Page 8 of Alpha Talk (Hemlock Wolf Pack: Life in the Happily Ever After #7)
Micah
Outside of reassuring Cody that Raziel wasn’t a danger to anyone, I kept Kodiak’s worries to myself. There was no use in turning everyone against a guy because he didn’t want to be in a group with Creon. Alpha Talk was a therapy and support group. Those who attended had every right not to speak in front of anyone they didn’t want to. That was the only way groups like Alpha Talk worked out long term. Under different circumstances, I would’ve thought that Kodiak was sweet being so worried about his mate but every minute I spent telling him to put his furry bear balls on ice was a minute I wasn’t spending with my Cody.
While we opted not to have the BIG ultrasound, I did eventually convince Cody to allow Clyde to make a house call. Then I spent the whole time growling as the healer measured and listened to my mate’s pregnant belly.
“I could bite his whole arm off. Make him match you,” my wolf grumbled into my thoughts. “Maybe if I eat his hand yours will grow back and even if it doesn’t work – because let’s face it that is fucking absurd - he’ll keep his dirty paws off my mate. Cody is mine! That baby is mine! If Clyde doesn’t---”
“All finished,” Clyde said. “Everything is sounding really good. You’re right where you need to be. Before you know it, your pup will be here. How are preparations going?”
“We know what we’re doing!” my wolf growled into my thoughts.
“We have everything,” Cody spoke before I managed to get a single word out.
“Great,” Clyde smiled, but kept me in his peripheral vision. “Let me know if there is anything I can do to help and I’ll get out of your hair before Micah eats me.”
“You make a run for it, and I’ll let him gobble me up instead,” Cody teased.
Once we were alone, I locked up the house and came back into the bedroom to stretch out next to my mate. I stroked his pregnant belly, covering him with my scent. Clyde wasn’t a threat. He’d never been a threat to us. I knew that. On some level, even my wolf knew that, but that primal urge was still there. It didn’t help that Cody only begrudgingly agreed to see the doctor. I’d have done anything to keep him safe and happy.
“Scoot closer or lean over or something, alpha,” Cody said. “Lean over and press your head to mine. My belly’s in the way.”
I did and his calm swept over me. This was what we’d practiced coregulation for. So that one of us could share our calm with the other or so that we could find it together if neither of us had it at any given moment. I lost myself to his gentle breathing as our hearts synced up.
“I wish I could keep you like this for the rest of my pregnancy,” Cody chuckled.
“If the laws of nature allowed, I’d never move again, mate,” I said, sweeping a lock of hair out of his face and tucking it behind his ear. “I’d stay right here with you forever.”
I sang to him as he drifted off for a nap and it wasn’t a lie. I’d stay right here with him forever if I could. Still, the demands of life would rear their ugly heads again. Someone had to cook and clean and eventually one of us would need to pee.