Chapter 39
Oriana
A Month Later
M y heat had been amazing, and my pack was closer than ever, but life had quickly reminded us that we couldn’t stay in our bubble forever.
Roman was busy with the community center, and Mayor Adams was relying on him to help keep things going.
It was quickly clear that it was more than just an art class at this point. Which was why it didn’t surprise any of us when he was quickly appointed as Community Organizer. I don’t think I’d ever seen my beta look so proud of himself.
For now, at least. I had a feeling that once the first classes were underway, he’d be even happier.
The community center just had to open, first.
And finally, that day was here.
The Artisan Fair was already in full swing. I had a small antique booth set up with flyers inviting everyone to join us in a week for our own grand opening. I hadn’t really expected to sell anything here. I just put up some of my best pieces and then a few small knick-knacks and vintage toys, hoping to give a snapshot of what we’d offer.
To my surprise, we sold over half of them by lunchtime.
I hadn’t seen Roman since we parted ways this morning, and my stomach was turning with nerves for him—or maybe that was the kettle corn booth a few feet away.
Usually, that was something that I’d be salivating over, but right now, it made me want to puke. One burnt batch and I was struggling.
Instead, I focused on my beta. With a sigh, I turned to Hudson who was standing vigil next to me.
“Do you think he’s doing okay?”
“Cameron’s with him,” Hudson reminded me. Roman and Cameron’s friendship had been there since the moment Roman realized he was working his ass off to win me back.
At first, I think it started as a way to bridge the gap between us all, for my sake. A few months later, they had formed a special bond. Cameron and Roman were like brothers, and I wasn’t surprised when Cameron volunteered to help set up today—especially because Tate, Hudson, Lane, and I had this booth covered, while his brothers and Avery were handling things at Whitaker Brews.
Any more alphas in this tiny booth, and it would be a bit too crowded.
“Okay, I can’t take it anymore,” Lane said. “If I don’t eat, I might perish. Mind if I steal her for a little lunch break?”
I wasn’t sure if this was for his benefit, or my anxiety’s, but I didn’t hesitate to follow him.
“As long as you bring us something back,” Tate said. “Behave, you two.” Something snarky was on the tip of my tongue but the idea of food was enough for me to follow while simply blowing my alphas a kiss.
Henry protested with his annoyed barks at not being brought along, but honestly, it was better to keep him as far away from the food as we could. I heard Tate talking to him, calming him down. It quickly became clear that, as much as Henry loved us all, Tate was his person, and I loved that for them.
“Be back soon,” I called back.
My stomach rumbled as we hit the row of food trucks and booths. There was something unmatched about the mix of fried foods, sweet treats, and savory dishes.
“I’m glad we finally have a moment alone,” Lane said, honestly wrapping his arm around me and tucking me into his side. He pressed his nose to my hair and breathed me in. “I’ve missed you, Princess.”
“I miss you, too,” I said. “It feels like our pack came together in this amazing, explosive moment. Then reality kicked in and we all got lost in our lives. Even working together we’ve been too busy to truly appreciate it.”
“It really has been,” he agreed, sounding a bit sad about it. My hand squeezed his in reassurance.
“It’ll settle down after this. We’ll find a new routine that fits us all. Everyone will be happy, and you’ll be surrounded by so much love, you’ll be sick of it,” I promised.
“Really?” There was a bit of vulnerability in his words. I stopped walking and reached for him, putting my hands on the sides of his cheeks.
“You know I’m never going anywhere, right, Lane? You’re mine as much as I am yours. This is our pack. This is our home. This is our new life.”
“I know,” he said as he let out a breath. It was rare to see moments like this where he struggled and I hated he had his own demons to handle.
“What’s going on?” I questioned, because Lane never reacted like this.
He let out a breath. “I’ve been meaning to tell you about my past for a long time...” he trailed off, a guilty look settling on his face. I wasn’t having that. We were still too new for everything to be out there.
“We all talk about stuff when we want to. We have a lifetime to get to know every single thing about each other. That was not something you have to rush into for my sake. I just want you happy and comfortable, Lane.”
His dark teal eyes searched mine, as if he were delving for answers or reassurance. I opened our bond further, letting him see just how much I loved him already.
“Today was my mom’s birthday. I just kind of miss her, you know?” he finally admitted. That first statement opened the dam, everything pouring out of him, from the fire that took his family to the awful homes he had afterwards.
“Most of the time I handle it, but they never warn you how hard birthdays would be even after all these years,” he explained with a long sigh.
This explained a lot about the shift in mood today. As his eyes fluttered closed, his pain holding him hostage, I leaned up to place a kiss on his forehead, then his cheeks, and finally his lips.
“I love you, Lane,” I said. “I’m so sorry.”
Then an idea struck me. Something I’d seen on a video once and it seemed so perfect for this moment.
I just hoped he agreed.
“What was her favorite flower?”
“Roses,” he said without missing a beat. “She loved her rose bushes.” He chuckled softly. “And then my dad would fuss over her hands, because she’d always come in after pruning them with small scrapes from the thorns. You know how alphas get.” He gave me a playful eyeroll. Honestly, I could see Tate doing the same thing to me.
“I’ve got an idea. Trust me?”
He nodded, letting me pull him away from the food booth until I found a florist. My stomach could wait, this couldn’t.
The flower shop had a display full of different flowers of all colors and varieties. It didn’t take me long to find the roses.
Carefully, I pulled one of each color out before turning to Lane who was watching me with curiosity.
“Which colors were her favorite?”
“Red and pink,” he said. “My dads always kept a mix of them in vases in our house.”
Turning back, I plucked a few more of each of those two colors out until I had a colorful, beautiful bouquet.
After I paid for the dozen roses I chose, I turned back to Lane. My poor mate was confused, but curious, and the bond was full of trust. It was humbling to know he had so much faith in me.
I wouldn’t ever take that for granted.
“What was her name?” I asked.
“Vivian,” he answered. “She had the kindest blue eyes. Her blonde hair was always in these big curls that were bigger than her face, I swear.”
He chuckled softly, sadness covering the sound in a melancholy blanket.
“She was just so nice—always smiling.”
“Well then, let’s make some people smile today in her honor.” Plucking a beautiful red rose out, I turned, scanning the crowd until I found an older omega. The Alpha behind her was following close behind as she made her way through the crowd. Her eyes lit up like this was the best day of her life. I hoped I always kept that same spark.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” I said. She looked up, both of them giving us a kind smile. “We’re giving away roses in honor of his mom. It was her birthday today. Your pretty smile brought us over here—can we give you one?”
“Oh, honey, sure,” she said, taking the rose and sniffing it. Her smile brightened even further when she looked up at Lane. She patted his cheek gently before pulling him into a mom hug. “I’m sure your mom was proud of a kind young man like yourself.”
“Thank you,” he said, stunned and blinking away tears. I quickly linked my arm through his as we said a quick goodbye to the kind couple before I pulled him away.
Lane looked down at me, his eyes wide and startled but so fucking happy that it made my heart beat a little faster for him. This man had already held a piece of my heart and soul, but today, that bond was stronger than ever, thrumming between us.
As we handed out one each of the dozen roses that I’d selected, I watched his spirit lift a little further, the weight leaving his shoulders as each one found a new home.
When we finally finished, he pulled me to him, holding me tight and burying his face into my shoulder, taking a shaky breath.
“Thank you, Princess. I think I needed that. It felt like I was able to stop being angry about everything and just remember the good things.”
“We’ll do whatever you need, I promise. And that lady was right. Vivian would be so proud of you.”
“She would have loved you,” he said, pulling away. I wiped the stray tear from his cheek and pulled him down to me, kissing him a little bit too intimately for the middle of the large crowd, earning us a catcall.
That was enough for us to burst out laughing. He shook his head and pulled me back to his side.
“Come on, I promised you food, and we only have a little bit of time before we need to be over at the community center.”
We’d already seen part of it when they finished the renovations, but we hadn’t seen the final setup inside.
Roman had been secretive about it. I think he wanted to surprise us all and show off the final product to get our genuine reactions.
The lines were long enough that we barely made it through the taco truck line, getting an array of tacos and hurrying back to the antique shop’s booth. My booth. I still couldn’t believe we were a week away from opening day.
Excitement pulsed through me and my mates sent their own happiness through the bond at my unfiltered emotion. They were likely grateful to see me perking up now that my heat had passed.
It had been a rough few weeks leading up to my heat. That mixed with missing each other lately. Something we’d be fixing soon.
The guys dove into their tacos, and I tried my best to eat, but lately, my stomach had just been a little bit off.
Another wave of kettle corn cooking hit me, and I nearly emptied the contents of my stomach right there in the middle of our booth.
Thankfully, a few deep breaths of my mates’ scents and it was held at bay for another moment.
It felt like it could take a turn for the worst at any second. If it didn’t ease up soon I’d have to go to the doctor. It had been days.
Was it an after effect of the crazy heat?
Then it hit me.
Today was exactly four weeks from my heat—the heat I went into without medication and zero birth control.
Holy shit. I was pregnant.
The moment I had the thought, I knew it was true. My hand rested on my stomach, my eyes wide as I stared down at my tacos and locked the bond down tight, not wanting to give anything away.
Hudson was, of course, the one to notice first. He reached for me and frowned.
“Is your stomach bothering you again?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” I lied through my teeth. “I think that burnt batch of kettle corn got to me earlier.”
“It did smell pretty awful,” he chuckled to himself, giving me one last look before finishing his tacos.
“I’m going to start loading this stuff back up into the SUV,” Tate said, giving me a reason to ditch my own tacos and help, hoping they didn’t notice my lack of eating. Or at least would chalk it up to nerves for Roman.
I helped him load all of my antiques back into their boxes, wrapping my treasures carefully in bubble wrap to keep them safe. The guys loaded them up just as my alarm went off, reminding us to get our asses across the fairgrounds and to the community center.
Henry took the lead, as if he knew exactly where we were going. Roman had stolen him a time or two to spend the day out here with him. Henry loved his outings and we couldn’t deny our pup anything.
We made it to the community center, along with what looked like half the town.
Mayor Adams and a few of the councilmen stood at the head, Roman standing right next to them. Cameron was standing off to the side, giving them space.
Roman looked good today. He had a dark gray coat that was tailored to fit, accentuating his slim figure. He was wearing black dress pants and a deep purple button-up shirt that I bought him last week. It made those silver blue eyes of his pop, standing out starkly against his dark hair and clothes.
He found us right away, his smile widening at the sight of Tate bullying his way through the crowd so that we could get to the front.
We just made it front and center right as Mayor Adams stepped up to a podium that was set up right in front. Two huge speakers rested on either side, giving feedback as he started to speak.
“Welcome, everyone. I hope we’re all having a good time at this year’s Artisan Fair. Special thanks to Maverick and Sidney Whitaker for their work to make it happen. Your hard work and dedication to this town hasn’t gone unnoticed.”
He gestured to the side where Maverick and Sidney were sitting. She gave me a sassy eye roll but did little more than chuckle as everyone clapped for them. She wasn’t much for being the center of attention.
When the applause settled down, Mayor Adams continued his speech, his eyes shining and his smile wide. This man lived for this town.
“Now, without further ado, I’d like to welcome everyone to Rockwood Valley’s very own Community Center. Here, we have a place for our citizens to come and relax. There will be vending machines, a small kitchen for events, barbecue grills will be here by spring, as well as an outdoor seating area and fire pit. Inside, we have a setup for our art studio, where we will be conducting community-wide art classes, thanks to our very own Roman Whitaker.”
Roman’s cheeks were burning at this point. When we’d all agreed to take Cameron’s last name—the one that I had originally planned on taking—the guys had all embraced it.
I expected Tate or maybe Hudson to put up a little protest, but as long as I was happy, they were happy. Tate quickly reminded me that his name didn’t hold any significance to him, and Hudson just shrugged, not fazed in the least.
Mayor Adams went on with his long-winded speech for another twenty minutes before finally, they were opening the doors. Everyone rushed inside to see everything, but Roman made his way to us.
He scooped me up in a hug, squeezing me tight and spinning me around. “Let me show you inside,” he said, his voice adorably excited.
I didn’t hesitate to let him drag me along, listening as he pointed out all the new features, until finally, we made it to the art room.
This one made the small art room at the nursing home where we’d had our first class together, look tiny. The room was huge and open, large windows overhead adding extra lighting to the space.
Large shelves lined one wall, tons of easels ready to be used, already filled with blank canvases for today’s visitors.
Pallets of paint were waiting on a long work table, ready for anyone to take their turn at creating something new and beautiful.
“This looks amazing, Roman,” I gushed, taking it all in. “And look how many people are already coming!”
The stack of papers detailing the classes was dwindling by the second. Half the canvases were already being painted on by kids and adults alike. And everyone seemed excited.
This was exactly the reaction I was hoping for.
“Go mingle with your new students,” I encouraged him.
Roman leaned in, giving me a quick kiss. “Have I told you lately how glad I am that you brought me here?”
“Every day,” I said, giving him a gentle shove so he could go recruit even more students to join one of his many classes.
Roman was truly in his element, all smiles as he gently guided the students and praised their work, always encouraging. He was always handsome, but right now he was glowing.
Cameron moved in beside me, hand resting on my lower back as he placed a kiss on my cheek. “He looks happy, doesn’t he?”
“We all do,” I said, giving his hand a squeeze as the other went to my stomach again.
I just hoped they’d be just as happy when I told them our news.