Page 39 of His Prodigal Alpha

It wasn’t my inner alpha; I knew that much. He was just as desperate to shift as I was. Maybe even more so. But if I had come to terms with it, and my inner puma had come to terms with it, what was holding me back?

Eric, Ollie, and Brandt had various theories, too, of course. It kept coming back to the mating bond. After all, Beck hadn’t tried to shift until after he and Ollie were bonded, so the scientifically-minded members of the pack seemed convinced that the bond must play a part in why I still couldn’t shift. Eric even theorized that, even though I scented like a puma, it might take bonding to cement my ‘breed’ of shifter, as he called it.

With no other alphas —bonded or otherwise— to test the theory, it seemed to make as much sense as any other, even if Beck wasn’t convinced that was what was preventing my shift.

“Plus, someone’s gotta help me mind Duke and Rory while Ollie and Beck run with the pack,” Damon said, makingadditional excuses for me. He offered me an apologetic grimace. “Sorry: I volunteered us without asking you.”

“Making sure your alpha gets more practice before your little one arrives?” one of the women a few seats down laughed with amusement at her own joke. I hadn’t met her before, and even though I knew she meant no harm, I bristled at the old ‘men are bad with babies’ stereotype.

I mean, yeah, okay: I hadn’t been great with them before spending time with Beck’s kids, but she didn’t know that.

“Actually, it’s me,” Damon told her, and I wondered if I was projecting or if that was a slight edge to his tone. “I’m the one who needs a bit more practice. I’m not the most affectionate type, y’know?” He chuckled and it sounded rueful, but he snuggled in closer to me, the action belying his words. “Plus, Rex has become a pro at changing diapers and calming a cranky baby. Ollie says he’s now at the top of their ‘Emergency Babysitter’ list, right after Sandy, and Lena and Brandi, of course.” I delighted in the pride I heard in his voice. For all he said he wasn’t affectionate, he had his own love language.

Momentarily, I flashed back to the first time I had seen him. He’d been beautiful, with his long, dark hair tied back at the nape of his neck, telling some sleazy guy that he didn’t speak English.

The memory made me smile. His sass and snark had called to me like a beacon.

Whatever language he was speaking now, I was picking up on what he might really mean. Even with his walls up, I understood him. But until he was comfortable letting me in for real, I’d give him time to work it out for himself. English or not, his love languages were enough for now.

Not wanting to focus on the concept of ‘love languages’ for too long, I reacted with amusement, “Not Eric?”

Damon snickered. “Eric’s a great doctor, but outside of checkups or fixing boo-boos, that man is awkward AF with kids. It’s funny.” His expression turned thoughtful. “Brandt, on the other hand, is kind of a natural. That surprised me. He looks so gruff and serious, y’know? But Lance Baker brought his triplets into the clinic the other day —they’re five, by the way— and Brandt turned into a big kid himself. It was really sweet.”

Some immature part of me felt jealous at hearing that. I knew that Damon and Brandt were becoming good friends, but I also knew that Damon had a thing for older men, and Brandt was capital H hot. Omega or not, that dragon was everything Damon seemed to be interested in when it came to other men, and I wanted him to say thatIwas sweet.

I knew that was mostly my instincts flaring up and interfering with my rational thought, but it didn’t make it any easier to push the thoughts aside.

Reminding myself that being a possessive, jealous dick about a man Damon was friends with wouldnotwin me any points, I forced a smile and went back to thinking about how he showed affection without saying the words. He didn’t act like that with anyone else, only with me. That meant something.

“Looks can be deceiving,” I agreed. Then I blinked and processed the rest of what he’d said. “Did you say triplets?”

“Multiples aren’t uncommon with some shifter sub-species,” Damon shrugged as though that wasn’t a huge deal. “The Bakers are rabbits. It’s particularly common to have twins and triplets in rabbit families.”

My gaze drifted over to the side of the marquee, where Sandy had one of Beck and Ollie’s kids propped on her hip,and Ollie was burping the other on his shoulder.

“I guess it’s not that uncommon for wolves, either,” Damon added, following my line of sight.

I swallowed roughly and looked pointedly down at his belly. He laughed and patted it. “I promise there’s only one in there,” he assured me. My elevated heart rate was just calming down as he added, “Mountain lion shifters aren’t known for having multiples quite as often as some of the other sub-species, but it’s not unheard of. It’s the horses, cattle, giraffes…all the larger mammals, really…who generally only ever have one at a time.”

“What about the dragons?” I asked, playfully wondering, “Do they lay eggs?”

His expression fell, causing my heart to sink with it. “There hasn’t been a dragon alpha in hundreds of years.”

Frowning, I tried to work that out. “Well, no, but betas—”

“They’re a male-only species,” Royce piped up at my side, and I jumped a little in my seat, having forgotten we weren’t alone. He cheerfully continued, “So they’ve only got omegas left, which means they can’t have any babies.”

“Keep your voice down,” his mom admonished him, leaning over her still half-full plate with her cutlery poised in her hands. “I don’t think the Weldmans like to think on that a whole lot, and we shouldn’t be bringing it up at Christmas. We’re s’posed to be talking about happy things.”

“Except…” I mused aloud, thoroughly confused, “if the last alpha died hundreds of years ago…” I turned around, craning my neck to try and catch sight of any of the three dragons who had made Shifters Sanctuary their home. My gaze landed on Eric, who looked my own age, and I frowned again. “How do they exist?”

“They’re older than they look,” Damon nudged me with hisshoulder. “Like…by a few hundred years.”

Well damn.

“I’d hate that,” I said out loud before my brain could engage the filter between my thoughts and my mouth. “Think of all the friends you’d watch age and pass away…” I shuddered and shook my head. “I’ll stick with a normal lifespan, thanks.”

Damon blinked at me with wide, horrified eyes. “After Carolejustsaid ‘don’t bring down Christmas’,that’swhat you come out with?”

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