Chapter 21
Chapter
Twenty-One
“Colt?”
I hummed, curling up as much as I could.
“Colt!”
“Not now, Rin. I’m tired.”
Rolling over wasn’t an option, so I just tried to pull the blankets up. After two tugs, they weren’t going anywhere, and I gave up. A hand brushed my forehead, and I finally peeled my eyes open.
“Good morning, sleepyhead.”
Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes. “Rin?”
“It’s good to see you, sweetheart.”
I realized I wasn’t dreaming anymore, and I threw my arms around her.
Pulling her close, she hugged me back just as tightly.
My head buried in her shoulder and I fought the tears.
The last time I had hugged her, it was months ago.
Reaching out, Mike smiled and stepped forward.
He wrapped his arms around the both of us.
“I missed you guys so much.”
“I’m sorry we couldn’t make it out until now.”
Shaking my head, I pulled them tighter. “You’re here now. That’s all I care about.”
“I’m glad you’re looking a little better.” Mike kissed my head before rubbing my ears.
Sabrina pulled back and held my shoulders, frowning. “Why are you still so thin? I thought you were getting better at eating.”
Rolling my eyes, I shook my head. Getting up, I held my arms out to her. Last night I had gone to sleep in one of Marcus’ shirts. It fell off my shoulder, but it was tight around my stomach. I raised my eyebrow at her.
“Yes. I am so thin.”
“You know what I mean. You’ve probably been deflecting everyone with that and it’s not okay.” Sabrina gave me an accusatory look before reaching out and putting her hands on my stomach. “You’ve dropped.”
Looking down, I blinked. Had I? I turned on the lights in the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror. Pulling my shirt up, I turned to the side. Sure enough, my stomach had dropped a lot. I pressed the top of my stomach and it felt empty as it squished down.
“This is…new.” I looked up at Sabrina, who was smiling.
“Well, I’m glad we came. Come on. Shower, and we can eat. Candice already has breakfast set up.”
I nodded, turning around and turning on the water.
“Not too hot, Colt.”
Groaning, I flashed Mike my middle finger before he shut the door, laughing.
I growled after him, but dropped my sweats onto the floor.
I had gone commando last night, and I was glad I decided to at least wear something.
Not that it would be the first time or even the fifth time Sabrina had seen me naked, but it was embarrassing now.
After a quick shower, I wrapped my hair up in a towel and stepped out into my now empty room.
Pulling on my usual outfit, I rolled the top of my jeans down and then grabbed one of my sweatshirts.
I opened the door, only to be bombarded by Sabrina, Mike, Beau, Candice, and Tyson laughing.
Sighing, I held the railing as took their stairs down.
“Come on! Let me see you!” Candice pulled me into the kitchen and pulled up my sweatshirt. “Oh my, would you look at that! Eva is going to be so excited.”
I pulled down my sweatshirt and pouted. “At least I feel like I can breathe again. I don’t think I’ve taken a full breath since New Year’s.”
“You might be right.” Candice turned back to the oven. “I’m making a potato casserole, and we have the leftover smoked bologna from yesterday.”
“Colt, come here.”
I walked over to Mike and he turned me around. Reaching down, I felt his hands lace under my belly. Squeaking, I felt him lift me. Except it wasn’t me, but my incredibly large little girl. My bones turned to jelly the moment he took all the weight off me.
“Oh my god, Mike.”
“Damn. She is heavy. Your little body has been carrying this around this whole time?”
Groaning, I let my head fall back onto his chest. Sabrina laughed with Beau, but I didn’t even care. It felt so good to have Mike take the weight off me; I felt myself falling back asleep.
“Careful, you might lose your man.”
Sabrina snorted. “Oh, I lost to Colt before I even met Mike. Colt allowed me to take first place. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even have gotten the chance.”
“I’m pretty sure Rin only settled for me because Colt wouldn’t take her. Colt didn’t want to commit. To either of us. So we both claimed him.”
I snorted at Mike. “I’m an Omega.”
“Really? I didn’t know.” He held up my belly a little more. “I couldn’t tell. I’m so glad you told me now.”
Pouting, I shook my head. “Rin is better company than you. I would have mated her first. Then you. Maybe together you make an Alpha.”
Sabrina burst out laughing, but Mike was the one who answered. “Pregnancy has made you sassy, Colt. I could let go.”
“No! No! I’m sorry. I love you. Don’t let go. Not yet. A few more minutes, please.”
Tyson walked in and eyed Mike and me before bursting out laughing. “Careful there. I did it once to my mate, and she didn’t let me leave for an hour. I vowed never to do it again.”
“And you still helped me every single time I asked you.” Candice kissed her mate before handing him a knife. “It’s no joke how much we need to carry. It doesn’t hurt to have an hour out of the over six thousand we have to carry your seed.”
“I don’t even have to take my helper home.” I looked up at Mike as he smiled down at me. “I just let him go back to his mate and none of the relationship fights.”
Sabrina raised her eyebrow at me. “Please. You two bicker more than Mike and I do!”
“That’s because you shift and threaten him with claws before it even starts!”
She shrugged, and that made everyone else laugh. I tapped Mike and he slowly let my stomach down. The sheer weight of her made me lean forward for a second before I adjusted my posture. Stepping forward, I pulled my water bottle out of the fridge.
“Alright, let’s eat.”
Candice pulled out the casserole and set it up to cool.
She ushered everyone to the dining table since there were too many of us to sit at the kitchen island.
As we were all sitting, the door opened and Laila stepped in with Peter.
They were talking, smiling, and I couldn’t help but smile too.
They had been getting better, and it was a joy to watch.
“Ah! Perfect timing! Come sit, you two. Ty, dear, can you slice up some more of the meat and grab the container of orange juice?”
“Whatever you want.”
We all laughed, and Laila raised her eyebrow at Sabrina, sitting next to me. Usually, Laila claimed that spot. Sabrina stood up and, much to Laila’s surprise, hugged her.
“Thank you. You helped Colt so much. All this time. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you.”
“I…um…you’re welcome?” Laila looked at me for help.
I laughed. “Lai, that’s Rin.”
“No shit!”
The table laughed as Laila hugged Sabrina back. “I can’t believe I’m actually meeting you! Maybe I should have guessed since Mike is here. Thank you so much for helping me! I don’t think I could have dealt with Colt as easily if I didn’t have all the tricks.”
My head turned slowly to look at Mike. “Have you been in contact with Lai behind my back?”
“Behind your back? No, it was right in front of your face. Did you really think she just guessed what your favorite blankets were? Or the food to feed you when you were being obstinate? Or how to cater to your love of history to pull your head out of your ass?”
“I hate you.”
He smiled. “I love you too.”
“Don’t worry about them. I am so glad you came over.”
After the introductions, everyone eagerly dug into breakfast. Eating didn’t make me feel uncomfortable, which surprised me. Sneaking a bit more than usual, no one noticed but Candice, who was smirking before passing me another piece of cinnamon toast.
“You should have seen him when he was little. His eyes were so big, and he was just in awe of everything.” Sabrina leaned forward to look at me. “Now, he’s just as cute, but a little less wide-eyed.”
“Oh hush! I wasn’t that little! It was only three years ago!”
Mike shrugged. “You were even tinier when I met you. I don’t know how they let you in the club’s door. At least I looked the part. You looked like a cute little fluff-ball back then.”
My nose wrinkled, and I pointed at him. “You were nearly translucent when I met you! I would have guessed you were a jellyfish instead of a tiger. You hadn’t been out in the sun for three years!”
“Speaking of fluff ball.” Sabrina reached back and stroked my tail.
I shivered involuntarily before I moved my tail and curled it up around me. Holding it in my lap, I glared at her. She laughed and shook her head, only to reach up and rub my ears.
“Honestly, I’m surprised it wasn’t out earlier.” Laila took a sip of her coffee. “You don’t control it anymore.”
My shoulders slumped. “I don’t. If I don’t think about it, I think they would be out all the time. I fell asleep the other night, and they stayed. I’m pretty close to giving up at this point.”
“I think you should give up all the time.” Sabrina reached into my lap and ran her fingers through my fur. “You are so soft, and frankly, the color is beautiful. It’s such a contrast to you. You should show it off.”
“Yes, let me show off that I can’t control my shift. Thanks, but no thanks.” I let go of my tail and let it loop in the back of the dining chair. “I started reading horror stories that some Omegas couldn’t shift back to full human after birth, and I am so scared that’s going to happen to me.”
Sabrina leaned against me, her head resting on my shoulder. “It won’t. You’ll be fine.”
“Colt, dear, what was on the agenda for today?”
I closed my eyes and leaned my head against Sabrina. “Eva said I needed to go out and get some sun. I also am supposed to do two laps around the house, and she gave me some juice that I need to drink.”
“Ah! That green stuff in the fridge?” Tyson piped in, looking up from his tablet. “Glad it was green. I sniffed it and it actually smelled pretty good.”
“It’s just a bunch of fruits and vegetables. Nothing crazy. You can have some.”
Tyson shrugged. “I’m not stealing food from a pregnant shifter. I know better.”
Candice jammed her elbow into his side, and he grunted. Sabrina then elbowed Mike, who grunted much in the same way. She turned back to me.
“We haven’t been doing our touching-grass days. So we could all use a little sun. Isn’t that right, mate?”
“Whatever you say, my love.” Mike sounded so robotic that I snorted.
She patted his head. “Good job. Maybe we could borrow a blanket and just go lie out in the field?”
“I have the perfect blanket!” Candice got up and disappeared down the hall for a couple of minutes.
When she came back, she had a traditional checkered picnic blanket.
Handing it to Sabrina, she went into the kitchen and grabbed me the bottle of juice Eva had made.
Unceremoniously, myself, Mike, Sabrina, Beau, Peter, and Laila were kicked out of the house with the blanket and water bottles in hand.