Page 30 of The Predator's Wolf Mate

“Well, hold onto that sensation because, after you drink this, you’re not gonna feel so good anymore,” he said, handing me a little vial.

“You want me to drink something that’ll make me sick?”

“Nope. I want you to drink something that’s gonna get you into labor. Because I don’t want you to be pregnant anymore. This is—it’s time.”

I drank it down, not questioning him more. He was a good man, and the longer I looked at the bottle, the less likely I was to take it, my nerves getting in the way. Within ten minutes, I was feeling contractions far worse than the ones that had been coming on the day I met my mate, the day of my rescue.

They got worse with each passing minute. My mate sat at my side, holding my hand, telling me how amazing I was doing.

I didn’t feel amazing.

I’d been studying up, getting ready for my time with Saul, and everything I read said that patients would know when it was time to push. I had scoffed at that. But once again, just like when I was in that van, I knew. The books were right and aligned with my own experiences, and, if I hadn’t been writhing in pain, I’d have seen humor in that.

Saul guided me, my mate encouraged me, and I pushed and pushed and pushed. And then, after one final push, the most beautiful cry I’d ever heard rang through the air.

“Congratulations,” Saul said, putting my baby on my chest for their first meal. “You have a beautiful baby girl. Do you have a name for her?”

“Bella,” I said. I wanted to do something to honor his best friend and mate, to let him know that I understood why she was a part of his life and that beyond that, I loved him for it. “What do you think?”

“I love it.” Aziz kissed my cheek. “And I love you and our children.”

He climbed into the bed beside me as Saul got Bryant from the next room to meet his baby sister. He was jumping up and down, giggling when he saw her.

“Come sit by me and say hello to your new baby sister, Bella.”

He climbed up on my other side, watching her in awe. “Baby sister Bella is cute.” That she was.

“You were cute when you were a baby, too,” Aziz assured him.

“Nope. I was handsome, just like my daddy.” He climbed off the bed and around to Aziz, climbing back on, this time settling on his daddy’s lap.

“Yes, you are, little man. Yes, you are.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Pop-Tart

“Are you sure about this?” Hammer asked for the seven billionth time.

We were sitting in a meeting with the entire team and their omegas. At one time not too long ago, I’d have said the entire team, their omegas, and Jack. How much things had changed since he first came to us. Back then, he’d cuddle Bryant in his arms at the meeting, and now it was his daughter, Bella, and instead of trying to navigate all things parenthood, he now had his mate by his side. I loved that for both of them.

Today’s meeting had been rough. It was the first time one of us had been called on a mission since our little arrangement. We’d known it had been quiet for too long and it was bound to happen. That didn’t make it suck any less.

At first, we thought maybe it was because they were just seeing if they still had power over us. Like the entire thing was a test of some sort. But that had been some big old-fashioned wishful thinking.

From what we could find on the internet and through some sketchy sources we had, there had been a power struggle with some key players that stretched much further than just Gideon. Getting us back on board was Goliath’s power play, and at first, it wasn’t as well-received as he had hoped. We didn’t have all the details on that, but I had a strong suspicion it played into the quiet we’d been experiencing up until now.

We weren’t trusted, and for good reason. We shouldn’t be trusted. We were in this with one goal in mind: to take them down from the inside. No one threatens our omegas. No one.

My goal for this mission was to increase what little trust they did have in us. We needed to build it up if we had any chance of achieving our goal.

“Yeah, I’m sure about this. I’m the ideal one for this mission and we all know it. I don’t have a mate, and I’m good at the task at hand.”

I didn’t want to say what it was out loud, but they all knew. There was no reason to bring up the bloody side of what I was about to do. This was the kind of mission that changed you, that ate at you slowly from the inside out. I could handle it, and that seemed as good a reason as any to volunteer.

It was better this way. It was better for me to feel the weight of this over one of the others. Most of them had their mates to consider. And even those of us who weren’t mated, well, it was best for me to do this.

“I don’t like it,” King said. “Feels like a setup.”

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