Page 24 of Redeemed Wolf (Grim Wilds #4)

Chapter 24

Carter

I. Was. Huge.

Not just like kinda chubby, all cute and round. There was no radiant glow—nope, this was just straight-up sweat. What happened to my shifter metabolism when I needed it most?

Not fat. Pups , my wolf reminded me. Yeah, pups, as in plural. Because wolves often had godsdamned multiple births. I wished someone had warned me.

My wolf was pleased as punch that the babies were growing big and strong. I’d like to see you carry these babies , I grumbled back at him, but he was frustratingly immune to my snark.

The front door opened, letting in a blast of blissful, blustery air as Silas came in. He closed the door behind him, stomping snow off his boots, and I whined. “No, leave the door open.”

He laughed. “Wish I could, sweetheart, but we don’t need a snowbank in our living room. Want me to carry you outside?”

My lip stuck out in a pout. “No, it’s fine.”

He kicked off the boots and hung his coat at the door before peeling off his grimy shirt. They’d been fixing up one of the older homes on Maple Street so it would be ready for a new family. He tossed his balled-up shirt into the laundry hamper, and I eyed up his flexing muscles. I was jealous of how good he looked, while I was more beached whale than svelte wolf right now.

His gaze dragged over my body, where I was lying naked on the couch, and his grin turned mischievous, borderline feral.

“I’m hideous, don’t look at me,” I groaned, slapping a hand over my face. I would’ve covered myself with a blanket, but I was too hot for that. I needed to find a way to bring the winter inside. Silas would just have to avert his eyes if he didn’t like what he saw.

He didn’t look away, though. In fact, from between my fingers, I watched as he prowled closer. “Hey, baby. You are looking mighty fine this afternoon.”

“Fucking liar,” I snapped, but my traitorous cock gave a twitch anyway, and of course he noticed. Much like my wolf, Silas was impervious to my shitty attitude these days. I kept promising myself that I would be nicer to my alpha, that I would thank him for cooking dinner, for helping me get showered and dressed, for all the little things he did to take care of me every day. Instead, though, I couldn’t seem to get past how irritated I was.

And now I was crying.

“Hey! What did I say to make you cry?” he asked anxiously, coming over to kneel beside the couch.

“Absolutely nothing,” I assured him between hiccups. “I’m just so… done . My hips and back ache, I have to pee every two minutes, I’m always hungry but can’t eat more than two bites, I’m never comfortable, and I can’t see my toes, so I just have to assume you’re telling me the truth when you say they’re still there.”

“They’re still there,” he said, laughing.

“See? How am I supposed to believe you when you’re laughing?”

He propped one knee on the couch beside me and leaned carefully over me to press a soft kiss to my lips. “You are supposed to believe me because I would never lie to you.”

“I know,” I grumbled reluctantly, sounding almost sad about how reliable and trustworthy he was. “I’m sorry I’m such a mess. I promise I’ll be normal again one day.” Or not, since these babies seemed determined to live inside me forever.

“You’re not a mess,” he assured me, tucking his nose into the crook of my neck and licking up the column of my throat before nipping at my earlobe, just hard enough to sting. “You’re my mate, and you’re carrying my children. There is nothing sexier than that.”

I blinked at the momentary clarity his bite had brought. “Do that again,” I demanded, grabbing a fistful of his hair. He’d grown it longer just so I had something to pull.

“Do what? This?” he asked, his teeth slightly sharper this time as he nibbled and bit down my neck to my collarbone.

“Yessss,” I hissed, my cock thoroughly at attention now. The prickling and stinging sensations left by his teeth took my attention away from the aching, the swelling, the exhaustion and anxiety. It honed all my focus into the way he touched me, lavishing me with his attention.

Silas moved down my body, inch by excruciating inch, lighting me up inside. He paused, hovering over my left nipple, his breath the merest whisper across the sensitive nub, before he licked across it, flicking it with the tip of his tongue. He sucked it gently into his mouth, before grazing his teeth there too.

The moan that slipped out was one of arousal instead of all the frustration I’d been feeling lately. It was a relief, and I welcomed the contrast in sensations. “Don’t ever stop,” I moaned.

“Whatever my mate wants, he gets,” he said, dragging the tips of his claws gently down my body, leaving trails of delicious fire.

Silas wiggled his way down and nudged my legs wide enough to fit himself between them, though I had to set one foot on the floor, the other leg hooked over the back of the couch. It was a tight squeeze, but he was making it work. He wrapped his fist around my straining cock, and I watched, rapt, as he let a trail of spit dribble down below the arch of my belly. I felt it land, reveling in the way it felt as he spread it with his hand down my shaft, warm and slick. He cupped my balls in the palm of his hand, giving them a gentle squeeze, tugging them just enough to drag a guttural groan from my throat.

“What else do you want?” he asked, dipping down to collect the bead of precum onto his tongue. “Tell me—in detail.”

“I want your mouth,” I demanded. Panting, I watched as he lowered himself over my cock.

He didn’t put his mouth on me, though. Didn’t swallow or lick me. His breath was nothing but a tease. “You want my mouth… to do what?” he taunted, glancing up at me over the curve of my stomach. Oh, I wished I could watch what came next.

“I want you to wrap those lips around my cock and suck—hard,” I said, blushing at my own brazenness. Silas had been working on my confidence, both in and out of the bedroom.

“Mm, much better,” he praised, and then as my reward, he did exactly as I’d asked. His mouth was warm and wet, and when he added suction, I was a goner.

My eyes closed as the sensations took over, his head bobbing on my dick, his tongue swirling around the sensitive crown on each pass. “Your finger,” I huffed. “In my ass.” He obeyed, spearing his blunt finger straight into my slick entrance. I whined, because while it all felt really nice, it wasn’t enough. I needed more to take me away from all of my discomfort.

A frustrated whimper snuck out. “Another finger,” I demanded, then “ More ,” when two wasn’t enough. Between his fingers and his mouth, I should’ve been halfway to heaven by now, but the pressure that was building up felt different somehow. “Come on, Silas. Give it to me like you mean it!”

Thankfully, he seemed to get the message that I was three miles past desperate. The mating bond heightened both our pleasure, multiplying it and folding it back on itself as it echoed back and forth between us. He moaned around my cock, the vibration going straight to my balls. I lost track of how many fingers we were at now. Surely, it couldn’t be more than four, the stretch enough to make me lose my mind.

When I felt the scrape of his teeth on my shaft, it shoved me straight over the edge, and I came harder than I ever had in my life. It felt like I was being wrung out, twisted and drained, as Silas swallowed around me. My ass clenched around his fingers, trying uselessly to milk him.

He sat back, wearing a smug grin, but when he took one look at my face, his smile slipped. “What’s wrong?” he asked immediately.

I hadn’t even been aware that anything was wrong until he’d said that, but it was true. The orgasm had been great, perfect, but the pressure I’d felt hadn’t let up. My entire stomach was tight, and I brought my hand down and rubbed at the taut flesh.

“Um… so, I don’t mean to alarm you, but that might’ve just pushed me into labor.”

His mouth tightened into a flat line. “That wasn’t what I’d had in mind.”

“I know, but this is a good thing.” He arched a brow at me, and I rushed to calm my mate. “Really, this is better than I could’ve hoped for. An orgasm and I get to meet my babies!” I grinned wide at him, but it started to crumple a little when the pressure tightened into a tight band around my body.

Silas stood up and paced to the kitchen and back. “Should I call Shan?” he asked, already reaching for the phone. “I’m sure he can get Pax here in no time.”

“ No! ” I gritted out as the contraction eased off. “I just need you.”

A crease formed between his brows before he could smooth it out as he forced himself to remain calm. “Sweetheart, I have no experience with this. Don’t you think—”

“I am not letting a child deliver these babies!” I snapped as I tried to sit up. Destined to be our shaman or not, Pax wasn’t even ready for kindergarten, let alone medical school.

Silas nodded, coming over to help me up, but he looked seriously worried. I sighed. “Why don’t you go get Pacey. That way he can help out or get anything you need.”

“Okay. Good idea.” He ran out the front door, headed to Pacey’s house next door.

Honestly, I didn’t much care if Pacey was here or not. I’d just suggested it so Silas would feel the support of his Beta. I might’ve been new to this whole pack thing, but I was embracing it fully. Pack was more than friends, more than family. It was love.

Silas was only gone for a minute or two, but that was more than enough. I waved my hand at him. “Help,” I said, gesturing toward the bedroom. My wolf tried suggesting that I might want to give birth outside, but besides the fact that it was winter, it felt… weird. Maybe next time , I told him. Because yeah, I already knew we would be having more kids. Sure, pregnancy was a lot —a lot of pain, discomfort, exhaustion—but it was also an abundance of joy and wonder. And there was nothing I wanted more than to have a whole litter of pups with my mate.

Silas took most of my weight as I leaned on him, and together we shuffled through to the bedroom. He was just getting me settled on the bed when Pacey came running in. I’d never seen the huge alpha so flustered. His long hair was still wet from the shower he’d probably been in, water dripping off his beard. He took one look at me, naked on the bed with my knees up, and turned around to face the wall. “Sorry!” he sputtered.

I would’ve laughed if another contraction hadn’t decided to give me a squeeze. Instead, the sound that came out of me was half groan, half wheeze. As soon as it’d passed, I blew out a long breath. “I thought shifters weren’t worried about nudity,” I said, addressing the back of Pacey’s head.

“It’s not your nudity that’s bothering him,” Silas said, stepping into the bathroom to grab a stack of towels. “He’s squeamish.”

My eyebrows jumped. “What?” How was Pacey supposed to help when he couldn’t even bring himself to look at me?

“I’m fine,” Pacey insisted, waving over his shoulder at me.

I looked over at Silas, raising an eyebrow, and he rolled his eyes. “Don’t look at me. You invited him,” he said.

In the end, Pacey made himself useful. He fetched ice from the kitchen when I was thirsty from panting and set up a fan when I needed a breeze. And when it came time to push, he sat by my side and held my hand—he was blindfolded, obviously. I appreciated being able to squeeze his hand as hard as I could without worrying about injuring him. I knew he could take it.

Silas, meanwhile, was my rock, my coach, as well as my midwife. He breathed with me from his place between my knees, told me when to push. And when it came time, he cut the umbilical cords and rested our children in my arms, first our son, then our daughter a few minutes later.

“Can I… go now?” Pacey asked nervously, his leg bouncing. His face was squinched up, and he looked a little green. He definitely wouldn’t be able to handle the afterbirth.

“Yes, please go,” Silas said with a shake of his head, chuckling.

Pacey stumbled blindly from the room, bumping into the doorframe before finally taking off his blindfold. “Congrats!” he shouted from the other room as almost an afterthought, before I heard the front door open and him taking a deep breath of fresh air.

I was grateful, once all was said and done, for the peace and quiet. I had no doubt the other members of the pack would be knocking on the door in no time, casseroles in hand, eager to meet the new little prince and princess of the pack. I was still getting to know everyone, but for just a few minutes, I was glad it was just the four of us.

“I’m so proud of you,” Silas whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of my head, not caring a single bit how sweaty my hair was. “You were so strong and brave.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” I said, my eyes already drifting shut. I didn’t just mean the delivery of the babies. I had this feeling that if he’d never shown up at that lab, I might’ve stayed right where I was under Eric’s thumb forever. Without the strength of fate’s bond between us, I might have been adrift forever, and the thought of that horror would remain until the day I died.

My body had already begun the slow process of healing. Shifting would speed it up, but for now, I just wanted to memorize every detail of their little bodies. I traced my fingertip down my son’s nose, the curve of my daughter’s ear. “They’re so delicate,” I whispered.

“They’re stronger than they look,” Silas said.

“How do you know?” I asked.

He smiled down at me. “With you as their omega father, I have no doubt. You’re the strongest man I know.”

I squinted at him. “Even stronger than Pacey?”

He laughed. “Definitely. Did you see how fast he ran out of here? We probably won’t see him again for a week.”

We lapsed into silence, each of us holding one of the babies against our bare chests. “What should we call them?” I asked.

“Hm,” Silas hummed. “How about… Kris?” he suggested, rocking our son. I knew his mother’s name had been Kristen, though he talked about her rarely.

“I love it,” I told him. “And for our daughter… Do you think it would be okay if we named her Vesta?” I asked, stroking the gingery fuzz on the top of her head. “They wouldn’t be here if not for her.”

Silas’s eyes melted with affection. “I think that’s perfect. Two strong names for two strong wolves.”

We stayed nestled in the bed together as I fed first one and then the other. It would take some time to learn how to juggle them both, but I knew I wouldn’t be doing it alone. I had Silas, Pacey, an entire pack on hand, not to mention Grim Wilds. When I thought back to where I was a year ago, I never would’ve been able to guess how much bigger my world was about to get.

Who knew what was in store for my future?