Chapter 14
Friday morning, Avi stared at the way the sun rising made golden shadows on the ceiling of the bedroom. Fallon was in his arms smelling like sweet dreams, and he never wanted the moment to end. Things were peaceful and perfect, and he always wanted to have that with her.
As he stifled a yawn, Fallon stirred next to him, making a quiet, contented murmur as she woke.
He turned gently and held her close, inhaling her sweet scent. He pressed a kiss to her forehead as she yawned something that sounded like good morning.
“Good morning, sweetheart.”
She rolled to her back to stretch, the light blanket slipping down her belly as she squeaked lightly and wiggled on the bed.
“Hello,” he whispered with a grin, leaning over to kiss her navel.
She let out a low giggle and slipped her fingers into his hair. “Mornings are the best.”
“Oh?” He slowly kissed his way up her belly, nuzzling her breasts with a low hum.
“Yeah, it’s just you and me, everything is quiet and peaceful.”
He flicked his tongue over her nipple and she inhaled softly. “I was thinking the same thing a little while ago. I love any time with you, though.”
In fact, he loved her. Completely. He just hadn’t told her yet. He wanted the timing to be perfect.
He pushed himself up over her, planning to continue his trek up to her lips, when he noticed a faint flush on her collarbone. It looked sunburned and freckled. As he studied it, he realized it almost looked like…jaguar spots.
“Did you get sunburned yesterday?”
“What? No. Why?”
“You’ve got a flush on your collarbone, but it’s kind of splotchy. And you’re going to think I’m nuts, but it looks like jaguar spots.”
He moved off her as she sat up, her fingers touching her collarbone.
She hummed curiously and scooted off the bed.
“Sweetheart?”
“Hold on, let me see. I think I know what this is.”
Her voice was light, almost giddy, and he rested on his elbows and watched as she walked to the bathroom and turned on the light.
“I’ll be damned,” she whispered.
“What?”
She turned off the light and stood in the doorway. “I definitely know what it is.”
“Okay? What is it?” He sat up fully.
“It’s a jaguar flush.” Before he could ask her to explain, she continued. “It happens almost immediately when a jaguar becomes pregnant.”
Her words sank in.
He leaped out of bed, skidding to a halt in front of her. “Are you…are you sure?”
The flush across her collarbone was more visible in the light from the window as the sun rose.
“Well, we haven’t exactly been taking steps to prevent pregnancy,” she said with a smile. “It was bound to happen, I’m just a little surprised it’s so soon.”
He exhaled slowly, his world spinning as his stallion let out a gloriously happy whinny. “Are you happy?”
“Oh yes,” she said, her eyes suddenly shining. “Are you?”
“Are you kidding me? My soulmate is pregnant. There’s only one thing that could make this better.”
“What’s that?”
He pulled her close, their bodies pressing together. “That you know how much I love you. Because I do. I was just thinking about when the perfect time to tell you would be. And I think it’s right now. I love you, Fallon.”
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she brushed her lips over his. “I love you too, Avi.”
He lowered his head and kissed her, his mind turning as he thought about all that had happened since they’d met. He kissed his way down her neck and gave her a gentle bite on her throat.
“I have to pee.”
He lifted his head abruptly. “What?”
“Well, I feel like you’re maybe wanting to get into some sexy times, and I’m all for that, honestly,” she said with a laugh. “But also, a pregnancy test would be nice if we had one…or could go get one? I have to pee now, though. So…time might be of the essence.”
“I was definitely thinking about sexy times,” he said. “I think Tris does have some tests. I’ll go poke around and see if I can find one. If not, I’ll ask her.”
“Okay, I’ll do my best to hold it, but don’t walk too slowly.”
He gave her a kiss with a laugh and hurried to grab his jeans off the floor, then he blew her a kiss and left the bedroom, taking the stairs to the kitchen.
He found Tris putting cinnamon rolls in the oven.
“Morning,” she said. “You’re up early.”
“Morning. So I’m going to just blurt this out: do you have a pregnancy test?”
Tris’s eyes went wide. “Oh! Yes, I sure do. I ordered some to keep here and also at my house. They’re in the pantry and also the half bath down here.” She walked quickly to the pantry and disappeared inside, returning with two thin boxes. She handed them over.
“I got them from Doc Paula at the safari park. She said they’re the best for early detection. What makes you think she’s pregnant if you don’t mind me asking?”
“She’s got something called the jaguar flush, which looks like a sunburn with freckles.”
“Oh wow, that’s so exciting! I’ll keep it to myself, don’t worry. Good luck!”
He jogged away after thanking Tris, taking the stairs two at a time to get back to the bedroom.
After Fallon took the test, they sat on the bed talking for the few minutes it needed, and then they read it together.
Pregnant.
“Holy crap,” she said.
“You’re surprised?”
“Kind of? I wasn’t sure if I was seeing the flush right, and we’ve only been together for a week. But it does show up almost immediately, so there’s no doubt I am. Especially after the proof in the positive test. I’m so happy, Avi! We’re going to have a baby!”
She hugged him and he hugged her back, his eyes stinging with happiness.
“I’m so happy too, sweetheart.”
They tumbled to the bed, but instead of celebrating by driving each other wild, they talked for a long time—about the baby, the future, and how their lives were going to change.
He’d woken up thinking how lucky he was to have her in his life, and now she was pregnant.
He was feeling doubly blessed.
* * *
Fallon and Avi shared the news with her mom first, and then with the herd during breakfast. The cheers and hearty congratulations were a balm to his soul.
“This is so perfect,” Zara said. “Do you guys know about the stallion run for pregnancy announcements?”
They all shook their heads.
“Maybe it’s just something my herd did. But when a couple announced a pregnancy, the alpha would orchestrate a shift and run to celebrate.
The couple would stand in the center of the clearing and the alpha would run in a wide circle around them, with stallions joining in.
Females would bring flowers and gifts for the couple.
Once all the stallions were running in a circle, the alpha would whinny really loud and then they’d take off for a run, and the male would kiss his mate and shift and join them.
The females would hang out with her and open the gifts and press the flowers in a book so she could keep them as a memento. ”
“That sounds so amazing,” Nancy said. “I’ve never heard of it, but it’s so sweet.”
“We can do that tomorrow night if you’d like,” Crew said. “We were all planning to shift and run after the joining ceremony, but adding this to it would be wonderful.”
“Are you able to shift now that you’re pregnant?” Tatum asked.
Fallon looked at her mom with a shrug.
“Yes, for the first month or two, then the jaguar kind of steps back and stops pushing for shifts to protect the baby,” she said.
Fallon put her hand over her mom’s and squeezed. “Can I still shift and run with the herd anyway, though?”
“Yes, we can totally make the ceremony whatever you two would like,” Crew said. “There aren’t any hard and fast rules when it comes to ceremonies for stallions.”
The herd talked a little while longer, and then they dispersed to get to what needed to be done for the day.
Fallon was going to spend the day with Tris, Zara, Nancy, and Tatum and plan the mating ceremony meal, and her mom was going to join them.
Grey clapped Avi on the shoulder. “Congratulations, man. This is what we’ve been hoping for—finding our soulmates and having families.”
“Thanks,” Avi said. “I couldn’t be happier.”
* * *
Avi was in the main barn with Crew and Ford preparing to work in the field when Crew’s phone rang.
“Hey, Caesar,” Crew said, putting the call on speaker.
Avi frowned, wondering why the lion alpha was calling.
“Good morning,” he said, gravely. “We’ve got a situation here and wanted to apprise you as soon as possible.”
“What’s going on?” Crew asked.
“Otto showed up this morning right when we opened and demanded to see Fallon. He told the ticket-takers that he was her father and there was a family emergency. He was very aggressive and caused a bit of a scene before we were able to intervene and get him out of the public view.”
“Shit,” Avi said. “What happened?”
“When we showed up after the ticket-takers called security for help, one of our males recognized him as the male who’d come after them when they’d been out picking up supplies.
Security told him there was no one in the park by that name.
He kept insisting, but after a few minutes, he walked away with his people. ”
“This just happened?” Crew asked.
“Yes, about ten minutes ago. Security followed them and got the license plate and vehicle description, and we printed out photos from our security cameras and gave them to the team and ticket-takers. We’re obviously still on high alert because he tried to get into the park and it was just him being aggressive right off the bat that made the wolves at the front gate suspicious and stop him from getting inside.
We’ll continue to keep an eye out for him and let you know if anything else comes up. ”
“Thanks, Caesar,” Crew said.
When the call ended, Ford snarled. “It sure seems like he is still convinced Fallon and Sera are in the park, so while it sucks that he tried to get in there and trick them into revealing something about their whereabouts, at least it gave us some insight.”
“Good point,” Crew said.
Avi exhaled, the weight of the situation settling on him. “He seems desperate. It doesn’t seem like he had a real plan, either. He must have thought he could catch them off guard, or maybe he thought he’d actually see Fallon or Sera in the park.”
“He’s getting impatient,” Ford said. “That definitely makes him more dangerous.”
Avi’s thoughts turned immediately to Fallon, the delicate flush on her collarbone, and the quiet joy they’d shared before telling the herd the good news.
“As long as he’s still going to the park, it means Fallon and Sera are safe here. Maybe this was his last attempt to find her. Maybe he’ll move on.”
“The park shifters will keep each other safe,” Crew said. “And we’ll do the same for our own.”
“I’ll alert the rest of the herd,” Crew said.
“I’ll go tell Fallon.” He strode away, tension curling inside him like a storm on the horizon.
He picked up his pace. There was good news despite the dark clouds that threatened, and he was going to hold tight to it.