Page 12 of The Alpha’s Bounty (Night Grove Falls: The Alphas #2)

Cyrus

Five Years Later…

Sawdust clings to me as I step out of the truck, stretching the ache from my shoulders.

The pack had me at the mill all day, helping reinforce the new storage building, and my muscles are letting me know they didn’t appreciate the extra hours.

But it’s a good kind of sore. The kind that comes from honest work, from building something that will last.

It’s been five years since Mina came into my life, and every day since has felt a little like this, like creating something solid and enduring, one careful beam at a time.

The house glows warmly through the trees.

Our home. Not just my cabin anymore. Ours.

Mina made sure of that by adding curtains, plants, photographs, and shelves filled with books.

She bakes bread on Sundays when the weather turns cold, and the smell carries all the way to the edge of the property.

She insists on tending the little garden, even when I tell her she doesn’t have to.

And every wolf, every bear, every soul in this pack knows they can find her there with dirt under her nails and a smile on her lips.

I head inside, shaking off the cool evening air.

“Mina?” I call, my voice bouncing off walls that don’t feel empty anymore.

“In the kitchen!”

Her voice still does things to me. Always will.

When I round the corner, she’s at the counter, pulling a pie from the oven. She looks up, her gray eyes catching mine, and that smile—soft, easy, and full of everything I never thought I’d have—spreads across her face.

“Busy day?” she asks, wiping her hands on a towel.

“Always,” I reply, leaning down to kiss her. She tastes like cinnamon, sugar, and home. My bear sighs with contentment.

Ours. Always ours.

Five years ago, she was skittish, always half-ready to run. Now she stands steady, rooted deep in this place, in me. The old scars are still there, but they don’t define her anymore. The pack looks at her with respect, with affection. She belongs in a way she once thought she never could.

I drop my bag by the door, already picturing the evening stretched out in front of us. Dinner, maybe a walk if the air stays warm enough, then curling up by the fire while she reads to me from one of her books. Just us. Just the way we wanted it.

But she’s watching me too closely, her hands fidgeting with the towel, her mouth pressing into a nervous smile.

“Mina?” I ask, straightening.

Her breath hitches. She sets the towel down carefully, like her hands need something to do. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

My bear perks up instantly, ears forward, chest rumbling with interest.

My pulse kicks.

“What is it?”

She lifts her chin, brave and shining, even with the nerves in her eyes. “I’m pregnant.”

For a second, the world goes silent.

Then my heart explodes in my chest, so loud that I’m sure she can hear it. My bear roars with joy, the sound reverberating through me until I can barely stand still.

Ours. Cubs. Future. Ours.

“Mina,” I breathe, awe threading through my voice. “You’re?—”

She nods quickly, tears glinting in her eyes. “I wasn’t sure when to tell you. I wanted to wait until the doctor confirmed it. But… yes. I’m pregnant.”

A laugh breaks out of me, raw and unsteady, and before she can blink, I’ve scooped her into my arms, lifting her off her feet and spinning her in the middle of our kitchen. She gasps and laughs, clinging to me, and I can’t stop kissing her—her cheeks, her lips, her hair, everywhere I can reach.

“Mine,” I growl against her mouth. “Our baby. Our future.”

She laughs again, breathless. “Yes. Ours.”

I press my forehead to hers, still holding her tight. “I didn’t think I could be happier than the day you told me you loved me, but I was wrong. This? This is everything.”

Her hand slides to my jaw, her thumb brushing over the mark she’s traced a thousand times before. “We waited. We gave ourselves time. And now… now it feels right.”

I nod, my throat tight. “It’s perfect. You’re perfect.”

My bear rumbles again, softer now, already protective, already proud. I can feel him picturing it, small hands, laughter in the yard, a home filled with more than just us. A future that stretches long and full.

I lower her gently, my hands still splayed over her back like I might never let go.

She tips her head, eyes shining. “We’re going to be parents, Cyrus.”

Emotion swells so big that it almost knocks me over. “We are. And you’ll be the best mother this pack has ever seen.”

Her tears finally spill, and I kiss them away like I did five years ago in the car when I promised she’d never face anything alone again. And I mean it even more now.

Because she’s not just my mate. She’s the mother of my child. The future of everything I’ve ever wanted.

And I swear on my life, on my pack, on my very soul that Mina will never doubt her worth again.