6. Clynt
6
CLYNT
T hree days passed in a whirlwind of mating bites, knotting, and tender moments.
I basked in every second, happy to be with my mate.
It was on the fourth day that I realized I didn’t know much about him.
We were naked and in bed yet again when I decided it was time to get some answers.
“What’s your full name?”
He chuckled.
“Maklihn Turneaux. What’s yours?”
“Clynt Lette.”
“That’s beautiful. Would you prefer to take my last name, or I take yours? I don’t care either way so long as it’s the same.”
I leaned away from the comfy position I’d taken up on his chest to look at him.
His expression showed nothing but honesty, and his scent was clean.
Sometimes when other shifters lied to you, it was obvious because their scent took on a burning smell.
My mate was telling the truth.
“I’m not opposed to either option. Would your family want your name to continue? Mine doesn’t much care,” I replied.
“My family has all passed. I’m the last one of us.”
I gasped.
“ Oh, Alpha. I’m so sorry. How long has it been?”
“A long time. Maybe fifty years or so since the last relative died.”
My jaw dropped.
“Fifty years? You don’t even look fifty!”
Granted, I knew shifters aged differently.
I was one.
But even so, I couldn’t get my brain to put the pieces together properly.
His laugh shook my body too.
I smiled at the carefree gesture, despite the topic not being the happiest.
My mate had been alone for a long time.
It hurt to know he had no one to turn to.
I couldn’t imagine not having my family and Judy around to support me.
Sure, most of them were across the country at this point, but they still answered the phone and my texts when I sent them.
“I hope this isn’t a deterrent since we’re already mated. You might have heard Kris mention how happy he was I’d finally found my mate on the call the other day.”
“Oh yeah. I remember that.”
“He’s one of the few people who knows just how long I’ve waited to find you.” He took a deep breath.
“It’s been over three hundred years. I don’t regret a single one I spent alone since it led me to you.”
There was no holding back the tears.
My eyes swelled with them; the emotions of the moment were too great to keep inside.
“Don’t cry for me, mate. I’m more than pleased with the outcome of fate’s decision. You are beyond what I dreamed was possible.”
I leaned forward, kissing him with all the love I felt.
He deserved to know every second of every day how much I cared for him.
Three hundred years?
Dear Fates, that had to be rough.
“I’m yours, Alpha. Forever and always. Until the end of time.”
He grinned.
“Sounds perfect to me.”
Neither of us considered the ramifications of our mating until the first time I threw up.
We’d been cooking dinner, and the smell of garlic had me rushing to the bathroom.
It was odd because garlic was quite literally one of my top five food groups.
My mate came to run a cool cloth on my neck while I hurled into the toilet.
It was far too embarrassing, but the relief I felt at his touch alone was enough to have me holding back from sending him away.
Once I flushed away the sickness and turned to him, it was like we were both hit with reality at the same moment.
“You’re pregnant,” he shouted just as I said, “We’re having a baby?”
Then we laughed and cried, right there on the bathroom floor.
We were far too happy to leave the space despite it not being the more romantic one to realize you were becoming parents.
In the weeks since moving in with my Alpha, I’d been knotted more times than I could count.
Never did I stop to think about pregnancy or birth control.
The power of finally being mated and claimed was overwhelmingly the only thing I cared about.
Even my work had taken a backseat as I pushed all my current deadlines away.
Sure, I’d have to pull out my laptop soon and send apologies to everyone.
Even then, there wouldn’t be any real repercussions since most of my clientele were also shifters.
They’d understand the minute I told them I found my mate.
But a baby…
Yeah, that was a wake-up call.
Not that I was upset or anything.
It was more a shock that left me untethered.
How were we going to raise a child together?
What would it be like having a little version of me or my mate running around?
Were we going to have more than one?
So many questions, yet I couldn’t seem to ask even one.
After a few minutes of silence between us, my mate finally pulled me up and took me to the living room.
He wrapped me in a blanket before easing me down on the couch.
I watched him disappear into the kitchen, only for him to come back with a steaming cup of cocoa and something that looked like candy.
“What’s that?” I asked as I took the warm mug.
Cradling it between my hands eased some of the chill that had worked through me after being huddled on the bathroom floor.
My mate kneeled in front of me.
He opened the candy and held it up.
“This is ginger candy. It’s supposed to help with the nausea.”
“You… you already had this? Did you know I was pregnant?!”
He shook his head quickly.
“No, I didn’t. I grabbed these the first time we went to the store after you came home with me. I saw them, and my wolf demanded I pick them up. At the time it didn’t make sense, but maybe that part of me knew this day would come. Or maybe it hoped for it. I won’t claim to be able to predict the future.”
“Your wolf told you to get them?” I was still stuck on that tiny detail.
“He did. While I probably could have argued about it, I figured it was easier to let him have his way, especially out in public.”
His smile told me there had to be a story behind that choice.
I couldn’t wait to hear about it one day.
“Thank you, Alpha. You’ve taken such good care of me.”
Leaning forward, I wrapped my mouth around his fingers and sucked the candy between my lips.
The tart flavor burst on my tongue.
Oddly enough, the effect was damn near immediate.
I sank back into the couch, my body languid for the first time since I had bolted to the bathroom.
“You look like you’re happy with it,” my mate said with a hint of teasing in his voice.
I grinned at him as I pulled my cocoa up for a sip.
While the two shouldn’t have complemented each other in taste, I could admit the warmth of the drink and the soothing taste of the ginger were the perfect combo in the moment.
“I’m feeling much better. Thank you for this. I didn’t… “
His hands came up to cover mine.
“I know,” he said softly.
“This is news to me too. But we’re going to get through this no matter what. Together, we will be the best parents around.”
I laughed at his enthusiasm.
“Oh, will we?”
“Yep! The only real competition we have right now are my friends Nolan and Barrett. They’re new parents who are doing their damndest to give that kid everything in life. It’s admirable in a way, though I don’t let them know that.”
“They sound fun. I’d like to meet them.”
He nodded.
“We can make that happen. It should have already, but we’ve been a bit busy. Nolan is the sheriff and a bear shifter. His mate Barrett is a human.”
“A human? How does that work? I know the town is warded and everything.”
Judy had told me when I arrived that everyone here knew about shifters because the town had a protection spell on it to keep others out.
Shifters could come through easily, but humans would be rerouted until they passed it completely.
Which was why this Barrett guy was interesting.
How did he get in?
And how did a mating between a human and a shifter work anyway?
I was under the assumption it wasn’t possible at all.
“It’s their story to tell. Fate definitely had a hand in it though.”
Taking more sips of my drink, I watched my mate as he went on a rant about the town and its warding.
He mentioned that he used to think it was the reason his mate hadn’t come along yet.
He claimed to hate it while also loving the fact that he didn’t have to hide his true self from anyone.
The town made it possible to be free in a world where we’d often had to hide our true natures.
I was lucky enough to have been brought here by fate — and some shitty circumstances.
Ironically, I hadn’t thought of my ex at all in the days since meeting my Alpha.
There was no comparing the two men.
“What are you thinking about, Omega?” he asked when I went quiet.
I tugged at his arm until he moved to sit beside me on the couch.
Leaning into his shoulder, I sighed.
“Just about how lucky I am to have found you. I came here because I thought I was heartbroken. And now, I barely remember what that feeling even was. You’ve filled up every empty part of me and loved me beyond my wildest dreams.”
He kissed the top of my head.
“As it should be, mate. And as it always will.”