“What sort of divide?” I asked him.
“At the very least a pheromone shield to keep us from getting annoyed with them,” Jessie said and walked in front of the nest. He turned to look at the room and took several large steps towards the center of the room. He turned and examined the distance and then took several more.
“Everyone would need to be behind this point,” he pulled over an armchair to mark the place he stood. “No running in and out either. Once they’re here they’d have to stay put. No music. No endless chatter. No snacks being passed around like it was a movie.”
He turned to face me again.
“And if someone annoys you I’ll kick them out.”
“So, just us, Ross and Monta, Zoey, Wrynn and Darian, right?” I asked him.
“What about Jake and Gary? Zack and Sophie?” Jessie asked. “You’re friends with all of them. Leslie, maybe?”
“We can’t leave out Lucky and Daisy either,” I sighed. “And if Leslie’s here Ryan will come too.”
“And Barry.”
“And Barry,” I nodded.
“No one else,” Jessie said. “Sound good, Ross?”
“Well, some of them from back home wanted to come and see it?”
“They can watch the video,” Jessie said. “That’s the guest list.”
“Thanks, guys. It really means a lot to me. To all of us,” Ross grinned.
Chapter Forty-Two
Jessie
We kept everyone out of the house for as long as we could. Zoey still dropped by every day after school, but Logan and I enjoyed long hours of cuddling up together and listening silently for the slightest clue our baby was ready to come out into the world. He grew more patient every day, but I was ready to meet the little person who would change our lives forever and hold their warm little form in my arms. I was ready to find out if he or she had Logan’s big blue eyes and blonde hair or looked more like me. I was ready to be a father.
“Alpha,” Logan whispered in my ear.
“Oh, sorry, mate. I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” I yawned.
“The baby’s moving,” he whispered and pointed at the egg. I rolled over to check the egg for cracks. It was still solid and seamless, but tiny gurgling sounds echoed around the egg along with little thumps that sounded like kicks.
“Wow,” I said at a loss for other words to describe the joy wrapping around us as we watched the egg for more signs that our little one would join us soon.
“It’s time to call the others, isn’t it?” Logan bit his lip.
“We don’t have to,” Jessie shook his head.
“You promised Ross, though,” he frowned.
“I did,” I felt a pang of guilt in my stomach, “but you come first. You’re my mate and if having all of them here is too much then they’ll just have to understand that.”
“I want to try to let them be here,” Logan smiled. “Just don’t be mad if I bite someone.”
“I won’t and if it’s Monta I’ll even buy you a present.”
“I thought you might have moved passed that.”
“I’m a good actor. Ross loves him, but part of me will always dislike that man. He did Ross wrong. They moved past it, but if he ever breaks my brother’s heart I’ll call out the hounds myself.”
“How about calling our family to come watch our baby come into the world?” he said, and I stole a quick kiss before sliding out of the nest to make the call.
***
The others arrived in one big group. Zoey took the time to organize their arrival, so someone wasn’t at the door every few minutes. They group walked in silently having left the pups at the Academy’s daycare. I hadn’t considered what we’d do with all of them, but Zoey thought ahead to make things easier for us.
She was still young, but she’d grown up since her injury. She still hadn’t settled on a major and sometimes she forgot her nightly call to our mother, but she tried her best. Darian always said it took something big for anyone to finally grow up. Her thing was just bigger than most peoples. She still listened to her cheesy boy band, but we heard less and less about them and more about classes and recently more about the egg from her than anything else.
“You sit in your normal spot, Zoey,” Logan said.
“Thanks, I’ll sit down once I make sure this lot is settled,” she smiled.
“I’ll make sure everyone stays in their seats,” Darian chuckled. “You go on over with them. You’re the baby’s god mother after all.
Zoey blushed and took her seat.
The day we decided to allow guests to watch our baby come into the world Logan and I organized a seating chart with those he was most comfortable with closer to us and the others farther back. Everyone could still see, but some would just sit closer than others.
Of course, Zoey had her normal seat just outside of the nest within arms reach of the egg and soon the baby. Wrynn and Darian were closer than the others. Logan liked the idea of having Wrynn close by and I thought Darian made a good buffer between the baby and anyone getting overly excited and trying to touch the egg.
He missed Sky more than any of us. Maybe even more than Ross. I couldn’t miss a brother I never knew but hoped allowing Darian a front row seat to my child coming into the world would ease his hurt. We’d all been through enough over the last few years. It was time to heal old wounds and put the past aside.
The happy gurgling sounds within the egg grew louder as everyone took their seats. Quiet thumps echoed through the room and I crawled back into the nest with Logan.
“We’re ready whenever you are,” I ran a single finger down the egg.
A thump sounded from within it and the tiniest of cracks appeared.
“Get the video camera ready, Monta. This baby isn’t going to wait much longer,” I chuckled.
“It’s on.”
“Good. Mom will eat us all if she doesn’t get to watch it later,” Ross laughed.
“Shhh!” Logan hissed.
Another thump and my heart rose into my throat as the tiniest foot I’d ever seen broke free from the egg. The baby jerked their now stuck foot, but it didn’t budge.
Logan took my hand and squeezed it. Barry told us more times than I care to count how important it was to allow the baby to break free from the egg on their own.
The bends of their little toes were marked with small blue scales. Logan reached out and traced them. The baby fell still for a moment and then let out a wail of frustration. A second later, their other foot was free.
Other parents warned me that parenthood was the practice of looking patient while silently fuming with frustration as your baby learned to do for themselves. I’d never heard truer words, because in that moment I wanted to free them and pull them into my arms, but I knew better and so did my wolf.
The baby twisted in the egg freeing their feet and breaking the shell apart with their tiny little fists. A piece of shell fell free and my heart stopped for a second. Looking at her so small and beautiful surrounded by shiny blue egg shells and little dragon scales marking places on her forehead, fingers, toes, and other joints. She was the most beautiful little girl that ever lived with soft blonde hair and eyes just as blue as her egg had been.
“She’s gorgeous!” Zoey laughed.
“She is,” I nodded and looked to Logan. A single tear rolled down his cheek as the baby kicked her feet knocking away the last of the egg holding her in place.
“You should be the first to hold her,” I whispered in his ear.
“I have the warm water here to bathe her with,” Zoey said.
“Thanks, Zoey,” Logan said but neither of us looked away from the sweet little girl our love had brought into the world.
Logan took the warm cloth from Zoey and washed our little girl clean of the last bits of egg shell.
“You missed a piece,” Darian reached forward and before I could push his hand away Logan’s teeth sank into his flesh.
“Ow! Sorry. Sorry, habit,” Darian said carefu
l not to move.
“No, wait until you’re invited to touch the baby,” Logan said after he finally released his hand.
“I thought the curse was broke when Wrynn didn’t bite anyone when Adrian was born,” Monta laughed.
“Apparently, it skips around,” Darian shook his hand and wiped away the few drops of blood that came to the surface. It healed before Wrynn ever had the chance to examine them.
When she was clean, Logan cradled her in his arms and I wrapped my arm around his shoulders.
“She looks so much like you,” I whispered in his ear. “So beautiful.”
“What are you guys going to name her?” Zoey asked leaning on the edge of the nest for a better look.
“Do you want to tell her or should I?” I smiled at Logan.
“I will,” he kissed my cheek. “Well, we were thinking of naming her after the person who sacrificed the most to protect her.”
Zoey blushed.
“Unless you don’t want to share your name. We’d understand,” Logan said.
“Oh Juda, you guys!” Zoey blinked away tears. “Really?”
“Really,” I laughed. “Thank you, guys, so much.”
“Thank you,” Logan said.
Slowly, the others came closer and Logan handed our darling little girl to me. She was so tiny and beautiful that it hurt to look at her.
“We cleaned up the whole territory just for you,” I whispered to her. “It wasn’t easy, but this moment made all the hard work worth it.”
About the Author
Maggie Hemlock calls the mountainous region of the Appalachian Foothills home. Along with her fur-baby, Daryl, she enjoys spending time in nature to recharge her batteries and get inspired.
Her career started in freelance journalism and expanded into fiction as the years passed. While reality may be stranger than fiction story telling is her first true love. Her tall tales caused her trouble during her early years of childhood, but soon with chubby-pencil to paper she began story writing.
Decades later this love matured into a passion and she’s written across many genres. Her current love is MPREG. It’s so much better to read about men falling in love, making babies, and raising happy families than it is to read about them killing one another off in wars across the globe in real life. So, when it comes to writing the male specimen she prefers adorable omegas with bellies plump with future generations and the sexy and sometimes arrogant Alphas who love and protect them.
With a strong belief in live and let live and all love is love, Maggie Hemlock is both a member of and an advocate for the LGBT community.
Drop by and say hello to Maggie on Facebook.
Hemlock Wolf Pack Saga Books
Omega Studies
Omega Wrynn Heart dreams of the day he’ll meet his true-mate, but everyone keeps telling him no Alpha wants to marry a smart-mouthed omega with little respect for tradition or authority. That’s okay, he doesn’t want to marry an Alpha looking for nothing more than a houseboy, anyway. What sort of mundane existence would that be? Certainly not one he wants to experience.
Wrynn’s outspoken nature causes him to cycle through a lot of jobs and there aren’t many left willing to hire an unmated omega. His last chance is the position of Omega Studies professor at the prestigious Hemlock Academy. It’s below his level of expertise, but his Alpha brother and guardian, Zack, called in every last favor to secure it for Wrynn and threatens to marry him off, true-mate or not, if he doesn’t make it work.
When his new boss turns out to be everything Wrynn’s ever dreamed of and more he’s sure there’s a catch to snagging the most eligible Alpha in the states. He’s not sure he’ll get to find out if Darian Hemlock can’t put up with his sass and outspoken nature.
Darian Hemlock isn’t looking for his true-mate. He’s not against the idea. The Patriarch of Hemlock Wolf Pack and the Dean of Hemlock Academy has bigger problems to worry about. With the turnover rate of the Omega Studies professor ever rising and a new string of omega disappearances sweeping through his pack’s territory he’s taken off guard when Wrynn Heart walks into his life and for a brief moment the world stops.
His new Omega Studies Professor is unlike any other omega he’s ever met and he’s his. Everything about Wrynn makes him irresistible from his slim physique to his smart-mouthed antics. In fact, when it comes to Wrynn he can only think about one thing: the night they conceive their first pup.
Alpha and omega collided in a clash of passion, but the world doesn’t stop just because they’ve had a true-mating response.
Threats from the outside continue to pour into their lives in the form of an unsolved string of omega kidnappings. Will Darian and his pack stop the threat to their very home before it’s too late?
Omega Sight
Omega Ross Hemlock has waited a long time to meet his true-mate. Blessed with the unique gift of omega sight he knows how, but just not when his sexy true-mate Alpha will walk into his life. When his brother, Darian, the Patriarch of the Hemlock Pack, calls upon his gift to solve a mystery involving the disappearance of omegas from nearby territories he stumbles into the fated love of his life. There’s only one problem Monta Gallagher isn’t the Alpha his family had in mind for him.
Alpha Monta Gallagher is from the wrong side of the tracks and he knows it. Sure, the Hemlock Patriarch helped him out of a few rough patches in the past, but that doesn’t mean he wants to mate into his family. As soon as he lays eyes on Ross he knows he’ll never be good enough for him. Not because of the money or the acclaimed Hemlock name, but because he’ll never be able to give the sexy omega the life he deserves.
Both Ross and Monta are helpless to the throes of fate and passion, but can they stop arguing long enough to build a family and aid in keeping their territory safe from the threats looming in every dark corner?
Omega Magic Page 21
