Chapter Nineteen

Bjorn's cabin behind the office had been pretty sparse when I got here, and I had the impression he rarely used it, preferring to sleep under the stars. While I also enjoyed camping, I was not quite as rugged as my alpha and really liked being indoors in the rare desert rainstorms or on windy nights. Especially when the wind carried all the dust.

We spent most of the summer outside, though, with me as a survival guide in training while watching my alpha share his skills with all the customers who came to take advantage of his wisdom and patience. Patience being very necessary with some of them.

But as fall days shortened, the desert nights cooling down to the point where our zipped-together sleeping bags were necessary to preserve body heat. I didn't hate that at all. In his arms, I never felt cold at all. Cozy, warm, and happy.

Gradually, I began to pick up my share of the chores around camp. Since Bjorn was the one who really needed to lead classes, I could keep things tidy and according to our customers had a gift for camp cooking. My alpha handed over the cookery lessons to me in late August.

Somehow I'd thought when it got cold we'd be less busy, but people who wanted to learn to survive had no season. My interpretation. One morning, I woke to find frost on the landscape, glittering under the first rays of sunshine. Time to get up and stir up the fire, no matter how much I'd rather cuddle with my alpha until the temperature outside rose to a reasonable sixty or so.

"Time to make the biscuits," I grumbled, reaching down into the depths of the sleeping bag for my boots. Desert 101…shoes left outside the bag attracted occupants like scorpions and other things that often had an unpleasant bite or sting. "Why is morning so early and so cold?" Shivering, I found my jacket balled up under me and wriggled into it before climbing out and standing up. But no sooner did I get upright than my stomach lurched, and I clapped a hand over my mouth, just making it a dozen yards or so away before I emptied the little let in my belly from the night before into an innocent sage.

"Omega, what's wrong?" Bjorn was at my side, jacket and bootless, which showed how concerned he was. I'd never seen him barefoot in this area. Jumping cholla country, among other things. And while shifting could heal most things, fire ants could put the pain to you before you got to that point.

"Nothing, really. I just stood up too fast."

"And that made you throw up?"

"I guess, or maybe it was those beans last night. Or the coffee. It tasted off to me. Didn't it to you?"

"I had tea, but nobody else said anything. Maybe just go back to bed for a while? I'll get the fire started and cook breakfast."

"No, I feel better." I started for the fire pit we'd dug, but he steered me back toward our bedding.

"And I'll feel better if you rest a little. Okay?"

Since my stomach wasn't that settled, I let him tuck me in, but once our clients were up and moving, I also left the sleeping bag and joined Bjorn making oatmeal and frying bacon. Breakfast seemed to help but I avoided the coffee. The rest of the day went fine, but the next morning, I staged a repeat act, and this time, my alpha didn't have to tell me to go lie down again. I did it on my own. No more was said about it, but when we got back to the office, and our clients had all left, Bjorn led me toward the truck. "Let's go do some shopping."

"What do we need?" I asked as we were sailing down the road toward the nearest town.

"Pregnancy test."

I blinked at him. "What? No. I'm fine. Is it because I got sick to my stomach a couple of times?" Surely that was an overreaction. "I feel much better today. I think it was the beans. Or a bug."

Since shifters almost never got bugs, it was kind of him not to mention that fact while I was deep in denial. "Then we'll have lunch, too. But I'm asking you to pee on the stick just for my peace of mind, okay?"

Peace of mind? "Will you be unhappy if I am pregnant? I know it's soon and we haven't even discussed a family."

"You are my family and if you are carrying our young"—he turned shiny eyes on me before returning his attention to the road—"I couldn't think of anything better."

The roadhouse was known for its good food, so we stopped there on the way into town. It was no Billy's but since we were going in the opposite direction, this was where we went. I ordered a barbecue bison sandwich and curly fries and was halfway through them when I was relieved to notice whatever had been bothering it up until now was not acting up. I finished and washed it all down with the Sprite I'd gotten instead of a Coke or a beer just in case.

At the big-box store, we picked up some things on the company list as well as five different pregnancy tests because we weren't sure if one was better than the others. After we checked out, Bjorn handed me the boxes. "Go find out now."

"In the store bathroom?" I balked at the idea. "I want to know the answer, but I don't want it to be so public."

He laughed. "Sorry. I'm just excited."

"I might not be," I warned. "Will you be disappointed?"

"My bear says you are carrying our cub." He pushed the cart to the truck and refused to let me load anything at all. "I think he's better than a pregnancy test, but I'm trying to also be scientific."

Long story short? All five were positive, and Salem found us dancing around outside the office bathroom because we hadn't been able to wait a second longer to get to the cabin.

"Your bear is pretty smart," I said.

"He is also very happy."

"So is my wolf, and so am I." I kissed him on the cheek and waved the sticks in the air. "Look, Salem, we're having a baby."

He wrinkled his nose. "Congratulations, but maybe throw those away?"

"Do people keep them?" I asked my alpha.

"I don't think so. But they did their job already."