Page 18 of The Brooding Alpha’s Mate (Omegas of the Shifter Mafia #9)

Alex

My mate had let it slip a few times how he had always wanted a farm. He knew this house meant a lot to me, and was trying not to push his wants on me. And while I appreciated the sentiment, it broke my heart. There was nothing I wanted more than to give him everything his heart desired.

So I kept my eyes open for farms being put on the market. This area had been filled with farms once upon a time, but over the years, many of them had been developed into housing or combined into huge corporate farms.

We could leave the area, but neither of us wanted that. We both enjoyed the work we did at the warehouse. Although, with Colson’s pregnancy nearing an end, he was now on paternity leave.

I’d all but given up hope of finding one before our baby was here, when Fate opened a door. I’d gone to the grocery store. I did that a lot. Pregnancy cravings deemed it so.

Today, my mate had been craving pretzel sticks, which I discovered were not the same as twisty pretzels, which we had in the house.

They were also not the same as pretzel rods, which we also had in the house.

According to him, pretzel sticks were ideal for stirring into ice cream, which I also needed to buy.

I didn’t mind. I love doing things to make him smile.

While I was standing in line, I couldn’t help overhearing the older woman in front of me talking to the cashier about how she was finally going to sell her farm. Her children didn’t want it, their lives now in the city.

“It isn’t a large farm,” she explained, “but bigger than most hobby farms.”

I had no idea what any of that meant, but she had all of my interest.

“I couldn’t help overhearing that you might be selling a farm?” I’d have never forgiven myself if I hadn’t at least asked.

She nodded. “Why? Do you know someone who might be interested?”

“Well, me.” I was really doing this. “My omega is about to have our first baby, and their dream has always been to live on a farm. But we also wanted to stay close by, so we’ve been kind of waiting and hoping.

Not to pressure you, though I realize how creepy I must have come across.

” Every single best practice when it came to negotiations had flown out the window.

I’d not only told her that I was interested but how much I was, and that I was on our timetable.

She put her hand on my forearm and gave it a squeeze. “Come see me tomorrow.”

She grabbed a piece of receipt paper from the cashier and wrote down her address.

“Let’s see if we can make a deal. I really want someone who will love this place the way I do.

And since you’re growing family, I’m willing to do a private sale to speed things along.

I know what it’s like wanting to be settled before your little one arrives. ”

Keeping that secret from my mate overnight was one of the most difficult things I’d ever done.

I was so excited and wanted to twirl him around and tell him all about it.

But his emotions were all over the place, thanks to the hormones.

I wasn’t going to take a chance of getting his hopes up for nothing.

The next morning, I told him I had a delivery and went straight to her house. She invited me in for a cup of tea, showed me around, and by the time I left, we had struck a deal.

The sale was going to be quick. I’d managed to put enough away over the years, and she practically gave it to me, telling me that it was more important for this land to be loved than for her to get buried with her money.

It wasn’t until Aziz pulled up the aerial map on my computer, that I saw just how close it was to our house. We were practically neighbors, with only one plot in between. And that plot was currently vacant.

I asked him to help me find who owned it. And we hit the jackpot of all jackpots— it had been abandoned, and I could buy it from the city for the back property taxes.

He helped me make up a certificate and collage to present to my mate. I went home with it, brimming with excitement.

But as I got home, my bear started to panic.

He was on edge to the point of bringing back memories of when he was taken.

I bolted from the car and ran inside the house to find my mate pacing, holding his belly, no longer wearing any pants.

“My bear was freaking out,” I explained, out of breath, heart still pounding in my chest.

“Well, he’s going to freak out for a while longer. These contractions are three minutes apart, and as you can see by my attire, my water already broke.”

“Oh, mate.” I started to hug him, but he froze.

“Wait a second. Another contraction is coming. Then you can hug me.”

“What should I do? Tell me what to do.”

“Just hold my hands, my love. Just hold my hands.”

And I did. I held them as he pushed through. It was a strong contraction. I could see it where his belly wasn’t fully covered. No one told me I would be able to see a contraction, but I did.

He didn’t scream through it the way I would have. He just breathed the way the midwife had taught him. He was so strong.

“Kind of thought you would be back a while ago, or I would’ve called you.”

“Oh—yeah. I was getting a surprise for you. Sorry.”

He smacked my shoulder. “A surprise? Well, go get it, because I need something to distract myself from this.”

I ran out to the car and grabbed it, bringing the package back inside.

“Oh, it’s not just a surprise. It’s a full-on present.” He beamed. “It’s not my birthday.”

“No, it’s not, but it looks like it’s going to be someone else’s.” I put my hand on his belly. “Consider this my mating gift to you. It took a while to find the perfect one.”

He grabbed it from me, brought it over to the counter, and then held up his hand.

“Let me just work through this next contraction, and then I’m—” He got cut off by his own breathing exercises. Another contraction ran through him. This time, he held the counter, bracing himself.

I would’ve done anything to take that pain away from him, but I couldn’t. All I could do was be here for him.

“Okay.” He sucked in a deep breath. “Let’s open this now before it’s too late.”

He flipped open the box and took out the certificate, then the collage, and finally, an aerial shot of the property that would be ours in a few days’ time.

“I think you need to explain a whole lot here,” he said, then faced me and grabbed my hands. “But in a minute.”

Another contraction hit.

This one was definitely stronger, and there were no three minutes between these. He was doing some kind of new math or something, because it was definitely less than two at this point, possibly less than one.

“Quick. Explain before I have another contraction.”

“I’m buying the plot of land next door, from the city.

And the one next to that is a farm. And the person retiring from there really wants it to be with someone who loves it.

And I know you will love it, so I bought it.

And now, you don’t have to feel guilty about moving in order to get your farm, and I don’t have to feel guilty about staying here. So when you really want a farm—”

I talked a mile a minute, which was good, because the next thing I knew, he was begging me to carry him to the bedroom. “I can’t stand anymore, mate. Please, just—”

“I know. I got you, mate. I’ve got you.”

I scooped him up and brought him to the bed, helped him get rid of his shirt.

“And by the way, alpha mine, up until this very moment, it’s the best present ever.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

The contractions were pretty much continual now.

He got on his hands and knees, pushing his head to the mattress the way the midwife had taught him.

She said it would help ease the delivery, because apparently cubs were a challenging birth.

Not that we knew if it was going to be a cub or a pup, but we were going to listen to the expert.

I coached him through his pushing when he said it was time. Telling someone what to do when they were already doing so beautifully felt wrong, but it’s what he asked for, what he needed.

I could never deny him anything.

Watching our baby come through was amazing, but holding him for the first time, listening to his cry, placing him on my mate’s chest so he could drink his first sip of milk, that was everything.

Those were memories I was never, ever going to forget.

“Thank you, omega mine. I love you so much.”

“No. Thank you, Alex, for giving me the best gift I could ever ask for…a family.”

And suddenly his weird thank-you from before made sense.

“It’s I who should be thanking you.” I snuggled beside him, watching our sweet boy suckle. “What do you think we should name him?”

We’d been playing around with quite a few names, but none of them felt right.

“What do you think about Bruen?” he asked.

“Bruen. Hmm.” I tasted the name. “Are you a Bruen?”

He didn’t answer, but it felt right. “Yes. I think this is Bruen.”

“I do too.”

We stayed that way for a long time, just bonding as a family, before sharing the good news with everyone. We promised to let them know when we were ready for visitors.

But we didn’t leave the house again, enjoying our time as a family of three, until it was time for the signing.

It was hard to believe that once upon a time, I’d been a seventeen-year-old trying to figure out how to do life on my own, how to keep a job or pay a mortgage. Looking into a future that wasn’t.

And now, here I was, watching the future being held in my mate’s arms.