Page 11

11

JAMIE

I told Cameron I’d call my dad after lunch, but then lunch came and went and I still hadn’t picked up the phone. The hours drifted by, providing even more time for me to stress over what he would say. I didn’t care if he approved or not, but what if he told me not to come back? What if Roderick threatened Cameron? Maybe it would be better if we just went back without warning anyone. We could just show up and deal with the fallout then. It was a tempting idea, but I knew it would only delay the inevitable.

Besides, Cameron thought calling him was the right thing to do, and I trusted my mate.

Cameron came back from the store with a case of water and the nacho chips I’d been craving and sat in the chair. “Did you do it?” It was unfair how relaxed he was about something that was making my stomach turn.

If I didn’t get it over with soon, I was going to puke. “I’m getting there.” The phone felt heavy in my hands, but I hit the call button anyway, ready to face the music.

“I can stay here while you talk to him, or I can go for a walk. It’s your choice.”

I scowled as I listened to it ring. “Do you have to say it like it’s a life-or-death decision?”

He smirked. “It kinda is, right?”

I rolled my eyes, even though he was right. “Please stay.”

My dad answered on the third ring. “Cameron? Did you find him? Is Jamie okay?”

“Hey, Dad. It’s me.” I cleared my throat of the lump that suddenly took up residence there. “I’m with Cameron.”

“Jamie!” He sounded genuinely happy to hear from me, which was a huge weight off my shoulders. “Are you okay? Where are you? I’ll come get you.”

I’d practiced my speech for days but nothing sounded right. If I just blurted out that the tracker he hired to find me was actually my fated mate, I wasn’t sure he’d believe me. I still had to pinch myself now and then to make sure it wasn’t all some realistic dream I was trapped in. “Uh, I’m fine. We’re in a motel right now because Cameron’s car broke down, but we’ll be heading back in a day or two.”

“I’ll let Roderick know. He asked to be released from the contract, but now that you’re coming back, he doesn’t have to.”

Cameron growled from the other side of the room, obviously able to hear what my dad was saying.

“No, Dad. You have to cancel the contract.” My nerves bubbled over and pushed out all the words I’d been holding back in a rush. “I’m not gonna mate with Roderick. I’ve found my mate. My fated mate.”

My dad was silent, but I could hear the quiet hum of the TV in the background, so I knew he was still there. “You’ve found your fated mate? How is that possible?”

I chewed my lip and took a deep breath. “It’s Cameron. He’s my mate.” I met his gaze and held it. “And I love him.”

Cameron’s breath hitched and closed the distance between us, pulling me onto his lap as I held the phone to my ear.

“Are you sure?” Dad’s voice rose to a pitch I’d never heard from him before. “Maybe you’re just imagining it?”

“I’m not imagining anything. My wolf told me before I went into heat, and well, that made it even more clear to both of us.”

“So you’re pregnant?” The speed with which he went from disbelief to assumptions was dizzying and that earlier nausea was back.

“What?” I panicked at that comment, not sure how I felt about it. “I didn’t say I was pregnant.”

Cameron stiffened beneath me, and his palm automatically moved over my belly. He held his hand against my bare skin as his breathing picked up its pace.

“Just come home, okay?” Dad seemed to come to terms with the situation faster than Cameron or I were.

“Yeah, in a few days. Bye.” I hung up before he could say anything else and looked up at my alpha. “What do you think?”

Cameron swallowed hard and his eyes got glassy. “He’s right. I can hear two heartbeats.”

“You can?” I placed my hand beside his and focused all my attention on my body. It was faint, but when I heard a fast flutter that definitely wasn’t my heartbeat, I gasped. “Oh my god!”

“I can’t believe it.” He kissed me and then leaned down to kiss my bare belly. “Hey, little one. I’m your papa. Be gentle to Daddy. He’s the most amazing man you’ll ever meet.”

Tears were already streaming down my cheeks as I took a shuddering breath. “I’m gonna be a daddy?”

Cameron wrapped his arms around me and kissed the tears away. “You’re gonna be the best daddy.”

“And you’re okay with this?” I fisted his shirt, making sure he didn’t try to run. “We haven’t talked about pups yet.”

He cocked his head and smiled. “The moment I entered you, I was thinking about filling you with my pups. That’s not uncommon during heats. I guess I’ve been a bit distracted by everything to bring up the topic sooner, but it’s been in the back of my mind since I first realized you were my mate.” He cupped my chin and then kissed me slowly, tasting my mouth until we were breathless. “I’m so fucking happy right now. Every day, you continue to make me the luckiest alpha alive.”

For the next hour, we talked about our future. All the questions that had been floating around in our minds were laid out on the table and discussed. I didn’t want to live with the pack, but I wanted to be close enough to my family to visit them. Cameron wasn’t in a lease on his apartment and was happy to move for me. We both had job flexibility, but he’d need to hire someone to do field work so he could stay home with me and pups once they came. By the time our dinner was delivered, I felt a million times better about our future.

Things were decided. Plans were in place. We were gonna be fine.

As I was eating fish and chips, I remembered something else that had been nagging at me. “Was that whole story about needing a website true or just part of your ploy to find me?”

Cameron popped a fry into his mouth. “True. I really do need to fix mine. It’s basically a single page with my name and phone number. Maybe you can still help me with that someday.”

“How about now?” I wiped my greasy fingers and reached for my laptop. “I bet it’s not that bad.”

He chuckled. “That’s gonna be the fastest money you ever lost because it really is.”

I typed in the URL he spouted off to me and tried not to let the horror I felt show on my face. “Um…wow.”

“See? I told you.” He bit into his burger and then pointed to the upper corner. “Login there. The password is 1234.”

I rolled my eyes as I logged in to his back office. The site was as basic as they came, and the contact form was broken. “How are you still in business with this?”

“Pure talent.” He winked like that was all that needed to be said. After a second, he added, “And word-of-mouth referrals from past clients.”

I started typing, making up stuff that seemed obvious for a tracker to have on their site and using some other investigator sites as inspiration. “It’s a good thing you found me or you’d be out of clients by next year.”

“That’s not the only reason.” He watched over my shoulder as I set up a new template that was more professional than the geometric shapes he’d had across his navigation. “You’re really good at this.”

“Thank you.” I focused on getting the color palette just right after doing some research on what people found soothing when they were under stress. “Do you like navy or hunter?”

He growled in my ear, causing a shiver to go down my spine and straight to my cock. “Definitely hunter.”

“Stop distracting me with your foreplay.” I laughed and curled away so I could concentrate. “We’ll get to that when I’m done.”

He chuckled and stretched out beside me, close enough that I could feel the warmth of him. “When will that be?”

“An hour or two.” I worked on setting up the new content, but he really needed my full design and branding package. “I’m fixing your branding, too. What is this Alpha Enterprises?”

Cameron shrugged but didn’t look away from the TV. “It was available.”

“You might as well call it ‘Generic Shifter Business, Inc.’” I pulled up my domain provider and started trying out different names.

“Okay, Mr. Website Genius. What should I call it?” He tickled my side and then rolled and pretended to bite me.

“I don’t know.” I typed in his name and thought about what his clients might find appealing. “Cameron’s Catch?”

“Am I a fisherman now?”

“You’re catching clients.” I shook my head and then waited for him to make eye contact. “I think it’s cute, but I can keep looking.”

“Nah, use it.” He smiled at me, bemused. “Good thing you’re the creative one.”

Once I was in the zone, everything fell into place quickly, and he had a brand-new site that not only functioned but would be spidered by the search engines so people could actually find it. “Now you might actually get some business.”

“You’re amazing.” Cameron’s eyes were warm as he looked up at me.

“Told you.” I leaned down and kissed him. “What’s my reward?” I closed the laptop, feeling light and accomplished.

He rolled over so he was hovering above me. “How about an extra-long blow job and my knot.”

“Yes and yes.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him hard.

“Oh, and Jamie?” He looked me right in the eye and waited for me to focus.

“Yeah.”

“I love you too.”

My alpha always knew just what to say to make me happy.