Chapter 14
Jackson froze. He was pregnant. He, no, they were going to have a pup.
A pup! His own baby to care for, nurture, and raise with unconditional love—from both parents!
Oh, my gods! Jackson leaped into Steel’s lap, holding his mate’s face between his hands, looking Steel in the eye, saying, “I love you,” and following with a kiss that quickly morphed into tongue dueling as Steel gasped at Jackson’s declaration.
Pulling back, Steel looked into Jackson’s beautiful blue eyes, rubbed his thumb along his mate’s puffy lips, uttering, “I love you, Jackson, now and forever and that won’t even be enough time, mo chroí. You are my heart, my soul, my everything.”
As tears of joy ran down Jackson’s face, he leaned forward to snuggle in his mate’s arms, finding the security and love he’d sought his whole life. Listening to Steel’s strong, steady heartbeat, peace came over him, settling his soul and centering his universe.
Jackson took a deep ragged breath, trying to stem his tears as Steel soothingly rubbed his back.
He was loathed to leave his mate’s arms but wanted to continue their conversation; if he stayed where he was, they would be having a different conversation with body parts.
Reluctantly drawing out of Steel’s arms and lap, he moved to sit next to him.
Steel loved Jackson’s reaction to the news he was pregnant as he did his affirmation of love.
Yet he was surprised at how quickly Jackson had accepted the ‘you-can-get-pregnant’ news, so he asked, “Mo chroí, I’m delighted at how easily you accepted that you could have a baby.
Did you know it before my mother told you? ”
Looking down, pausing to gather his thoughts, Jackson brought Steel’s hand to his lips, kissing it before he moved it to rest over his heart.
Then he spoke, “As I grew up, my father spent hours lecturing me on the duties and responsibilities of being an Alpha and, while I did my best, I always felt I was lacking somehow.” Steel started to object but before he could speak Jackson said, “No, shush,” holding a finger over Steel’s mouth.
“What I mean is, parts of being the Alpha were very hard, such as sending men out to fight because I knew in my soul if one died on my orders, it would affect me far greater than it should.
So, I tended to over-think decisions, always trying to find a peaceful solution so no one would have to pay with their life.
“My father hated that part of me and tried to crush it with insults and putdowns which only resulted in me retreating into myself. My mother finally sent me away to spend a summer with her parents. They taught me how to handle my father’s verbal assaults and when I came back, I never allowed his words to hurt me again. ”
“But you are a good Alpha,” asserted Steel, not wanting his mate to denigrate himself. “Look at how you took control after the massacre.”
“Yes, I took control of my brothers and made sure they were safe. But I couldn’t bring myself to order the revenge my family deserved.
I would sooner cut off my right arm than put one of my brothers in harm’s way,” replied Jackson sadly.
“That’s exactly what my father hated about me.
So, my family still doesn’t have the justice they deserve, and my mother and siblings have the right to it—maybe more than my father—because they were innocents in all this mess. ”
Jackson paused before going on. “This part of me was the reason I rejected claiming you at first. I knew if—no, make that when—the Silver Point enforcers found us, I would have to stand with my brothers to defend them and that meant I wasn’t putting you first, as a mate should.
It was an untenable position and either choice would devastate me if harm came to anyone. ”
“What changed your mind?” asked Steel.
“Mystia,” said Jackson. “She talked me down off the edge, so to speak, and made me see my mate would stand with me and my brothers and it wasn’t an ‘either/or’ choice.”
“Your brothers are my brothers now,” growled Steel, upset his mate was still threatened. “They will be protected with all the resources of my family.”
Jackson’s eyes began to fill with tears as he listened to Steel’s vow. Looking at his mate with watery eyes, he said, “That means more to me than you’ll ever know. Thank you.”
“Hey babe,” Steel crooned, taking Jackson’s hand, lifting it to his mouth and licking off some fallen tears. “Know I will do anything and everything for you just so I can see your smile.”
Jackson, leaning in for a kiss, said, “Remember when you found me at the side of the road?”
“How can I forget?”
“Well, what caused me to help those men is the trait my father ridiculed me for, every time I helped someone in trouble. He said I was weak and it was conduct unbecoming an Alpha. But what he didn’t understand is it’s a part of me that comes so naturally—I mean, to me it’s like breathing.
I literally have to help someone who’s in trouble.
“All this contradiction inside of me caused me to spend my childhood and teen years in a constant state of feeling I was two people. When your mother explained that I was an Alpha/Omega hybrid, everything fell into place. My whole life just clicked and I knew why I could lead my brothers and yet care about those who needed help.”
Jackson stopped for a moment before continuing, “That’s when I understood why I was reluctant to seek revenge for my family’s death.
And it explained why I loved taking care of my siblings when I was growing up.
When I learned I could get pregnant, it was as if I’d known it all along. I don’t know how else to explain it.”
Steel was inordinately proud of his mate at that moment as he thought about all Jackson had to overcome in his life.
He was amazed and humbled at his mate’s strength, pledging to himself he would make Jackson’s life easier from this moment on.
That thought led him to say, “What can I do to help your brothers? I have a great deal of resources at my disposal.”
“I don’t know at this moment,” said Jackson.
“We still have the Silver Point enforcers hunting us and I know my brothers won’t feel comfortable until I eliminate that threat.
I’m unsure how to proceed.” Then he added, “But now with a baby on the way, this becomes the main priority. I just wish I knew why they want the Fox River Pack’s land. ”
“You’re not alone, babe,” Steel said “I understand why you don’t want to fight them and I agree.
I’ve been thinking about what I can do to stop them and make their Alpha call off the kill order but I need to talk to my father and my brother first.” Then almost as an afterthought he asked, “Did you make a complaint to the Universal Paranormal High Council yet?”
“No,” Jackson said, “Because right now it’s our word against theirs since none of us was there during the massacre, so there aren’t any eyewitnesses.
The other issue about making a complaint is it would expose us to Silver Point.
” Jackson sighed, thinking once again of the insurmountable odds of finding a peaceful solution while still getting justice for his family.
And then something Steel said clicked in his mind and he exclaimed, “You have a brother? Oh fuck, of course you do, your mother told me but I guess I was distracted. Shit, what a crappy mate I’m turning out to be.
Is your brother older or younger? Where does he live?
Will I meet him? Hot-diggity-damn. I have another brother. ”
By the end of Jackson’s outburst, Steel was laughing so hard, he was holding his stomach. Jackson swatted at him. “Stop it. Tell me about your brother,” he demanded, even though he, too, had a hard time holding back his laughter.
Still chuckling, Steel answered, “My brother, Slate, is younger by about two years. We basically grew up together but when I moved here, he decided to stay with our parents. Even though I miss him, I’m glad he did cause it took a lot of worry off me.
He works in the family business and he’s one smart dude, though if you tell him I said that, I’ll tickle you mercilessly until you agree to anything I want. ”
Steel then leaned over, giving Jackson a taste of his threat. Jackson grabbed at his mate’s hands to stop him from reaching his very ticklish sides, but he failed and threw himself against Steel pushing him down on the sofa.
Steel looked up into his mate’s eyes which were dancing with merriment, sucking in his breath at the absolute beauty he saw.
Pulling Jackson’s head down, Steel’s lips gently grazed the soft, pliable lips of his mate, licking and gently biting Jackson’s lower lip until he finally opened his mouth, allowing Steel in.
He groaned as his tongue tasted his mate.
Deepening the kiss, Steel’s hand snaked into Jackson’s soft hair, pulling him closer until Steel could no longer tell where his mouth ended and Jackson’s began.
Jackson responded immediately, by tongue dueling for dominance over Steel’s, finally succeeding when he entered his mate’s mouth, where he explored its contours and wallowed in the taste.
Feeling his mate’s hard cock up against his groin, Steel started to grind his body against his mate’s.
Jackson could wait no longer; he needed to feel his mate’s naked cock against his.
He reached down to unsnap Steel’s jeans and then heard music.
Ignoring it he struggled to pull apart the jeans—difficult since he was lying on top of them.
Rolling over to his side, he was finally able to wrench them open, finding the object of his desire—Steel’s cock.
What the fuck? Steel was pushing him away. Confused he pulled back to look at his mate, wondering what was wrong when Steel’s words finally penetrated his head. “Babe, your phone is ringing. I think it might be your brothers. Don’t you want to answer it?”
Jackson shook his head, trying to clear away the lust consuming his body.
He blinked several times before he answered, “Yeah, I should probably do that.” He slowly sat up on the sofa, trying to locate his phone.
Spying it on the floor, he picked it up, answering the call.
“Hi, what’s up?” Not my cock anymore, he pouted to himself.
“Jackson?” asked Logan, “Are you all right?”
“Hi bro, yeah, I’m fine. Is everything okay there?”
“Yeah, everything’s good. We’re wondering when you’ll be back.” Logan hated how he sounded so needy. Shit, I’m an Alpha, suck it up.
Jackson heard the slight panic in Logan’s voice, knowing he needed to get home soon to quiet the waters roiling with the uncertainty as to what his mating would mean to his brothers. “Just a minute,” said Jackson, as he turned to Steel. “Logan wants a timeline as to when we’ll be coming back.”
“How about five tonight?”
Jackson nodded and said, “We’ll be back around five. Is Mystia still there? How’re Steel’s parents?”
Logan breathed an internal sigh of relief. “They’re fine. Mystia’s here but Jimmy went back to the gas station. See you then. Bye”
Steel studied the tension in Jackson’s body. “Is everything okay at home?”
“Yeah, but I know my brothers are unnerved by our mating. And that doesn’t even take into account my pregnancy,” said Jackson, a shadow crossing his face as he thought about the Alpha status of his mate.
He just knew he couldn’t ask his brothers to follow Steel just because they were mated.
It was too soon and his brothers still were wary of other wolves which is why they’d been irritated when Jackson hadn’t mentioned a wolf gave him a ride to Jimmy’s.
Steel thought he had an inkling of what was bothering his mate, but he also knew Jackson didn’t want to bring it up because it might hurt his feelings.
He decided to make his position clear and then see what Jackson had to say.
“Mo chroí, come over here and sit with me. I have some more things I want to tell you.”
Jackson walked over, sitting as close as he could to his mate, feeling the need to touch Steel.
Burying his nose in Steel’s neck, Jackson took deep breaths of the unique scent which could calm him in seconds and, after his tensions had eased, he looked up with a weak smile and asked, “Now, what are you going to tell me? All good, I hope?