Chapter 12
Alby
The Hemlock Wolf Pack, Star’s Territory
Back at the house, we stripped down to our underwear at the door like we normally did.
As soon as the door was shut and locked, Bennie pulled me into his arms. I nuzzled into the crook of his neck and let my brain go fuzzy for a long moment.
I loved gatherings but not if they started with my vomiting.
Still, I had enjoyed myself. It was nice to meet Ryder and have Bennie meet my family too.
Only now I was tired and woozy and wondering just how many babies Bennie had put in me.
What started as a joke had morphed into something that felt more like a prophecy.
“I didn’t get you that pregnant,” Bennie said, no trace of humor in his voice.
“It feels like it,” I said and nuzzled him again. “I think I just want to lay down and not exist. Maybe turn on an audiobook or something.”
“We can do that,” he nodded. “Do you want me to carry you upstairs?”
“I’m okay,” I shook my head and crinkled my nose. “I think all the jostling would be worse for my stomach.”
“Do you want me to come with you or would you like some time alone?” he asked.
“You better come with me. I don’t want to be alone right now,” I frowned.
“That’s what I wanted to do but I know being pregnant is a lot to process and…” Bennie said.
“Yeah. Yeah. If you were pregnant you’d need time to think,” I teased him and patted his abs. “Though, if I got you pregnant, I’d need time to think of how we’re going to explain it to the doctors.”
“I think every doctor I’ve seen would have some explaining to do on how I grew an organ that could house a baby,” he laughed.
“You know when Frost and Juda first unleashed the alpha/omega gene here I bet men were freaking out. Women alphas too. Like…” I started to laugh but had to run to the bathroom.
Before I had loved the spiral staircase but as I dashed into the downstairs bathroom I wasn’t so sure about it.
Walking up all those steps felt like a punishment right now.
Just thinking about it felt like a punishment.
Maybe I’d sleep on the sofa. Maybe I’d sleep under the sink.
Maybe… My brain kept swirling with maybes as I got sick again.
That was the night from hell. No matter how much ginger ale I drank or how many of those orange morning sickness gummies I devoured, I couldn’t stop throwing up.
I did my best to keep it off of the family and group links as Bennie took care of me.
Following me from room to room because nowhere was comfortable and I kept getting sick.
Over and over, I begged him not to call my grandpa or anyone else. It was just pregnancy.
One of the times I dozed off, I woke up around three in the morning with a thermometer poking into my ear. I jerked away and batted at Bennie’s hand. Only that wasn’t Bennie’s hand. It didn’t have enough hair on it.
“Who’s there?” I asked, sniffing, but couldn’t smell anything beyond my pillow.
“Me,” Grandpa Clyde’s voice reached my ears.
“Asshole! Told you to leave him alone!” I growled and put my head under the pillow.
“And I told him to call me if you needed anything,” Grandpa said.
“Gonna bite his…” I stopped myself because Grandpa was there but was pretty sure Bennie heard the threat over our mating link.
“Well, you have to wait until you feel better before you can take those as a trophy,” Grandpa said, having caught the threat over the family link. He was so tuned into me right now.
“Grandpa!” I groaned under the pillow.
“I’m going to start an IV for fluids, Alby. I think you’re dehydrated. I’ll give you some baby safe medicine through it for your stomach too,” he said. “We’ll get you all set up to feel better.”
“He put all the babies we’re going to have into me,” I groaned, holding out my arm and accidentally whacking it into Grandpa’s head.
He laughed and laid it down on the bed next to me.
“It was either I came or your carrier did,” he said, wiping my arm with an alcohol wipe. “I figured you’d prefer me.”
“You hate people dating,” I said.
“You’re not dating Bennie. He’s your true-mate,” he said.
“I know but…” I said.
“But what?” Grandpa asked.
“Do you think someone wants to kill Bennie?” I asked.
“No, I think you’re dehydrated and rambling. Which is okay. You can ramble all you need to. This will make you feel better.”
“Where’s Bennie at?” I asked, sniffing.
“I sent him to the store to pick up a few things.”
“Do you think I’m dying?” I asked.
“No,” he said. “You most certainly aren’t dying.
Your blood tests say you’re pregnant. According to the antibody tests, you’re pregnant with tiger cubs.
That probably explains why you’re having such a violent reaction.
It’ll calm down soon. Your body is just figuring out how to house and protect them. ”
“How many? Is it like one hundred?” I groaned as the IV needle pierced my skin.
“No, sweetheart. Not one hundred. I don’t know how many but not that many,” he said, his voice even like I had asked a perfectly logical question. “We won’t know until you’re able to tolerate an ultrasound.”
“Ugh!” I groaned. “One hundred babies.”
“Probably two or three babies,” Grandpa contradicted me. “Probably twins because they’re more common than tiger triplets.”
“What if it’s five?” I groaned.
“Well, then, maybe we’ll have to come stay with you and help out,” Grandpa chuckled. “But I don’t think it’s five.”
“How pregnant am I?” I asked.
“You mean like how long have you been pregnant?”
“Yeah. That,” I nodded as the medicine started to enter my veins. My stomach was almost instantly calm but I was still tired and felt like a grape dropped in the backyard at high noon. Shriveled and gnawed on by ants.
“Your blood work says about three weeks,” he said.
“Which makes sense. You met Bennie a month ago give or take a handful of days. Since you’re a wolf and he’s a tiger, the pregnancy should be between three and four months.
We’ll be able to estimate better after an ultrasound.
If you’ll agree, I’ll have a midwife from the local hospital stop by later this afternoon for a well omega exam. ”
A protest danced on the tip of my tongue. It tangoed there on my tongue, tasting acrid, because the last thing I wanted was anyone’s hands all over me. I only grunted my agreement because I knew being this sick for so many hours wasn’t exactly normal.
“Thanks for being a good patient. If you’re feeling better by then, they’ll be able to perform the ultrasound too,” he smiled and patted my shoulder.
“Thank you for coming in the middle of the night,” I said as the front door opened.
“Alpha’s home,” my wolf mumbled inside his inner sanctum.
“Anytime, kiddo. I meant it when I said to call me if you needed anything. Your first pregnancy will likely be the most difficult and the most nerve-wracking for both of you” he said.
“But it’s definitely worth it. Even with how crazy things were when I first met your Grandpa Ashley, I wouldn’t trade any of my kids for the world. ”
“I’m glad. I’m glad I’m here. I’m glad you… You saved him,” I yawn, feeling sleepy. Had Grandpa drugged me or was my brain just shutting down now that I wasn’t consumed with the all-encompassing urge to vomit.
I dozed on and off, listening to Grandpa and Bennie talk.
At first, they only talked about me and my pregnancy.
Plans for the midwife to come and what the ultrasound might show.
Then they talked about Chad Boston. Then they moved on to talking about the Sanctuary, the temples, and everything else under the sun.
“I’m glad they’re getting along. Grandpa Clyde needs more friends who don’t want to eat the world,” my wolf murmured.
Only I wasn’t sure Bennie wouldn’t eat the world if he had to.
When I finally fell solidly and deeply asleep on the sofa, I dreamt that I was surrounded by tiger cubs and more and more kept coming into the room.
They fell from the ceiling and in through the windows.
They crawled out of the vents and burst through the floorboards.
The onslaught didn’t stop until I burst out of my sleep, sitting straight up, panting with one hand on my chest. My heart thudded against my ribs like it intended to crack them and escape for the impending tigergeddon.
The IV was still leaking fluids into my arm but the house smelled like Grandpa had been gone awhile.
I started to swing my feet off the couch but before they fully reached the floor, fur tickled my toes.
Bennie was asleep on the floor by the couch.
He was stretched out on his back in tiger form, legs sprawled and tail stretched out.
He looked so adorable and content that I decided that I didn’t want to wake him up.
That sitting there and watching him sleep was my small reward for surviving the night.
If I hadn’t been hooked up to an IV bag, I’d have laid down on top of him just to listen to his heartbeat.
So, instead of getting up, I curled my legs up onto the sofa with me and watched him sleep.
The rise and fall of his furry chest soothed something deep inside me.
Eventually, I spotted a can of ginger ale on the end table.
It was still icy to the touch when I picked it up.
Grandpa must’ve left it out right before he left.
I tried to crack it open slowly but the sound still made Bennie open one eye.
I smiled sheepishly at him as he yawned.
His eye drifted closed again, but I wasn’t sure if he was just resting now or if he’d fallen back to sleep until he spoke softly, sleepily into my thoughts.
“How are you feeling, mate?”
“Better than last night,” I admitted. “Not perfect, but better. I just hope I don’t have to live hooked up to this bag for the next few months.”
“You shouldn’t have to. Clyde said that once you finish the course of medicine, your body will have learned or coded or whatever what to do for tiger cubs. I’m sorry my being a tiger made you sick.”
“No, my being a wolf made me sick,” I countered because the last thing I wanted him to feel bad for was getting me pregnant because sick or not, I was happy to be pregnant.
Happy to be carrying our children. Pregnancies were unpredictable.
So was morning sickness or all-day sickness or night sickness.
Life was full of variables that couldn’t be accounted for until their result had you worshipping the porcelain throne or something worse.
“I’m sorry that you’re sick either way,” he said.
“Me too, but everything has its price. If the price of having our babies is that I’m sick for a couple of days, I think I can handle that.”
“I’m sorry you have to handle it,” he said.
“Don’t make me come down there and stop you from beating yourself up,” I teased him.
“I’m not,” he said. “But I am sorry you’re sick. I hate that you feel bad. I hate that I had to call your grandpa when you didn’t want me to. It made me feel like a traitor.”
“No, you made the right call. I was so out of it and didn’t want to bother him. Grandpa Clyde is the guy everyone calls for everything and I don’t want to be one of those people.”
“He wants you to be. I know guys like him. They won’t say it but it hurts their feelings if you don’t ask for help.”
“Are you speaking from experience, alpha?” I asked, the corners of my lips trying to curl up into a smirk.
“Not personally. I know there are many reasons someone might not ask for help, but I know guys who do take it personally,” he laughed.
“But you’re usually someone people do call and ask for help,” I said
“Sometimes and if it’s you it should be all the time,” he yawned.
“I let you help me last night,” I said. “And today too. Well, shit…”
“What?” Bennie asked, opening one eye.
“I wanted to shower before the midwife came but…. This damn IV,” I sighed.
“Oh, I’ll take care of that after this bag finishes,” he said, closing his eye again. “I’m trained in field medicine or what some folks call battle medicine. That includes putting in and taking out an IV.”
“Good,” I sighed. “I think I could get it out myself, but…”
“Yeah,” Bennie nodded, stringing together my abstract thoughts. “Being pregnant means everything that affects you also affects the babies. I got you. Do you need anything right now?”
“Maybe a cuddle,” I admitted.
His eyes opened and his fur began shrinking back into his body.
A second later, he crawled up on the sofa with me.
I scooted close to him, resting between his legs and he wrapped his arms around me careful not to pull on my IV.
It was the sound of his heart that lulled me back to sleep.
This was the safest place for me and the babies: All wrapped up in his arms.
A few hours later, I woke up to Bennie and Grandpa talking about my house call appointment with the midwife. I stopped myself from stretching, afraid of yanking on my IV. Only when I moved, it was gone. The conversation between the alphas fell silent and Bennie kissed my forehead.
“Got it out while you were still under,” he said.
“Tricky,” I laughed. “But good because I need to pee and clean up. How long until the midwife arrives?”
“About an hour. Do you want me to make you something to eat?”
“Only if you want me to throw up on you because I’m not ready to risk it yet,” I shook my head as I slid off the sofa.