Page 41 of Warwick

I allowed him the freedom to scent our mate everywhere, and when he moved down Cecil’s body, he seemed especially focused on Cecil’s stomach. I wasn’t going to be hurt by Cecil not believing me that I thought he was pregnant. I knew he had a whole lot of what his life used to be turned upside down in the last couple of weeks, and I was going to go to the clinic and have someone else confirm what my beast was telling me. Cecil was pregnant. In this form, I could scent the baby.

“Are you done sniffing me?”

I moved away from Cecil’s stomach and licked up the side of his face.

“I’ll never be done sniffing you, my mate. You smell delicious, and I can’t seem to get enough of you.”

“We are absolutely not doing anything while shifted. Except going for a run.”

“Then let us go for our run. I wish to see your smiles and have you happy. I do not like you feeling down. It makes my beast worried, and that’s not necessarily a good feeling.” It wasn’t as if my beast was going to go on a rampage or anything of the sort, but Cecil being so upset had the protective side of my beast coming out.

I started walking, and when Cecil fell into step beside me, my beast did a little prance. Our mate was with us, and we were in our fur forms, and we were going to go for a run together. I picked up my pace a little, bringing my much larger beast to a slow trot. Cecil was keeping up, and I noticed he had to run a bit faster than a trot in order to keep up with my pace. We wouldn’t ever be going for a quick run together, it seemed, but that didn’t concern me. I had a mate I could run with, and that alone made my beast extremely happy.

“Am I going too fast?”

“No. I can go faster if you’d like. I can’t run full out for long distances though. You will have to get your sprints in with your pack.”

I glanced at Cecil, who was loping along beside me. “You’re pack too. We’re together now, Cecil. You are part of the hellhound pack now.”

Cecil snorted through our bond. “And you’re now part of Grandfather’s den. How’s that for a change?”

I stumbled. I literally fell forward and rolled over myself in the snow. Cecil was suddenly above me, his tiny white face and black nose looking down at me. “Are you all right?”

“Yes.” I rolled to my feet, shook my fur out, and sat. I hadn’t thought about that. Cecil was obviously part of Alpha Vitomir’s den. He was his great-grandson, and no matter where he moved, he would always be a member of the created polar bear’s den. And by proxy, since I was now mated to Cecil, I was a member of his den as well. That was…different.

“Are you sure?”

I turned my head toward my mate, who was sitting to the side of me a bit.

“Yes. I’d not thought about the fact that you are part of your grandfather’s den, and now I was as well. That’s something different.”

“Good or bad?”

“Just different. It’s neither, really. I simply hadn’t thought about that.” I wasn’t intimidated by the created polar bear. He was harsh and loud at times, but I was a hellhound, and it took a lot more than a cranky bear to send me running. “Are you ready to continue our run?”

“It’s not much of a run for you, but yes. I’m enjoying being with you like this.”

I stood, and after rubbing my snout against Cecil’s neck again, I started trotting again. I was leading us to the council, only Cecil didn’t seem to realize. We were going to get to the bottom of things first and foremost. I wanted Cecil to be reassured that, yes, he was pregnant and we were going to have a baby.

That there actually worried me. I wasn’t sure how good of a father I was going to be, but I was going to do everything I could to be the best one possible. I had never been around babies. Sure, there were enforcers who had mates and babies, but it wasn’t like I was invited over to hang out with them or babysit.

We were trotting along the pathway that went from mated enforcer housing to what was considered town center. The council building, the store, bakery, childcare center, and the omega clinic were all within sight of each other. There truly was a tiny little community here on top of the mountain.

“Such a short run?” Cecil asked when the council building’s roof came into view. As we got closer, more of the building became visible.

“We will run again, but my beast wants you to be at ease. You won’t until we confirm if you are pregnant or not. My beast can scent the baby, so I’m sticking with the fact that you’re pregnant. Dr. King can do whatever test or whatever he needs to in order to confirm what my beast is telling me.”

“Your beast can scent a baby?” Cecil slowed considerably.

“Yes. But we’re going to confirm everything and get you checked out.”

There were several others out and about when we approached the town center, and if some of them stopped and stared at me in my beast form and Cecil’s smaller white polar bear sticking right to my side, I didn’t pay them much notice. My beast, of course, took it all in. He was always on alert, and with our mate beside us, he was even more so now.

When I moved to go to the front of the omega clinic, Cecil passed by and went to the side. I followed, and when he rounded the back of the clinic and moved onto the small back patio area, I grinned. Cecil sat down behind the partial wall, and I shifted. When Cecil didn’t shift, I became concerned.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t have clothes, Warwick. And although Dr. King has seen me in various stages of undress in the time I’ve been working here, I’m sure your possessive beast isn’t going to like my boss seeing me naked, even if it’s because I’m shifting.”

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