9. Barrett

- I am the Highway—Audioslave-

Two weeks later -

We’ve been taking turns with Grace going to the hospital while she sits next to Nic’s bed for hours on end. Seeing all the tubes and wires all over him broke something in her, I think. Whatever wall was between them has been shattered and crumbled to ash.

“Grace?” Turning in my chair, I look up and see the doctor that had called her name.

“Yes, doctor?” Grace looks up, and she draws in a fortifying breath.

“Your friend Nic should have woken up by now.” She says friend in air quotes. The doctor is a bear shifter and is familiar with poly families.

“Is there anything else we can do?” Grace bites her bottom lip to the point of drawing blood.

The doctor looks down for a moment, then looks up at Grace as the drop of blood rolls down her chin. “That’s it. Call your husband. I’ll have all the medical stuff you need at the house by tonight. Tomorrow you can take Nic home and try what I am going to call a hail Mary play.”

The doctor bolts out of the room and I can see her at the desk making phone calls. She summons several of the other shifters on the floor with her and let them in on her plans. From what I can over hear, she believes Grace biting Nic may awaken his wolf thus awakening him. It’s not safe to do it in the hospital because it may trigger him to shift.

“Barrett, what’s going on?” Grace grips my hand.

“We’re gonna take Nic home and you’re gonna bite him. It may awaken his wolf and then him.” Grace’s eyes dart from Nic then to me.

She stares down at her hands for several moments, then back up at me. Her eyes blaze to life, glowing golden. “Like Ethan did for me. He gave me my wolf, and I’m going to wake Nic up.“ Grace gets up and kisses Nic on the forehead, then bites her lip again, making it bleed before opening his mouth and letting her blood drip in. “You better wake up when you get home or I’m going to kick your ass for scaring me.” Grace grabs her bag then heads to the nurse’s desk to talk to the doctor more.

The machines in Nic’s room change pitch slightly. His slow heart rate picks up to a normal pace after ingesting Grace’s blood. Seeing the immediate change gives me hope that this might work. Grace writes something down and hands it to the doctor, then she pulls out her cellphone and makes a call walking away.

The doctor returns and sees the change in Nic. “What changed?” She looks from the monitors to Nic, then over to me.

“Grace bit her lip and let her blood drip into his mouth.“ Shrugging my shoulder, I don’t know what else to say.

The doctor pops Nic’s mouth open and sees the bloodstain on his teeth near his gums. “Hopefully, her bite will wake him up. It’s like sleeping beauty but instead of the Alpha’s kiss awakening the Luna. It’s the Luna awakening the Alpha.” The doctor makes her notes, then heads towards the door. “Everything should be at the house tonight and we will transport him first thing in the morning.” The doctor lowers her head briefly, then heads back to the nurse’s desk.

“Barrett, we need to get home. I have to pick a room to set Nic up in. Conrad is almost here to get us, so we need to get downstairs.” She darts back into the room and grabs my arm and drags me out into the hall.

“Whatever will make you happy, Gracie.” We head down the hallway and get into the elevator. I swear these things are metal coffins on wires. There are not many things in this world I can honestly say I hate, but this is one of them.

“Cutie, are you okay? You feel very uneasy…” Grace absently rubs her sternum watching me.

Forcing a laugh, I shake my head, forgetting she can feel my unease in the elevator. “I’m not a fan of elevators. Mom and I got stuck in one when I was I think seven. It’s kind of fuzzy how old I was when it happened. Either way, it was three hours of my life I will never forget. So they still scare me.” I may not be the most dominant of her mates, but I am man enough to admit when something makes me uncomfortable.

Grace pulls me to her and hugs me tightly. “I’m not a fan of elevators, either. It’s more I’m afraid if there’s a fire, I’m going to be cooked like brownies in an easy bake oven.” She shrugs her shoulders as if that statement would make me feel better.

If anything, it made my irrational fear of elevators worse. The bell dings and I race out the doors as soon as they open and drag Grace with me. Conrad is standing in the lobby in a three-piece suit and his hair perfectly coiffed. He’s wearing the pants that make his ass look phenomenal, and he knows it. Still wearing his ray-bans indoors, I know his eyes are locked on Grace and me while he pretends to be checking his email.

“Hey Con, can we stop and get burgers on the way home? I’m hungry.” Gracie has perfected her whine to the point even I question if she’s an omega or not.

Conrad lowers his sunglasses down his nose and looks at her. “Anything you want, sweetness.” He winks and then slaps my ass as I pass him. “Where do you think you’re going?” He grips my hand and spins me to face him. My hands land flat on his chest, and he leans down and kisses me roughly. My cock comes to life in a second. I’m good to be anything my alpha needs me to be.

The flash of a camera knocks us out of our moment and it’s Gracie smiling, looking at us. “I love this.” She motions to Conrad and I still wrapped in each other’s arms. “You two should get married next.” She nods her head like the witch Samantha, as if that would make it happen immediately.

“This state hasn’t legalized same-sex marriages yet sweetness.” Conrad says softly near Grace’s ear.

My heart sinks hearing the reality that we face. “I’m bonded to everyone. It’s not important.” The mere thought makes my heart clench in my chest. I would make such a wonderful fall groom.

Conrad ushers us into the car, sitting Grace and I in the back seat. The car he’s driving is new and is one of the armored cars he was reading about. It’s fully equipped with bulletproof glass and anti bomb reinforced floors. “Went a bit overboard with the car, Con?” I teasingly say.

“Never…” He says as he puts the car in drive to head home.

“Back to the subject from before. I’m Luna right? I create and uphold pack law. From what I understand…” She pauses as several pings go off and she reads the messages. “Perfect…”

“What’s perfect?” Conrad questions.

“Griff and Ambrose agree with me.” She folds her arms over her chest, smiling.

“Agree with what?” Now I’m curious.

“Myself and the Alphas make and uphold pack law. So if I say you two can get married in a pack ceremony, it will happen.” She grins looking at me, then she stares into the mirror looking into Conrad’s eyes. The way she’s staring at him, I know she’s daring him to disagree with her.

“So it shall be written, so it shall be done.” Conrad says with that sexy half smile of his and the head tilt that he knows makes me hard.

“Good, next pack meeting. I’m announcing it.” Grace is watching our surroundings, then squeals. “Go there!” Grace moves between the two front seats and points at the chicken wing place on the northbound side. She completely changed her mind from burgers to chicken wings. Sometimes I just don’t understand what goes on in that head of hers.

“Alright, what do you want to order?” He smiles and pulls around the building to the order window.

“Two buckets of wings, coleslaw, hushpuppies, mac and cheese and french fries with gravy should do.” Grace smiles and sits back down next to me and listens intensely as Conrad orders.

“That’s a big order.” I pull Grace against me and kiss her temple.

“I want to bring everyone food. I don’t want to leave anyone out.” She shrugs and sits up as the food gets passed into the car. Diving forward again, she grabs the one bucket of chicken and starts eating.

Conrad chuckles as he pulls out into traffic. “Do you think there will be any wings in that bucket when we get home?”

Grace looks at the bucket, then over to me and then up at Conrad. “Maybe. That’s why I had you order two.” Shrugging her shoulders, she goes back to eating.

“Conrad, can we stop at the coffee shop and hit the drive through? I could really use some caffeine.” Part of me I really want the coffee, the other I want to test the pregnancy theory.

We pull into our favorite java joint and place our usual orders, plus enough for everyone at home. Grace hasn’t even noticed that we were in line yet. Between messaging the others and both sets of mothers, she’s unaware. Conrad pulls the travel trays into the car and Grace stops and she gets a sickly green color to her.

“I’m gonna be sick.” She opens the window closest to her and vomits onto the pavement.

I move closer to Grace and start rubbing her back and Conrad goes to pop the trunk and arrange the coffee haul in there. “Nice slow deep breaths, Grace. It’s going to be okay.” Slowly Grace stops heaving, then slides back into the car and lays down with her head in my lap.

“Can we go home?” Grace says softly as she turns on her side to press her forehead against my stomach, blocking out all the light.

“Anything you want, Gracie.” I watch Conrad pacing outside of the car. I know he called his brothers, alerting them to what is happening. We know she’s pregnant by scent. She hasn’t even thought of that as a possibility until I think just now.

Conrad climbs back into the driver’s seat and puts the car in drive, heading home. The enthusiasm and hope that radiated from Grace is gone. Her emotions are on lock down and I don’t know what to do to fix what’s broken. I’m an omega. My drive and what I feel is my purpose in life is to love and tend to my family. I’m at a loss when it comes to Grace. The guys are easy. A blow job usually fixes everything. Females are different. They need time to process, understanding and not to be pressured into coming to terms with things until they are ready.

Deep down in my gut, I think she’s scared she’s going to disappoint the guys if she doesn’t give birth to a son. Thinking ahead, I reach out and text the guys in our silent family chat. The same one we haven’t touched since Grace came into our lives and created the new one.

Barrett: Guys, I think Gracie just realized she’s pregnant. She’s shut down and curled up in a ball on the back seat with her head in my lap.

Griffin: Conrad filled us in. What do you need us to do?

Barrett: I believe we need to be understanding and comforting.

Ethan: We do that already. What else?

Barrett: I’ll ask her to take a test to make sure. I know we can smell it, but I don’t believe she knows we can. Whatever the result is, we react appropriately.

Griffin: WE already know the test is going to be positive.

Ethan: Stop being an asshole. Barrett means we shower her with affection and reassure her the baby no matter what the gender is will be loved. Don’t be a tool.

Griffin: Fuck, that’s right. She said her ex became an abusive asshole when Ashina was born.

Barrett: I just want mommy and baby to be happy and healthy.

Ethan: Exactly, that’s what’s most important. I’ll fucking kick your ass if you make her cry.

Griffin: I’m liking being a girl, Dad. (Sends a pic to the chat of Ashina asleep on his chest.)

Barrett: It looks good on you, Griff. We are about ten minutes out, warn the moms of what’s happening.

Looking up, I watch Conrad glance at the messages at the red light catching up. He nods and sends a smiley face emoji before refocusing on the road.

Tonight is going to be interesting.