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“I thought I had you.” I pushed up and kissed him.

“You almost did, but I think—don’t take this the wrong way—I think maybe shifting is over for you.” He cringed.

“Because?” I don’t know why I asked. I knew. He saw my pain.

“Because I have eyes and saw your shift.”

I conceded. He was right. I was glad that we’d had this time together.

“No more. Not until after our cub is here,” I promised.

Dimitri kissed me and, this time, the kissing deepened until it was only him and I together.

Chapter Sixteen

Tyler

“Dimitri, come here.” I’d made the mistake of getting on the floor to separate out all the baby clothes. In my mind, it gave me a large work space and would be perfect. It was far from perfect.

Our little one received a ton of clothes during my baby shower, and I wanted them sorted and washed before they arrived. I picked up a shirt with a fox and bear embroidered on it and held it close. I’d never expected to have a baby shower. I’d never even been to one, but not only was the entire den there, but Karma and her mate made a surprise appearance.

It had been a surprise party—one I hadn’t seen coming. Looking back, there had been signs, but at the time, I’d been shocked. Baby showers weren’t a thing in my old den. In fact, until my own shower, I thought they were only for humans. I’d been wrong

They had gone all out…a huge cake, games that were fun, lots of laughs, and, of course, presents. But none of that mattered as much as the feeling of being fully accepted. Not a single time since we moved here did I feel like I was less than. Not for being a fox. Not for being kicked out of my own den.

To them I was the beta’s mate and a den member.

Dimitri came running into the bedroom where I sat. “What’s wrong? Are you in labor?”

“I’m thirty-four weeks. If I’m in labor, we’ve got bigger problems.” The midwife said I’d probably go long since I was a smaller beast than my mate. Not sure how that was fair.

“Okay, so what do you need?” He looked at the piles where were mostly sorted.

“I-I can’t get up.” It was so embarrassing, doubly so because I knew better.

Being on the floor shouldn’t incapacitate me. And if it was this bad now, what was it going to be in another few weeks?

“Why’d you get on the floor, silly?” He came up behind me, put his arms under my armpits, and physically lifted me up and onto my feet.

In the past, he’d come at me from the front when I needed help. Because, as embarrassing as this was, it wasn’t the first time. And the last time he assisted me, I fell forward—my balance off thanks to my ginormous belly.

I turned around and hugged him as best I could, my hands reaching behind him but nowhere near enough to get the embrace I was longing for. “Thank you. You deserve a cookie.”

He stepped back and looked me in the eye. “Or…a date night?”

“Date night? Don’t you have to work?”

“Nope.” He kissed my cheek. “No perimeter runs for me until after the baby arrives.”

That was the one thing I didn’t love about his position…the perimeter runs. It was fine in the beginning, when I could tag along, but now that I was too big to shift and very hormonal, having him gone for those stretches of time sucked.

When the alpha offered him to take on some more office work in exchange for being home at night, I was thrilled that he jumped at it.

“I thought that didn’t start until next week.”

“That was the plan, but Bruno had some paperwork that needed doing—and if he asks, I never said this, but he’s as good at it as you are.”

No wonder they needed my mate so badly. I shouldn’t be allowed near anything made of paper except for recycling and if the alpha was the same, yikes.