Chapter Twenty-Two

My eyes followed Hutch's form as he walked from the clinic area to our bedroom. His eyes were puffy, and he had his arms wrapped around his torso, hugging himself. We had turned part of the clinic into a mental health area. Hammer had found a counselor who specialized in sexual trauma and, with all the omegas we were now housing, he was sometimes here twelve hours a day.

Money well spent.Those were Hammer's words when the counselor told him his rate—he even gave us a discount. His contribution to the cause, and we all appreciated it.

Hammer even suggested I have a session, but without any more calls for me to murder someone, I didn't think I needed it.al

Not since the time I had been called in for a hit, and found my omega, had the boss, whoever they were, called me for a mission. Maybe it was because I failed the last one. Even more, because they were onto us for discovering all the evil they'd been up to.

Now I could focus on my omega.

My dragon wanted me to run to our mate—ease his pain or remove it from him completely, but I had learned that this all was a process. Many times, after his sessions, Hutch wanted to be alone. Collect himself and his thoughts before coming back out. I tried to respect that alone time but today, he looked like he could use my help. Dragon's intuition. Besides, if he didn't want me there, I gave him the space to safely tell me he needed to be alone.

"Tyrus," I called out to the bear. "Take over for me? It's almost done."

He nodded and took my place in front of the stove where we had chicken and dumplings simmering for the masses.

As I walked down the hallway toward our bedroom, my dragon's wings prickled beneath my skin.

I didn't speak when I entered but, instead of finding my mate on the bed or in the shower, I found him ripping the sheets and blankets off the bed and tossing them onto the love seat near the window. I considered that this was some form of relieving his feelings and stood back, arms crossed over my chest.

"Have you ever noticed our blankets aren't the softest?" he said, straightening and putting his hands on his hips. "We need to get some new ones. The softest we can find. I mean, if that's okay."

Interesting. "We can go buy all the blankets in the store if you'd like."

My omega took to rearranging the pillows and shifting some blankets from the closet into a circle on the mattress, all the while grumbling the bed wasn't as perfect as it should be.

My dragon took a long drag of our omega's scent, letting it penetrate. His scent had changed over time, become stronger, but today, the sweetness overwhelmed his usual scent.

My dragon put things together before I did.

Mate carries our young.

"Hutch, I think we need to talk about something," I said, as gently as possible. My omega thought he was a dud because he hadn't gotten pregnant while in captivity.

Just because he didn't conceive under so much stress and anguish didn't mean he couldn't.

"What?" he asked, but his eyes never left the bed. He studied it and then sighed, throwing his arms in the air.

"You've been tired lately. Extra weepy. A bit clingy. Not that I mind any of that, but now you're clearly nesting, my love."

His gaze darted from me to the bed to me again. "Nesting? No. That's for omegas who are…" His eyes grew wide. His mouth opened a bit. Several times he started to speak but then stopped himself. "It's not possible."

I sighed, walking over and wrapping him in my arms. "I think it is. And my dragon knows it is."

"We have tests in the clinic," he said, doubt coloring his expression.

"Be right back."

I almost sprinted to the clinic where I grabbed a few tests in case we wanted to double or triple check. When I came back, my mate was sitting on the bed, resting his face in his palms. "I'm not, Maverick. I told you already that I can't get pregnant. I warned you," he snarled. "So don't get your hopes up."

"Humor me," I said gently and held out the tests. "So don't get your hopes up."

I thought he might refuse to test, but he grabbed the boxes and stepped into the adjoining bathroom.

The two minutes of waiting for the results were the longest of my life. The timer on my phone went off and he froze next to me.

"Look at me, Hutch. I'm fully and completely content, no matter what the results are. You are everything I ever need. I'm here and I love you with my whole heart."

"Okay." He returned to the bathroom and came back, paler than I'd ever seen him.

"It's okay. My dragon was wrong. Perhaps he smelled you were upset instead of…"

"I'm pregnant, alpha." Three words that struck lightning through me. Words I'd thought I'd never hear.

"Are you sure?" I asked, standing up, trying not to get excited until I knew.

"Two lines. Two lines," he repeated under his breath. "I didn't think it was possible."

I closed the distance between us and hugged him to me, inhaling his sweeter scent. "Are you happy?" I stopped to consider he might not be. "Talk to me, Hutch."

I set him away from me and took his face in my hands, studying his expression.

He smiled as tears ran down his face. "Our love did this," he whispered. "I thought it wasn't possible, but our love made it possible."

"Come on, Daddy," I said, taking his hand in mine and leading from the bedroom into the main room. "I'm telling everyone our news and then we're shopping for our nest."

He giggled. "Daddy. I could get used to that."