Page 25 of The Devil on my Chest

“Yes. It’s actually…it’s new for me and Rocky, spending our time on our own again, but it’s going well.” Mal looked down at his hands. He felt like an idiot.The only way to know is to spit it out.

“The thing is, when Mrs. Hooper was showing us around, you know what Rocky’s like. He was all about where he was going to put his television. I was talking to Mrs. Hooper and mentioned that we really didn’t need that third bedroom. And, you know Mrs. Hooper. She sort of gave me one of those looks, the way she does, and she said, ‘we’ll see’ and since then…

“You are going to think I’m a right idiot, because I know and you know furry shifters can’t get pregnant, right? I’ve known that since day one but…well…my wolf thinks we’re pregnant and doesn’t understand why I haven’t told Rocky about it. I’m just being silly, right? Tell me that my wolf and I are being silly.”

Doc was quiet for a moment, tapping his pen on his desk. “Did anybody explain to you about male omegas?”

“Well, yes, if you’re talking about the fact I would never father pups. That was all my ex-alpha would ever say about me. Which makes what’s going on now all the more ridiculous.”

“Actually, just because you’re a male omega doesn’t mean you couldn’t father pups. If you had sex with a female wolf, you have as much chance of getting her pregnant as Rocky might. That assumption comes from the fact most male omegas prefer male mates. I thought we covered the ins and outs of being a male omega when you came to see me before.”

Mal cast his mind back. “Not that I can remember. We were talking about the fact that I didn’t feel arousal the way other shifters did, and you told me that was perfectly normal. Things are perfectly normal now I’ve met my mate.

“That’s what makes this all so silly. I was wondering, because you know how I explained to you that when Rocky and I claimed each other, I swallowed some of his blood while he was still cursed. Do you think that’s what this is? Is this curse affecting me in some way? Making me think things or believe things that aren’t true?”

“Your blood was cleared by Doctor Nelson when you were back in New York,” Doc said. “So I hardly think that’s possible. The other thing is, if your blood was contaminated in any way, it would affect you and not your wolf. It’s the same as what happened to Rocky in that respect – he had the cake addiction, not his wolf.”

“Well, I don’t understand what’s happening then,” Mal said. “It all just feels... That’s what I mean. I feel silly even coming to you, but I sent Rocky off just so I could have five minutes to myself, and those feelings aren’t going away. After what happened to Rocky and none of us knowing about it for so long, it’s worrying me.”

“All right then, your confusion is partially my fault then and I’m sorry,” Doc said. “When you came to see me the first time, I know you were worried about you not feeling aroused by anybody. I guess it slipped my mind of the ramifications of what would happen when you met your mate. We did discuss your feelings would change then, and that you would feel that arousal, which you apparently are. But the simple biological fact is, and this is what makes male omegas special, that they can get pregnant if they have been claimed by their fated mate. They are the only male furry shifters that can.”

Mal swallowed hard. “Does that mean I could be?”

“I think,” Doc said slowly, “if your wolf is telling you that you are, then you are. But, I know what you’re like, Mal. You like things in black and white, and that’s fine.”

He rummaged around in his drawer, and he pulled out a small packet. “Pop through the small bathroom to the left there and pee on the stick. We’ll know in a few minutes and then you can either have a stern talking to with your wolf or you can have an interesting conversation with Rocky when he gets back from chasing the campers.”

“I told him not to chase the campers,” Mal said. “At least I think I did. Shoots, no, I didn’t. I just told him and Liam to be nice. Crap. That means there’re probably going to be frightened campers running down the main road in the next hour. Darn it.”

Taking the package, Mal went through to the bathroom. Even as he followed the instructions on the packet he knew that there was a good chance that what Doc was saying was true.

Well of course it is. That’s why you came to Doc in the first place. Did I just not want to imagine that it could be true? Or was I just hoping like hell that it was, and I don’t know how I’m going to tell Rocky?

Mal wasn’t sure, but he did the deed, waited the allotted time and when it was done, the answer was staring him in the face.Fine, you were right,he sent through to his smug wolf. Heaving a sigh, even as his heart gave a flutter at the idea, Mal washed his hands, dried them, and then went back through to the Doc.

“You were right, my wolf was right. How the hell am I gonna tell Rocky? Because I’m sure as hell that he doesn’t know this is possible.”

“If he accepted the fact that you were self-lubing and self-prepping he can accept the responsibilities for his actions,” Doc said with a laugh. “My issue is how long have you been feeling like this because you’ve been mated how long now? Four weeks? Five?”

“I think it’s five weeks on Monday.” Mal did a quick tally in his head. “We had sex for the first time on the Tuesday – five weeks ago. But I’ve only been thinking like this, maybe two weeks at most.”

“Well, it’s good you came to see me. A wolf’s pregnancy is maximum seventy-five days and is usually shorter, like around sixty-three to sixty-five days depending on the breed of wolf.” Doc got up and went over and grabbed a cart.

“Hop up on the bed a minute and we’ll check you out with the ultrasound. You helped to pay for it with your fancy dancing of yours, yours and Rocky. So we might as well use it on you and see if we can get an indication of dates from using that.”

“I never thought for a second when I was strutting my stuff on that stage that I’d be using the machine I helped to pay for.” Mal climbed on the bed and lay back, tugging his shirt out of his waistband and pushing the waistband of his pants down a bit.

“That’s right. You don’t have to undo them. I just need access to your lower belly area.” Doc was fiddling with his machine.

Staring at the ceiling, all Mal could think was of how Rocky would react when he told him. In his head it could go one of two ways. Rocky would either be really proud, strutting around like the cock of the walk because he’d got his man pregnant, or he could be absolutely horrified.

Rocky had plans for that third bedroom. I think he was going to turn it into an office.Although why, Mal had no idea, becauseit’s not like Rocky used the office at the sheriff’s office, except for sleeping.

“All right then.” Mal felt something push down on his stomach. “This might feel a bit cold for a second…but now we can start looking around… Ah, yes…that didn’t take long. Have a look.”

Turning his head, Mal looked at the screen Doc was pointing to.

“As you can clearly see, two little ones. You can see their heartbeats there – very strong – and then the rounding of their spine. See that one is kicking their little legs, the other one looks like he’s having a snooze.”

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