Chapter 38 #2
When Ivy swallows, she says, “Well, Amie’s pregnant with a boy. You’re pregnant with two boys, Stacy. This baby…” She puts her hand on her belly and happily adds, “is a girl, so I’m told, and I believe that because I can kind of feel it, though that might sound weird.”
“Not at all,” Stacy says. “I already feel connected to my boys and you can’t even tell I’m pregnant yet either.”
“And…” she goes on, nodding, “this must mean that things will change for the next council. Ty doesn’t seem disappointed despite being from a long line of firstborn alphas who becomes the first council alpha, but we’re having a daughter first, so that must mean things are changing.
And Amie might give birth before me, which would change the birth order.
Things will obviously be different next time around.
Amie and Mase’s baby might be first alpha. ”
“Or one of Stacy’s,” Audrey suggests.
Ivy looks confused, so I explain.
“Gestation for wolf shifters averages six months but for super alphas it ranges from four to seven months. So just because Amie realized she was pregnant first doesn’t mean her son will be born first. And just because Savages have been traditionally first alphas, things are frequently mixed up with other members.
There wasn’t a Quinn in the last council.
There also wasn’t a Fowler or a King. Linc’s the first alpha in his family in four generations.
First super alpha ever. One of the former council’s super alpha’s sons who didn’t land in this council was even an alpha, born the same year as all our existing council members, but he didn’t make the selection.
Sometimes it skips a generation and it’s a longer presiding council than other times so it’s possible these guys will sit until they’re much older and it could even be all unrelated alphas that become our next gen council.
Could even be some of your grandbabies instead of your kids. ”
“Riley’s firstborn could also be first alpha,” Roxy says. “So, still a Savage…”
“Erica’s not pregnant yet, is she?” Audrey asks.
I say, “She was gagging over the notion of hard-boiled eggs the other night, so she may very well be.”
But I agree with Ivy. Regardless of what’s going on, it’s clear that change is on the horizon.
And I already know it’s the case based on a few comments I’ve heard some of the Young coven witches drop, not to mention the things Grey told me the SCC said when they came here to debrief after Riley and Erica mated.
There’s also what they’re saying about Jase and I having a child that mates with someone important from the Fae realm.
But I can’t tell these guys that. I can’t tell anyone that.
I could talk about it with Erica, but she probably doesn’t want to, since she likely can’t tell me more of what she knows.
I guess I could talk about it with Jase, but I’m certainly not in the headspace for that.
Because talking about a future child that must be born is admitting that we’ll eventually be mated to one another.
This could trigger Jase to initiate that.
And I’m not prepared to wrap my head around that thought this morning.
I hear a whining pup sound, which startles me. I look around to see if anyone else hears it and I’m the only one reacting.
This is absolutely the universe making a point to me once again, like nearly every other time I try to push thoughts of me and Jase together away.
I pipe up. “So, the date in a nutshell? He took me to a bookstore for a book shopping spree, took me to dinner at my favorite restaurant, and then he brought me back home. He has the tattoo and he explained that he’s planning to build me a reading nook in his house.”
“Sounds incredible,” Audrey says dreamily. “He remember your favorite restaurant on his own or did he quiz someone?”
I shrug. I don’t know for a fact someone didn’t jog his memory, but I suspect he remembered.
Jase has shown himself to be thoughtful a whole lot over the years. It’s something I always loved about him. Until recently when he went out of his way to be the opposite of that.
“And? Did he kiss you? Did he, did he?” Roxy pushes, slapping the table.
I shake my head and scrunch up my nose.
“So, you haven’t had your first kiss yet. But at least it’ll be Jase. That’s so romantic,” Audrey says.
I give her a meaningful look. “He said the reading nook’s bookshelves will have a rolling ladder.”
Her jaw drops.
I blow out a long breath and say, “He’s taking me on another date tonight.”
“Tonight, he’ll kiss you. For sure,” Audrey advises with a slow nod, like she’s the expert on the subject.
“Maybe he’ll claim you, too,” Leona suggests.
I scrunch my nose again, but a stab of guilt pokes me.
Because I didn’t explicitly say I’d been kissed before, but I saw the way Jase’s expression dropped last night when I alluded to disappointing him but not about which fact.
And I don’t know why I did that. It’s not like he was being cocky about it like he was back in the beginning of all this stuff.
Ivy asks, “Where are you at? I know you fought it and then that whole motion to stop Jase from claiming you was denied, but he’s taking his time now, courting you, making an effort that’s pretty remarkable for a super alpha, especially considering how things have gone with the ones before him.”
“I’d say,” Roxy agrees.
“Except my super-alpha,” Stacy points out. “He didn’t exactly wait long, but he took so much care and showed so much patience because of what I’d been through. He was amazing.”
“And there’s Brody,” Leona adds. “He’s not rushing things. He knows it’s important to proceed carefully after what his mate has been through.”
“But he’s not super alpha. Just regular alpha,” Audrey points out.
“An alpha is still an alpha,” Leona fires back defensively.
Roxy leans back in her chair and says, “Alphas are definitely alphas. It’s not easy for any alpha to hold back.”
“We’ve all heard they can’t fight the rutting urge for long,” Stacy says. “Brody is taking a supplement the coven prepared and maybe Jase is taking the same thing.”
I shrug. “He wasn’t. The coven didn’t dull that urge while he was under those sanctions, but now? Maybe. And I’m wearing a scent muting spray that Dani gave me.”
The roll-on scent-mask Dani gave me might be helping, but she told me it would only dull my scent, not necessarily dull Jase’s existing desire to claim me.
Though, if it is helping, then it’s not like he’s controlling himself on his own and that’s a little disappointing, though I don’t say anything because Brody doing what he’s doing is admirable and it’s unfair of me to hold Jase to higher standards than anyone else.
Like Aunt Mimi said, he’s on a pedestal he never climbed up on himself.
I was the one who put him there. He’s a super alpha not a superhero and I need to try to remember that.
And on that note…
“I should get to work,” I say, getting to my feet. “People will be wandering in soon and I have some stuff to get done anyway, so… thanks for the chat and the treats.”
They all look at me like I’ve told them Christmas is canceled.
I finish with, “Last night was strange, weird, surprising, and yes, I felt things. I haven’t fully decoded what those feelings mean yet because it’s all a lot and I’ve been on overload, but I’m going out with him again tonight and… I don’t know, you guys. We’ll see what happens.”
“One day at a time,” Stacy says, squeezing my hand.
I give her a shaky smile.
“I’ll stay and help. Deal with people if they flood in again, hoping for gossip,” Audrey offers.
“The way you guys did, you mean?” I quip with my eyebrows up.
“Exactly,” she fires back.
The door flies open and Amie rushes in, looking a little disheveled, a little pale, and a lot anxious.
“What did I miss?” she demands.
***
I’m thinking about it all, all day long, particularly the nugget Amie shared.
Mase got home from the morning run with the other council members and told her Jase was out all night tearing the forest up in wolf form.
He was physically exhausted and moody when the rest of the council met up with him partway through their morning run.
This resulted in a fistfight with Linc about something, which alarmed all of us, but Amie said Mase waved her concern off, telling him Linc was just helping Jase work out some of his aggression.
This nugget has me wondering if he’ll cancel our date tonight. Or maybe if my next interaction with Jase won’t be like last night. Because right now, it’s kind of on me that he’s moody, not sleeping, and getting into fights with one of his closest friends.
It could be that Linc’s taking punches from Jase, so I don’t have to take Jase’s knot.
Am I anywhere near ready to spare Linc?
Images flash in my mind of Jase doing that BookTok lean, only this time I’m the one who moves in for the kiss.
When I shake the image off, I hear a low growl instead of yipping.
***
I get the last half hour of the day to myself, freshening up my make-up, rolling on some more of that scent muting stuff, and swishing with mouthwash, which…
I know… I beat myself up for it because of what it suggests I’m preparing for.
But I’d rather have minty breath and kiss nobody than stale coffee breath for my first kiss with Jase.
I close up the library and walk out at one minute after five to a sight that has me nearly tripping.
Jase is standing beside Dad’s convertible, at the far end of the lot.
He’s standing there in the exact same pose as Jake Ryan from Sixteen Candles.
It’s not a Porsche, but it is red. Jase isn’t wearing a sweater vest (and I couldn’t imagine him ever wearing one of those), but his vibe is a blend of Cool Jase and Jake Ryan.
Did he do this on purpose? Or is it just a coincidence?
He waves.
I have the insane urge to point to myself and mouth, “Me?”
But instead, I gawk.