23. Kai

I was in the middle, wedged between my mates.

But I was hot and bad-tempered, wanting to kick them out of the bed and have it all to myself. Instead of kicking, I nudged Dante close to the edge and shuffled closer to Gideon, pushing him away with my bump.

Nothing worked, and I was still overheated and unable to fall asleep.

“Want to talk about it?” Dante flipped over, and the mattress sagged. I heaved myself around to face him—not so easy when lugging around a hugely pregnant belly.

“I’m hot.”

“We know.” Gideon flipped over and flung an arm over my hip.

“Not that sort of hot.” I giggled.

“We can leave,” my wolf shifter mate suggested.

“No.” I grabbed their hands so they wouldn’t get out of bed. “Something is bugging me, like it did at the last place we looked at.”

“Is it a cock?” Gideon’s lips trailed kisses over my neck while he rubbed his arousal over my ass.

“What? No. It’s not something physical. It’s a scent or a presence or a warning of an impending storm.”

Dante checked his phone. “The internet says we’ll have blue skies for the next few days.”

“Not literal rain and hail, just something disturbing our lives.”

Dante put a hand on my belly. “It’s the baby, Kai. You’re getting ready to give birth.”

While I was close to my due date, the sensation that prickled over my skin wasn’t baby-related.

“We’re going to be dads.” Dante’s body jiggled as it always did when he was anticipating something positive.

“Me too.” Gideon’s voice had lost the hesitation it used to have when he spoke of my and Dante’s baby. We were a family, and our baby would have three fathers. Not unusual in Tarrin. It had taken me a while to get used to it, but now I embraced our family of three, soon to be four.

An idea niggled at me, reminding me of a cat brushing against my leg or a puppy anxious to be picked up. The sensation I experienced in the last house we looked at was similar to when I’d scented Gideon and Dante, though my instinct was dulled when I met my wolf shifter. I’d been panicking and didn’t pick up on what the universe was telling me because I’d been plonked in a different world!

Even though I was heavily pregnant—or maybe because of my condition—my body was alerting me that I had another mate in Tarrin. I closed my eyes and imagined a room full of mates, a harem, all of them devoted to me. But I shook away the idea. I was content with Dante and Gideon. But did I have a choice or had the universe made it for me?

I had two alphas in my life. Wasn’t that enough?

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. And yet, the more I thought about a third mate, the more I was convinced there was one waiting for me.

“Should we call the midwife?” Dante scrolled through his phone, even though we’d elected to have a home birth with just the three of us present.

“No, my water hasn’t broken, and I have no contractions.” Dante helped me out of bed, and I headed to the bathroom. While I washed my hands, I considered whether to bring up the idea of a third alpha in our lives with my two loves. They’d been accepting of our arrangement—more than that because they loved one another as they adored me—but they’d never mentioned an omega having three mates.

But as I’d learned, they assumed I knew more about Tarrin than I did, so it wasn’t that they deliberately held back vital information.

“Want some tea?” Gideon was in the kitchen when I emerged. I agreed and crawled into bed. Dante was reading, so none of us was going back to sleep soon. He placed pillows behind me when our polar bear shifter handed me my tea. “I have something to tell you.”

“The baby’s coming. I knew it.” Dante and Gideon high-fived over my head, and I rolled my eyes. My two Mr. Know-It-Alls were irritating me, leaping ahead without waiting for me to speak.

“No!” The baby was content to stay inside me for now. “At the last house, I wasn’t myself.”

Gideon peered under the covers. “Who were you?” He and Dante guffawed, and I growled, my best impression of a polar bear, or maybe it was a wolf. They were giddy with anticipation of becoming dads.

“There might be someone else lurking about.”

Gideon jumped out of bed and peered out the window. “I’ll set my bear on him wherever he is.”

Gods, give me the strength not to shout at my mates. “A third person.”

“Three people?” Dante joined Gideon at the window. “We can shift and chase them away.”

I told them to get back in bed. “Another mate. It’s a shifter, I can sense him.”

“Oh!”

“Oh!”

“Are those good ohs, bad ohs or something in between?” I asked as I placed a hand in their laps. “Is it possible to have three alphas and an omega in a relationship?”

“My cousin is in a similar relationship,” Gideon announced.

“It’s not as common as two alphas, but it does happen.” Dante rubbed his chin.

“Whether it happens a lot or rarely, I think that’s what this is.” The more I spoke about it, the more I was convinced there was another alpha waiting for me. Maybe he was searching for me tonight, and that was why I couldn’t sleep.

The outside world tempted me to take a peek behind the curtains, but I was scared the universe might have other plans and take me elsewhere.

“How do I find him? Do I explore Martslock and hope he picks up my scent?”

My mates were no help and shrugged, but Gideon shared a glance with Dante. Those two were up to something and weren’t telling me.

“We’re going to need a bigger house,” they said in unison.