Page 250 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

He let out a dramatic sigh and put his hands in the pockets of his denim shorts. His little thumb poked through a hole in the denim.

“Okay,” he said. “Anyways, how’s your tummy?”

“My tummy? Oh, are you asking about the baby?”

He nodded.

“She’s doing really well, thanks for asking.” I felt a twinge at my back, and my mom straightened to ease the slight pressure. She rubbed her stomach in gentle, loving circles. “Did you know that this little girl is very special?”

“She is?” His eyebrows raised. “How come?”

“Well, for a lot of reasons. But one of them is because she’ll be your mate one day.”

He paused, and then he frowned, his nose scrunching. “Ew,” he said. “Girls are boring and yucky.”

She tilted her head back and let out a louder laugh. “You won’t always think that way, sweet boy.”

“Uh-uh. Girls never like wrestling with me or digging in the mud or doing any other important stuff. They just wanna play pretend or tell secrets.”

She continued to smile, enjoying his little rant.

He took out one of his hands and pointed to his chest with his thumb. “I’mspecial,” he declared. “That’s what my momma tells me.”

“She’s absolutely right.” She patted his head again. I tried to commit the feeling of his curls to memory—they were even softer back then. Her hand lingered in his hair as if she was thinking the same. “And because you’re so special, Night, you’ll need a mate to match, won’t you?”

He considered that. “Will she like playing?”

“Of course.”

“And wrestling?”

“Sure!”

“And we’ll be friends?”

“She’s special, remember? She’ll like to do all the same things that you do, and you’ll become closer than friends could ever get.”

He still seemed skeptical, which made my mother laugh.

“My daughter is destined for greatness, Night, and so are you. It’ll be on you to help protect and guide her so she can fulfill her destiny.”

I expected Night to protest more, but he only tilted his head. “How do you know?”

“A mother always knows. Fate has intertwined your lives, and that tells me you’ll accomplish some amazing things together.”

“Oh.” He pursed his lips, deep in thought. Then he nodded to himself and thrust his hand toward her. “Okay, fine. I’m already gonna protect you and my momma and the whole pack when I get older. Everyone except for Alpha Pete.” He frowned, and he became the stern, stoic Night I knew. But almost as soon as the darkness appeared, it vanished. “But I’ll protect the baby too if she’ll help me. Deal?”

My mother accepted his hand and shook it. “A deal is a deal,” she said with a smile. “She’ll be by your side the entire time, and I can’t wait to watch the two of you grow up.”

The scene shifted suddenly. The membrane I was looking through began to shift and shimmer, obscuring my view of Night. When it cleared again, I was standing in a kitchen. My mother was holding a warm mug of ginger mint tea as she stared out of the window above the sink. It was impossible to tell the true color of the sky through the gray haze, but given the sun’s position, it looked like it was approaching dusk.

Heavy footsteps entered the kitchen, and a pair of strong, muscular arms wrapped around my mother from behind. She leaned back against the man’s chest, and he kissed the side of her neck, his hands on her belly.

My heartbeat quickened. Was this my father?

“How are my sweet girls doing?” he asked. His voice was even deeper than Night’s, almost just a growl.

“We’re happy and healthy,” she said. “How is my mate?”