Page 21

LARKIN

There was a hint of autumn in the morning air as we loaded into Auden's truck.

Unlike the cabins that varied from needing work to having to be torn down, the vehicle was his baby.

The paintwork gleamed from his polishing and it had a radio that didn't need constant fiddling.

I sat in the back while my mate was in the passenger seat.

Auden had asked if Creven wanted to drive because as the Alpha it was my mate’s decision but he let the former Alpha get behind the wheel. Auden navigated the winding mountain roads with the confidence of someone who'd been making this drive for decades.

"Dr. Granger is an excellent physician.” Auden glanced in the rear view mirror as we descended the mountain toward the town nestled in the valley. "She's been taking care of shifters in the county for twenty years. Heck, she’s delivered half the cubs in the surrounding packs."

My belly clenched but not with morning sickness.

This was nerves. My medical appointment wasn’t just a pregnancy checkup.

This was my first official appointment as a member of a pack.

There was no bribing one of the staff into letting me use a fake name.

I didn’t have to worry that someone would put a hand on my shoulder in the waiting room and haul me outside.

My mate must have sensed my anxiety because he reached out and placed a hand on my knee. That accompanied by a reassuring smile and him saying he’d be with me, eased my jitters.

“Does she know about us?" Creven’s fingers tightened on my leg.

“Don’t worry. You’re good to go. Nothing much fazes the doc but I’ve filled her in and she’ll charge us pack rates and not human ones.” Auden grinned at me in the mirror.

The modern clinic was small and it was tucked between a bakery and a bookstore on the town's main street. Once we finished and we’d satisfied ourselves the baby was healthy, I was charging into the bakery and buying something yummy.

Dr. Granger must have been looking out for us because even though there were a couple of people in the waiting room, she met us at the door and greeted our former Alpha as an old friend.

She carried the scent of lavender on her skin but it wasn’t perfume or body wash.

Having grown the herb, I suspected she was also a gardener.

The aroma was calming and I loosened my grip on my mate’s hand. Auden plonked himself in a chair and picked up a magazine, telling us to bring him a pic of our little one when we were done.

"So, you're the famous rogues who've been causing all the excitement.” She gestured for me to get on the examination table. "Auden's been talking about you two for weeks."

“Not both rogues but close enough.” That was my mate.

“But you’re looking at the new Alpha. Ta da.” I gave Creven a mock bow.

“Ahhh. That was Auden’s plan.” She put a finger to her lips. “But he’s still standing and I didn’t notice any bruises.”

We both laughed. “I’ll let him tell you how we did it.”

The doctor checked my blood pressure and took my temperature, though from my experience, a nurse usually performed those tasks. I was glad she did though, as being with strangers who weren’t out to make my life difficult was still new to me.

"How are you feeling? Any morning sickness?"

"Some nausea, but nothing that’s kept me down.” I went to bed earlier than usual but with the upheaval in our lives, that wasn’t surprising.

“That’s normal. Let's have a look at your little one, shall we?"

She warmed up the gel and spread it over my belly as Creven held my hand. I’d watched this procedure so many times on TV and now it was happening to me. And our baby wouldn’t be the child of a lone wolf and rogue.

My mate squeed as a grainy image appeared on the screen and while I was desperate to see our baby, I couldn’t make out anything. Was that a leg or an arm?

“This is so exciting.” Creven was rolling back and forth on the balls of his feet but I was squinting at the screen, getting irritated if he could see what I couldn’t. But my annoyance vanished as a regular thump thump filled the room.

“Our baby’s heart?” I sobbed and my mate kissed the top of my head. We’d been through so much to get to this point and our little one’s heart was beating in time to my own. My shoulders heaved and I wiped the tears away with the back of my hand.

"There's your cub.” Dr. Granger said I was about three months. She pointed out the head, spine and limbs. “And the heartbeat is strong.”

Awww our baby had arms and legs.

“There’s only one baby.”

Our little one’s heart beat echoed around the room and bounced off the walls as Creven and I shared a glance.

“One? Were we supposed to have more than that?”

Dr Granger laughed and explained that wolf shifters often carried more than one cub. Thank gods for only one baby. We would have loved multiple babies who arrived all at once but I was thankful for one. One healthy baby who had arms and legs.

"Farmer's market next.” Auden demanded to see the ultrasound image and now I was an expert, I pointed out the baby’s limbs before grabbing a cream-filled cake from the bakery.

The weekly market filled the town square and stalls were full of fresh vegetables, flowers, fruit, bread, and plants, along with homemade jams, soap and wine. Auden and Creven perused the food while I bought seeds and pots of herbs.

I beckoned my mate when I came across a booth that sold handmade baby clothes.

“This is so cute.” It was a onesie with elephants emblazoned over the fabric. I had to buy it even though the baby would outgrow it quickly.

"Alpha Auden!" A woman waved from behind a table laden with loaves of fresh bread. "Haven't seen you in town for weeks."

“I’m no longer Alpha with an upper case A.” Auden introduced Creven and the woman gave a little curtsy.

I stood tall, knowing we were a pack and a family and I was proud that Auden was announcing it at a busy market. We left her stall with sourdough that had just come out of the oven but I had my mate run back for another loaf that I could nibble on in the car.

Everywhere we went people greeted and congratulated us, wanting to meet the new Alpha and me, the Alpha Omega. There was little for this Alpha’s mate to do as yet besides grow our baby and create a garden out of the dusty patch behind our cabin.

"This is what pack feels like," I murmured to my mate as people had us sample herbs and a new batch of jam and they greeted us with smiles rather than snarls.

“Did we buy all this?” I marveled at the bags in the back of the truck. As well as bread, vegetables, fruit and jam, we had cheese, pies, and grass-fed beef.

“Nope. Some of it was gifted.” My mate offered me a pear and when I took a bite, the juice dribbled down my arm. He licked it off and Auden tut tuted, saying there’d be none of that on the way home.

“We got a bit carried away.” Auden munched on a juicy apple while I kept my loaf of bread close, yanking off bits, enjoying the soft fluffy texture that almost melted on my tongue. “With the shopping.” He caught my eye and winked.

At home, my mate took charge of the grill, seasoning the steaks with herbs from our haul while I prepared a salad.

Auden busied himself with side dishes. Creven dashed inside and stole a piece of avocado but I smacked his hand, telling him I didn’t care that he was Alpha, he’d wait and eat with the rest of us.

When the food was ready, we ate at the picnic table Auden had built years ago.

Everything tasted better when shared with people you loved. Creven stood and raised his glass of iced tea. “To us. We are creating a legacy, not just for us but for generations to come.”

“To us.”

Auden filled us in about a new pack member that was arriving next week and two more the following week.

He’d put that in motion while he was still Alpha, but Creven had to okayed it.

He wasn’t sure if they’d be here long term, but our pack didn’t demand loyalty from birth to death.

He and my mate would be fixing up one of the remaining cabins to make it habitable as one of the newcomers had their own trailer.

Before we went inside I looked up at the stars, wondering if my folks were looking down. Wherever they were, I hoped they were proud of me and happy that I was safe, loved, and about to become a dad.

“What are you thinking?” My mate was at my side.

“About how fate put me in that trap so you could find me.” I'd have preferred a less owie introduction but it was memorable and I bore the scars as a reminder.