Page 8

Chapter Eight

Fen

H oney. He smells like sweet honey.

Huh? What was my wolf trying to tell me? Could he be any more cryptic?

Smell our mate. He smells like honey.

My wolf wouldn’t drop it, over and over. He’d been on my case all morning. Demanding I sniff my omega. Hinting that there was something different about his scent and that I needed to figure out what.

But I couldn’t just walk up to Arley and nuzzle his neck in the middle of campus. I mean, I could but I wouldn’t. Although the shifters would get it, the humans would not. So I had to wait until the right time presented itself.

But my wolf wouldn’t stop complaining that I was ignoring him. I swear I loved my beast, but he could be really annoying some days.

It was in the elevator heading to our afternoon philosophy class that we had together when I was finally able to understand what had my wolf so excited. And increased my own joy.

My little mate’s scent was different—sweeter. Although the chocolatey deliciousness was already sweet, I could finally detect the undertone of honey that my wolf had been hinting at. That meant one thing.

Arley was pregnant. I was going to be a father. I wanted to climb the Sears Tower and shout it to the heavens.

“What on earth are you doing?” Arley pushed back into me, his ass rubbing against my thickening cock, the crook of his neck arching closer to me. His movements sent pleasurable sensations skittering along my spine. “I thought you got enough of me this morning before we left for school. Don’t you think we should wait until we are back home for this?”

I licked the tempting skin and allowed myself to savor the moment. Soon we would reach our floor and must face other people. Why were they taking classes again?

You could force stop the elevator. Hit that big red button and take our mate right here. Claim our mate.

I told my wolf he was not helpful. No matter how much the idea appealed to me.

“Arley, baby.” I kissed the area beneath his ear and wrapped my arms around him, my hands resting lightly on his still-flat belly. “Have you noticed anything different in your body or scent lately? Feeling bloated or having any weird cravings?”

“No, why?” Arley covered my hands with his own, his voice husky with need, then changing. “Wait. Did you say bloated? Are you calling me fat, Fen?”

“No, baby. Not fat at all. But your scent has slightly changed.” I turned him in my arms, wanting to see his face when he realized why his scent changed. “It’s sweeter.”

Bright eyes stared up at me, I could sense through our connection a mixture of hope, fear, and excitement growing. “Sweeter? But then that would mean—”

“Yes, Arley.” I let my lips curl up and pushed a bit of my happiness through our energetic bond so he had no doubts on how I felt about the situation. “You’re pregnant.”

“What? No.” Arley’s face had gone pale white and he clutched my arm like a lifeline. “You truly think so? But we just met. And I just started school again. And…” Panic tried to latch on and I knew I needed to stop it.

“Sshhh. Wait.” I placed a finger on his plump lips. His eyes were wild with worry. “Stop stressing out. That’s not good for you or the baby. Let’s take everything moment by moment, step by step, thing by thing. Okay?”

“Okay.” Arley closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Okay, so what do we do first?”

“First…” I took Arley’s cheeks in my palms, his eyes were so expressive. The window to his soul. “We finish out our day and head home. A nice, warm meal will be good for us. Then we can settle on the couch or the bed and discuss this fantastic turn of events.” I really hoped my mate had faith in me, in us. That we would work everything out as it came to us.

Another exhale from Arley’s features settled into a mask of calm. It was a good thing I could feel that he was calm and not just pretending. “That sounds like a plan. Do we have supplies for muffins? I’ve missed having access to baked goods for a while now.” He grinned cheekily at me.

“Whatever you want.” I pressed a kiss on my mate’s lips and savored the sweetness. “We’ve got this, babe.”

“How am I expected to go to class after finding this out?” Arley pouted. “Can we skip the afternoon classes? Just this once?”

“I think we should.” I pressed the button on the elevator to return to the first floor. “Let’s head home and make those muffins. Then we can cuddle on the couch and discuss what our next steps should be.”

“We really should visit the doctor.” Arley laid his head on my chest. “We need to make sure everything is okay.”

“I am sure everything is just fine, but we will go to the medical center tomorrow. The doctor visit can wait a day.” I held my mate close, a swarm of emotions trailing through our mate bond between the two of us. “For now, we concentrate on feeding you and relaxing. Tomorrow, we go to the doctor.”

“Are you sure?” Arley asked, his voice soft and low.

“No. I’m not sure.” I kissed his nose, hoping the touch would calm him. “But I think we should just relax first before rushing to the doctor. Take a moment to settle into the idea that we are about to become parents. And figure out how we are going to tell everyone.”

“Will your parents be mad?” Arley looked up at me, meeting my eyes. “Will they care that you haven’t finished school yet and that we just met?”

“They are going to be overjoyed, Arley. Trust me. Mom and Dad will probably try to move out here now that there’s a baby coming. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Get ready to be spoiled by them. As the papa to their grandbaby, I bet they will now love you more than they even love me.”

“God, I wish my parents were here, Fen. They would have loved to be grandparents.”

“I know, baby.” I squeezed him a bit harder and let go just as the elevator doors opened. “Now let’s head home. I can’t wait to eat your muffins.”

“You know”—Arley winked and led me out of the elevator, already in a better mood—“I think there is a better treat I would rather eat. Come on, alpha. Your omega has plans for the rest of our night.”

Arley

“Um…Excuse me?” Anxiety bubbled in my stomach. I had to have heard the doctor incorrectly. “Can you repeat that, Doctor Adams?” The past couple of days had been a whirlwind of activity. After their home-cooked meal together, Fen suggested calling the doctor to set up an appointment. Which was great and all. Except for the information I was trying to process just then. I couldn’t have heard the nice doctor correctly. We weren’t ready for that kind of news.

“I know it can be quite a shock.” Doctor Adams turned the ultrasound monitor so it was fully facing me, pointing out one of the several blobs on the screen. Several blobs, yes, my anxiety was climbing higher. “They all are developing well and measuring exactly where they need to be for a three-week gestation.”

“Wait.” He did not just say that, did he? I reached back into my memories for something important my omega parent told me before he passed. “My papa told me that rabbit shifters only have a twenty-eight-to-thirty-five-day gestational period. But those guys look too small to be born so soon. Will they be okay?” As if I didn’t have enough on my anxiety plate. Was the count off? Was there something else wrong?

Doctor Adams chuckled, and that noise did not settle my nerves. “Since your mate is a wolf shifter, which usually has a sixty-two-day gestation, you are looking at a bit longer than a typical rabbit. But it will still only be around forty-five days. They will be growing much faster in the last half of your pregnancy, but you also must consider that multiples tend to have lower birth weights than singletons.” There was a mention of several blobs again. I was only going to worry about one thing at a time. Not the fact that there were several blobs floating around in my tummy. “We will need to monitor you twice a week until birth in order to ensure that they continue to grow evenly and healthily.”

I turned and looked at my mate, hoping his grounding preservation would lend itself to me as well. Fen didn’t look like much help as his mouth was slack and his eyes huge. Apparently I was the only one who had mini freak-out sessions internally. I reached out and brushed the top of his hand. “Fen?” His hand jerked under mine, yet he didn’t move hardly at all. “Are you okay?” I knew that was a redundant question to ask, but it was my only thought at that moment. Were they going to be okay?

Shaking his head, Fen readjusted his focus and stared at me, a slow upturn of his lips transforming his face. “I’ve never been happier.” His eyes shone with love as I was flooded with it through our bond. He wasn’t worried or anxious as I was; he was shocked. In a good way. I heaved in a deep breath and let my anxiety go for now, although I knew it would be back with so many blobs on the screen.

“Well, that’s the kind of thing we love to hear on these occasions.” Doctor Adams swiped the ultrasound wand around a few more times and typed in a few notes. “Do you two have any questions for me? I know it’s a shock and the office does have on-call doctors and nurses available twenty-four seven to address any concerns, but if you have anything you want to ask now, I’m here to provide the answers.”

I knew I’d have several questions, but the only thing I wanted to do just then was head home and bask in the comfort and love of my mate’s arms. “Can we get any pictures?” I motioned to the monitor. Doctor Adams happily agreed and printed a few, after highlighting separate blobs on the screen. Several blobs. How was that even possible? It looked like I was going to have a talk with my wolf mate about knocking me up with a litter. That mate of mine might be rich, but six babies? How in the world were we going to handle that many at once? I looked over at my mate, the pure joy written all over his face. It wouldn’t matter if it was one or twelve— please don’t let it ever be twelve —I knew we would make it work.