Page 20 of His Innocent Omega (Sweet Alps Mates Book 6)

Two Weeks Later

Grabbing my cup of coffee, I stepped out onto my porch, closing the heavy door behind me. The floorboards creaked quietly under my feet and I smiled at the sound. I could have it fixed but it helped serve as security.

Breathing in the morning, I brought my cup up to my lips, my eyes scanning my property line. The woods separated my property line from the open area that most shifters in town used. It was public property that ran up to the beginning of the hundred acres owned by the Sinclairs.

When I had decided to stay in Sweet Alps, Jamie had offered me this sweet little spot of land. His brothers had agreed to sell me the two acres at a reasonable price, and I hadn’t wasted any time clearing part of it and having my small log cabin built on it. It was my little piece of heaven that few people knew about. It was close to town, and through the tree line that bordered the back of the property I could easily keep my eye on the resident shifters as they wandered the woods.

I hadn’t done much with the cleared land around the cabin, but I was already picturing a swing set over in the corner. Maybe one of those cute turtle sandboxes, and a trampoline when Jules was bigger. Much bigger. The thought of her getting hurt sent swirls through my gut, and not the fun kind. Best not to think about things like that.

Adding on to the cabin was definitely a must. It was two bedrooms and two baths. But the second bedroom was small and served as my home office. I would need another bedroom for Jules when she got bigger. And the second bath, while an en suite of the master, only had a shower and not a tub and wasn’t all that spacious.

I’d run out to the big box store on the edge of town and spent a truly horrifying amount of money last week. Picking up one of those Pack ‘N Play things for Jules to sleep in, a few bottles, some formula, diapers, and anything else I could think of that babies might need. Wyatt was tentatively open to letting me have the baby for visitation, starting with the upcoming Saturday, so I wanted to be prepared. And it seemed easier to have stuff at my house and not have to haul everything back and forth.

Today would be my first day back in the office since Jules’ birth. My shift didn’t start until eight, which gave me about two hours to enjoy my coffee and get a workout in.

Run!My wolf huffed, pacing restlessly.

I should shift and go for a run, let my wolf out to stretch his legs. We hadn’t shifted since Jules’ birth, and he was chomping at the bit.

Let me finish my coffee, then we’ll run.

He grumbled, but I was good at ignoring him. Leaning against the railing on the porch that ran around the length of my cabin, I raised my cup up to take a sip. My eyes caught on movement through the trees, my ears picking up the soft sound of hooves tromping on the leaves that were just beginning to fall to the forest floor.

My nostrils flared as the slight breeze carried a tantalizing scent on it. Blackberries. Setting my mug on the railing, my eyes were glued to the movement I could see between the tree branches and leaves.

Patches of golden brown, the glimpse of a shoulder, a long neck. One of the tree limbs shook, high up, and my head followed the movement. A giraffe head poked through the opening between the limbs, leaves brushing his face. He stretched his slender neck up, his long pink tongue snatching a leaf off the tree as he chewed.

There was a giraffe in my backyard. Okay, not really my back yard technically, but close enough.

Wyatt.

He moved along slowly, picking leaves here and there. He was so freaking tall! He had to be at least sixteen feet high, possibly taller. It was hard to tell for sure, with the trees mostly blocking my view.

I needed to see him up close. Needed to see if he was as beautiful in his shifted form as he was in his human one.

Of course I knew what giraffes looked like. Had even fed one some lettuce at the zoo once, but this was different.

This was Wyatt.

My Wyatt.

Abandoning my coffee, I quickly stripped out of my sweats and shifted into my fur. My wolf quivered with joy, and we bounded across the wide yard and broke through the tree line in a blur of gray and black fur.

Wyatt startled, his long, long, long legs kicking out, and he took off at a run. Bounding after him, I was astounded to realize he ran nearly as fast as my wolf. Finally, I let out several sharp barks to get his attention, sitting on my haunches and waiting for him to stop.

While he slowed, I feasted my eyes on him, panting. He was glorious. Long legs, torso, and that neck. On top of his head were two hornlike points, standing up between his ears. His snout was long, his large eyes surrounded by what looked like cartoonish long lashes. His tan and brown fur had an intriguing pattern of spots, and I itched to run my hands over them. To see if he was as soft as he looked.

Wyatt came to a stop, staring at me with those eyes of his, one front leg pawing at the earth with his hooved foot. He looked like he might be deciding if he was going to charge me. Did giraffes charge? Fuck all if I knew, but I’d rather not find out. I could count on one hand the facts I knew about giraffes.

Holding myself still, I waited him out. Hoping he would scent me on the breeze, like I had him. His long snout twitched, and he stopped pawing the earth. He took a tentative step towards me, then another.

My shoulders twitched with the effort it took me to stay where I was, to stay seated, and to not make any sudden moves that might startle him. When he stood in front of me, about a foot separating us, I looked up and up. And up.

He was so much bigger than I imagined he would be, my slight omega. His chest was broad and his muscles powerful. Googling giraffe facts was next on my list of things to do. I wanted to know everything there was to know about him, in his shifted and human form.

We couldn’t communicate in shifted form, but I wished we could. Jamie seemed to think our mate bond had started to form, even though we had hardly spent any time together, and we certainly hadn’t claimed each other. Even if Wyatt was willing, the claim bite had to be done during sex and he wouldn’t be up for that for another few weeks.

Slow your roll, Becks. You’re getting way ahead of yourself again.

Wyatt cocked his head at me, his neck swiveling so he could get a closer look at my wolf. He was staring into my eyes, and what he saw must have convinced him of who I was.

Barking once more, I tossed my head in the general vicinity of my land, hoping he would follow. Looking back, he was staring after me and I barked at him once more. Finally, he followed, but I swear his shoulders gave an annoyed heave and I heard him sigh.

Running ahead, I shifted back to my human form. My fingers were aching to touch Wyatt in his giraffe form. He stopped when he saw me standing there, naked, waiting for him. His muscles twitched, but he didn’t move away or shift.

Reaching out slowly, I waited to see if he would flinch away, or try to take a chunk out of me. Kick me with those powerful, endless legs of his. When he did none of those things, I ran my hand down his side, burying my fingers in his tan and brown fur.

It was coarse and rough, not at all what I had imagined it would feel like. I was expecting soft. His skin underneath felt thick. He pawed at the ground again, huffing out a short breath through his nose.

That was probably my cue to stop petting him like he was a dog.

“I’ve got a pair of sweats you can wear if you want to shift. If you want to talk. I was going to stop by to see when I could take Jules for a bit.”

Not waiting for an answer, I strode away, smiling when I felt his eyes watching my ass the entire time. I might have been half a century old, but you could still bounce a quarter off my glutes. Grabbing up my discarded clothes from earlier, I strutted into my house.

“Fuck, you’re not auditioning for Saturday Night Fever, Becks,” I muttered to myself, scrounging in my bottom drawer for the old pair of sweats I had with the drawstring. They’d still hang off Wyatt, even with the little baby pooch he was still carrying. “Stop shaking your ass like you’re fucking Travolta.”

Changing quickly, I hurried back outside, afraid Wyatt would change his mind and leave. We’d been getting along well the last two weeks. A few days after our talk in his bedroom, he had called to let me know I could come by for a couple of hours to see Julianna and spend time with her. But it always felt like we were moving around each other with a tenseness I didn’t like or want.

There was a wariness in Wyatt’s eyes when he looked at me, like he was just waiting for the next dumbass move I would pull. Not that I blamed him. I would probably do the same thing if the shoe was on the other foot. Because of that, we tended to keep conversations baby related, and completely ignored the elephant in the room of us being fated and what we planned to do about it.

The more time I spent with Wyatt, the more sure I was of one thing. I wanted him. Like I had never wanted anyone, or anything, in my life. He was my missing piece. Him and Jules. They were what I had been waiting for and hadn’t even realized it. They made me whole. I just had no idea how to prove that to him.

Wyatt was still in his giraffe form, but he had moved further into the yard, closer to the porch. Hanging the sweats over the railing, I turned my back, giving him privacy to change.

After a minute of him rustling the clothing, he quietly asked, “Can I borrow a shirt? I still have baby weight and stretch marks, and…can I just borrow a shirt too?”

Turning to drink him in, I smiled, nodding. “Of course. Please, come inside. Coffee?”

My sweats swallowed him up, even with what he considered baby weight. He’d tied them tight, but they still rode low on his hips. Yes, his belly was a little poochy, and he had some red stretch marks trailing upwards from the waistband of the gray material, but he still looked delectable.

He followed me inside, shutting the door behind him, and stood awkwardly waiting while I found an old T-shirt to give him. He gave me a shy smile as he pulled it over his head. And fuck if my cock didn’t twitch at the sight of him wearing my clothes. It was like some primal, raw need zipped through me.

Mine. Mate.

Those thoughts were all mine and not my wolf’s this time.

“Thank you,” he whispered, then cleared his throat nervously, looking around the one large room that was open and housed my kitchen and living room. “Wow, there’s a lot of baby stuff here.”

Running a hand over the back of my neck, I smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, I might have gone overboard. I just know babies need a ton of stuff and I thought this would be easier on both of us. If we didn’t have to lug stuff back and forth.”

He nodded, his hands wrapped around his waist, and nibbled on his bottom lip.

“Where’s Jules?” I asked, wondering who he had left her with. She was too young for the daycare, and Wyatt didn’t know that many people yet.

“She’s at Jamie and Bash’s,” he told me, and I waved my arm at the sofa indicating he should sit. He did, perching on the very edge like he was going to bolt any second. “Bash thought I might like to shift since it’s been so long and offered to watch her for a couple of hours. They’ve been really kind to me, checking in. Answering baby questions. Really all of the Sinclairs have been wonderful. Wade added me to this chat they have. Calls it The Three Musketeers, even though there are more than three of us in it. It’s been nice to be able to text when I have a question, or I’m just feeling anxious and overwhelmed. Like every single thing I’m doing is wrong.”

“I’m glad you’ve had them to talk to.” Even though I wished I was the person he reached out to when he was feeling these things, I was happy Wade and his Scooby gang had taken Wyatt in. He needed people around him he could rely on, even if he didn’t think he did. Everyone needed someone.

Sitting in the empty space next to him, I tried not to crowd him. I could feel the heat of his body, and his blackberry scent filled my nostrils. “You can’t shift after…is it ten weeks pregnant, right?”

“Twelve,” he corrected, his hands resting on his knees and his fingers digging into the material of my sweats nervously. “It can harm the baby.”

He stood suddenly, and I followed his motion, not wanting him to leave yet. Goddess, I felt like a teenager with his first crush. Nervous and jittery, with a stomach full of butterflies.

“I should go. My car is at their house, with my clothes. It was really nice of them to let me shift and to watch Julianna, but I don’t want to be gone too long. This is the first time I’ve left her since she was born. I know it’s only for a short time, but…I need to get back.”

“Wyatt, wait.” He was halfway to my front door, his long legs eating up the short distance quickly. My voice held a pleading tone, that I had never heard myself use before but I couldn’t stop it, “Please.”

He glanced over his shoulder at me, his hazel eyes wary and hesitant, his hand braced against the door. Slowly, he faced me, his back braced against the wood.

Taking two steps towards him, I forced myself to not crowd him. “Let me drive you over there. Give me ten minutes to get changed for work and I’ll drive you. It will give us a few minutes to talk.

About what? he whispered, “We said everything already. I told you I won’t stop you from seeing Julianna. We’ll work out a schedule. I just…I’m not comfortable with you having her overnight yet.”

Yesterday I called to ask him when he thought I could take her overnight and it hadn’t gone well. He’d said no, I’d gotten my hackles up, and hung up on him in a rush of angry feelings. We still had a long way to go in figuring out this co-parenting thing, especially with a newborn.

Opening my mouth to protest, he cut me off, “Not because I don’t trust you with her. She’s just so little yet. Maybe in a month or two. I don’t know. But I said you could have her on Saturday for a few hours and I meant it.”

He had, that was true, and I was grateful. He had let me see her for a few hours the last two Wednesdays, but it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough. My wolf and I wanted her near us. Wanted Wyatt near us too.

Family law varied state to state on what was best, and factored in how much time the non-custodial parent spent with the child to determine what age overnight visits should happen. Most suggested doing either a 2-2-3 schedule, or a 50-50 schedule. Yes, I would need to rearrange some things, and hire a sitter because I needed to work, but I wanted more time with her, and soon.

Wyatt wasn’t happy with that, since he was in a position to have her with him at his job. We had come to the conclusion we would need to figure out some kind of schedule that worked for both of us, but we weren’t on the same page yet. It was hard for me not to push him, while logically understanding I needed to back the fuck off.

“We have more to discuss than Jules and parenting time.” I took another step closer to him, until there was only a few inches between us. His nostrils flared, his eyes dilated, and the alluring scent of blackberries filled the small space.

“Why do you call her that?” he questioned. “Her name is Julianna.”

Giving him a small smile, I shrugged, “I like having a name for her that no one else calls her. She’s my Jules. Does it bother you that much?”

He shook his head, his curls swaying with the movement. He had cut his hair last week. It was much shorter now, but he’d left some length on top. It looked good on him. Really good, showing off his high cheekbones, and strong jaw. Jules had started pulling on his shoulder length hair when he held her, and she had a strong grip on her. He had cut his hair to avoid it being pulled on. “It’s fine. What did you want to talk about?”

“I owe you an apology.” That caught his attention.

His head shot up and he searched my face. “You already apologized.”

“Let me get this out, okay? Then you can talk.”

His answer was a wide-eyed shake of his head.

Blowing my breath out, I rolled my shoulders, trying to ease some of the tension in them. “I just want to tell you again how sorry I am for my actions. I’ve had a lot of time to think these last two weeks, and it was unforgivable of me to barge into your life the way I did and start taking over. I don’t have an excuse for why I did any of it. All I can tell you is something feral took over me. Seeing you, and Jules, being near you, all my brain could make sense of was that I needed to take care of you both, protect you, keep you safe. Believe it or not, I was trying to make things easier on you.”

He stared at me with those wide eyes of his, not saying a word, his face impassive of whatever he might be thinking or feeling in that moment.

“Jamie said it probably was because of the whole fated mate thing and my alpha pheromones going a bit haywire. And that I’m used to just taking charge of any situation.”

“Bossy,” he whispered, but his lips had a slight smile, which gave me hope.

Smiling, I nodded my agreement. “Yeah, bossy. And just…it’s who I am. I’m domineering, but that didn’t give me the right to act the way I did. It didn’t give me the right to come into your home, to take Jules from her crib without telling you. I didn’t think about how you would feel waking up and seeing her gone. I swear to you, I won’t do anything like that again, and I’m sorry I scared you. I’m sorry I wasn’t listening to you. And I’m sorry that I didn’t take the time in the hotel that night to make sure you understood what was happening between us. What that spark of electricity meant. I made sure to check in with you on everything else, except that. To be honest, I didn’t want to acknowledge it at the time. I just wanted us both to go our separate ways and forget about each other. But I never meant that to hurt you, even though now, I can see how it did.”

His chest shuddered with the shallow breaths he was taking. “I didn’t want a mate. I didn’t even believe in fated mates before…whatever this is between us. I don’t even understand why you telling me in the hospital hurt as badly as it did. I don’t understand any of the feelings I’m having. But, yeah, you can’t act the way you have been, Grayson.”

I took the last step, the one that closed the remaining distance between us, and crowded into his space. We weren’t touching, but we were close enough to feel the heat from our bodies. Close enough to feel each other’s breaths against our skin. Smell each other’s musk.

Angling my head down, his chin rose, and he peeked up at me through his long lashes. Shy, demure, yet so sexy it made my cock harden inside my sweats so quickly it made me a bit dizzy. He was so beautiful, yet there was an innocence about him that made me ache in a way no one ever had before.

“I meant it that night when I said you were in charge, Wyatt.” The words were whispered against the shell of his ear. Still, I wasn’t touching him, but the warm air from my mouth caressed over his skin, making him shiver. “I won’t do anything you don’t want. And if I step out of line again, if I get too demanding, or bossy, or whatever, all you have to do is say the word and I’ll stop.”

His eyes fluttered closed, his lashes resting against his pale skin. “I’m in charge?”

“You’re in charge. Always.”

My teeth were so close to his gracefully long neck, I had to clamp them tightly together until they ached so that I didn’t latch onto the tender skin there. I wanted to mark him. Wanted to claim him. But it was way too soon for that. “Wyatt?”

“Hmmm?” Those syllables were slurred and he sounded a little drunk.

“I’m going to kiss you now.” Because if I didn’t kiss him this instant, I was sure I would burst into a million pieces of nothingness. “If you want me to stop you need to tell me. Now.”

His eyes fluttered open, his pupils dark pinpricks against the green and brown swirls that made up the colors of his eyes. He looked lust drunk.

“Green,” he rasped.