21. Kedi
Kedi
I took the stairs down to the main floor slowly, never letting go of the railing, the whole time cursing the lack of elevator in my apartment building. My massive belly hung way out in front of me, throwing me off balance for even the most basic tasks.
North, being the perfect gentleman, crept down the stairs in front of me at a snail’s pace, no doubt prepared to catch me if I slipped.
I glared at the back of his stupid head, quietly seething.
It wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate that he was keeping an eye on his mate’s bestie, and if I fell, I wouldn’t hesitate to grab him on the way by, but…
I just wished it could be my own mate here instead. I wanted Apollo.
I wanted to pull my phone out of my pocket yet again to check if there was a message, but I knew there was no point.
I’d texted him the where and when for the full-moon pack run, and he’d meet us there if he could make it.
I was far too pregnant to shift now, but it would still be fun.
I would have Joel with me, and Wick, of course.
But there was a piece of myself missing every day I was apart from my mate.
I missed him! I hadn’t seen him in almost two months.
We’d had no contact except texts and a few whispered calls.
He’d been busy, of course. He found the Order’s wolfsbane supply and managed to swap out the paste for something that looked and smelled similar.
They’d performed their full-moon ceremony last month, and he said he’d noticed a difference in the other hunters since.
Was it enough to convince them to turn on their masters? Only time would tell.
Except we were almost out of time!
This baby was due in a couple weeks, and as selfish as it was, I wanted my mate to be there for the birth.
I would never ask him to abandon the pack he’d grown up with, but with every day that passed, the sense of dread I felt grew stronger.
He was playing with fire, and the Divine Order was a stick of TNT with a short fuse.
Right as I rounded the second-floor landing and headed down the last flight of steps, the baby gave a particularly brutal kick to one of those essential organs in there, and I hissed in a sharp breath.
Immediately, North spun around, arms extended like he was expecting me to pass him a football. Hut, hut…
My lips thinned into a flat line at the sight of his stupid not-Apollo face, and I felt my wolf snarl in solidarity. “I’m not going to fall. The baby just kicked.”
He hesitated before lowering his arms back to his sides. “Can you blame me for being cautious?”
“No,” I huffed in begrudging agreement. We both knew Joel would castrate him if anything happened to me or the baby, not to mention what Apollo would do.
“Do you want me to carry you the rest of the way?” he offered.
My glare could’ve etched glass. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.”
“Thank you,” he said with an audible gulp, before he turned and continued his slow walk down the stairs. A smart alpha was one who knew not to piss off the pregnant omegas.
As soon as I stepped outside, the cold wind whipped my boring brown hair back and forth in the gust. I’d read some article online that claimed hair dye wasn’t safe during pregnancy, and while the source was a little questionable, I decided I was going to play it safe.
I could always dye it again once our pup was born.
A few stinging flakes of snow slapped against my cheeks.
I sighed and struggled to zip my coat up over my belly, but it was hopeless.
It wouldn’t matter. Soon we’d be deep in the forested valley, and it would be a lot warmer.
I glared one last time at North as he climbed in behind the steering wheel of their black SUV parked at the curb in front.
He didn’t even need a jacket, because he would be nice and toasty warm in his fur.
I’d been too big for most of my clothes for a while now.
I’d bought a bunch of oversized band tees and sweatpants from the second-hand shop down the street, and had even scored a pair of fancy red suspenders to keep them up.
I made quite the fashion statement, but I figured it was a short-term problem.
Until this baby came out, I was going to rock the hell out of my grunge paternity chic.
“Come on, get in!” Joel called from the back of their SUV.
He was sitting on one side of Wick’s car seat, and I climbed in on the other side.
Wick was keeping himself occupied by sticking wolf stickers all over his legs, but he grinned at me and babbled a hello as I levered myself in on his other side.
“You’re just about out of room in here,” I said, stating the obvious as I looked past Wick to my bestie, who was nearly as popped as I was.
His seatbelt was working overtime keeping him in that seat, and considering he was a full month and a half behind me, it had come to no one’s surprise to find out he was carrying twins.
Joel rolled his eyes. “I’m still trying to convince North to get a minivan, but he saw an extended-cab Hummer last week, and now he thinks that would be the ultimate family vehicle.”
When North didn’t answer with some smartass remark about being the “cool dad” dropping his kids off at school in a tank, I glanced into the front to see what was taking so long. North was looking over at his brother, who was sitting in the front passenger seat.
“Any luck?” North asked.
Mace was slumped in his seat. He shook his head forlornly, staring down at his phone with a longing I understood all too well. “He won’t answer my texts. I’ve tried everything, but he seems to think he’s doing me a favor.”
My heart gave a painful ache for Mace’s dilemma. He’d recently met his own fated mate, and their relationship had not been without complications. Why wasn’t love ever easy? Fate was such a bitch.
North set his hand on Mace’s forearm. “You don’t have to come tonight. If your mate needs you—or you need him—then you should go.”
Mace’s dark eyes perked up a little. “Yeah?”
“Of course. Everyone will understand. Won’t we?” he called back to us.
Joel and I didn’t hesitate to agree. “Of course! Go!”
It was like new life and determination had flooded into him, and his entire body language changed. “Okay. I’m gonna go make him take me back. Thanks, guys.” He unclicked his seatbelt, and as he shoved open the door, a rush of frigid air was sucked into the SUV.
“Shut the door!” Joel said, laughing, but the smile on my face fell straight off.
North caught my eye in the rearview mirror. “What’s wrong?” he asked immediately, cranking around in his seat to look at me, nostrils flaring.
I shook my head. “I’m okay. I just… smelled something funny when the door was open. Kinda like smoke. I’m sure it’s nothing.” Right? I asked my wolf.
He was disturbingly quiet, and he’d gone stock-still, like when he was in hunting mode, and he curled protectively around our little one.
Right?? I asked again.
My wolf finally gave me a huff that I decided to take as agreement. There was no other option I could handle right now.
As North pulled the SUV away from the curb, I felt an uncomfortable tingling sensation on the back of my neck. It felt almost like someone was watching me, but when I turned to glance out the rear window, there was no one there.