Page 24 of The Predator's Wolf Mate

He hefted out a long breath as his shoulders tensed up. “Because this person is Goliath. He says all of this is because of you, Aziz.”

“Goliath?” I took in a sharp breath. “I haven’t heard that name in a long time.”

“Well, he’s heard of you. He tells everyone this is all your fault.”

“It’s not. He’s the one destroying and abusing and torturing people.”

“I’m just relaying a message,” David said. “Look, I have to get back. Whatever you are in, whatever took you away from Bella, our last alpha, it’s here, and it’s eating us alive.”

I left my old clan lands with a weary heart and a confused mind. Why in the hell would Goliath go and pick apart a clan I hadn’t really been a part of in over a decade minus the small stint of time after Bella passed?

When I got back to the omega house, I found that Jack hadn’t fared well. The truth was, he hadn’t been well in a couple of months and while I suspected the reason, we didn’t know for sure.

“Nauseous again?” I asked, seeing his greenish hue. King had Bryant in his arms while he stirred something that smelled like macaroni and cheese. It had been one of Jack’s staple meals during this sickly time. No one else was sickly. No one else throwing up or any other signs of a stomach bug.

“I’m not sure what it is,” Jack answered, his face resting in the palms of his hands.

“King, you mind watching Bryant for a few? I need to talk to Jack in private.”

“Take your time,” the lion said, pulling his wheat hair from Bryant’s chubby fist. “We’re all good here.”

I led Jack back to what had become our room and asked him to sit down. “Omega, we need to talk.”

He blew out a breath. “About my being sick?”

“Yes. Have you considered that you might be pregnant again?” I broached the subject, not knowing how he would react. Bryant was the product of violence and rape, but I didn’t know if he would choose to have more children. We certainly hadn’t been careful or even brought up the subject of protection.

Jack’s eyes widened, and he nailed me with a stare. “Gods, how I didn’t see this before is brain-wracking. We have some tests in the clinic.”

“I have one,” I said, producing the test from my back pocket. I’d picked it up on the way to see Jack, determined to have this conversation even if he was feeling well. My hyena had picked up on the change of scent months ago, but I’d chalked it up to mating and marking.

Two minutes later, Jack was crying. “You didn’t want another baby?” I asked, not able to decipher his tears.

“I do. I want one with you and, while Bryant is a blessing to me, I wanted a child with someone I loved, you know?”

“I do. And I do love you. More than you will ever know.”

Chapter Nineteen

Jack

Today was finally the day. I’d always known I wanted to do something with healing, and I went back and forth on what kind. Did I want to be a full-on healer, to focus on my passion, helping expectant parents? As a small boy, I even had a doctor set, like the human kids did. But then everything in my life turned to shit and I ended up a breeder, leaving all hopes for my future gone.

But now I had a home filled with people I loved and cared for and a purpose bigger than myself. No longer was I captive and alone, and no longer did my dreams need to be on hold. The desire to work with pregnant people had been itching at me for a long time, but I wasn’t sure if it was feasible. I also wanted to be sure that whatever I did benefited the residents at both the house and the warehouse and hemmed and hawed over becoming a general practitioner.

My mate, my dear sweet mate, told me I should follow my dreams, to do what I had longed to do. He asked me if there was nothing else to consider, which would I choose and to go that direction. That had me finally giving myself permission to take the first step and reach out to the healer we used at the warehouse. He gave me a number, and that led to multiple phone calls.

Eventually I found what I believed to be a good fit—a local healer who was not only willing to take me on as an apprentice for their pregnant patients but excited to have me. I’d had to wait before starting, though, because I was not the best pregnant person. During the first few months, I lived in the bathroom. Then my stomach felt better, but my back hurt. After what felt like forever, I was feeling better and had energy. It was the perfect time to begin and also time to tell our friends.

I wasn’t sure why I was holding back, probably fear. I’d seen so many pregnancies go wrong when I was held prisoner. Sure, the situation was as far from ideal as you could get, but still, it left an impression on me and had me not wanting to share our good news for fear of jinxing us. My mate didn’t love the idea, wanting to shout it from the mountain tops, but he understood my worries.

Did they all know a baby was coming? Probably. I was small for my gestation age, but that had more to do with my long torso than the size of the baby. But even at my small size and with me wearing my mate’s T-shirts, it was visible. I loved how they all respected my privacy.

Today was my official first day with the healer. We were going to figure out how everything would look going forward, and I couldn’t be happier. Originally, the guys didn’t want me driving alone, but they had work to do and we hadn’t received any other messages or had any breaches in months. I promised to go straight there and back.

Bryant came with me, and we sang silly songs the entire way. He would laugh and laugh, and I inserted silly voices to his favorite ones. It made the trip fly by.

We pulled into the dirt driveway of the healer’s little cabin in the woods on the side of the mountain. It looked like something out of a fairy-tale picture book.

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