Page 29 of His Prodigal Alpha

I looked back over to see him throwing his hands up and stomping over to the pile of clothing he’d set down on a large, flat rock. With jerky, agitated movements, he dressed himself. Beck and Sandy shifted back into their human forms with practiced ease, but it was Beck who approached Rex, trying to offer more suggestions to help Rex push past whatever mental barrier was preventing him from shifting.

“How did you do it that first time?” Sandy asked Beck. “Did you just think the wolfy thoughts like I said?”

Everyone seemed to wait with bated breath as Beck considered the question, and I felt my stomach sink when his shoulders slumped and he looked sheepishly towards his mate. “I actually followed the pull from the bond that first time. I could feel how Ollie felt when he shifted and I just let my instincts copy it.”

“Well, that’s just great,” Rex yanked on his sweater, and I couldn’t help but think that his ruffled hair looked cute, even as he scowled and pointed at his own chest. “I don’t have a bond to follow.”

Silence fell, heavy and awkward.

Rex seemed to realize how his bitter complaint sounded, because he cringed and looked over at me. “I didn’t mean…” his hands moved about vaguely in the air in front of him. I didn’t think there was a way for him to finish that sentence that wouldn’t be misconstrued by someone, so Itook pity on him.

“I know, Rex. We’re doing things differently, that’s all.”

“It’s a pity,” Ollie sighed beside me. “If youwerebonded, you could shift and he could just follow the feeling.”

“We’re not bonding just so he can trick his body into shifting,” I grumbled. “That’s an even worse reason than bonding because I’m pregnant.”

“Fair point,” Ollie conceded, knocking his shoulder against mine. “Except—” I groaned, but he ignored me “—I maintain there’s something to Eric’s fated mates theory. If nothing else, biology wouldn’t kick in unless we were fundamentally compatible with our alphas. Beck and I prove that a solid relationship can be established after a surprise bonding to a stranger.”

“You’re going to need a wider pool of subjects before you can argue that’s the case for everyone,” I reminded him. “And I’m not signing up to be a guinea pig on that theory.” Rubbing my belly and smiling as I felt my son kicking out at the spot where my palm was resting, I added, “This is enough of a life-changer for me right now.”

“Spoilsport,” Ollie complained, but his tone was playful.

“So,” Beck cleared his throat, “I guess that puts us back at square one.” He turned to his mate. “Describe what you feel when you shift.”

“It’s just instinct,” Ollie frowned as he tried to explain it.

I’d never given the sensation of shifting much thought, either. It was something I just did without thinking.

“This is going to sound really airy-fairy, but I sort of reach into my subconscious and follow my inner wolf until I am my wolf?”

From where she was dressing, Sandy nodded her agreement. “My body just knows what to do.”

“That’s what got you and Rex into this mess, isn’t it?” Ollie teased and gave my shoulder a nudge. I snorted.

“You’re being really helpful,” I replied with a liberal dose of sarcasm. “And it’s not like you can talk.”

“God bless shifter biological instinct,” he grinned back. “I have zero regrets.”

“Even when they wake you up all hours of the night?” That was one of my many concerns about parenthood. I didn’t know how I was going to handle it.

Ollie’s expression softened into something wistful and full of affection. “Even then,” he admitted, “they’re totally worth it.”

Inside me, my son kicked up at my ribs and I grunted at the sharp pain that accompanied it. It was almost as if the little terror knew I was thinking less-than-adoring thoughts about him. Sighing, I rubbed at my belly and addressed it when I spoke, “Hey, you in there, quit being a brat. I’m trying to get all maternal here.”

Ollie laughed. “I don’t miss those days, though,” he said, wincing in sympathy when another internal jab had me grunting again. He lowered his voice and confessed, “I hated being pregnant.”

“Yeah, well, you had two of these critters inside you. I’m uncomfortable enough with one.”

I didn’t know where the admission had come from. Until the previous day, I’d kept most of my whining over my discomfort to myself. Then it was as though opening the floodgates and ranting at Brandt had flipped a switch in my brain. It helped that Ollie was the only other man I knew who would actually understand.

“It’s worth it,” he repeated, wrappingan arm around me and squeezing reassuringly, “I promise.”

I hoped he was right.

* * *

Rex asked me to go on our first official date three days after his first failed attempts at shifting. As far as I was aware, he still hadn’t achieved it when he swung by Eric and Brandt’s clinic with a box of chocolates and a request to join him for dinner.

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