Chapter 72
Chapter
Seventy-Two
“When did you find out? Why didn’t you tell us?” Sabrina whined, pulling me close. “Are you okay? Have you been having any symptoms?”
She turned from silly girlfriend to worried momma-bear almost immediately. Her arms wrapped around me, pulling me to her, and settling on my back. I let out a long sigh. I’d been trying to figure out how to talk to Marcus. Not worrying about everyone else finding out about it.
“I’ll be sixteen weeks on Monday.”
“Colton! Sixteen! That’s like…what…second trimester, third month? Why didn’t you tell us?”
I let out a sigh. “I found out on Monday.”
“This Monday? You didn’t know? You haven’t been sick…or…or…”
Shaking my head, I smiled. “I’m eating everything in sight. I’m so hungry all the time. I just thought maybe it was because I had a regular workout schedule now. Turns out…”
“You were pregnant.” Mike finally spoke. “You could have told us.”
I frowned. “I’m sorry. I’ve been trying to figure out how to break the news to Mar. I don’t…we did not plan for this. I’ve been taking the potions regularly.”
“Did one slip?”
“The first day we…” I glanced at Candice, who was listening in the corner with a smile on her face. “When we finally had sex for the first time since getting his memories back, I asked Eva to bring me some potions.”
Sabrina cocked her head to the side. “So?”
“She didn’t bring them until the next day.”
She let out an exasperated sigh. “Well, there you go. My god the two of you are so damn fertile. You didn’t even need to be in heat the first time. You didn’t even reach your heat after having Kayla!”
My head fell onto her shoulder. “We were going to wait. Let Kayla grow up a little. Maybe get her out of diapers if I could convince Marcus.”
Everyone in the room snorted. The same way Eva had. Groaning, I raised my head and shrugged.
“Not helping.”
Sabrina put her hand on my bump and rubbed it. “This seems…big for sixteen weeks. I remember when you were sixteen weeks with Kayla. You were smaller, so you showed more, but not this much.”
I smiled softly. “That’s because there are two.”
“You are joking.” Her entire face lit up. “Two? Seriously?”
Nodding, I put my hands up. “Blame Candy. It runs in her family.”
She laughed. “It’s true. I honestly was worried about having more because I didn’t want to plan for one more and get two or three. Having twins once was enough.”
My eyes widened, and my mouth fell open. Candice laughed more. Coming over, she patted me on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll be fine. Eva raved about how well your body took to pregnancy. Even if you were dealing with some of the worst symptoms imaginable. I’m sure this time around will be no different.”
My nose wrinkled. “I’m going to be so big.”
Candice moved around me and pulled out the scale she kept in the kitchen. It was hard not to laugh, remembering Marcus standing up on it and watching as his face fell. He’d gotten it under control a little, but he was hovering around two-sixty-five now. Much to his displeasure.
She zeroed out the scale and then motioned me to get on. Sighing, I stepped onto it. My teeth sank into my lip as it went past one-thirty, settling on one-thirty-nine. My jaw dropped. I’d gained nine pounds in a couple of weeks.
“I mean, it makes sense.” Sabrina slapped my butt again. “It’s all back here. I’m serious, Colt, this is absolutely amazing.”
Rolling my eyes, I got off the scale. “I will remember all of this when you get pregnant. I am going to embarrass the hell out of you every chance I get.”
“When you’re six kids deep already?”
The whine that left me made everyone laugh again.
Still, I was happy they were here. We spent the morning talking with Candice and eventually having lunch.
The only reason we made lunch was because my stomach got so loud after I ignored it.
It wasn’t like I wasn’t snacking on seaweed chips and the parmesan bites the entire time either.
We collapsed into the clearing, finding our spots to relax. I lay out on the grass, Mike lounged in the chaise, and Sabrina sat on the grass with her back against one leg.
“Did you hear anything back from the Council yet?”
I shook my head. “At this point, Mike might know before we do.”
“I haven’t heard anything. Not lately. It should be soon.”
“They are probably letting the leadership get their affairs in order first.” Mike added, his eyes shut.
Sabrina huffed. “They don’t deserve it.”
“I mean, their families didn’t really do anything wrong. It was all Dylan and my brother. Everyone else didn’t stop him, but it wasn’t like the pack could stand up to him.”
A quiet peace settled in the clearing. I felt myself start to fall asleep when my stomach growled. Sabrina burst out laughing.
“I can’t believe you’re hungry.”
“That makes two of us.” I groaned, covering my face with my hands. “I really am going to be Mrs. Gladly this time around.”
Sabrina cackled. “I am so excited about it. I love you being all chunky and a crybaby.”
“Sometimes I want to murder you.”
“Please don’t murder my mate, Colt. She is the only one who will put up with me.”
I smiled, turning my head toward them. “I put up with you.”
“But you’re mated and your mate doesn’t like to share.”
Looking back up at the sky, I shrugged. “He’ll just have to deal.”
“What will I have to deal with?”
My eyes widened as I sat up. Marcus was coming through the trees, smiling. None of us had checked the time, but I was surprised that they were already back. Sabrina waved her hand in the air.
“Just that if Colt killed me, you would need to share him with Mike. Since no one else would deal with him.”
Marcus kissed me on the head. “Yeah, that will not happen.”
We chuckled, and Sabrina hit Mike in the leg. He peeled his eyes open and raised an eyebrow as she glared at me. She turned, winking at me before getting up.
“I think Mike and I will go help Candice with dinner. Since apparently you’re hungry.” She pulled Mike up, who did not look thrilled about leaving.
I realized what she was doing. Panicking, I tried to stare at Mike and tell him with my eyes not to leave. Instead, he gave me a smile and let Sabrina take him away. I watched in horror as the two of them disappeared into the trees. Leaving Marcus and me alone in the clearing.
“Was that weirder than normal?”
Burying my face in my hands, I shook my head. “No, I just hate them, though.”
He chuckled. “You don’t. You love them.”
“I do, but right now I don’t. Rin is mean and Mike just thinks it’s funny. I’m done with both of them.”
Marcus squatted down, pulling my hands away from my face. “Why don’t we head in? You can see the things we bought. I got a few things for you.”
I forced a smile. He started to get up, but I reached out and grabbed his arm. Stopping, he leaned forward, his knees hitting the grass as he sat back.
“Is everything okay?”
Nodding, I stared down at the grass for a moment. “I need to talk to you.”
He frowned. “Colt, is something wrong?”
“No, no. I just…” Taking a deep breath, I looked up into his bright green eyes. “I’m pregnant.”
Marcus didn’t move. The only thing that would have told me he wasn’t a statue was that every so often he blinked. He just stared at me. Finally, his mouth opened for a moment, hung there, before closing.
His mouth opened again, finally working. “You’re…pregnant.”
I nodded. “Again.”
He let out a soft laugh. “How?”
“Well, when an Alpha and an Omega…”
Marcus growled, shaking his head. “Colt, I’m serious. We have been having sex, but you wanted to wait. You’ve been using birth control.”
“Do you remember when we had the talk that I wanted to wait?”
He nodded.
“Yeah, it was apparently already too late.”
His eyes widened as he looked down at my body. “Colt, that was months ago.”
“It was. I’m almost sixteen weeks.”
“How? How did we not know? You haven’t been sick. I wouldn’t really say you’ve been any sassier than normal. Or more tired than normal.”
Shrugging, I let out the breath I had been holding. “I don’t know. This one is completely different. Probably the only flag I should have seen was that I was eating more.”
“Did you find out today?”
Shaking my head, I pursed my lips for a moment. “I found out on Monday.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I was…struggling with how to tell you.”
He let out another soft laugh. “Colt, you’re the one who wanted to wait. I am so happy right now. There was no reason to struggle.”
“That’s not why.” I gave him a soft smile. “I knew you would be happy.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
Swallowing, I wrapped my arms around my knees, my bump getting squashed between my legs. “I knew if I told you, you wouldn’t let me go to the meeting with Dylan.”
Marcus’ eyes darkened. “You’re right, I won’t. Not pregnant.”
I put my chin on my arms. “Yeah, Eva said that I should talk to you. Explain my side, but I knew it would all just be useless. A waste of breath on my part.”
“Colt…”
“No, it’s fine.”
His hands brushed against my cheeks as he lifted my head to look at him again. “It’s not a waste of breath. I understand what it means to you. I just can’t put you in harm’s way. Especially not when you can’t shift.”
I tore my head from his hands. “You can head in. I’ll be in after a little while.”
He didn’t move. His eyes were on me as I leaned my head to the side. I knew he would say no. It wasn’t as if I had any hope after days of running through different scenarios in my head. Nothing I would say would be enough justification for him.
It didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. Dylan was my monster. The one who hurt me most over the years. I was the one he wanted. His actions were because of me, and he was the reason I never felt safe.
I’d wanted to kill Ebony myself. For Marcus. She was his monster, but after turning her over to the Council of the Dragons, they would be the ones to handle everything moving forward. Ebony wouldn’t ever leave their headquarters.
Seeing Dylan dead, lying there. Not even if I were the one who did it.
It didn’t matter. I just needed to see it.
That everything had been done. That he was actually dead with my own eyes.
It wasn’t worth fighting Marcus over. Not while I was pregnant, and I could absolutely see his reasoning behind it when I could barely explain mine.
A tear slipped out before I could stop it. Luckily, Marcus couldn’t see because I had turned my head away. Eventually, his lips pressed into the side of my head. He got up and left me to my own thoughts. My eyes squeezed shut and I let the tears fall more.
I had to accept it. Accept that no matter what, Dylan would be a shadow over my shoulder.
The rustle in the bush. The monster under my bed.
He would always haunt me. I’d been so close to being able to get revenge myself.
In my hands. Still, Marcus was right. Our pups came first. Their safety would always come first.