Chapter 20

Garrick

Things had gone smoothly since taking over as Alpha—too smoothly. Some days, I was a ball of nerves, just waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it never did. Any issues that arose were handled through understanding and communication. With the help of my Alpha Mate, things were darn near perfect.

Most days, being Alpha was easy. I met with various pack members, and we planned out the future of the pack. Based on my mate’s suggestion, I’d begun hosting town-hall style meetings so pack members could come and talk as a group and ask questions about things. So far it had served us well; thanks to those meetings we had a whole new curriculum designed for our older teenagers to teach them skillsets that the pack needed.

I guess I should have expected something to blow up in my face on the day my mate was scheduled to be induced.

Noel had progressed through his pregnancy quite nicely. Despite the bout of morning sickness that lasted way too long for my liking, everything had been smooth sailing. Now it seemed like the end of his pregnancy was never going to come, which was why we had to schedule him to be induced. He was a week past his due date, and our pup was showing no signs of wanting to come out. The little guy was stubborn—and yes, it was a boy. A little alpha, if my assumption was correct. We wouldn’t know the designation until his birth.

“Alpha, if I’m measuring the property lines right, they put their garden beds on my property, and that’s just not fair.”

“Seamus, first of all,” I began, “there is no your property. Yes, you have your home, and you have a general border around your house that is yours to maintain, but this is all shared space. We are all stewards of the land here, and there is no property ownership or property lines.”

“Exactly, Teresea,” Seamus snapped.

I don’t know how what I said enforced his point, but that was the least of my worries regarding this neighborly dispute that had gotten out of hand.

“That is, in fact, true,” I continued, “and since it is true, you really should have spoken to Seamus before putting up your garden beds.”

“They’re not hurting anything,” Teresea argued.

“They’re not helping anything either. It’s attracting all sorts of critters!” Seamus fired back.

I had to assume that wasn’t true, considering we were wolves, and all the animals in the forest knew to steer clear of our territory. We didn’t hunt them or hurt them in any way, it was just their instinct not to come near predators.

This fight had been going on for weeks. Despite our efforts to mediate in several different ways, I was at the point where I was ready to ask them both to move to opposite sides of the territory.

Noel came in, his hand resting underneath his belly, as if he could lift it up and alleviate some of the burden on his back.

“Mate,” I said, standing, “is it time to go?”

“Just about. We have ten minutes. I don’t really want this issue” —he pointed at the two of them— “overshadowing the minuscule amount of time off you get for the birth of our child.”

I had to bite back a laugh as Noel glared as hard as he could at the two of them. It wasn’t a very stern glare. Noel was known for his kindness and his endless enthusiasm and optimism; being a tough guy wasn’t in his wheelhouse.

“Sorry about that,” Seamus said. “It’s just... the flower beds are right there—”

“They are, and aren’t they gorgeous?” Noel interrupted.

“They are very pretty, Alpha Mate. Especially when the hummingbirds come in the morning. But see, they are awfully close,” Seamus grumbled.

“But maybe there’s another reason Teresea wanted them so close to your house, Seamus,” Noel suggested with a sly smile.

Teresea blushed deeply.

“The two of you are both single, yes?” Noel asked.

“Well, I don’t see what that has to do with anything,” Seamus muttered, shuffling his feet.

Both of their faces had a matching shade of red that rivaled the rose petals that started this whole war.

“The two of you are going on a date tonight,” Noel announced firmly. “Go to town, have dinner—off the territory—and either fuck this argument out or we’re moving you to opposite sides of the territory.”

My mind reeled as I replayed every conversation I’d had with the two of them. Suddenly, it was obvious—they were flirting. Who flirted like this in their 60s? Apparently, they did.

“You heard him,” I said. “Meeting adjourned.” I grinned. I wished I had a gavel so I could smack it on the table.

Seamus turned to Teresea. “Would you like to go to dinner with me tonight?”

“Well, I wouldn’t mind.”

“Perfect. Now, I have an appointment, and that was my last official act as Alpha before going on a very short leave.”

I gripped Noel’s hand and led him out the door. I wasn’t going to let anyone interrupt us anymore. I would still be Alpha while on leave, but everyone knew that all concerns should go to my Betas or my father before coming to me so that I could be there for Noel and our pup. Once we got settled, we’d return to our regular duties.

Noel and I walked slowly through the pack houses. Many people stopped and waved, giving us well-wishes on our way.

“This is like my first day here,” he said. He was walking slower. The waddle caused by his enormous belly was evident in every step. Thankfully we kept the territory free of snow and ice, so I didn’t have to worry about him falling.

We arrived to the healer’s cabin as quick as we could. Rosie ushered us inside, and we were settled into the birthing suite. It was decorated more like a bedroom than a hospital room. Noel had helped to set it up. He wanted to be as comfortable as possible for the birth. I just wanted it over with.

Excitement like I’d never known thrummed through my body, but that didn’t alleviate the fear.

“We’ll get you started with a few natural remedies meant to kickstart your labor.” Rosie handed Noel a foul-smelling cup that was filled to the brim with green sludge.

“Is there any way that you could make it—” I was about to suggest making it slightly more tolerable, but my mate tipped it back like it was the most delicious treat in the world.

“Okay then.” Rosie laughed. “If that works, we’ll know in a few minutes.” She left the room.

Noel laid back on the double bed that was designed so that after the birth he and I could both settle in the bed and cuddle our pup. He was surrounded by fluffy pillows. “I hope this works.”

I patted his knee while I settled next to him, preparing to be here for a long day and night. “It will.”

Moments later, it was working. Noel gripped my hand hard as a contraction rippled through his body. “Oh dear goddess, make it stop!”

“I don’t think it’s going to stop until the baby arrives, mate.”

“You birth the next one!”

Rosie came back into the room, dressed in scrubs. “Okay, I didn’t anticipate it working this quickly, but we will be just fine.”

“I’m ready to push!” Noel shouted.

She laughed and patted his shoulder. “It’s a little soon for that, dear.” She pulled up a rolling stool and then glanced between Noel’s legs. He had placed his feet in the stirrups when the contractions began in full force. “Oh goddess.” Her eyes went wide.

“What? Rosie, you can’t do that to us right now. Is something wrong?” I asked. I regretted telling my mother that she and my dad could wait till after the birth to visit, perhaps we needed an extra set of hands now.

“No, no. Nothing is wrong. Everything is progressing nicely. Noel, why don’t you go ahead and give me a big push, okay?”

Two contractions and several pushes later, our son’s cry filled the room.

“I told you it was time!” Noel breathed heavily. His body was already working hard to repair the small tear that had occurred during the birth. Thank goodness for our fast healing abilities.

“Yes, you were very right, dear. At least we know that concoction works!” Rosie handed my son to me after she checked him over quickly. “Congratulations, Alpha, he’s perfect.”

I looked down at my son. A perfect combination of me and Noel. He had dark hair on his head and the deepest brown eyes I’d ever seen. He blinked up at me and yawned.

“He’s perfect.” I sat on the bed and held our son out to Noel so that he could take him into his arms.

“He looks like you,” Noel said. “An Alpha.”

“He looks like us,” I said. I kissed Noel’s cheek, rubbing my scent on him, then I did the same to our son.

My family.