Inevitably Yours

QUINN

I stood in the kitchen enjoying the satisfying stretch of the gooey, melty cheese covering the plate of french fries I had just made. I hummed happily as I ate my snack. Michael came out of the bedroom, towel-drying his freshly washed hair.

“Hungry again?” he laughed. As he walked toward me, my eyes slowly tore away from my plate to his shirtless torso. My mouth immediately went dry as my craving shifted. Michael had a sexy, lazy smile on his face. How anyone could have such a perfect variety of equally sexy smiles, I could not understand.

“Umm,” I said, my brain now not working properly. Michael grabbed a fry from the plate and bit into it. I swallowed, trying to find my senses again. Michael just laughed, and I stared at his adam’s apple bobbing up and down.

“How many kinds of cheese are on these?” he asked, taking another.

“Three,” I answered. He just shook his head.

“Enjoy your fries,” he smiled. “I have to go take care of some things.”

“Okay,” I said.

“Remember, we have Judy now. You do not need to be up and down the stairs a hundred times today or break your back cleaning. She is here to help take care of things,” Michael warned, tapping my nose before he pecked it softly.

“You know, just because there is a pup inside me doesn’t make me an invalid,” I argued.

“I never said that. But you will be taking it easier. Did you even sleep last night?” he asked pointedly. I looked away from him. “It’s my job to take care of you. Why don’t you take a nap?”

I rolled my eyes. “I wish it were that easy,” I sighed. Michael tilted my chin up and kissed my lips this time. I thought after the first wave of the pregnancy had passed and the morning sickness subsided that I would be able to sleep better. But that was far from the situation.

“Just hang out. We can work on the nursery tonight,” he smiled.

“Fine,” I agreed. “But I am going down to my office for a while. I want to finish the billing on your last class.”

“I’ll see you in a bit,” Michael said, pecking my lips one last time. He tossed his towel into our room as he headed to the stairs. I just smiled as I shamelessly stared at his a*s. “I’ll take care of that craving later, too,” M linked me.

I finished my food and set my plate in the sink. “Hello, Luna Mommy!” Judy’s voice came from the stairs. I saw her reaching the top with a laundry basket in her hands.

“Oh, let me get that!” I said, rushing toward her.

“No, no, no, Mommy!” she smiled. “I am happy to bring the laundry upstairs.”

“Really, you don’t have to do all that. I can still do things. My mate is just a worrier,” I told her. She took the basket to the table and set it down. We both reached in to grab at the same time.

“Alpha Daddy is kind man. He take good care of Luna Mommy,” she smiled.

I returned her smile. “He does. He is a very good man. But please, don’t exhaust yourself.”

“I am honored to work for Alpha. I love take care of Alpha family!” she insisted.

“Okay, but you should be taking breaks too,” I told her. We both started folding the towels and linens in the basket. “How about I make us some tea?”

“Oh, sure, Mommy!” she said. I stepped around the table to start some water heating.

“Do you like sugar, or maybe milk in it?” I asked her.

“Oh, no. Nothing. Very little sugar for me,” she said, waving me off.

“You don’t like sweet things?” I asked her.

“Watch my diet. Very sick as pup. Much better now,” she explained, still folding.

“Michael didn’t mention that,” I frowned. Maybe he hadn’t known. I guess it wasn’t exactly something you talked about in a job interview.

When I brought her over a mug, she was done folding everything. “Sit down,” I insisted. “We have barely gotten to talk.”

“Two minutes,” she said, holding up her fingers. “Then I get back to work.”

“I won’t tell if you don’t,” I whispered. She laughed and took a seat with me. “So tell me about yourself. Do you have a mate?”

–

I pushed the wrapped bowl of food into Judy’s hands as she headed out the door. “I insist. Take some home to your mate,” I smiled at her.

“You are too kind, Luna Mommy,” she said. She wrapped me in yet another hug; for such a tiny thing she was very strong.

“We’ll see you in a couple of days,” I said, waving to her. While Michael was home, she came by every few days; while he was away, she was at the packhouse almost every day. Michael was leaving for his last away class in less than a week. When he returned, he planned to stay home until after our pup was born.

“Thanks, Miss Judy!” Michael called out as he joined me at the front door. Like a magnet, his hands wrapped around my round stomach, holding onto his pup. The pup loved it, always pushing against his hands when he touched my stomach.

“Good evening, Alpha Daddy!” Judy yelled back. We watched her carefully climb into her little car and pull down the driveway. Michael nuzzled the back of my head.

“I laugh every time she calls us Mommy and Daddy,” he said quietly. I agreed, but I knew she didn’t mean anything offensive by it. “You smell different but also the same.”

“I’m hungry,” I stated with a frown. I didn’t really care what I smelled like; my stomach was demanding food.

Michael laughed. “You are hungry a lot,” he said. “This is going to be one strong little Alpha pup.”

I smiled. I was just happy to be growing that pup. “What do you want for dinner?” I asked him.

“Hmmm. I don’t know,” he said, turning me around. He kissed my forehead. “What does my little mate want?”

I looked down at the pup bump between us. “Not so little these days,” I noted. “I think I want bacon. And brownies.”

Michael’s eyebrows rose. “Bacon and brownies?” he said, trying not to laugh.

I blanched and looked away from him. That did sound pretty ridiculous. “Never mind. What about some pizza?”

“No, no. We can have whatever you want, my love,” he said, grabbing my chin to turn my eyes back to him. He looked amused. “You just keep wanting the most random things. It’s cute, and I will happily oblige any desires you have.”

“Bacon and brownies isn’t exactly a meal,” I reasoned.

“How about I make you something to go with your bacon, and we can have brownies for dessert?” he suggested.

“You are going to make dinner?” I asked.

Michael shrugged, “How hard can it be?”

–

I sat on the couch with my legs crossed, a jar of peanut butter in my lap while I licked at a spoon. I watched Michael from my spot on the couch. He was struggling through his insistence on making dinner.

“Have you eaten yet? Should I order something?” Nic linked me.

“s**t!” Michael shouted as he tossed a smoking oven mitt into the sink and turned on the water. “What the f**k!”

“He just caught an oven mitt on fire. I don’t want to discourage this, but I am like halfway through this jar of peanut butter,” I replied. Michael had been diligently trying to make us something, but it wasn’t going well. Nic was supposed to come up to join us when it was done.

“I missed lunch today. I don’t know that my stomach is interested in waiting for his gallant efforts,” she whined.

“You missed lunch because you were having phone s*x!” I laughed at her. “That is your own fault.”

“Okay, well, we are both Betas. We can’t just up and move to be with our mate. He is looking for a replacement,” she reasoned.

“Chosen mate,” I reminded her. Stephen and Nic were getting pretty serious, from what I could tell, but they hadn’t marked each other yet. I was entirely supportive of her choosing a mate but still thought it was for the best right now.

“Michael already gave me the spiel. Either way,” she said.

“Order pizza. Have them murder mine in bacon,” I told her as our smoke alarm sounded. I scooted myself off the couch and struggled to my feet, abandoning the peanut butter jar and spoon.

“Light sauce, extra cheese?” she responded.

“My favorite. Tell them it’s for us, and there is an extra tip if they make it a priority,” I confirmed. I waved my hand in front of my face as I joined Michael in the kitchen.

“No, go sit down!” he said, waving a towel over the pan on the stove. I turned the burners off as he waved the smoke around.

“I appreciate the effort, babe,” I coughed. “But let’s just chalk it up to a loss. You have other talents.” I frowned at the plate of charred bacon next to the smoking pan. There were two black pucks in it. I picked up the bacon, and it almost crumbled.

“I was trying to make it crispy,” he pouted.

“It’s okay,” I said, turning back to him. I reached up on my tiptoes and kissed him. “I love that you tried for me.” I wrapped my arms around his neck, and his came around me. I continued to k**s him, hoping to ease his frustration. I knew it worked when he grabbed me by my thighs and lifted me to sit on an empty bit of countertop.

“I do not like failing,” he growled into my mouth.

“I would be happy to enjoy one of your other talents this evening,” I teased him. I continued to k**s him in between words.

“I guess I should get you all charged up to bless some weapons tomorrow,” he smiled mischievously. I giggled.

“I don’t think that is how it works,” I countered.

“It can’t hurt,” he said, nipping my l*p.

“Pizza place said less than thirty,” Nic linked me.

“We have a half hour until dinner is here,” I said, biting my l*p.

“Then I only have 29 minutes,” he growled.

–

“Just relax, sweetheart. We can try again,” Michael said from behind me. We stood in the blessing grounds before the altar. Michael was going to start teaching a select group of warriors how to fight with swords, so he wanted my help blessing some weapons. He could do it, but I think he preferred my blessing. After being blessed, all the wooden training weapons had a neat blue shimmer.

“I don’t understand. Why isn’t it working?” I said, gritting my teeth. The pup was pushing up into my ribs, and this was becoming more and more frustrating. A storm prevented us from doing this for two days. We had gone through the blessing ceremony twice, and nothing happened either time.

“Take a breath,” M said, rubbing my arms. “We aren’t in any rush.” I could hear it in his tone; he was confused why it wasn’t working either.

“You are supposed to be leaving in like an hour. There is a little bit of a rush here,” I g*****d. “I can’t do it without you.”

“It’s okay,” he repeated. He kissed my cheek, calming me fractionally. “Let’s do it one more time, and if it doesn’t work, we’ll try again when I am back.”

“This makes no sense. I did it the first try on Saphir,” I said, leaning my head back against his chest.

“Let’s do it again,” he said, lowering his mouth to my neck. He started to k**s slowly, and my body began to relax under his touch. He always had that effect. I inhaled deeply, taking in the sweet fragrance of the blooming flowers. I closed my eyes, willing whatever magic was in me to come out. “Ready?”

“Yea,” I exhaled. “I think so.”

Line by line, I repeated the mantra, spreading the blessing elements over the wooden sword before us. Michael bit down on my mark hard as I came to the last line and dripped the last remnants of my b***d over the sword. A thrill ran through me, making my back arch; usually, he was far more gentle about it. My legs went weak, and my weight shifted back into him. Michael didn’t let me fall, though.

I pried my eyes open, watching the sword. Just like the last two attempts, the b***d rolled off the polished wooden surface instead of absorbing into it.

“s**t,” Michael whispered.

“M,” I warned as my legs started to wobble. My head felt light, and the altar began to move. Michael scooped me up into his arms, holding me close. I closed my eyes, trying to stop the spinning.

“No more,” Michael said. He started to walk, being careful of how much he moved me.

“I don’t know why it isn’t working,” I panted. The pup was moving around a lot; suddenly, it felt difficult to breathe.

“We aren’t going to risk you or the pup over a blessing,” he said with finality. I leaned my head against his shoulder as he walked. The movement was starting to make me dizzy.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.