“You and me both,” Brody agreed.
We both seemed to get the same idea at the same time, and we smirked at each other. “We’re pulling the pregnancy card,” I said, loud enough to be heard by everyone. “We get first dibs on that meat.”
Tristan laughed and bowed in front of us. “Anything for you.”
Brody leaned over and stage-whispered, “Did you hear that? He said anything. I’m sure you could think of a few things he could do for you over the next four months…”
“I’ll start a list,” I said, and Tristan gave me a wink.
Chapter 17
Tristan
“Do you think he’s happy?” I asked, watching Dylan across the camp. He was kneeling in the garden plot, wearing the shortest shorts I’d ever seen, cropped high enough that I swore I could see the crease under his ass cheek. I was indulging in some serious fantasies about him being on those dirty knees of his.
Shan followed where I was looking. “Dylan? Of course he’s happy. He’s smiling, he’s laughing. Why wouldn’t he be happy?”
I snorted. “Oh, gee, I don’t know,” I began sarcastically, “maybe because he gave up his entire life and everything he’s ever known to live in the middle of nowhere?”
He frowned and looked back at Dylan with a more thoughtful expression, likely trying to put himself in my mate’s shoes. Shan grew up in the woods just like I did, and while we hadn’t always lived quite this rough, it wasn’t a big deal for us to go without running water or electricity. “I get what you’re saying, but he honestly seems okay.”
Jude straightened up and stretched out his back, sawdust stuck to the skin of his bare chest. “Have you tried asking him?”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not an idiot, of course I’ve asked him. He says he’s fine, that he misses a few things but that it’s worth it, but… can I believe him?” Shan opened his mouth, likely to ask why my own mate would lie to me. Gods, my Alpha was so damn naïve sometimes. I cut him off before he could ask. “He knows I would move back to the city for him, but he’s totally the self-sacrificing type that wouldn’t complain about a thing because he doesn’t want to inconvenience me.”
“Do you want to move back to Fairhome?” Shan asked carefully, because he was also the self-sacrificing type. Even accepting his role as Alpha had been a sacrifice in his eyes, even though a lot of shifters would kill to have that kind of power. That was part of what made him such a good leader. I mean, just look at Thorn and his Beta Silas and the lengths to which they’d gone to rule. Shan was different, though. He was kind and righteous and loyal, and I knew that even if he couldn’t live without me as his Beta, he would let me leave without a fight if that was what made me happy.
I’d tried to imagine what raising our kids would be like in Fairhome. Bubble baths and jolly jumpers and daycare, walking down to the park on the corner where the play structure was brightly colored and extra safe—and then there was teaching them to hide who they truly were from the humans surrounding us. They would go to school to learn from actual teachers, instead of my packmates. But we were more than capable of that, weren’t we? Damon for biology, Dawn for physics, Tara for home ec. I’d already started teaching Mal some basic math, and Brody had been working on his letters. Without the support of my pack, though, it would be empty and lonely, and I just knew our children would not be the better for it. It made me anxious just thinking about it.
I forced myself to shrug, though my body was all kinds of stiff, my shoulders creeping up toward my ears. “Honestly? You know me, I love visiting the city and blowing off some steam, but it’s not home. Not to mention the potential risk to my family, being so close to his father’s business dealings.” Out here, we would hear a car coming from miles away. We knew the area, had allies we could trust. It was safer, even if it wasn’t as comfortable. I wondered how I could make Dylan more comfortable here…
I mulled that around for a minute until Jude cleared his throat loudly. “Sorry to interrupt your social hour, but would you guys mind helping me out for a second?” he mumbled.
Oops! I’d lost track of what I was supposed to be doing. We were right in the middle of building a new structure that would become our kitchen. Tara and Stuart had been strongly hinting for ages that we needed something a little more all-weather. Jude was currently trying to hold a 2x4 in place with one hand, hammer in the other, nails sticking out from between his lips. Instead of apologizing for my slacking, though, I said, “What? You can’t handle it yourself? I thought you were strong.”
He narrowed his eyes, spit out the nails, and I barely had time to duck before the hammer went sailing past my head. When I came back up, it was to catch his shoulder in my chest as he knocked me flat into the dirt. He dropped his full weight on top of me, forcing the air from my lungs, and I groaned.
“Do you yield?” he asked from above me.
“N-never,” I grunted out.
I beat two kangaroos and a gorilla, I reminded myself. And a motherfucking tiger! No amount of squirming, though, could get me loose from the lock Jude held me in. He had my legs twisted in a knot, an arm across my neck, and when I bucked my hips, he barely moved.
His grin was wicked. “You might as well just give up. As weak as you think I am, I’m obviously stronger than you—not like that’s hard to do.”
I could hear a few people laughing at our antics, our scuffling drawing a small crowd. I rolled my eyes. We were short on entertainment around here, but the longer this went on, my cheeks began to burn with embarrassment. Not because my packmates would judge me, but because I didn’t want to look weak in front of my mate.
As if being pinned down wasn’t bad enough, Jude’s smirk widened as he moved his hand to my stomach. “Boy, it really seems like I have you at my mercy. I would really hate for my fingers to slip… like this…”
“No. You wouldn’t,” I seethed, tensing. But of course he would. An involuntary laugh slipped out when he tickled me. “Stop it!” My thrashing picked up, with zero finesse. I scrabbled to get my hands between us, trying to protect my sensitive belly, but it was no use. Tears leaked from my eyes as I cursed a blue streak. “You’re such a… cumbubble!” I gasped out between squeaks.
“Me too, me too! I wanna play!” a little voice shouted, from what turned out to be my most unexpected—but very welcome—ally. Mal launched himself onto Jude’s back, his little chubby arms wrapping around his neck from behind. “Grrr!” he said, mimicking a growl he had yet to grow into.
Wrestling was an important skill for shifter children, even though we obviously didn’t put our full effort into it. The goal wasn’t to hurt them, but to teach important skills, both offensive and defensive, as well as how to win and lose gracefully. Lucky for me, Jude, unbeatable alpha though he was, was a sucker for kids. He glared down at me and mouthed, “I still won,” before he dramatically jerked back, pretending that Mal had overpowered him.
Malachi hadn’t had a lot of training yet, but what he lacked in skill, he made up for with enthusiasm. “Got you, Joo-Joo!” he squealed, giggling as he flopped down across Jude’s stomach, forgetting to be fierce.
“Yeah! You’ve got him on the ropes now, buddy!” I picked Mal up and set him on my shoulders so he could jump from above, cannonballing onto Jude’s prone form like something out of WrestleMania.