and love flooded through the bond. That was fair. This was news to all of us and would take some adjustment.
Syler captured my chin and turned me to face his wide, awestruck gaze.You’re pregnant?
I played with the strands of his long mahogany hair.Yes. Are you happy?I directed that last thought to the whole pack, looking around and hoping the emotion that overwhelmed them would be excitement.
Dason growled and lunged for me, scooping me up into his arms and cradling me against his chest as he knelt on the blanket.You’re carrying our baby? You’re fucking sure?
I looped my arms around his neck.Yes. I took the test this morning, I promised.
His arms tightened around me and he nuzzled his nose into the crux of my neck, inhaling deeply. I felt the wetness of a single tear against my skin. My surly alpha never cried, but somehow, I’d brought him to his knees. Literally.
“Holy fuck, sweetness,” Tye breathed, and he moved closer to lean in and kiss me.
The rest of my mates surrounded us, everyone touching some part of me. Kota’s fingers grazed his mate mark while Chayton ran a hand over my hair. Syler pressed his lips to my palm, and Jolon laced our fingers together. Axel’s heat warmed my back, and he placed sweet little kisses down my neck.
“I’m going to be a dad,” Axel rasped. “Shit, that’s weird to say.”
“Watch your language. The baby can hear everything,” Kota admonished, and I chuckled.
“I think it’s okay for now.” The smile wouldn’t leave my lips.
But I just had to be sure.
“You’re all excited? For real?” I pressed, and all the other feelings that filtered through the connections eased to just one simple, powerful emotion. Happiness.
“More than we could ever put into words,” Dason rasped, and he looked at me as though I hung the stars in the sky just for him every night.
Take it from someone who can’t physically voice anything, Syler said, the golden flecks in his dark eyes gleaming.There are many ways toshowwhen words fail.
I agree.With a growl and a smirk, Dason lifted me and stalked back to the house with the others on his trail. The picnic basket was forgotten entirely as my mates carried me into the house and up to our bedroom, then proceeded toshowme just how happy they were. Repeatedly.
Lying there with my mates, my heart was weightless as I melted into the mattress at the end of the night. I gently stroked a hand over my stomach and pictured the future. Each of us had survived a difficult childhood in some way, but that would only make us give this little life, this littlelight, that much more love. None of us knew what to expect, but as Chayton would say, the fun was in the journey, every beautiful, difficult piece of it.
Getting here had been its own journey. But every hardship, every challenge, had been worth it to get to where we were now.
This was what life should be. This is what we’d fought so hard for. What we’d continue to fight for. This was family. Life. Love. Home. This waseverything.
