Page 15 of Jacked-up Mate (Alphas of Whisper Grove #1)

Foster

It had been so adorable when Jack asked me to move in with him. He planned and set up such a romantic evening. His curse got in the way of us following his itinerary, but something special happened that night.

I hated how upset he’d been and that he was struggling with that stupid mage’s dysregulation again.

There was no denying that. But it was the first time Jack truly believed I loved him no matter what his head looked like.

He didn’t say those words, but I saw them in his eyes.

The way he snuggled my beast as we fell asleep had been nearly as powerful as when we marked each other.

Being a wolf shifter, I couldn’t be more committed to him than I was that day.

That mark was an unbreakable vow of always and forever.

Yes, our bond had grown since then and would for the rest of our days, but that vow was solid from the get-go.

The only reason I hadn’t moved the last of my stuff over to his place had been laziness.

We’d already been pretty much living together.

I’d still been paying my small rent to Chris, and a few of my personal items were there, but the majority of my clothing had already migrated to Jack’s.

His asking was the final push I needed to get it all cleared out and to let Chris know the place was available to someone else who might need it.

Chris had been so chill about it. Unlike my last place that had a first, last, and security deposit on signing, he’d asked me to remember to pay because he always forgot.

It shouldn’t have surprised me when he gave me a huge hug and asked if I needed help packing or anything.

He didn’t even want the rent for the next month.

Moving in with Jack got me thinking that maybe I should do something a little human for him. Just having my things there didn’t feel like enough. I wanted to do something to make him feel like his traditions were important too.

And that’s why, even though I was an omega and a shifter who couldn’t wear one myself without losing it, I was looking at the consignment jewelry at the antique store in town.

“Did you want to see anything?”

The owner came from behind the counter and slid the back door open. I’d met Stan at the diner a few times when I was covering for a server. I was so bad at waiting tables that Chris didn’t put me there often, but in emergencies, I was better than nothing.

Stan loved antiques. Most of the place was filled with really cool pieces of history, but one case that was all jewelry, mostly consignment. I had a feeling that was where he made his real money, or at least more than from the passion items around the store.

“I’m looking to get an engagement kind of ring,” I said. “I think. I don’t know. Whatever a human would like.”

I wasn’t sure what Stan was, but he was definitely not human. He shut the case’s door, walked to the other side, opened it, and pulled out a small tray.

“I’m assuming this is for the good-looking alpha who’s always in the diner eating cheeseburgers and watching the window where you’re working?” he asked.

I nodded. Neither of us were shy about our affection for each other. Why should we be?

Stan picked up a ring and handed it to me. It wasn’t super fancy, silver in color, probably white gold. We didn’t do a lot of silver in Westport Grove because not all paranormals reacted well to it.

The ring was pretty plain, but then he told me to turn it over. When I did, I could see the etchings inside. Someone had engraved a wolf in it—a wolf that looked suspiciously like me.

“This is actually sort of perfect.”

“I thought so,” he said, taking it back. “Let me polish it up and put it in a box. I picked this up on a buying trip right before the last festival. It’s not what I usually get, but something told me somebody here needed it. Looks like that someone was you.”

“Looks like.” I had a feeling it was more than a coincidence.

“Is this celebration for the baby?” he asked.

“What baby?”

He looked down at my belly.

“You think I’m pregnant?”

“Uh…you didn’t…I’m gonna go wrap this up now,” he said, ducking into the back room.

Pregnant? Could I really be pregnant?

He brought it back in a nice little hand-carved wooden box, and I paid for it then stopped at the grocery store for a pregnancy test on my way home. I hadn’t considered that I might be pregnant, but it made sense…we were doing the things that created pregnancy.

Jack was already home when I got there. As I came in, he greeted me with a smile.

“You’re home earlier than I thought.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Went to the antique store. And, long story short”—I dug in the bag and pulled out the stick—“I need to go take this.”

I ran into the bathroom without further discussion. I couldn’t wait a second longer to find out. I peed on the stick, set it on the back of the toilet, and set the timer. Three minutes. Might as well be an eternity.

“Is it okay if I come in?” Jack asked through the door.

“Yeah, sorry.” I hadn’t meant to block him from this moment.

He pushed it open and walked inside.

“Are you happy? Tell me you’re happy,” he said, pulling me into his arms.

“I’m happy if it says yes. I think I’ll be sad if it says no. That’s why I want to find out right away.”

“If it says no, then we’ll just try again,” he said.

We hadn’t talked about having kids, but now that the idea was sitting right in front of us, I really wanted them.

The timer on my phone went off. We checked together…two lines.

I was pregnant.

Tears of joy broke through as I soaked in the good news.

“Let’s take this out of the bathroom,” Jack said, taking my hand.

“You should have told me. I would’ve come to the store with you.”

“I really didn’t have any idea until I was with Stan. Speaking of…” I said, suddenly remembering my gift for him. I popped up, grabbed the box, and tossed it his way, realizing midair how completely unromantic that was. “I got this for you.”

He caught it, opened it, and froze. “Is this…I mean, like a left-hand ring?”

“I was thinking, since you’re wearing my mark…”

Now it was his turn for leaky eyes.

“Take it out,” I said softly. “Look on the inside.”

He did, and his expression melted. “It looks like you.”

I helped him slide it onto his finger.

“I love you, alpha mine.”

“As I love you.”