Page 41 of Briggs (Paranormal Council Enforcers #16)

Briggs

“ W arwick?” I called out. There was absolutely no mistaking the hellhound.

Nobody else in the council looked like he did.

“I didn’t realize you were back?” I said, but more as a question.

I’d thought the hellhounds were still out.

Which was honestly insane with as long as their assignment had turned out to be.

“I’m only here to drop off a status report,” Warwick said. “And to check in on Cecil and the twins.” Warwick smiled, or at least I thought it was a smile? “I hear congratulations are to be offered? You found your mate?”

I couldn’t stop the smile. “Yes. Todd is pregnant with twins. He’s joked that everyone who works for Dr. King seems to end up pregnant with twins.”

Warwick’s eyes widened. “He’s your mate?” I nodded. “Wow. Definitely congratulations to the two of you, then. How are things going? When are the babies due? You said twins, right?”

“Things are good, and the babies are due in about three weeks. Dr. King says Todd won’t go that long, but we’re just at a wait-and-see point now. His brother, John, has been living with us for three weeks now, and I think he’s just as excited about their arrival as we are.”

“That could be good, I guess? Maybe he’ll be around to help the two of you with the babies?”

“That would be nice, but we’re not putting any sort of expectations on him. He’s not their parent, and we don’t expect him to stop being a teenager to help us with the twins.”

“That’s good to hear. But if he offers help, be sure to take him up on, say…throwing laundry into the dryer. Do you have family coming to meet them?”

I shook my head and sighed. When I’d called my parents to tell them that I’d met my mate and we were expecting, they’d offered congratulations but had said they couldn’t get away at the moment.

Maybe after the first of the year, but they had too much going on right now.

“They can’t get away at the moment,” I told Warwick and shrugged.

“We don’t hate each other, but we’re not exactly overly close.

We say hi, we call occasionally, but that’s about it.

I moved away, and now I’m more out of the loop. ”

Warwick seemed a bit confused. Maybe thoughtful? “Is that normal? Cecil’s parents are horrid, but his grandparents are wonderful.”

I shook my head. “I think most parents are great. Mine are just busy. There were five of us kids, but our pack has always been pretty big, and everyone just seems to get lost in it.”

Warwick nodded. “I guess that makes sense.” He nodded again. “I hate to run, but I want to get home to spend a bit of time with Cecil and the twins.”

“Of course. Enjoy your visit. Hopefully, your pack gets to come back soon.”

“It has been a lot. But I think we’re close.

Ask about it. As far as I know, it’s not been kept a secret,” Warwick said as he started to walk away.

I waved as I headed out. Todd was at work, but today was Halloween, and although we didn’t technically celebrate the human holidays, the kids in the shifter school got out after a half day.

John and I were going to tackle the nursery and see how much of it we could get finished before I needed to walk back to the clinic and walk Todd home.

I continued in the direction I’d been going before I ran into Warwick and got distracted. I would certainly be following up about what was happening in New Mexico and the strange noises, but right now, I needed to get home and finish the nursery.

I adored my mate, but he truly was stressing over things that he didn’t need to be worrying about.

He’d overthought every single purchase for the babies, and that wasn’t what I wanted for him.

I’d added him to all of my accounts, gotten him cards for everything, but he still hadn’t made one purchase without asking multiple times.

I understood he was used to not having anything—he’d been forced to live in a cage for three years—but I wasn’t exactly poor.

Sure, I didn’t have the funds that some of the older enforcers had, but I’d been working for two decades, and I’d invested most of my income since the very beginning.

Add in a good amount from grandparents, and well, we didn’t have to worry about funds.

Now to just get my mate to understand that it was fine if he wanted five hundred dollars’ worth of nursery bedding for our twins.

“Heading out for a bit?” Slater asked.

I shook my head. “Nope. I’m done for the day,” I said. “Slater, I have a question for you.”

“I might have an answer. What is it?”

“Don’t you get bored sitting behind the desk five days a week?”

Slater chuckled. “You are not the first to ask that question. The answer is no. I don’t have to go out on assignments, and I have my housing paid for, I get all the food I could need, and I get to sit here and either read or do crosswords every day. Why would I be bored?”

I shrugged. “I just thought I’d ask because I don’t think I could sit there like that.” I thought back to my years of working, and nope. I couldn’t just sit there. Even when I was working in IT, I still was up and about a lot. “Well, I’m glad you enjoy it.”

Slater laughed. “More like, you’re glad someone is here permanently, and you don’t have to rotate in every so often to cover the desk.”

“Guilty.” I sighed. “I have a nursery to decorate. I’ll see you later.”

“Oh? Whose nursery are you helping to decorate?”

I looked at Slater like he had two heads. “Mine?” I told him. “Did you not hear that I’d met my mate?”

Slater’s eyes widened at the same time his eyebrows rose. “What? When?”

I chuckled. “Man, where have you been? I’ve been gone on and off for the past two and a half months. Did you not know why?”

Slater shook his head. “No. I thought you were on assignments. The hellhounds are still gone. Carrington and his entire team are gone. So are several of the fae.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know, my friend. I’ve been mostly out. My team is here though, and I guess I’ve not really picked up on who is and isn’t in-house at the moment.”

Slater nodded. “Well, congratulations. Where did you meet your mate?”

I chuckled. “Here. Well, at the omega clinic. I scented him when I was walking by,” I told him. “I’ll have to fill you in when I have more time. I really need to get. My brother-in-law is probably wondering where I am, and we need to get the nursery finished before Todd gets off of work.”

“Todd?” Slater’s eyes became impossibly big. “The cute little cheetah shifter?”

I growled and narrowed my eyes. It caught Rainier’s attention as he was walking by.

When he raised an eyebrow, I shook my head.

Rainier continued on, and I looked back at Slater, who was holding his hands out in front of him.

“Nope. I’m not after your mate. I was just making an observation and a poorly voiced one.

” I narrowed my eyes. My wolf was just below the surface, and Slater’s own wolf realized it. “He’s cute. You’re lucky. That’s all.”

“Is there an issue?” Rainier asked. I’d been so focused on Slater that I didn’t realize the warlock had doubled back.

“No,” I said. I looked at Slater and nodded. “He made a comment about Todd, and my wolf is just being on edge about our new mate. I apologize.”

“We’re good,” Slater said. He looked to his left, and I realized we’d drawn a bit of a crowd. “Can I get a five-minute break?” Slater asked.

“Sure. I was just about to come ask if you wanted to take your lunch,” Reinhold asked. “I’m not doing anything at the moment, and I volunteered to cover your lunch.”

I sighed. I’d messed up a bit, and it was honestly the first time I’d ever been this way about Todd.

“You sure you’re all right?” Rainier asked. I nodded, and after Ranier returned the motion, he walked away. I decided that maybe Reinhold would be able to answer a few questions. He had children.

He was staring off in the direction that Slater had gone, but when he turned my way, he smirked. “What did he say to set you off?”

“How did you know?”

“Because Slater has upset more than a few people lately. Usually asking questions about mates.”

I nodded. “He didn’t ask anything, but he did comment that Todd was cute.”

Reinhold chuckled. “Todd is cute. But so are all of the other mates. Chase is gorgeous and is the only one for me. But you cannot deny that the others are attractive. It’s just how things are.” Reinhold sighed. “Don’t take it too personally.”

“I don’t know what came over me. I’ve never acted that way about my mate before.”

“Give it time. The two of you haven’t been mated long. I’m sure that Todd has experienced some of the same feelings. I know Chase has, and I certainly growled at others in the beginning of my mating.” Reinhold shrugged. “It’s part of it, I think.”

“Thanks, Rein. I appreciate it.” I sighed again.

“I need to get. John is probably waiting for me. We’re supposed to do the nursery as a surprise for Todd.

He’s had his heart set on this one theme, but he fought tears when he saw the cost of the stuff to make it happen.

” I shrugged. “I ordered everything and had it delivered to Raiden’s.

It’s ready, and with the girls being due in a few weeks, it’s past time to get everything set up. ”

Reinhold chuckled. “That it is. Have fun. And remember, if you need help with anything, the mountain is full of warlocks, fae, and hellhounds that have magical powers.” Reinhold frowned. “Well, normally hellhounds. They’ll be back soon, from what I’ve heard.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said before I waved and got myself out the door. I couldn’t help but glance toward the omega clinic when I left the building. Todd was so close, but he was busy, and I had a lot to do if I was going to be able to surprise him.