Chapter 50
Chapter
Fifty
When I woke up, I nearly had a heart attack.
I’d eaten the sandwich, left the chips and then finished the water before feeding Kayla for the night.
She latched onto me as I laid down on the bed and I must have fallen asleep while she was feeding.
The rest of the night she hadn’t woken me up.
It had been four hours since we started.
She could have fallen off the bed or wrapped herself up in the blankets.
Pressing my palms into my eyes, they felt red and puffy.
It didn’t help I spent most of my time awake crying, but it seemed like I had cried in my dreams too.
Kayla squirmed, and I pulled her closer to the middle of the bed before getting up and grabbing a new diaper.
Once changed, I picked her up and settled in the nursery for a feed. She nearly chomped down on my nipple, and I cursed, almost dropping the bottle I’d set up on the other side. The door to the nursery opened ten minutes in, and Eva took up the entire doorway.
“Colton Alford.”
I winced, squeezing my eyes shut. “I ended up eating. Marcus brought me a sandwich, and I ate it.”
“That is not enough!” She stormed into the room, stood in front of me and towered over me as I sat in the rocking chair. “I gave you a strict calorie count, and from what Candy has said, you’ve barely been reaching half that!”
“I’m not that hungry! That is a lot of food, Eva!”
She growled at me. “I don’t care, Colton. You’ve forced my hand now. You’re going to need supplemental meals. I can’t believe I have to do this!”
“I’ve been doing fine! She’s been doing fine! I don’t see why I need to have all these calories when I am doing just fine without them.”
“When was the last time you were on the scale?”
I shrugged, shaking my head at the same time. “I don’t know? Two weeks ago?”
“Finish feeding, and we will weigh you.” She pointed at me. “If you are under a hundred and twenty, you are supplementing. Do you understand?”
Blowing out air, I agreed. Eva moved around the room as I fed Kayla, restocking and cleaning things up. She also noted the supply of milk I had. Kayla finished, and I lifted her up to burp her, but Eva absconded with her.
“Scale, Colton.”
Getting up, I pulled off the pump and put the second bottle in the fridge with the first. I walked into my room and Eva followed all the way to the bathroom door. Pulling out the scale, I zeroed it before I got on. Frankly, I expected her to bark at me to take off my sweats, but she didn’t.
“What does it say?”
I stared down at the number.
“Colton, what does it say?”
“One-sixteen.”
Eva growled deep. “Do you know how much you’re supposed to weigh?”
“One-forty?”
“One-fifty, Colton. It’s a hundred and fifty pounds. Mind you, that’s still on the low end for a wolf shifter! That is at your height! You’re weighing in at thirty-four pounds under that and telling me you don’t need to supplement?”
My hand rubbed the back of my neck. “I’ll do your drinks…”
“That’s the correct answer.” She moved out of the doorway, and I felt my shoulders drop. Eva was only angry because she was worried. It was the same as Candice when she would over-make food for me. I reached for Kayla, and Eva handed her over to me.
“I’m going to my car and I am bringing them in. You are going to drink one in front of me and then you are going to drink three of them a day with your regular meals! Do you understand?”
I nodded, not daring to say anything, just swaying back and forth with Kayla. Eva threw open my door, and I watched her push Marcus out of her way as she headed down the hall. He looked up at me, confused.
“She’s mad at me.”
“Oh, I am well past mad at you, pup.”
Wincing, I wrinkled my nose. I stepped out of the room, closing it quietly behind me. Marcus looked down as Eva stormed out of the house, growling to herself.
“I’m sorry about last night.” I looked down before meeting him in the eyes. “There was a lot going through my mind and I’m still working through it. Thank you, though…for the sandwich.”
He gave me a soft smile. “I shouldn’t have reached out like that. That was my fault. Did you eat?”
“I did. Well, the sandwich. I’m not a chip person, so I didn’t eat those.”
Nodding, he searched my face for a moment. “I’ll make sure that I don’t add chips next time.”
“Don’t worry. Eva isn’t going to let me skip again.”
“Damn right!” She called from downstairs, shutting the door behind her as she carried a box in. “Down here now, Colt.”
Slowly, I walked down the stairs. Candice was trying not to laugh as she made herself busy in the kitchen next to Eva. She knew exactly what she did, and I couldn’t even fault her for it. Marcus had followed, leaning up against the archway.
“Drink. Now.”
I took one of the small bottles filled with a pinkish hue. “What is it?”
“Nutrients. Now drink it.”
Candice came around and pulled Kayla out of my arms. I opened the bottle and sniffed it.
My nose wrinkled before I took a gulp. It sent a shiver down my spine, and I ran my tongue over the roof of my mouth.
It tasted like chalk. Or what I thought pink chalk would taste like.
How they could make a powder look like liquid flabbergasted me. It was disgusting, whatever it was.
“All of it.”
Knocking back the rest of the bottle, I let out another shiver. Putting the container on the counter, I grabbed the glass of water that Eva handed me and downed it. Shaking my head, I couldn’t get the feeling or the taste out of my mouth.
“That’s so gross.”
“Suck it up, buttercup. If you put on weight like this one, then maybe we wouldn’t be having this issue!”
Eva motioned to Marcus, and I sealed my lips together. Candice snorted, turning around as she bounced Kayla. Marcus’ shoulders fell, and he stood up in the entryway.
“Why is everyone going after my weight lately?”
Eva chuckled. “When was the last time you got on the scale?”
He shrugged. “Probably a year.”
Behind us, there was a drop of metal, and I looked back at Candice.
She had somehow pulled out a scale and dropped it on the floor.
She still wasn’t looking at us, and I barked out a laugh but covered my mouth.
Marcus glared at his mom, but walked behind me.
His hand touched my shoulder and brushed the skin.
My eyes widened, and I watched him pass me.
Eva caught it too; her eyes growing wide.
It was automatic. He didn’t even realize he had done it.
His focus was on the scale that was now in the middle of the kitchen.
She and I stared at each other for a moment, bouncing questions between us without having any answers.
“Is this thing even working?”
Getting off the seat, I stepped onto it. Candice turned around, and Marcus looked down at the number. Sure enough, one-sixteen popped up. Marcus looked up at me, shocked. His face mirrored Candice’s.
“Sweetheart!”
I waved them off. “I know, I know. Eva is already mad enough. Already went through the lecture. The scale is working, though.”
Marcus stepped up to the scale and stepped onto it.
He was wearing a shirt and jeans today, so I had to at least give him that.
Eva leaned over to look at the number, reading it upside down.
The number climbed, and the air sucked out of the room as it climbed past two-fifty.
Then two-sixty. Two-seventy. Two-eighty.
Marcus looked as if he was going to faint; the blood draining from his face.
Eventually, it settled at two-ninety-two.
He stared at the number for a long time.
Eva covered her mouth, trying not to show her smile.
Candice was having a harder time. Worse, Tyson walked in the back door, looking down at the floor.
“Gods above, Marcus. That the actual hell have you been eating?”
Both Candice and I couldn’t do it. We burst out laughing. I turned around, covering my mouth, but I was tearing up from laughing. Tyson chuckled, knowing exactly what was going on. Eva looked confused, but it also seemed like she knew that Candice and I had been accomplices in this matter.
“What in the world is going on? Are you trying to freak me out? Is the scale wrong?”
Candice shook her head. “It’s not wrong.”
“Mom!”
“Candy, dear, you’re going to send our son into a spiral.” Tyson opened the fridge and pulled out the bottle I had been filling up every time Marcus finished it. “Do you know what this is?”
Marcus nodded, but it was very hesitant. “Yes? Mom said it was one of her oat milk experiments. Or some kind of nut.”
“Did she say that?”
“Yes?” Now he sounded more unsure.
Suddenly, Eva burst out laughing. She got it. Her hand covered her chest as she wheezed. I was having a hard time holding it, forcing myself not to turn away. Candice was still dying, wheezing through her nose as she tried not to laugh too hard in Kayla’s ear.
“That’s what she said? She said this was the almonds or cashews she has been milking, and you are welcome to have some?”
Marcus slowly shook his head.
“So, without knowing what was in this container…” He turned the bottle around. “…with no label, mind you. You decided to drink it. Not only that, but you continued to drink it for weeks.”
“I just…I assumed…I think Mom said it was something like that…”
Eva slapped her hand on the counter, burying her head in her arm as she tried to quiet her giggles. “You two are the worst!” She took a gasping breath. “I cannot believe you two!”
“What is going on?” Marcus’s voice cracked, and even Tyson snorted.
“It’s my breast milk.” I finally answered him. “I didn’t have enough room in my fridge, since I am over-producing and so I was keeping it in this fridge before I put it in freezer bags.”
Marcus stared at me for a long time. I pursed my lips together, my hands clasped behind my back. He stepped off the scale and walked over to me. His six foot-seven frame loomed over me. Suddenly, the room filled with his pheromones, stronger than I had felt in a long time.
“You knew.”
I nodded.
“You knew, and you kept refilling it.”
I nodded again, sucking in my lips so I didn’t smile.
“You knew, and you never told anyone to tell me not to drink.”
Shrugging, I looked down at his feet. “I didn’t really need it. I still have plenty and if you liked it…I didn’t see an issue…”
Eva snorted behind me, which sent Candice off into more giggles. I didn’t dare look up at Marcus. It was too hard not to smile. His hand, though, cupped my chin. He slowly lifted my head, forcing me to look up at him.
“Colton.”
I hummed, not trusting myself to open my mouth when I looked at him.
“I’ve gained seventy pounds.”
Shaking my head, my heart pounded in my chest. “You…um…if you remember…were eating…a lot more…before you came home. So it…wasn’t all…the breast milk…”
His eyes were solely focused on me. “I don’t know how to feel about this.”
My hands moved on their own. That was the only explanation I could give. They moved and settled on his hips. There was a noticeable amount of squish to them now, and I dug my fingers into him. His eyes didn’t even blink, focused on me.
“What if…I told you…I wanted it?”
The entire mood of the room shifted. It got hotter and harder to breathe. I got caught in his gaze; everything falling away around us. My claws dug in deeper, and I felt my tail brush against my back. Marcus leaned lower, his face inches from mine. His green eyes stared into my soul.
I was a rabbit. I was caught. I was a puddle. I was everything and nothing. Boneless in the face of my Alpha. His hand tightened on my jaw, not allowing me to move away. The moment his lips touched mine, my legs gave way.
Marcus’ arm wrapped around my back, holding me to him, not letting me collapse. His kiss was all-consuming. He was devouring me whole, and there would be nothing left. I couldn’t breathe as my heart threatened to beat out of my chest.
“I believe I told you that would never happen, Little Omega.”
Swallowing hard, I gathered the courage to speak. “Too late, Alpha. I win.”