by Susi Hawke
“They were just fine, dude. Don't sweat it. From the way things smell in here,” Daniel said, pausing as he sniffed the air that was redolent with the smell of omega heat, “I think you should just trust us to mind them for a few days. They can adjust to the pack while you two, er, adjust to each other.”
I smirked knowingly, as I watched Aries raise a brow at my cousin. “You seriously expect me to just, what? Stay locked away with Micah and fuck his brains out for days on end while my pups form new attachments with the rest of pack instead of getting to know their own father?” His spoke mildly, but I could feel his very real feelings of outrage through our bond.
Reaching out a hand, I cupped his neck to calm him down, while Sy spoke up. “Aries, we all know how much you've longed for those pups, and how very dear they are to you. But you are obviously in heat, and that is not something that I think you really want your pups to see, am I right?”
My mate looked down at the table as he blushed, but quickly nodded in agreement to that quite apt statement.
Sy continued: “Then trust your pack to care for them as we would our own, while you take this time to be with your alpha. I know it's not how we'd planned your first few days with the pups to go, but they are young and will be just fine in our care. It's only until your heat passes anyway.”
“Did they have any nightmares,” I asked Sy quietly. “They have them a lot, I wish I'd thought to warn you guys.”
“Zane knew,” Daniel said. “He slept in there with them, insisted on it, in fact. He thought it would be easier for them, since they are most comfortable with him right now.”
I nodded my approval. “Good, I should have realized that he would have thought of that.”
“Hey,” I said suddenly, “were you as shocked as I was to see Tommy Collins' kid brother all grown up? Zane's such a good guy too. I wish I'd known about Tommy and their parents dying though, it broke my heart when Angie told me about that.”
Daniel explained when Aries and Sy looked at me questioningly, “Zane's family was killed in a car crash last year. His older brother, Tommy, was Micah's best friend growing up. Zane used to try to follow us all around, but he was just a little guy, so we always ditched him.”
“Damn. That's sucks, hon.” Aries said, running a comforting hand along my arm. “I'm sorry that you lost your friend.”
“Yeah, it was rough to hear about,” I said. “But I feel worse for Zane. Poor guy lost his whole family at once, you know?”
“I think we all know a little about that,” my mate agreed with a sad smile. I felt a pang of remorse, when I remembered that he'd lost his own grandmother from a car crash as well. “Remind me to thank him, when we finally get back. I appreciate him being there for the pups, especially sleeping in their room. I'm sure that they needed the comfort of having him there.”
“He's a good kid,” Daniel nodded. “I will let him know how much you both appreciate his help. And I'll let him be the one to tell Miss Sara that you're going to be away for a few days. You know, I wouldn't be surprised a bit to find out that little girl is an alpha herself.”
Aries laughed, “Make sure you let her know that the Daddy Guy is being nice to her Nutter Daddy.”
We all chuckled along with him at that one, my heart leaping for joy as I suddenly realized that Sara and Dylan were actually mine to keep now, because Aries and I had mated. Feeling my emotion through our bond, my mate clasped hands with me and smiled happily.
As if reading my mind, Daniel said: “Wow, she's going to freak out when they hear that you actually are going to be their dad now. That pup really adores you, Micah.”
“Maybe it's for the best, you needing this time away from them,” Sy said quietly. “When you two come back, you'll greet them as a combined parental unit, and that will definitely help them both accept Aries a lot faster.”
Aries nodded and said honestly: “Not gonna lie, I will always hate that I have to get my own pups to accept me, but it's not their fault. Poor babies. I'm just so happy to actually have the chance though, you know? And the fact that I'm now mated to the infamous Nutter Daddy has got to get me some points with them, right?”
“Where the hell did that crazy name come from anyway,” Sy asked.
I sighed, running a hand through my hair. “The day before we left, my friend Angie went to get Zane and his stuff. He needed a fresh start, and I needed help on the trip up here, so it was a perfect solution for both of us. She told him about the pups, and Aries, but neglected to tell him that the pups didn't know about their dad yet. I was going to let Aries tell them himself, you know?”
“Ah, and Zane let the cat out of the bag, so to speak?” Daniel said.
“Yeah, exactly. He innocently mentioned it, and Sara freaked out. I talked to her, but her response was that she didn't need a nutter daddy, because she had me. Angie and Zane kept teasing me, and calling me the Nutter Daddy, and the name just kinda stuck. I never imagined that I would actually get to be their dad though,” I admitted with a happy grin. “Getting Aries as my mate is a fantasy that I never would have had the imagination to dream up on my own, but to get those two beautiful angels too? That's just the complete package.”
“Oh, gag me.” Daniel chuckled, “I never thought I'd see the day that you turned into Mr. Mush, but look at you! Completely happy being shackled for life, not that I blame you for a second. Aries is a great guy,” he nodded at my mate with a smirk, “and those pups are too cute for words. I'm just laughing because I really wouldn't have pictured you this way.”
“Hey! Shackled! That reminds me!” Sy interjected, “Aunt Cat sent the key!” But when he suddenly realized that we'd been sitting here uncuffed the whole time, Sy just shrugged and said: “Huh, I guess that's completely unnecessary, since I see that your lovely metal bracelets are already gone.”
“Let me guess,” Daniel said. “You shifted out?”
“Yeah,” Aries giggled. “But we didn't think of it until this morning! Which reminds me,” he turned to Sy. “Would you mind bringing us a couple of shirts over at some point? Our are kind of ripped to shreds.”
“Sure,” Sy agreed. “We'll do what we did when Alpha and Kai mated last year. We'll leave the basket of food on the porch, and knock to let you know it's there. You just remember to leave the empty for us to swap out. When one of us delivers tomorrow's basket, there will be a couple shirts with it, okay?”
Aries nodded as I thought about what a perfect system that they had devised. Omegas were pretty clever, I realized, wondering how I'd ever thought of them as weak or dependent in the past.
Daniel and Sy finally made their good-byes when Aries cheeks started flushing and the pheromones of his heat began filling the air. We quickly saw them out and locked the door behind them, before racing back to the bedroom to get busy again. I was actually starting to really like this whole being mated thing, especially the fun parts where we got to be naked.
Chapter 9
Aries
After four long days of being in heat finally ended, I was excited to be able to head back to the lodge. I would miss the long nights of thinking about nothing but the pleasure to be found at the receiving end of my alpha's knot, but it would be so good to finally be with my pups.
We walked back over, hand in hand, and entered the lodge. We had barely closed the door behind us, when I heard Sara scream “Nutter Daddy!” as she came flying across the large area of the main sitting room to jump at Micah. He caught her easily, swinging her up in the air while she giggled merrily.
I froze though, when a tiny voice softly said, “Dada.” I looked down, and looking up at me was my son. He stood there with his pudgy, little arms held up to me, wanting for me to pick him up. My eyes teared as I bent over, and picked him up, cuddling him closely to my chest.
Turning at the sound of Micah's sharp intake of breath beside me, we exchanged a look of awed happiness while Zane came walking over.
“Did you hear that, Zaney? Dylan called Aries 'dada',” Mi
cah said.
“Yeah, Sy's been showing them pictures of you on his phone,” Zane said in explanation as he looked at me. “He's also been telling them a lot about you, and about how both Erin and Brianne are their half-sister's. Well, we just said sister's, but you know what I mean.”
“Yes, wow, thank you!” I said, tears running down my cheeks now. Dylan reached out and touched my wet cheek questioningly, but I just nuzzled my face into his curls, inhaling his magical little boy scent. “And Zane, I want to thank you for taking such good care of them while we were gone. It was so much easier to be away, knowing that they were well cared for in our absence.”
“No problem,” he grinned. “You have awesome pups. We get along great. I just can't believe that I got to be here when Dylan spoke for the first time!”
“No kidding,” said Micah, looking at me with a little smirk. “I'm not sure if I'm jealous that it wasn't me, or thrilled that it was you, to be honest.”
“Oh, hush!” I chided. “You know that you're thrilled on my behalf. Besides, you've got your own arms full already,” I glanced lovingly at my little Sara, who had her little arms wound tightly around her Nutter Daddy's neck.
“Tell you what,” Micah said, as he put his arm around my waist and pulled me closer. “Why don't we go outside and shift with the pups? We can all go play in the clearing across the way.”
“Oh, yeah!” Zane enthused. “That's where we all go! I had promised the pups to take them today, so it's perfect if you guys do that with them instead.”
“Have they eaten already?” I asked.
“Yep, we just finished breakfast a little while ago. They should be good for as long as you want to have them out. They don't go down for naps until after lunch anyway. I mean, until you set your own routine, that is.”
Smiling, I told him: “No, that's actually perfect. You did exactly what I would have done. And let me guess, bath after dinner then bed?”
“But, of course.” Zane grinned back at me.
“See? Just like I would have done. Honestly, I don't know how I can ever thank you enough.”
“Nah, it's cool. It kept me busy while I settled in anyway, and Sy was always right there if I needed him. We kinda tag teamed on the childcare, you know?”
I nodded, as Micah began pulling me toward the door impatiently. “I know exactly what you mean.”
After he got me outside, Micah leaned over and placed a quick kiss on the tip of my nose and said: “Sorry, but you guys were getting cozy in there, and the pups and I want to play.”
Sara was watching closely as we interacted, but so far hadn't said anything. I smiled at her, but let her stay with Micah, while I carried Dylan. She would come to me when she was ready. And I would be waiting with my arms wide open.
I laid down under the trees, panting with happy exhaustion from chasing butterflies with the pups. Watching now, as Micah gently played with them, I chuffed out a laugh and lowered my chin down to rest on my paws, while I watched over my family.
Family. I couldn't believe that I was mated now, and actually here with my very own pups and alpha, spending time together like a family should. Micah was the very last person on Earth that I would have chosen to mate, but somehow he was actually my perfect match.
I watched as the sun highlighted his dappled charcoal gray coat. The lighter streaks and shades that ran through it seemed to come alive when Micah moved around in the sunshine, muscles flexing as he romped with our pups.
He had Sara's roly-poly little gray pup body pinned down under one giant paw, while Dylan's tiny gray and white fluff of a wolf pup danced around them, yipping excitedly at his alpha parent for all he was worth. I suddenly wished for a human camera to capture this moment, it was that precious to me.
The Alpha-pair came walking through the trees a few minutes later. Kai came over and flopped down next me, while the Alpha went over and playfully growled at the pups. I shifted to human form while we watched as the two large, alpha wolves played with my frisky, little pups.
Kai shifted back a few minutes later, sitting next to me with our backs up against the large tree that we'd been lying under.
“It's so funny to see Alpha Jake play with my pups like this. I just hope it's not going to freak Micah out too much,” I commented after a few minutes.
“It shouldn't,” Kai said companionably. “Don't forget, but they did grow up together, you know? It's probably a much larger adjustment for your mate to think of Jake as the big Alpha, than it is to rough house with him.”
“Hmm, that's true. I keep forgetting how much history these alphas around here have with each other. It's not like with us, who were pretty much forced together by circumstance, right?”
“Exactly. But then, we chose to be friends despite all that. That has it's own charm, don't you think, Aries?”
“I think that if I hadn't had you other guys and Jenny to lean on back then, I probably wouldn't have survived my time in that cabin. Especially after my pups were taken from me.”
“You know, it feels weird that I came along so late, that I didn't even know that you or Jenny had pups and that Fremont had taken them away. I almost feel left out, but I understand why you guys wouldn't have wanted to talk about it. I mean, Sy was pregnant when I met him, so I knew about Brianne from the start. It's Erin and your two that I feel left out of the loop about.”
I reached over and took his hand. “Never feel that way, Kai. It's not that we didn't trust you, we just didn't talk about our pups at all. It was the only way that we could persevere. Jenny and Sy were there for a long time before I even told them about my pups. And the only reason I finally did, was because they were pregnant and I wanted to warn them.”
“Is it weird that I feel a little guilty that I wasn't assaulted too? It's like, I was just there long enough to make friends, and then have my big, bad alpha show up to save the day before things went south for me.”
Looking over at Kai in shock, I nearly tripped over my tongue in my rush to respond. “Dude! Don't ever think that way! Thanks be to Fenris that your heat didn't come before Jake found us! Seriously, don't feel guilty about that for even one second. I'm grateful that you don't share in the shame that we've all had to deal with, and Luke and Ryan either. The fact that you three were spared is everything to me. I know that Jenny would have felt the same way if she were here, and I bet that Sy would tell you the same if you asked him.”
Shaking his head, Kai said: “You're a good person, Aries. I used to wonder what you were thinking about, when you'd be all quiet and shit. Now, I think I know,” he grinned, as he turned to look at my tiny pups chasing the big wolves around the clearing.
Looking back at me, he said: “Seriously though, congratulations on your mating. I'm happy that Fenris has blessed you with a good alpha. And the fact that he and your pups already adore each other? That's everything, you know?”
“Yeah,” I smiled softly. “I know. It really is everything, isn't it? I was thinking a few minutes ago that I wished we had a camera out here, to capture this moment of Micah and the pups. They're so cute together.”
“I know,” he said wistfully. “I can't wait until our pups are big enough to come out here and play. Erin should be able to soon enough, but the twins have a long ways yet to go.”
“Be patient,” I laughed. “Enjoy each stage, because the pups grow up fast enough, without us wishing them along faster.”
“Patience sucks,” he sulked. “But, you have a point. The twins are already twice the size that they were when they were born. It's going so fast!”
“Said every parent ever.” Sy commented while sitting down to join us, with Brianne in his arms.
“Hey, buddy!” I greeted him, reaching out for Brianne. “I'm glad you came out, are you going to let this one start shifting outside soon and come out to play in the clearing with the bigger pups?”
The baby gurgled in my arms, making me smile indulgently as Sy said: “Hell, no. I'm going to keep my daughter a baby for a
s long as I can. Kai can push his pups out of the cradle all he wants, but this one? She will still be nursing in high school if she wants.”
Kai and I both burst out laughing at that one. After we calmed down, I said: “You know that I'm going to remind you of that when she has all her teeth.”
Sy rubbed his chest and said: “Don't remind me. Little brat has three already, and sometimes they scrape.”
That had us giggling all over again, while Sy playfully pouted and grabbed his baby back away from me. The rest of the pack came and went, while we spent the peaceful morning hanging out in the clearing.
I knew it was lunch time when Sara started growling and trying to nip at every tail that crossed her path. Zane was right, I mused with a grin. The hanger really was strong with that one.
Once Micah and I rounded up the pups and got them home, lunch went quickly. Turns out, pups tend to get really hungry if you wear them out by letting them play outside in the sunshine. Good to know.
Doc Ollie came up during lunch, and quietly asked if he could talk to us. I glanced at Micah's sheepish expression, and invited Doc to join us.
“I wanted to apologize for offending you the other evening. I truly meant no harm,” he stated politely, in that formal way that I'd noticed the bears all shared.
“Naw, Doc. That was just me being an overprotective grump. I'm new at this dad business, you know? But my mate is right, if there is something that we need to know about with our pup, we should definitely have you look at her.”
I nodded my agreement, as I took a bite that I almost choked on a moment later, when Doc spoke again.
“Good, good. Well, why don't you bring her by this afternoon, and I'll take a look at her? That would be a good time to check you out too, Aries. To make sure that your body is ready for this new pregnancy.”
While I was trying not to choke, Micah asked blankly: “Pregnancy? What pregnancy? We're not trying for any pups yet.”
Doc chuckled and said: “Good, don't worry about trying then, because you've already succeeded. Your mate here is pregnant, I can smell the change in his scent.”
