Chapter 11
Nico
One Month Later
I paced Lio’s bathroom, the little piece of plastic in my hands feeling much heavier than it was. It was my fourth test, and they’d all said the same thing. Pregnant. I just . . . had a hard time believing it was possible.
Like yeah, I knew it was possible. I wasn’t on any kind of birth control, and Lio had knotted me like a hundred times during my heat last month, but it was so fucking rare to get pregnant during a first heat that I hadn’t expected it.
Even after I’d started throwing up, I’d figured it was just a virus or something.
That was until Carter had gently pointed out that I was a shifter and we didn’t get sick.
I’d still been in denial for another few days before I’d bitten the bullet and bought a pregnancy test. Well, ten of them, but who was counting?
It wasn’t that I didn’t want kids. I did.
Eventually. But it wasn’t on my radar yet.
Lio and I hadn’t even discussed it. The month had been chaotic as we’d dealt with the pack coming to terms with our relationship and the budding issues that were stemming from the Grizzlies’ internal power struggle.
We’d learned more over the last few weeks.
Arlo had hoped that his attack on me would cause Santino to react without asking questions, breaking the alliance and starting a war between our territories.
And then in the chaos, he’d slip in and take over.
It could have worked, if everything had happened according to plan.
Instead, Arlo had buried himself in a hole where he had both the White Wolves and the Grizzlies looking for him.
After verifying the information Ivan had told us, we’d agreed that going after Dimitri, Arlo’s second, would be the best plan.
He was the one handling all the physical measures of their attempted coup.
Arlo was a name, nothing more. No one working for them had met him, so no one knew what he looked like.
Even his father didn’t have a recent picture, his most current one a crumbled wallet size from when Arlo had been in high school.
Neither he nor Ivan had set eyes on the man in years.
I had been spending most of the last four weeks finding any information I could. We were always so busy, I’d barely gotten to see Emilio. It was wreaking havoc on our bond and my emotions, and now . . . we were adding pups to the mix.
Fuck. How were we supposed to do this?
I pressed a palm to my belly. There was a fucking baby in there. Or maybe multiples. Most male omegas gave birth to a full litter. It was terrifying . . . and maybe a little exciting. Were Lio and I seriously going to be fathers?
My heart was beating so rapidly in my chest, I was almost worried I was having a heart attack. I had to get it together. Sure, the timing wasn’t . . . great. But this was a good thing. A happy thing. I was going to be a dad. So was Emilio.
Fuck, I’d have to tell Lio. Logically, I knew he’d be ecstatic. He had been all in on our relationship since day one.
He had been the perfect mate, and even though we both had so much going on, he always made sure I was eating meals and brought me snacks when I got lost in my work. He made love to me every night and then hugged me close, not letting me go.
While our bond had felt a little unstable due to the amount of time we had to be apart during the day, one thing that had been rock fucking solid was our ability to sense each other.
I always knew when Lio was close, and vice versa.
Which meant I’d known Emilio was coming long before I heard the knob twisting and the door to the bedroom open.
I still jumped, my nerves getting the better of me.
I shoved the most recent pregnancy test in my pocket just as Lio called out for me.
“In here! Just a sec.”
I opened the door to see Emilio grinning from ear to ear. I hadn’t seen him that excited in a while. He’d been exhausted recently. We both had been.
He closed the distance between us immediately, hand grabbing my chin and tilting my head so I could meet his lips in a kiss. For a moment, all my worries drifted away and I was completely lost in the sensation of touching my mate.
Lio pulled back only far enough so he could speak, his lips still brushing against mine.
“I’ve got a surprise for you, little wolf.” Then suddenly, he frowned, pulling back even farther. Without meaning to, I followed him, hating the distance immediately. “What’s wrong?”
Shit. “What do you mean?”
Lio stalked toward me, his big hand wrapping around my throat. My fucking traitor dick twitched. Why did I love it when he manhandled me so much? Cause that was another thing we’d discovered over the last month. I was kinky as fuck, and apparently so was Lio.
“Don’t lie, pup. You’re afraid. I can smell it.”
I swallowed around his hand. Damn. I really didn’t want to tell him yet, but I wasn’t going to lie to his face. I’d promised myself I wouldn’t go behind anyone’s back again.
“Back pocket,” I whispered.
Without letting go of me, Lio reached around and pulled out the test. His eyes narrowed and he frowned. Then, like a punch to the fucking gut, he dropped his hand and stepped back.
“Is this—is this yours?”
I glared at him. “Why the fuck would I have someone else’s pregnancy test in my back pocket?”
He ignored my sass. “You’re pregnant?”
“Y-yeah.” I couldn’t get a read on him. Damn Lio and his ability to control his emotions. Damn our stupid unstable bond. Was he mad? Upset? Going to leave me?
Just as I was about to start rambling some kind of panicked response, Lio swooped me up in his arms, kissing me like I was the only person in the world who mattered to him.
“We’re really gonna be parents?”
“Y-yeah. Is that okay?”
He put me down. “Of course it’s okay. It’s better than okay. I was so excited about my surprise for you, but it’s nothing compared to the one you just gave me.” He kissed me again. “I love you, Nico. I’m so fucking honored that you’re carrying my pups.”
I grinned. I would never get tired of hearing that. “I love you too.”
Smiling wide, he placed his hand on my belly. “I can’t believe you’re pregnant. I didn’t think it happened during the first heat.”
I shrugged. “Me either. Maybe it was the injection.”
Lio snarled, hating any reminder of that. “Well, I guess I can be grateful if it led to this.”
“It’s so soon though,” I whispered, my nerves and doubts taking over. “Are you sure you’re alright with it?”
Lio cupped my cheeks in his big hands, forcing eye contact. “What do you feel through the bond, Nico? I know we haven’t gotten the hang of this whole thing yet, but focus. Tell me what you feel. What you scent.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, pushing aside all my own worries and focusing solely on that thread inside me that linked me to Lio.
It flickered at first, inconsistent as always, but I held onto it, refusing to let it go.
Everything else washed away and all I felt was my connection to my alpha, my fated mate.
At first, all I could sense was warmth. My whole insides filled with it, making me feel safe and secure in a way I hadn’t since I was attacked.
It took a while for me to discern any particular emotions, and at first I couldn’t tell if it was me feeling those or Emilio. I took another breath, leaned into Emilio’s touch, and allowed the bond to show me everything I needed.
I was then overcome by a wave of love so strong it nearly knocked me off my feet. My knees buckled. My hands grasped onto Lio’s forearms, nails biting into his skin just so I could stay upright.
Lio must have sensed that he was overwhelming me and tamped down the emotion enough so that I could breathe. “You’re okay, Nico. I got you. See how much I love you? Tell me what else you feel?”
“Um, protectiveness, possessiveness. Fuck, Lio, your alpha is just screaming, Mine! Protect!”
Lio chuckled huskily. He moved his hands from my face, wrapping his arms around me as he buried his face into my mark, scenting me and making me whimper with need.
“He’s very possessive of you, and it’s only going to get worse now that you’re carrying our pups.”
I grunted, but I could barely pretend to be annoyed. Not with how much I loved him, even his overprotective alpha. “You’re scared, but happy? Really fucking happy.”
He sucked on my neck. “That’s right, little wolf. I’m so fucking happy.” He pressed a hand against my belly. “I love you and the pup or pups growing inside of you. I’m so happy about this little family we’re creating.”
He paused, suddenly looking unsure. “Are you?” He cleared his throat. “Do you not want this? It’s okay if you don’t. I know I said I was excited, but it’s your decision and—”
I stopped his babbling with a kiss.
“I do. I want this. I’m terrified, but I’ve never wanted anything more.”
Lio relaxed and kissed me again.
“I love you, Lio.”
“I love you too,” he whispered before once again burying his teeth in my mark.
“Fuck, Lio. You’re gonna make me leak slick all over my pants, and I want to know your surprise.”
Lio laughed. “I forgot all about that. Yours was so much better.”
“You can’t take it back now,” I whined. “I want to know.”
“I’d never take it back. I saved it just for you. C’mon! He’s waiting.”
He’s?
Lio took my hand and all but dragged me out of the room and down the hallway. He took me all the way down to the basement, where Santino held prisoners and doled out punishments.
“Lio, where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
He stopped in front of the wet rooms, bouncing from foot to foot. What could he possibly have for me back there?
Lio opened the door, and tied naked to a chair was a huge man that could only be a bear shifter. Judging by his stark white hair, he had to be a polar bear.
“This is Dimitri. The asshole who recruited Maxim to match up with you and inject you with the heat inducer. I thought you’d like to do the honors.” Lio handed me one of my blades, though I didn’t know when he’d gotten it.
Dimitri sneered and mumbled some comment through his gag. Clearly, he didn’t think a tiny omega wolf would do anything to him. I was happy to show him how wrong he was. Standing on my tiptoes, I took Lio’s face in my hands. “Thank you. This is an amazing gift. I love you so much.”
Lio kissed me as Dimitri cursed and fake gagged behind me. “I love you too, my bloodthirsty omega. Go show this fucker exactly what an omega can do.”
Grinning, I pulled away from my mate, weighing the blade in my hand before sauntering up to my kill, excited that I got to put my skills to use for once.
“Gladly.”
Life might not have been exactly what I’d expected, but I wouldn’t change a fucking thing.
The End
The story continues in Claiming Him, Book Two of White Wolves Family, Santino’s story.