Chapter 16 - Jet

I took Senna back to our room—because that's really what it was now—following our dinner. It still struck me that Senna's old pack knew nothing about the history of the magicked wolves, those without the ability to shift. I'd thought it was a sad fact that many packs knew of these individuals but still treated them poorly.

If Senna's pack hadn't known, who else was in the dark?

The thought echoed in my blood. So much was too different between wolves. We were so sporadically educated about the history of our own people. Had we drifted that far apart from what we once were? Was my pack the only one that knew of the legends affecting Senna?

"Hey, you're making a face." Senna's words pulled me out of my head, and I looked down at her where we sat perched on the end of the bed. "You smell burnt, too."

Shaking my head with a smile, I lowered my forehead to hers, breathing in my mate to settle myself. The warm almond and rose aroma filled my nose.

"I'm fine. Sorry. You're just…you're right about this. It's so much to learn, to teach. I'm…I'm curious if other packs are just as clueless."

Senna reached up, brushing her fingers across the scruff on my cheeks. The mate bond pulled harder as I let myself focus on how damn good she smelled. It seemed stronger, more potent, like during her heat, but that had passed.

Nuzzling into the crook of her neck, I nipped at Senna's skin as she laughed gently, the sound wind chimes in a mountain breeze. My blood heated, a swirling, intoxicating pull toward her, making me salivate and my cock twitch.

And then I scented it.

Senna's hormones had shifted. They hadn't returned to their pre-heat state. They were still slightly elevated. She felt warmer as well, only faintly, but it was enough for me to take notice. I pulled back from her, gazing down as I studied her even harder.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Senna angled away, a blush creeping up her cheeks.

But I could also see the quirk of a smile tugging at her lips, one she was trying to fight back.

"You're…are you…"

I couldn't find the words, even though I knew what was happening. My pulse sped up as my entire being felt like it was soaring into the stratosphere.

"Jet, what's wrong?" Senna just continued to smirk at me. "Wolf got your tongue?"

She giggled, her eyes ducking down to the floor as she smiled.

"You are, aren't you?! Yes?"

I swept up next to her, taking her hands in mine and squeezing lightly. My being hummed, the energy welling up through me nearly impossible to contain. The brightness of our bond intensified, and I could sense Senna's ‘yes' before it even broke the air.

She nodded.

Immediately, I pulled her into my arms, kissing her delectable lips as emotions too unfamiliar to name swam through me, flooding my nerves with such excitement, such joy, that I could scarcely breathe.

"Senna!" She yelped with laughter and flaring hormones as I ran my lips across every inch of available skin. "You truly are. You're pregnant."

I knew my voice was a thin whisper into her hair, but she nodded again before slipping herself back and taking my face again.

"Yes, Jet. I'm pregnant. You're going to be a father." Senna's lips hovered over mine, floating them there as she whispered, "You've bred me, Alpha."

My wolf howled against my bones, a subtle shift taking my eyes and teeth. I lapped at her mark, the faint pink lines on her neck matching the shape of my fangs as I nipped gently at her.

"Gods, Omega. I'm…I've never…ha!" I yanked her up into my lap, seating her right over my thickening cock, right where she should be. "I've never been this happy before."

Glossy tears formed in Senna's eyes, and she lowered her head to my chest. "Neither have I."

An easy silence spread between us as I held her, and as I cradled her head against my pec, my other hand found her lower belly. I stroked my thumb up and down the smooth plane of her body, imagining it stretched round from bearing our child.

"They, whoever they are, they might not…" Senna's voice was muffled as she spoke, and I pulled her up to look at me.

"What, sweetness?"

She shook her head, a tear slipping free as she tried to smile. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be thinking like this. I just…never mind. It's stupid."

"Nothing you could ever feel is stupid. I can sense your worry. Talk to me."

Senna sighed. "That's kind of annoying, you know. How am I supposed to be able to keep anything from you?"

I sneered playfully at her, rocking her hips back and forth against my straining length as she pouted.

"You're not. Now, come on. Spill."

With another long breath, Senna moaned lightly as I adjusted myself against her, bucking my hips just a bit to resettle her.

"What if they have no wolf?" She met my eyes, the obvious effort she was making to focus tickling me.

"Then they have no wolf. You've learned now that it's usually a part of something grander. Wolf shifter or V?lva, I will love them—and you—forever."

Melting into me, the tension clinging to Senna faded away, and she sank down onto my lap without keeping herself screwed up tight this time. She was seated properly, her arms draped around my neck, and I gazed up into her eyes with the biggest fucking grin on my face.

"I am so damn happy, Senna. A little pup, playing around, being a general terror—it's been so long since there has been a child within these walls. Not since Kaiden and Kenzie."

She cocked her head. "Not the other wolves?"

I shook my head, frowning a bit. "No. They're older than those two. Not by much, of course, but everyone was in their teens when they arrived. Their parents had been lost in a car accident. I…I'd lost my father not too long before. Taking them in…well, I had to."

A deep furrow set up shop on Senna's brow, and she smoothed her hand down my cheek. I rarely spoke about my father—to anyone—and doing so now made my skin itch. I cleared my throat, tossing my hair out of my eyes as they began to burn.

"Your father…he passed." Senna held my face, her free hand stroking the hair behind my ear. "I'm so sorry, Jet."

Memory stirred, and I swallowed around the familiar lump in my throat that affected me every time I thought of him. There was a gentle current of sympathy and understanding flowing out from the mate bond with Senna. Sensing her devotion to me, the distinct lack of pity, was what gave me the strength to open up. Something I'd never done.

"He did. He'd been the only parent I'd known since birth. My mother passed in the days afterward. Something about her blood not clotting. He used to tell me about her, bring out her photos, and reminisce about how they met."

"Were they mates?" she smiled softly, and I brushed a loose blonde curl behind her ear.

"Yes, actually. He'd talked at length about how lucky he was to find her."

"That's amazing. It always seems so rare. Your line has been blessed twice."

Smiling bigger, a swell of pride warmed my heart. "I've been lucky in several ways. My pack is my family. They were all there for me when my father died from sickness, and Kaiden and Kenzie provided me with the chance to be a father when I thought it might never happen."

"But it did happen." Senna looked down and then met my eyes again, putting our joined hands to her stomach. "You shouldn't have given up so easily."

Laughing, I placed a searing kiss on her lips before pulling back again. "I'm a fair bit older than you, remember? And I've never been great at waiting. Just don't tell the pack that. They think I'm remarkably patient. But fuck, do I hate it."

Senna joined in with her lilting laugh, and then we sobered again. "Sickness? I didn't think wolves got sick—not often, anyway."

"Hmm." I nodded, my mind churning as I recalled all the details I'd been collecting over the past few years. "No, they don't. It's been happening more and more, however, acting similarly to human cancer. It's seen right along with the declining pregnancy and birth rates."

She considered what I was saying, and the look of understanding on her face was enough to tell me that it had been much the same with her old pack.

"Terrance had spoken about similar issues. Is it…is it affecting all wolves?"

I snickered, but it was mirthless, just a burst of energy from the frustration billowing in my blood. With a shrug, I pulled her closer.

"I don't know. It claimed many lives in the Edwards pack when it struck, seeming to stick to a certain generation. I've spoken with my friends, those alphas I was telling you about, but we're all so damn separated from each other. I've…I've hated that for a long while. The distances…it's not serving us."

Sighing all the harder, the words I'd held onto for so long bubbled up, spilling over the carefully constructed dam I'd made.

"I understand that wolves can be territorial, that we need a leader to unite us. But it doesn't make sense to keep us this separate. My friends and I have really been trying to change that, but it's slow going. Kaiden and Grayson have been doing countless diplomatic visits to the packs who won't open up…it is hard to get anyone to listen to a wolf who isn't an alpha, but I'm not even allowed on their territory."

"Hey," Senna took my face in her grip, that anchoring gesture that I was falling more and more in love with. "You're not alone in this. You have the pack, and you have me. I want to know what's happening. It sounds…it's almost like wolfless shifters are increasing; the sickness and the poor fertility also look connected."

I surged hearing her give voice to the theory that had been brewing in the back of my mind for nearly a decade. After my father's death, the research had consumed me. I pulled away from my pack ever so slightly because I wanted to protect them from the implications. But how could I expect packs to open up if alphas couldn't be expected to do the same?

"Thank you, Senna." I brought her forehead to my lips for a kiss. "What about you? I know living with Terrance was terrible, but did you have any good memories with your pack, your parents?"

She sighed, leaning on me, and I stroked my hand up and down her back. "My parents died when I was young. I don't really know how because no one ever let me talk about it. I assumed an accident or hunters. Now…well, now I think it was Terrance. They weren't keen on his direction for the pack, so…"

Pulling her against my chest, Senna tucked herself under my chin, and I continued to gently caress her back.

"I'm sorry, Senna. You've…you've been alone for so long."

The smell of rose and almond kicked up, and at first, I didn't understand, but then the wave of adoration and gratitude that hit me nearly knocked me on my ass.

"I'm not anymore." She looked up to me. "I have you, and I have them. Wolf or no wolf."

"You do. Always."

Scooting myself down the bed, still holding Senna, I laid back and took her with me. We lay next to each other, and I kissed her, running my hand up and down her arm. It was soft, gentle, and so different than before. Still, it was charged with the potent mate energy that was freely exchanged between us.

Our lips and tongues mingled in a slow dance, the growing heat between us warming me down to my bones as my wolf bloomed forward, seeking out that tether to Senna. In my mind, I could see him running through the intricate waves of V?lva magic within her. It was misty gray and shifting. He felt at home there, and so did I.

"Jet." Her voice was an easy plea, and Senna scooted closer to me, draping her leg over mine.

"Sweet, sweet Omega. My mate. Mother of my child."