by Aria Grace
“I dunno… Isn’t that going to make you look bad?”
“Do you think I really give a damn what anyone in Gilmouth thinks about me? Besides you?”
The question caught me off guard, and I didn’t know how to answer. “What’s that mean?”
Kenway pulled away from my neck and looked me in the eye, but he hesitated. “That I think I’ve found my mate. That is, if you’ll have me.”
Air rushed out of my lungs. I blinked at him, unable to accept the words I’d heard from his mouth. “What? Really? But you just met me. I mean, I’m not bothered, it’s just… Unexpected.”
He laughed and brushed his hair out of his face. “How do you think I feel about all this? I didn’t expect things to go this way either. Still, it feels right. We can take things slowly.”
“We aren’t off to an impressive start with that,” I joked, and we laughed together. He wrapped his arms around me and gave me a comforting squeeze, then pecked a kiss on the back of my neck.
“No, I suppose we aren’t. But I’m serious, Landon. I’d like for you to stay with me here in the manor, tonight and every night.”
“But what about your other guests? Shouldn’t you at least, I dunno, play the field with them a bit before you settle on me? I’m nothing special. I don’t have a rich family and a vast empire. I can’t give you anything they can’t.” I didn’t know why I was trying so hard to get him to change his mind. Maybe I wasn’t ready to admit that I felt something deeper going on between us too.
Kenway shook his head against the back of mine. “I’ve done plenty of field playing already, and you’re wrong. You’ve given me everything they can’t, and I want more,” he said and pushed himself up onto one elbow. He reached around and pulled my chin toward him to lock eyes with me. “Now, I’ll ask you one last time: will you or won’t you stay?”
Despite my pounding heart and the voices in my head screaming at me that I must be crazy, I sat up to kiss him. “I will.”
6. Heath
Two Weeks Later
As I strolled through the ground floor of Kenway Manor early on New Year’s Day after waking up with Landon next to me, I realized it finally felt like home, not least of all because we continued making our own fireworks in bed every night. Each time, I discovered something new about him — a sensitive spot on his body or, sometimes while snuggling after, a piece of his past he hadn’t yet shared.
Though we’d only been seeing each other for a couple weeks, and we hadn’t yet disclosed it to the people of Gilmouth because we didn’t want to rush or jinx anything, I doubted I’d ever tire of having him around. Where before my life seemed boring, pre-determined and grey, now it felt full of excitement and pregnant with possibility.
Now that the new year had come and gone, the staff had begun the daunting task of taking down and packing away all the Christmas decorations in the manor. As I watched them flitting around and scaling ladders to reach for each false snowflake and bauble, for the first time in ten years or more, sadness swept over me to see it end.
Meeting Landon had changed so much for me, not least of all my relationship to the holidays. Where they used to stir up feelings of grief and memories I’d very much like to forget about my parents, now I looked forward to the years to come. Though it was far too soon to talk about things like that with Landon, I pictured a half dozen or more of our children chasing each other through the snow on the manor’s grounds, snowballs at the ready. I imagined them curling up with us in front of the fire with steaming mugs of hot chocolate and dreamed of watching them dive into their presents on Christmas morning.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smile that wide on your face before,” Landon said as he wrapped an arm around my waist. I’d left him to sleep in my bed and hadn’t heard him sneak up from behind. He held a steaming mug of coffee in his other hand, so he must’ve stopped by the kitchen on his way to find me. “I knew you didn’t like the holidays, but I didn’t think you’d be so thrilled to see all this go away.”
I turned my beaming smile on him and pecked a kiss on his forehead. “Good morning. Actually, that’s not why I’m so happy. I was just thinking.”
He raised an eyebrow. “About what?”
“How grateful I am to have met you,” I said, and he chuckled.
“You know, if you keep saying that, I might eventually believe you.”
“As you should.”
He fixed me with an inquisitive look. “But what were you really thinking?”
I laughed, too embarrassed to tell him the truth. The people of Gilmouth had called me many things over the years, but sentimental was never one of them. “Nothing.”
He elbowed me in the ribs, making me jump, and I scowled at him. He knew I hated it when he did that, but he also knew I could never stay mad at him for it. “Oh, come on, Heath. You can tell me anything. Whatever it is, I won’t judge you. Well, not too hard, anyway.”
“I’m just disappointed to see the end of the holiday season already.”
“I rarely associate smiles with disappointment.”
I sighed. “Okay, fine. I was thinking about how nice it would be to hear the laughter of kids as they tore through the manor.”
He looked at me with wide eyes. “Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“You mean… Our kids?”
I blushed, which almost never happened. “Yeah. Now you know why I didn’t want to tell you. I realize it’s far too early to be talking about that kind of thing.”
Landon beamed and straightened. “I’m not offended. Actually, I think it’s cute.”
“Is that something you’d be interested in one day?”
He shrugged. “I haven’t really thought much about it, honestly. I mean, I figured I’d have kids at some point, but given that until two weeks ago I was working two jobs just to keep a roof over my head, it didn’t seem like the right time.”
“Understandable. It’s not every day that a king sweeps a charming young omega like you off his feet,” I said, and we shared a laugh. “Speaking of families, how’s your father doing?” I hadn’t yet gotten to meet the elder Mr. Richmond, but Landon had already told me about his health issues.
“He’s the best I’ve seen him in years. Though I’m sure his only son shacking up with the king has a lot to do with his improvement.”
I chuckled and nodded. “That’s also understandable. I’d love to meet him soon.”
Landon sipped his coffee and offered it to me. “Oh, trust me, he’s climbing the walls to meet you too. I won’t be able to keep him away much longer, especially once he hears the big news.”
I froze with the lip of the coffee mug in front of my mouth. “What big news is that?” Though he turned away to hide it, I didn’t miss the flush in his cheeks. “What is it? Tell me,” I insisted.
Landon sighed. “Well, I hadn’t really planned to share it with you like this, but I guess I didn’t plan for any of this, so it fits.”
I reached for his hand with my free one, sensing gravity in the words he was about to speak. He splayed his fingers between mine and squeezed hard, then glanced up at me with mist in his eyes.
“I-I’m pregnant,” he muttered with a little sob, and I nearly dropped the coffee mug.
“What? Are you serious?” I hissed, unable to believe what he’d said, but no less thrilled.
He nodded so hard I worried his head might loll off his shoulders. “Yeah, positive. I took three pregnancy tests just to be sure. They all came back with the same result.”
Given how often we’d been making love, it shouldn’t have surprised me, but shock still coursed through me. “But… How? I thought you said you weren’t…?”
He shrugged. “I thought I wasn’t, but obviously I was wrong. It’s not an exact science, you know.”
“No, of course not. But it doesn’t matter. Landon, this is amazing! We’re having a child together!” I shouted in gleeful disbelief, my voice echoing throughout the manor. Several of the st
aff members stopped in their tracks, and their hushed whispers carried back to me, but I didn’t care — not about how quickly it’d happened, nor that Landon and I weren’t even public about being a couple yet, much less married — the only thing I cared about was the child now growing inside him.
He placed our linked hands on his stomach. “Not just one. I think it’s twins.”
My eyes shot to his as my head spun, struggling to register what he’d said. “What? But it’s so early, how can you know that?”
“Father’s intuition, I guess,” he said and shrugged. “I’m not sure how I know; I just do. I can feel it in my bones.”
“When did you find out?”
“Last night.”
“So that’s why you refused the celebratory champagne,” I laughed.
“Exactly. Talk about bad timing.”
I shook my head. “No, it’s perfect. What better time to find out you’re bringing new life into the world than at the start of a new year?”
“Yeah, maybe you’re right. You’re not upset, are you?”
“What? No! How could I be?”
“Well, it’s just that things have already moved so quickly between us, and now there’s this to deal with. I know the press will have a field day once they get wind of it all.”
I pulled him into a hug and squeezed him gently. “I told you, I don’t care what anyone thinks about me but you. Let the press talk, it’s what they do. Nothing they have to say matters to me.”
“I know, but what about the rest of Gilmouth? What if the public judges me for getting pregnant so soon? Or what if they don’t like me once we go announce our relationship?”
I held him out at arms’ length and stared straight into his watering, gorgeous blue eyes. “How could they dislike you? Look at you. You’re kind, gorgeous, and you’re carrying the Kenway heirs many of them thought they’d never see. They couldn’t ask for a better King’s Consort, and they’d be a fool to think otherwise.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I know I am. Come with me, there’s something I want to show you,” I said, and with his hand still in mine, I led him down the eastern wing of the ground floor to the throne room.
Though Landon had been living full time with me in the manor, he still hadn’t set foot inside, though that had more to do with my reluctance to visit than anything else. Like many other parts of the manor, the throne room conjured memories I’d spent years trying to keep buried.
I shoved the heavy double doors open, and Landon gasped. Despite its age and the number of times I’d seen it, even I had to admit that the throne room was probably still one of the most stunning spaces in the entire manor.
Though the room was empty save for a matching set of resplendent, ornate chairs resting on a raised platform at the center and a posh, red velvet carpet that led directly to them, the real stunners were the dozens of hand-painted oil portraits of every Kenway king who’d come before me hanging around the room. In their golden frames, each stood in a stately pose wearing the fashion of their day with their spouse at their side looking just as regal.
“One day, no matter who might object to it, you and I will join them,” I said and pointed to an empty spot on the wall directly behind the throne where, after our eventual marriage, the staff would hang a depiction of us together. I stroked Landon’s stomach. “As will the kings and queens who come after us. And you’ll hardly be the first spouse to appear in your portrait pregnant.”
Beaming and with tears in his eyes, Landon leaned forward to kiss me, and I didn’t dare refuse. Despite the hundreds of kisses we’d shared by now, this was far and away the most tender and vulnerable one yet.
“I think I’m falling in love with you, King Kenway,” he laughed as he wiped the tears from his eyes when we parted. It brought tears to my eyes too.
“The feeling is mutual, Mr. Richmond,” I said, “And that’s good since you’re carrying our children.”
Landon burst out laughing and pulled me in for another hug. When I released him, he stood staring in awe at the portraits that ringed the room’s walls. “Where are your parents?” he asked. Though the question normally would’ve made me cringe, instead, I felt pride as I pointed to the painting to the left of the space behind the throne.
“There. Though you’d probably never recognize them. They married young. Too young, according to some Gilmouthans.” Not even I could deny how young they looked in their portrait, barely over twenty, but I also couldn’t ignore how enamored with each other they looked.
“Wow, you aren’t kidding,” Landon said as he stared up at the portrait of King Pierce Kenway in a form-fitting royal blue suit and a flowing fur cape. The crown was too big for his head, so it sloped to one side, something he frequently complained about when I was a child until he finally grew into it. Had it not been for that and his shorter hair, anyone could’ve mistaken he and I in the portrait for one another. We were spitting images of each other.
The King’s Consort, alpha Lawrence Kenway, born Lawrence Montrose, stood tall and proud behind him in a complementary powder blue suit with one hand resting on his husband’s shoulder. Despite being an alpha, Lawrence never once complained about taking the backseat to Pierce’s rule. He was just as comfortable following as he was leading.
Looking at their portrait with Landon, I still missed my parents terribly, but the pain no longer had the same hold over me as it used to, especially as I considered that they would live on in our children. My only regret was that my fathers would never get to meet their grandchildren, though I had every intention of ensuring that our kids knew who their grandparents were.
“The way they’re smiling down at us, I swear it’s almost like they see themselves in us and they’re giving us their approval,” Landon said as he took my hand. “Well, now I know where to go to ask your parents for their blessing to marry you.”
I laughed and kissed Landon’s cheek. “They already have.”
About Quinn Bishop
Quinn Bishop is a new author of royal mpreg romance. When Quinn isn’t dreaming up his next princely pair, you can probably catch him re-watching his favorite episodes of The Crown.
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Finding His Reality
Jena Wade
1. Tyson
The sounds of jingle bells and other festive, human Christmas celebrations rang in my ears as I drove down the winding road that eventually led to my pack territory. My home. I was one of the only pack members who kind of, sort of had their own car.
I had spent the last few months as a sort of exchange student with the Ashcliff pack. They had a professional chef there who had been human trained and I had been able to learn so much from her. It had been a magnificent experience, and I couldn't wait to bring back what I had learned to my own pack.
I missed my family very much. Though I was reaching my mid-twenties, I hadn't been away from home for an extended period of time, until now. Not many pack members left the territory, and most certainly didn't leave permanently unless they were mated outside the pack. Hearing all of the Christmas celebrations on the radio as I made the drive only made me miss my family more. Though, we didn't celebrate Christmas exactly, and we didn't have a Santa Claus, we had adopted some of the other human traditions, like giving gifts.
For our month of December, our celebrations began on the new moon that took place mid-month and usually concluded on the full, cold moon run at the end of the month. In the middle of all that there was the winter solstice, where tradition stated that we had to spend the duration of the dark time, the longest night of the year, in our wolf form.
It was one of my favorite nights of the year, because in our wolf forms we were free, and we had quite a bit of fun.
Cold moon matings were a time honored tradition as well. Some believed that it was a sign of good l
uck to have your mating on the full cold moon. I was sure that there was some sort of superstition related to all the different full moons and any mating that took place on any of them was blessed.
I had just heard the cold moon superstition more often because my parents had been mated in December some thirty years ago. They had a special love for the full cold moon.
My phone rang, startling me from my thoughts. I still wasn't used to having a cellphone, but when I had left the pack Alpha Byrom had insisted that I find a way to maintain contact with my family, which in turn meant I maintained contact with some of my friends as well. I recognized the ringtone as Curt’s and my heart rate increased, which was silly. Curt wasn't anything more than a friend. I was still waiting for the day that my childhood crush on my closest friend would disappear.
Even though I didn’t really want it to.
“Hello,” I answered.
“Dude, tell me you're on your way home, please?”
I chuckled. “I am. I am only about five minutes out. What's up?”
“Oh, thank goodness. Listen, my parents have been on my ass ever since Archer got mated with that porpoise of his.”
I grinned. I knew the story. It had been a bit scandalous at the time. Archer had met Sanford because Sanford was his dad's very best friend in the world. He was twenty-five years older than Archer, or something close to that. In my mind, it might as well have been fifty, but it worked for the two of them and that was all that mattered.
“And now that Ben is mated, they've been wanting me to start dating again. But I just haven't been feeling it. And I'm afraid that if I don't give them some sort of reason soon, they're going to start setting me up with people. So for the holiday festivities, I need you to be my boyfriend.”
I groaned. Yeah, that's exactly what I wanted to be, in close proximity to a wolf I had a crush on when he didn’t have the same feelings for me. Curt and I had been close growing up, the best of friends, and we still were. He had never indicated that he wanted more than that and I, being the somewhat shy omega that I was, didn’t let on that I wanted anything more than friendship.
