Chapter 30
O ne of the perks of being quiet was that I had gotten very good at listening over the years. People turned into chatterboxes when they didn’t expect to be interrupted, and Cooper’s pack was no exception.
Levi knew enough ASL for me to prompt a conversation, which immediately got Cash going, telling me all about their pack and young Morgan.
“I’ve known her since she was about twelve,” said Cash. “She was a gawky little string bean back then, and stuck to Cooper, Riley, and me like glue.”
I didn’t miss the flare of anguish in Cooper’s eyes at the mention of Riley’s name. I didn’t know who they were, but clearly something had gone on.
“Coop hung back for an extra year to keep an eye on Morgan and wait for me to graduate, and then we stole Morgan from home all the time. Harder to do on school days, but we used to drive in every Friday after class at college and hide her in the dorm for the weekend so she could get a break.”
“From her brothers?” I signed, and Levi translated for Cash.
“Yeah. Bunch of fucking assholes. Her dads too, but they’ve at least retired by now, half of them dead and sparing the world their existence.” He grimaced. “Sorry, that probably sounds like a shit thing to say, but if you knew them you would understand.”
I nodded thoughtfully and gestured for him to continue.
“Morgan’s had a really shit time with men. Honestly, I’m surprised she let you lot near her instead of crawling into the woods to suffer through her heat alone.” He tilted his head, examining me. “You’ve got good vibes, though. Maybe that’s all it takes. She’s gotten damn good at sensing when people are terrible…well, maybe not with that Brandon asshole, but…”
“She never moved to your ranch?” I signed, looking at each of them in turn and waiting for Levi to translate. It took him a second, and I had to repeat the signs slower than before until it clicked.
“She did right after she finished university, but the ranch construction wasn’t finished until she was almost graduated,” said Dakota.
“Were you ever…” I paused, considering the most appropriate sign to use to ask, “Together?”
Levi choked on his own spit. “Absolutely not. She’s our little sister as much as Cooper’s.”
“Are you guys gossiping about me?” Morgan yelled from the living room.
“Only because we love you,” Cash shouted back.
I could precisely imagine the roll of her eyes, and a moment later she nudged the door open with her hip. “Lunch is ready.”
She was healing quickly, her movements surer today than they had been, with no little furrows between her brows, or quiet intakes of breath if she moved the wrong way.
Cooper was doing better too. In all likelihood, these could be our last hours together.
We convened at the table, installing a couple of the leaves to expand it so everyone had a space. Morgan sat between Kit and me, Ryder and Maverick on each side of us, and Cooper’s pack across from us.
Halfway through the food Morgan blurted out, “I bonded Bear during my heat.”
Cooper choked, Cash helpfully patting his back while Levi slid a glass of water closer.
Dakota looked at her speculatively. “Not to be indelicate or invasive, but did you have access to birth control during this heat?”
Panic popped like a bubble in Morgan, flooding down the bond to me. “Oh my god.”
“Should I take that as a no?” Dakota asked.
Morgan let out a desperate keen, burying her face in her hands, tension shooting through every alpha present. “I can’t have a baby!”
That wasn’t a conversation we’d had with Morgan yet. I wasn’t sure if her reaction was because she didn’t want to have children in general, or if she didn’t want to have children with us . I looped an arm over her shoulder, pulling her chair closer with my free hand. It blunted her panic a little, but not by much.
“Are you still anti-baby, Morgie?” Cash asked. “You know we would help if you wanted to have one. I’d be the coolest uncle in history.”
“All the help in the world wouldn’t make me want to be a parent.”
“We’ll go to the clinic, little fox,” Kit assured her. “It’s possible your body was under too much stress for anything to take, and if that’s not the case, you’re in charge of your own body. There are options.”
“Mom died when Morgan was ten and I was freshly thirteen,” Cooper explained. “Our dads put her in charge of everything Mom used to do. Drove me up the fucking wall that they expected a ten-year-old girl to take on a parent’s role instead of stepping up their goddamn selves.”
That certainly shone some light on her reluctance to take on another caregiver role, even if parenting a child was different than taking care of ungrateful assholes. I had always assumed I would never be a full-time parent, and I was pretty content with using my skills and time to educate the kiddos from the Rez when they came out. That was enough for me. If Morgan was pregnant, though, and she changed her mind on what she wanted, I would adapt to that too and put my all into being a father.
“All of us want to support Morgan,” said Kit, “and we have to figure out the best ways to do that.” He turned to her. “You don’t have to have all the answers for us today, but we do need to know the next steps. Where would you like to live?”
Morgan lifted red-rimmed eyes and immediately dropped her gaze to her lap, where she fidgeted with her fingers. “I’m not ready to give up my apartment.”
“You don’t have to,” Ryder promised.
“Bear and I talked. My job is only a couple of hours away. We could stay there during the week and come back here for weekends.”
“Are you choosing to come back here because you want to, or because you feel pressured?” Cooper asked. “And, yes, I realize that’s a shit question to ask in front of you guys.”
“I like it here,” Morgan insisted. “And it’s Bear’s home. It wouldn’t be fair for me to demand he leave forever when it was my fuckup that got us bonded.”
“It takes two to bond,” Maverick pointed out. “Don’t take the weight of it on yourself.”
“Did you not take any precautions to prevent bonding?” Levi asked.
“If we hadn’t, she’d be bonded to all four of us.” Ryder frowned. “Kit was practically ready to hogtie us to make sure it didn’t happen, but we thought her heat was over so no one was watching her and Bear when it happened.”
That seemed to relax all of them, but Cooper eyed me suspiciously. “If you did this to trap her, I swear to?—”
“Cooper!” Morgan snapped. “I bit Bear three times before he gave in. This isn’t his fault.”
Pride filled me that my omega would defend me, but annoyance was equally strong that she felt she had to.
I laid my palms flat on the table, giving myself a moment to collect my thoughts. Levi struggled with the translation, so Morgan moved to the other side where she could see me properly, saying my words out loud so her brother’s pack could understand. “It’s too early to say I love her, but I will always protect her. She is mine and I am hers. Fate let me save her life and brought her here to give us this chance. Anything she needs, we will do our best to provide.”
Her eyes were shiny by the time she finished, her voice thick. Affection from her was like a flood of molasses down the bond, a slow envelopment in sweetness. She swept back around the table, leaning over my chair to wrap her arms over my chest and kiss my cheek.
“You guys, I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing. I’ve barely had a moment to breathe. Bear and his pack have been really good to me and I feel safe with them, which is not something I can say about many people. I don’t want any of you to worry about me. It might take me a while to figure things out, but it’ll happen and I promise I’ll keep you posted about any important developments. For now, though, I need someone to get me to a fucking clinic.”
The pack had already been hard at work with our skid-steer, clearing snow from the lengthy drive that met up with the road. We could probably go down and see how close the road clearing was to us, maybe remove enough snow to meet up with the crews.
After everyone finished eating, we loaded into two of the trucks, packed our damaged snowmobiles onto the flatbeds, and drove to the end of the drive. As if they had been waiting for our appearance, the plow rumbled past, revealing a clear stretch of road behind it that would take us to town.
Cooper’s pack followed behind us, and Morgan sat in the backseat with me and Kit, Maverick at the wheel and Ryder in the passenger seat. The clinic in the nearest town had a jam-packed waiting room. Morgan was too antsy for that. It could be hours before someone saw her, so we drove on to Great Falls, which had more options. They had far fewer people lined up for care since the town itself would’ve been less affected by the snowfall than the mountain villages anyway.
We got Morgan and Cooper on the list to get checked over and I sat to wait with both of them while the others dropped off the snowmobiles to get fixed and do a grocery run.
“Morgan?” a nurse called out.
My omega rose to her feet, glancing back at me.
“Your alpha is free to join if you would like company,” the nurse added.
Morgan extended her hand to me, and I went with her. The nurse took her blood pressure, height, and weight before tucking us back into one of the exam rooms. They had set out a paper gown for Morgan and she hastily changed into it while I kept my gaze respectfully averted.
A few moments later, a knock at the door was followed by a petite omega in a white lab coat bustling in. “Hello, hello. I’m Dr. Martin. What brings you in today, Morgan?”
She rattled off the list of how she had been abandoned in the woods and gone through an unexpected heat after unsafely suppressing them for years.
The doctor’s eyes widened the longer Morgan talked. “Oh dear. First things first, since you were reported missing, I’ll make sure my staff informs the sheriff’s office you’re under our care and have been found safe. Then we’ll do a full workup so we know best how to treat you going forward. We have a lab next door and I’ll ask them to run your tests immediately.” She excused herself for a brief moment to get her staff to handle the police contact, and she returned quickly, tapping away on a laptop. “Okay, I’ve sent your requisition over. As soon as you’re done with me, you can head straight over there for your blood draw and urinalysis.”
My omega nodded, lacing her fingers with mine while the doctor checked her over head to toe. I preened over her finding comfort in touching me. Anxiety tumbled down the bond and I did my best to offer peace back to her.
“On the outside it looks like you’re recovering very well from everything you went through. Hopefully things are running as smoothly on the inside.”
Morgan’s face pinched. “I guess we’ll find out.”