Chapter 18

Thomas

The fact that Lily was already nesting was freaking me out. She never did that this soon. I know she said it wasn't that, but it sure sounded like it, especially with her insistence that it wasn't.

"Earth to Thomas," Luke said.

"Sorry, man. Lily," I admitted pointing to my head.

"Lily? Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"I don't know. What do you think I'm saying?"

James came bursting through the door. "Sorry. I'm just running a little behind today."

"Did you and Lily seal your bond?" Luke blurted out.

"Why would you ask something like that?" James asked. "And the answer is no. Trust me, if that had happened, it would have gone out on the Six Pack chat group right away. Maybe not to us guys, but no way would Lily keep something like that to herself."

And yet, she had. Why? I wondered.

Why what?

Why didn't you send out an announcement the second our bond sealed? Did you even tell Elise or Maddie?

Nope. I'm still mad at your sister, remember?

My sister, huh?

You heard me, big boy.

I chuckled wondering if she could hear it.

Yes, I can.

This is so weird.

I know. Lizzy says it'll become just a normal part of life and we won't even notice so much after a while. But Ruby is wondering if you now get to enjoy the full joy of childbirth. I don't even know if we can physically feel each other on that level yet. Maybe it's not fully sealed yet.

I paled at the thought.

"Dude, are you okay?" James asked. "You look like you're going to be sick."

"And see how he just drifted off. Either something is seriously wrong with him or he's talking telepathically with his mate," Luke insisted. "Cole gets that look a lot. Makes it super annoying at times to work with him."

"I told you, that's not possible. No way could Lily keep something like that to herself."

Before I could respond, a sharp stab of pain came across my bond and I grabbed my elbow.

"What's wrong?" Luke demanded, suddenly on full alert.

I rubbed my elbow. "Nothing. At least I don't think."

"You yelped," James said.

"I did?"

"And you're holding your left arm."

"Just a cramp or pain of some sort. It's fine."

"You know that's a sign of heart attack. We should call Sam."

"What? No."

Slugger, are you okay?

Yeah, sorry. Lilah jumped on me and I jerked back cracking my funny bone on the counter. There is nothing funny about a funny bone.

That's what that was?

Wait, did you feel it, too?

I did and now James thinks I'm having a heart attack.

I could hear her laughter in my head, answering my previous question.

"Sam's on the way," James told Luke.

"You did not call Sam."

"If you weren't so out of it then you'd already know I did."

I groaned. "Call him back and tell him I'm fine."

"But we aren't sure you are. You're acting really weird, Thomas."

Luke sounded genuinely concerned.

I sighed. "Lily hit her funny bone and I felt it, okay? Our bond is sealing. Over the weekend we started hearing each other. It's happening. I don't know why she didn't alert the press. Honestly, it's kind of overwhelming and we're still adjusting to it."

"You're serious? And you didn't tell us? You didn't tell me?" James asked.

"It wasn't personal."

I was pretty certain that Lily had told my sisters the exact same thing.

Before we could discuss it, Sam burst through the door. "Where's Lily?"

"It's not Lily, it's Thomas," Luke said. "But I think we've already gotten to the bottom of it."

"I get a 9-1-1 call to the Alpha House right now, I expect a pending delivery."

"It's too soon for that," I argued.

"She's in the third trimester, Thomas. This is her fifth child and she's our Pack Mother. We're most definitely on baby watch from now until delivery."

"Don't say that. It's too soon. We aren't ready."

"Lily sent out pictures of the new nursery today. Sounded like she got it all done and ready for the baby. What else is there to be ready for."

"We still have like seven weeks until her due date. Don't rush this."

I was so paranoid of Lily going into labor early even though she never had before. Our baby deserved the best possible start to life and I knew that meant baking in there as long as possible.

"So, why was I called in? What's going on?"

"Turns out our Alpha and Pack Mother sealed their bond and didn't tell anyone," Luke told him.

"Lily hit her elbow and it hurt."

"I didn't even think you were linked telepathically yet," Sam said, sounding surprised.

"It happened over the weekend while we were in Westin Pack."

"And you've progressed to pain this quickly?"

I shrugged. "Is that not normal? I thought telepathic communication was one of the last stages."

"Yes, but not the last stage."

"Well, that one was a new discovery today. For the last week or so I've been much more in tune with her emotions so it just felt like a natural build up to this."

"Sam, what does this mean for Thomas?" James asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if his bond is sealed and he feels everything she felt, then how does that affect him when she goes into labor?"

"You are sick on the head. Stop wishing for me to experience childbirth."

He ignored me and continued on with his questions. "And why are they sealing their bond so soon? Wyatt and Kate have been mated far longer and they're also true mates, but as far as I know they haven't sealed their bond yet."

"No one knows for sure how or why this happens," Sam confessed. "There's theories that believe when an Alpha mates his one true mate that the bond is even stronger somehow and therefore could develop faster, but that's just a theory. Something about Alpha blood accelerating the process. There's no proof in it."

"That could make sense," I said. "Kyle and Kelsey sealed their bond pretty much the second they mated, but they are both Alphas in their own rights. Maybe that had something to do with it."

"You could always call Kyle and ask him about it. They have kids, so if their bond sealed that quickly then he had to have been through this before," Luke suggested.

"That's a good idea. When we're done today, I'll give him a call. James has me paranoid now."

"I'd pay good money to see you go through labor," James teased.

"Asshole."

"No one wants to see our Alpha in a weakened state. No good would come from that," Luke said.

"If we find it's a problem, we'll limit the room to only Lily, Thomas, and I. We certainly aren't going to jeopardize the Pack over something as natural as this," Sam assured me.

Unfortunately, that did nothing to ease my fears.

With nothing seriously wrong with me, Sam said goodbye and went back to work.

James, Luke, and I went over the restoration status and my agenda for the week. The two of them were taking on more responsibilities right now as I prepared to take a bit of downtime with the baby's arrival.

"Okay, I think we're good for now."

"Great. I have to run. I'll catch you later. And send out a Six Pack update on the whole bond thing please. Katherine will never let me live it down if she learns that I knew before her."

"Your mate is human. How does she even know about the bond stages?" I asked.

"You know we talk about everything. Please, she may be human, but I'm optimistic that our bond will one day seal too. She's had signs that give me hope. Anyway. I'm out. Later."

"Bye."

"Do you want me to shadow you again out to the ranch to meet with Emmett, Cruz, Ruby, and Clay?" Luke asked once James was gone.

"No. Actually, I'd like you to go ahead and take it over. That way if you need anything, I'll be here to assist. But while I'm on paternity leave, even if we both know there are things I'll need to do, I'd like you really step up with some of this stuff."

"Okay," Luke said.

"No arguments or concerns?"

"No. You know there's nothing I wouldn't do for you. You so rarely ask, that I'm happy to do it. No offense, but you're a bit of a control freak."

I groaned. "I may have heard that once or twice before. I do try."

"I know. And I appreciate what work you do give me, but I am capable of far more."

"I have a thousand percent faith in your abilities, Luke. You would have continued to be a great Alpha. Are you regretting not challenging me?"

"Oh God no! I didn't want your job then and I certainly don't want your job now. But I am here to help and make things less stressful on you. You don't have to do everything yourself."

"I know you're right. I keep hanging onto the ranch simply because I love it. I love working with my sister on the dairy stuff, and two of my best friends in the entire world. It's nice, but it does add unnecessary stress on me. How would you feel about taking on some of that permanently?"

"You're serious?"

"I am. If you're interested, then we'll consider this next month or two as a trial towards possible transition."

"Yes. I would love that. And James and I were discussing some new ideas for Pack security. Part of that would include the cowboys."

"I'd love to see your proposal for it."

"Great. I'll get with him and work on putting a package together."

"Hey, why don't you, Syd, and Hunter come over for dinner tonight?"

"Shouldn't you check with Lily on that first?"

We're good. I'd love to have them over, she told me through our bond.

I pointed to my head. "Already did."