“That’s probably because I’m numb.” Her small smile fell and Trey wanted to kick himself. “No, I don’t mean...” He sighed. “Baby, I don’t know what I mean.” This here and now showed just how much of an unfeeling bastard he was. He was supposed to be over the fucking moon, wasn’t he? Wasn’t this supposed to be one of the top moments of his life? Here was his mate telling him she was pregnant. Pregnant. His mate was pregnant. She was having a baby. His baby. His son or his daughter…And then the surreal quality of the situation cleared and it actually sank in that, shit, Taryn was pregnant with his baby.
Slowly he raised his hand and placed it on her stomach. A fierce sense of protectiveness surged through him, stealing his breath. Her half smile returned, but it was forced and shaky. Even as she had a fragile look about her, there was pure steel there. She was ready to kick his ass if he said anything negative. He leaned forward and closed his mouth over hers, kissing her greedily, and suddenly became aware that, hey, he was happy about this. No, more than happy. He was…kind of excited. He rested his forehead against hers as he spoke. “If someone had told me a few months back that I’d soon be mated with a baby on the way, I’d have laughed my fucking head off. You changed everything, Taryn.”
She knew he didn’t mean it in a bad way. Still, she couldn’t resist teasing him. “Me? This is all me, is it?”
“All you. You’ve made me want things I never would have expected to want. Things I didn’t think were on the cards for me.” He massaged her stomach gently. “Like him.”
She arched a brow. “Him? It could be a ‘her’.”
“I’m not going to be very good at the dad thing. You know that, right?”
Taryn pinned him with a look as she cradled his face in her hands. “You will be. I know you will be.”
“Baby, I don’t know anything about being a dad – mine was an asshole.”
“Exactly. Just do everything your dad didn’t do.”
There was actually logic in that, he thought. He could work with logic. His gaze was drawn again to her flat stomach. So slender. She was so slender and so damn small. He didn’t see how she could carry a baby inside that body and not snap in half with the strain.
Sensing his fear that she might be hurt, Taryn kissed him softly. “I’ll be fine.”
“Nothing can happen to you, Taryn,” he insisted.
“Nothing will. I’ll be fine. We’ll be fine.”
He scrutinised her face as he asked in a low voice, “How does it feel? To know you hold my sanity in your hands?” If he lost her, if she left his life, his sanity would go right along with her.
She smiled, brushing her nose against his. “Trey, whatever makes you think that you’re sane now?”
He chuckled, shaking his head. He nipped her bottom lip then sucked it into his mouth, liking the way her eyes flared with lust. She was so responsive it was enough to drive him crazy. He kissed her softly, denying her his tongue just to tease her. “You better be okay, baby, or I swear I’ll blister your ass with the palm of my hand.”
“Like last night?” Her eyes widened as something occurred to her. “Oh shit.”
“What?”
“I can’t believe our baby was conceived in front of the guys.”
He couldn’t help smiling. “Something tells me they’ll be pleased about that.”
“What about everyone else? How do you think they’ll feel about the pregnancy?”
“There’s only one way to find out.”
When half an hour later they stepped, hand in hand, into the kitchen, they were granted their usual brief nods and smiles. Then everyone’s nostrils flared, the chatter stopped, and all eyes zoomed in on Taryn.
She knew the pregnancy was an extremely significant thing. For some reason no one had yet been able to explain, wolf shifters couldn’t produce their own offspring unless either their Alpha pair or their Beta pair had done so. Nature had really funny ways, in her opinion. Now that Taryn was pregnant, it meant that it was possible for Grace and Rhett or Lydia and Cam to begin their own families, which was probably a lot to do with why all four of those looked absolutely ecstatic.
Dante was the first to react. He jumped to his feet and strolled over to slap Trey on the back. “Congratulations.” He quickly kissed her cheek and artfully dodged Trey’s subsequent clout. “With his gene pool, he’ll be a powerful Alpha.” Suddenly they were surrounded by most of the pack, and Lydia and Grace were squealing excitedly.
Tao raised his hand. “I claim bodyguard duty!”
Ryan grunted. “Damn little shit, I was going to do that.”
“I’m going to be an uncle,” said Dominic excitedly. “If it’s a boy, I’ll teach him all he needs to know about reeling in women.”
Trick snorted. “You mean you’ll teach him those dirty lines you’re always subjecting us to.” He gave Taryn a quick hug and said, “Congratulations, honey.”
“Speaking of dirty chat up lines,” drawled Dominic as he turned to Taryn, wearing that all too familiar wicked grin. When she shook her head, warning him to keep it to himself, he sighed. “I can’t help it. I love your hair, your eyes, and your smile. Hell, I love every bone in your body. Want to add one more?” As usual, Trey hit him.
“Don’t worry about Dom, Taryn.” Marcus patted her stomach gently. “I’ll teach the little guy in there the art of flirting so that he never has to use those lines.”
“I’ll teach him how to throw a ball,” declared Dante. “And how to drive.”
“That’s nice and all,” said Ryan, “but you know I’m going to be his favorite uncle, right?”
“Um, hello,” said Taryn. “The baby could be a ‘her’, you know.” They all gave her sympathetic looks as if they pitied her for even thinking something they perceived to be dumb. She might have scowled at them if, to Taryn’s astonishment, the old crone hadn’t suddenly approached wearing a genuine smile. Just like that, Trey, Dante, and the enforcers formed a wall in front of her. Oh dear God, was she going to have to put up with this overprotectiveness for the entire five months of the pregnancy? It certainly looked like it.
“I’m not going to hurt her.”
Nobody moved to let her pass.
“She and I might not always see eye to eye, but that’s my great-grandchild in there.”
Their expressions said that wasn’t relevant.