by James Wolfe
“Fine! Fine, I take it back!”
“Say he is worth everything! Tell me he deserves everything in the world!”
I couldn’t help but smile at hearing this.
“Fine, he’s worth everything! Now, let me go!” Rich pleaded.
“I will, but do not ever come back. Do not ever go near him again. I will kill you if you ever try to harm a hair on him ever again. Do you understand?”
Rich didn’t answer, just nodded slowly with hatred in his eyes.
“Then, go,” Alexander said, as he let go and got off of him, being very careful to angle his body between Rich and me so that there was no way he’d be able to lunge at me.
But, Rich didn’t try. Alexander had clearly scared him enough. He didn’t even turn around to look at me. I wasn’t sure if that was because he feared Alexander or because he was too embarrassed to look at me.
Well, whatever, I didn’t really care. Not anymore. Nothing mattered anymore except Alexander.
As Rich walked out, Alexander slammed the door behind him and locked it before turning to me and rushing over to hold me tightly.
“Are you okay?!” he asked, desperation in his voice.
“Yes, yes, I’m totally fine. I’m fine, baby,” I said, hugging him tightly back. “Thank you so much. I… I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t come.”
He pulled out of the hug and placed a hand on my face. “I will always be here to protect you, always. You are my everything.”
“But how did you even know I needed protecting?” I asked. Before this moment, I had been too caught up in the drama of everything to even think about the fact that Alexander shouldn’t really have been here.
“I… I didn’t,” he admitted, “not until I got up here and saw what he was doing to you.” I could see his fist clenching again. “The thought of him putting his hands on you that way…”
I grabbed his fist and slowly unclasped it. “I’m fine now, babe. You don’t need to stress. I’m okay.”
“But what if you weren’t?!” he asked desperately. “What if I hadn’t come? What if I wasn’t in the right place at the right time? I… I just can’t think about what would have happened. I can’t imagine how I’d have been able to live my life without you, and…”
“But you don’t have to imagine! Because I’m here, I’m okay.”
“But you could not be at any moment. Daniel, you are not like other werewolves. You are such a fragile human. You have no means to protect yourself like we do as wolves. And you live out here in the human world where people are volatile and violent. People get hurt in the human world, I hear stories. It isn’t like our world. It’s riddled with crime and anger.”
I couldn’t really argue this. I wanted to defend my society, say that, although there was a lot of crime and anger, there were a lot of good people and good deeds. And while that was true, it still didn’t really compare to his society, which was incredibly calm and tolerant, without any crime at all.
“But you can’t obsess about my safety the rest of your life,” I told him.
He brushed my hair back. “I won’t. Not when I’m with you. When I’m with you, I’ll never worry. I’ll protect you for the rest of our days. I will keep you safe, I will know that no harm will come to you in the village.”
“Okay, well—”
But he didn’t let me finish. “Look, Daniel, I have the intense need to give you everything you want. I want nothing more than to provide happiness for you. So, when you said that you wanted to be out in the human world again and take your time dating me, I did not argue. Because I want you to be happy. But I don’t believe that being out here in the human world without me is going to make you happy. Not really, not as happy as you could be with me. I know you’re scared, and I know you’re intimidated by the thought of leaving your life behind, but you can’t allow fear to keep you from your destiny. I’m your fate, Daniel.”
“Alexander—”
“No, please, just listen. I cannot be apart from you anymore, not when the world is so dangerous, not when you are in the state you are in. I have to protect you, have to protect my family. So, you need to come home with me. And I promise, you’ll be happy. I swear, you’ll be happier than you ever would be out here in the human world. And, more importantly, you’ll be safe, because I’ll do anything to protect you. So, please, please come home with me.”
But I couldn’t answer that, not when something else he’d said had my complete and full attention.
“What do you mean ‘the state I’m in?’” I questioned. “You mean, because of the concussion? You know I’m mostly healed, right? Or, you mean because Rich is clearly still wanting to hurt me?”
His face sunk immediately. “No… no, I mean none of those things,” he admitted, looking somewhat guilty.
“Okay… so what?” I asked, a little nervously now. His demeanor had changed so drastically, and it didn’t look good.
“We need to talk, Daniel.”
I knew instantly something was terribly wrong.
12
Alexander
On my way over to Daniel’s apartment, I had spent a lot of time thinking about what I was going to say to him. How I was going to delicately break the news of his pregnancy. And I did have a speech planned out in my head.
But, I’d lost all of it. The second I’d seen Daniel’s ex grabbing his neck, I’d lost my rational train of thought. And, even out of the heat of the moment, it hadn’t come back to me.
But I couldn’t delay any longer. He needed to know the truth, and he needed to know immediately.
Though, I was now even more afraid to tell him than before I’d come.
I believed there was a good chance this would scare him off, that it would push him over the edge and make him leap away from a relationship with me. But, now that I’d felt the true fear of losing him, now that I sensed what a danger this world was to him, I absolutely couldn’t imagine him leaving me. I couldn’t, it was unbearable.
And that really might happen.
“Alexander, you need to talk,” Daniel pushed, as he sat on the couch, “because I’m getting really nervous, and this has clearly already been a hard day. So, please, please talk to me.”
I nodded. “Okay, uh, well… there are some things I have yet to explain to you about my species.”
Yes, this was a good place to start. I’d explain the pregnancy, explain the mechanics, before I got in to the fact that he was personally pregnant. I think it’d be less shocking if he understood it.
“Okay, and what’s that?”
“How we have children,” I told him, “how we reproduce.”
His face scrunched up in confusion. “Oh… right, yes, I… I really hadn’t thought about that. I don’t know why it hadn’t crossed my mind. I… huh. How do you reproduce?”
“Similarly to the way humans do. We reproduce through sex, but, instead of impregnating a woman, we impregnate each other.”
“So you… you men can get pregnant?!” he gasped.
“That’s right,” I nodded, anxiously trying to gauge his reaction.
“So you… have two dads?” he asked.
“Yes, I do.”
“And they live in the village?” he asked. “You haven’t mentioned them.”
“Yes well, uh, that’s another conversation, but… well, I guess I’ll just tell you. They both passed years ago, when I was much younger. And I love them both very much. They were great role models to me.”
He instinctively stood up and wrapped his arms around me. “Oh, Alexander, I can’t imagine. I’m so sorry—”
I was enveloped in his warm arms. I had never known comfort quite like this. It spread through me like a wave. It almost distracted me from what I still had to tell him.
“Thank you, but it’s been a long time. I’ve had time to heal. And, now that I’ve met you, I think I’m healing further.”
He looked up and smiled at me. “I’m really glad to hear that.”
“But, look, Daniel, we still need to talk.”
He looked confused. “Why do you still sound worried?”
“I just… I just don’t know how you’re gonna feel about this—”
“Really?!” he laughed. “How could you not know?”
“Well, I—”
“I’m thrilled! I mean, it’s like the kind of society I’ve always dreamed of. Men getting to love each other openly, have their own babies!”
“So, the male pregnancy, it makes you happy, then?” I asked, still nervous, still delaying what I had to say.
“Absolutely!” he said excitedly. “I mean, I know it probably won’t work for us, being that I’m not a werewolf and all—”
“Actually, it will work for us,” I said, taking in a deep breath for what I finally had to tell him.
“You mean, I can get you pregnant?!” he asked excitedly. “How do you know?! I thought you said a werewolf has never mated with a human before?!”
“They haven’t, to my knowledge. And… I’m not sure if you’re capable of getting me pregnant, but I know I’m capable of getting you pregnant.”
“Me?!” he asked, sounding pretty surprised. “How would you know that?”
“Because you’re pregnant.”
There, it was out there now, what I’d been fighting so hard to say. And, after the words had come out, time seemed to move incredibly slowly. His reaction happened in slow motion, which was really frustrating considering how empty his facial expression was.
He just sat there at first, looking shocked and confused, staring at me seriously.
“What?”
“Daniel, that’s why I’m here. I came here to tell you that you’re pregnant.”
“But, no… that’s not possible,” he muttered. “For so many reasons, that’s not possible. Many more reasons than the fact that I’m a boy. Like, the fact that… that it’s only been a week since we’ve had sex! I wouldn’t even be pregnant yet. And there’s certainly no way you could know—”
“Actually, things don’t work exactly like they do in human pregnancy. Our pregnancies are much faster, only three months, and you can test positive within twenty four hours of conception.”
“But I haven’t been tested?” he questioned again.
“You have. Doctor Aaron tested your blood. And it’s positive.”
His jaw dropped, and his hand flung to his cheek. “So, I’m… I’m pregnant?”
“Yes. And Daniel, I’m so, so sorry!”
He raised an eyebrow. “You’re sorry? Why?”
“Because I did this? Because it’s my fault you are pregnant. If I thought for even a second that it was possible for me to get you pregnant, I would have been careful. And I didn’t even tell you about our pregnancies sooner, and just… I know you were already hesitant about moving forward with me. You were already scared to commit, and I feel like I’ve forced you in to it.”
He looked at me, seriously, and smiled softly.
“But I am ready to commit,” he told me. “As soon as I came back to this apartment, I knew it. I could feel it in my bones, this wasn’t the life for me. I’m not going to miss this life that I’m walking away from… but I’m going to miss you. I already did miss you, and I wasn’t even gone twenty-four hours.”
I couldn’t keep myself from grinning. “You’re… you’re ready to come live with me?”
“I am. I really am.”
“But… what about the pregnancy? That doesn’t scare you away? You’re not terrified.”
He laughed. “Oh, I’m terrified. Absolutely, completely scared out of my mind. How could I not be? A few minutes ago, I had no idea this was even a possibility for me as a man. But, I also feel oddly… at peace with it.”
“At peace?” I asked, eager to hear more about his feelings.
“Yes… it’s a blessing, being able to have a baby with the love of my life, it’s a terrifying blessing. And, I’m sure as I learn more, it will become less terrifying. I need time to adjust, but I think, once I do, I’m going to be able to feel the full joy of how wonderful this really is.”
Every time I worried, every time I doubted my relationship with Daniel, I was proven wrong. Once again, just having a conversation with him assuaged my greatest fears.
And if I didn’t already know he was my soul mate, I would have known from this fact. I would have known based on the way that just communicating with him fixed everything. I felt like, with him by my side, I could conquer anything. I could figure anything out with him. He was my soul, my happiness, everything I’d ever wanted or could want.
He was everything.
“So, you’re moving back with me? Like… now?”
“Well,” he began, “originally, I was going to wait out the week. Take time to pack, give myself time to talk to my job and let them know I wouldn’t be back, that kind of thing. But, since you’re here now and since I just discovered I’m pregnant with your child… yeah, I’ll go back with you.” He grinned before looking around his apartment. “You’re going to have to help me pack all this up, though.”
“Can do,” I said, as I leaned in to kiss his cheek.
My life had never felt more complete.
13
Daniel
I rolled over in bed, very carefully considering the new bulge that now existed within my stomach.
It had been two months. I only had one more in my pregnancy to go. And, as crazy as it sounded, I was actually disappointed by that.
I mean, truly, I knew it was insane. When I’d first discovered I was pregnant and had nothing but fear pulsing through me, I wouldn’t ever have been able to imagine a time when I’d actually wished my pregnancy was longer.
But I did. I wanted to be pregnant the full nine months, like women were. Hell, I could go even longer than that!
I just loved the feeling of this child inside me. I loved when he kicked, when I could feel him move. I loved that he was safe within my stomach.
That last bit was probably the most important thing to me. I felt so protective of this child that I struggled with the idea of pushing him out into the world. A world that was scary, uncertain, filled with negativity. I wanted to keep him shielded from that as long as possible, and keeping him inside me was a good way to do so.
Then again, he also wasn’t going in to the same world I knew. The world that he was going to grow up in was completely different than the one I had. It wasn’t dangerous. On the contrary, it was too good to be true. Incredibly safe, incredibly homey. In the past two months, I’d learned just how fantastic this community truly was.
But still, that didn’t keep my protective instincts from going into overdrive. And I wanted to keep him in as long as possible.
I wasn’t the only one feeling protective these days, of course. Alexander was protective all the time, no matter the circumstances, but he had gone into overdrive during my pregnancy.
It was really sweet, actually. He never let me do a thing; I couldn’t so much as lift a finger. He wanted to be responsible for everything.
I had fallen so deeply in love with him. Like truly, unimaginably in love.
I know for him, he had been in love with me as soon as we’d met, because that was just how he worked. And, for me, it had obviously taken a while longer.
Even his intense love had grown too, though. Love had grown for the both of us. How could it not have? I was carrying his child. A baby who had been made by both of us was residing inside me, and that was a special bond that could not be replicated.
I felt like a completely different person. Everything that I had once believed about the world, everything I had once believed about how I could have a family, had been completely flipped. Life as I knew it was so different now… and so much more wonderful.
Sometimes, I regretted the fact that I’d spent so much of my life away from Alexander. Each day I’d spent without him felt like a waste, it was like I’d thrown away years of my life being less happy than I could have
been.
But I had to remind myself that everything I’d done, every year of my life, had led me to him. One way or another, it had brought us together. I had to be grateful for that and not resent it.
I looked over at him, still sleeping softly. I was a little jealous. I hadn’t gotten very good sleep this month, not with my bump as large as it was. Every sleeping position I got into ended up being uncomfortable no matter how hard I tried to work around it.
There were a few negatives to pregnancy like that, but none of them outweighed the pros. My heart soared every time I felt his little foot kick against my stomach. I just adored him already.
As much as I loved Alexander, and I did, I loved this baby so much more. That sounded irrational when you considered the fact that I hadn't even met this child yet, had no idea what he was going to be like, knew basically nothing about him. But it didn’t matter. I had this intense, protective, incredible love for him.
I couldn’t imagine how I was going to feel once he was really here.
Alexander stirred next to me, and, even though I probably could have let him sleep a little longer, I took advantage and woke him up. I know, quite selfish, but I was so bored and eager to talk to him.
And possibly do a little more than talk…
“Good morning, sunshine!” I kissed him on the head.
“Mmm… is it?” he grumbled.
“It is! Get up, get up!”
He rolled over and raised an eyebrow. “Why are you so cheery this morning?” he questioned, knowing I was not at all a morning person.
“Ugh, I’ve been up for like an hour and a half now. Thanks to the little monster,” I pointed to my stomach.
It was a little running joke we had. Every time the baby was driving me crazy, I called him a monster. And whenever he did something to make me melt, I called him an angel. It was all very dependent on my mood.
He put his hand on my stomach, rubbing it gently. I absolutely loved when he did this.
“Good morning, little monster,” he whispered to my stomach.
