Chapter 11 #2
It was hot to hear him talk like that, but I knew better than to say it right now.
“He’s definitely pregnant,” my tiger said, shifting my eyes to his to look out.
Then I couldn’t fight off the urge any longer.
I leaned in close but not quite touching him and sniffed his belly.
Then his crotch. Alby’s back went ramrod straight for a second and then he relaxed, running his fingers through my hair.
He pulled my head against his belly and held onto it for a long moment.
Up this close and personal, not only did Alby smell pregnant, but I heard their little heartbeats too.
I tried to count how many little hearts beat under Alby’s, my eyes misted over, making it impossible to think straight.
We were having babies. Alby was pregnant.
We’d have little tigers or wolf pups running around soon.
Maybe both. Raziel was definitely going to have to tell me if he left anything weird in the house.
“I want this to be ours for a little bit. Not a long time, but for a few days at least,” Alby said, still holding onto my head. “Just long enough for me to wrap my brain around it.”
“I’ll be your belly guard,” I whispered, nuzzling against him. “Unless you’re just hungry and want to eat people. Then I’ll be a maneater and drag you in whatever sort of shifter you’re craving.”
Alby laughed, but underneath it all we both knew my tiger meant the sentiment.
It wasn’t just about us anymore. It was about our babies and I’d do anything it took to see them safely into this world.
I always admired and felt honored my parents died to save Ryder and me but now…
I understood it. If Frost walked out of a bathroom stall right now and told me to come with him and die or our unborn babies would perish, I’d go with him in a heartbeat.
“Shh….Alpha,” Alby cooed to me, running his fingers through my hair. “These are different times and we’re safe.”
I told him about Frost’s warning while I was still nuzzling into his stomach.
“Well, that could mean a lot of things,” Alby said when I finished speaking. “Maybe he just wants you to remember that you’re a protector and you got this. We have this. I guess, taking the test right now won’t matter one way or another. Not after what you heard. So, I can…”
“Let’s just rest and then go out and celebrate our mating feast, okay?
” I offered, because he still sounded hesitant.
Without the test we didn’t know for sure.
At least, that’s what we could tell everyone at the feast. I’d tell Raziel and Slyvin about Frost’s warning as soon as I could but would respect Alby’s wishes about not announcing the pregnancy yet.
“Okay,” he grinned and hugged my head.
I stayed there, leaning against his belly with my arms wrapped around him for a long time. When we finally left the bathroom, Raziel was still guarding the door. It felt crappy to take over the whole bathroom but each floor of the temple had an omegas only bathroom.
“Pizza?” Raziel offered.
“Where did you get pizza at?” Alby laughed. “The temple catered.”
“Clyde asked if I was hungry. I said always. He asked what I wanted. I said pizza. He brought that back,” Raziel said, pointing to a pack-sized pizza on a nearby table.
“Pizza,” Alby nodded and picked up a slice. I held my breath as he took a bite. He swallowed and took another ravenous bite and I sighed in relief. For now, his pregnancy sickness had passed.
We hung out with Raziel for almost an hour.
Everyone knew our mating feast would go late into the night because most of them did.
They also probably assumed that Alby was pregnant, but no one came looking for us, giving us space to relax and enter the feast at our pace.
Eventually, Raziel wandered off too, probably on purpose.
“This is really good pizza,” Alby said, picking up another slice of pizza. “Pat’s Pies,” he read the name off the top of the box. “Gotta get these more often. Am I horrible for eating so much pizza despite the catering?”
“Eat whatever you want. It’s our day,” I grinned.
Eventually we did enter the party. We slunk in while everyone was talking and eating, sliding into our seats at the main table.
Slyvin was the first to notice us. He slid a bottle of ginger ale and orange morning sickness gummies under the table.
I set them on the floor between my and Alby’s chairs just in case he needed them.
Daisy was the second person to notice us, wiggling out of her seat and shifting to jump up onto my lap and put her paws on my shoulders.
“Rawr!” I made a playful sound at her.
She growled back at me and let out a little roar. The room broke into applause as everyone else realized we had arrived and she scurried back under the table, not liking to be the center of attention. Everyone laughed a little and to their credit they didn’t crowd instantly around us.
It was Alby’s parents who came over first, hugging us both tight.
From everything I saw during our claiming vows it felt like I knew Amstead and Carn already.
Ashley came next with Clyde in tow. He hugged both of us too and whispered something in Bennie’s ear that I didn’t quite hear.
It was about the babies, though. I introduced Alby to Ryder, because he’d already met Slyvin the night Daisy snuck into the house.
Then I introduced him to some of my older siblings.
The day blurred by in toasts, food, introductions, and of course dancing.
It wasn’t usually my favorite activity but I’d do anything to hug Alby close to me where nothing could hurt him.
Maybe a good slow dance wasn’t that bad after all.
To our credit we waited almost until sunset before we tiptoed out the backdoor and down the steps to my car.
“Alby!” Clyde’s voice called after us as my hand closed on the passenger door to open it for him. We both laughed like teenagers caught skipping school. Alby shushed me, motioning for me to hurry, but we were already spotted.
“Hi, Grandpa,” Alby said when Clyde made it to the car a few seconds later. He laughed like he was drunk but given the circumstances neither of us drank while we were at the feast.
“Do you have everything you need at home?” Clyde asked.
“We’re good,” I said and then remembered Chad Boston.
Alby raised a brow at me, wondering if I’d tell him and I did because whether or not he believed me was moot.
The more people who knew that Frost said something that could be interpreted as a warning the better.
Clyde listened without speaking and nodded.
“Sounds like a Moonscale dragon,” he nodded. “Cryptic as fuck and thinks he’s being helpful.”
“Grandpa!” Alby protested.
“He’s allowed to say what he wants about Frost. If it hurts his feelings, Frost can deal with himself,” I said, echoing the words I’d heard from Slyvin at least a million times growing up.
“He can take it up with me personally if he wants to,” Clyde shrugged.
“Grandpa!” Alby said again.
“I’ll keep my ears open,” Clyde said. “Have you told Raziel or anyone else?”
“Not yet,” I shook my head. “Should I not?”
“Eh, it probably won’t hurt either way,” Clyde shrugged. “Just trying to figure out.. Just trying to solve for X based on how you react. If Frost thinks he knows your patterns, how you responded to it might give us a clue.”
“I didn’t tell anyone right away,” I said as Alby slid into the car.
“Grandpa, we’re going home now. We’ll see you later,” my mate said.
Clyde rounded the car and hugged Alby. He congratulated him again and reiterated that we should call him if we needed anything at all.