Page 38 of Mated to the Pride

How had I ever imagined this would be abadthing?

“We’re the lucky ones,” said Hale, drumming his fingertips lightly over my skin. “Trust me. We really are.”

“All five of us will be,” said Stone. “When the little one comes.”

“I’ve been thinking about names,” I admitted. “Just a little.” Seeing their ears perk up, I smiled and continued. “Is it too cliché to call them Leo, or Leona?”

Preston grinned. “Not for me.”

“Will they actually be a shifter?” I asked, sitting up a little. I propped myself up against Blake’s lap, wriggling back closer as his arms wrapped around me. “I still have so much to learn.”

“More than likely, yes,” Blake answered, lips resting on my shoulder where he’d bitten down. It felt a little sore now, but in a good way — a physical remnant of all their love. “Don’t worry, though. You’ve got plenty of time to learn.”

“All the time in the world,” Hale confirmed.

As we lay there, drifting off in a happy pile by the glow of the fire, that was the thought I fixated on. For most of my life, I’d been wondering exactly where I’d end up, and with who — daydreaming about whether I was working the right job, or keeping the right company, or dating the right men. Now, seeing this path laid out before me, I felt a surreal calm and happiness settle over me like a blanket.

I wouldn’t have to struggle or wonder any more.

Stone

Our commanding officers didn’t need to know the minute detail — didn’t need to hear that we’d all risked our lives, and the integrity of the mission, to rescue Jessica. As natural as it was, and as much as we’d all stand behind the choice, it went directly against protocol, and none of us much enjoyed the idea of never being allowed to work as a unit again.

Instead, we just made out that we’d stumbled across their base camp early. That we’d seized an opportunity once we had adequate intel and knew exactly what we were walking into.

If anybody at the Pentagon suspected that we’d made some early moves, they didn’t say so. They just seemed grateful that the problem was handled sooner than expected, and without any casualties to the unit — or media attention. We were ghosts, slipping in and out of the area without causing any mayhem. It was exactly the reason they recruited us as a unit in the first place.

Now, of course, we could start heading home.

Still, it felt a little bittersweet to be leaving. This cabin was so much more than a workplace now. It was the place where we’d found Jess — or at least where we found our feelings for her. I knew she was special from the first moment we met and interviewed her, but learning over the course of these months exactlyhowspecial she was? That was a gift I’d never forget. As I walked through the communal areas of the cabin, checking for any possessions we’d left behind, I almost wished we could hold onto the place. Make it our own, for getaways.

But hey. If we had to leave it behind forever, so be it. Home is where the heart is, and we’d soon be making memories with Jess there too.

Speaking of Jess? I had an intervention to run.

“You know I’m not going to let you do that, right?”

She looked up at me from the kitchen, hand poised over the sink ready to dampen down a cloth. Her smile was playful and sheepish, as though she’d almost been expecting to get caught.

“I’m notthatpregnant yet.”

“Step away from the cleaning products, Dorsey.” I closed in on her, tugging the cloth out of her hands and pressing a kiss onto her blushing cheek. “Don’t make me tell Blake. Hewillmake you sit out in the sun with a glass of ice water and a plate of strawberries.”

“I’m considering it anyway,” said Blake, stepping in from outside and brushing off his hands. “Has she been working again?” He and Hale had been loading things into the truck for a while now, and the sun had left a sheen of sweat across his forehead. I saw Jess’ eyes lingering on his vein-roped forearms, and grinned.

“She’s been trying,” I told him. “Apparently she’s ‘notthatpregnant’.”

“I’m not!” she insisted. “I’m not even showing. You’re all way too sweet to me.”

“No such thing,” called Preston, clambering up through the basement floor with the last of our supplies. “And they’re right. You’re not lifting a finger.”

“Are you going to let me unpack when we get home?”

“Nope,” I said, cheerfully wiping down the kitchen surfaces she’d been intending to clean. “Absolutely not. We’ll take care of all of that for you. And before you ask — nope, we’re not going to let you pack up your old apartment either.”

“If you’re not careful, I’ll get used to it,” she warned. “Then I’ll be the laziest mommy this little cub could ever have.”

“I think growing an entire person is work enough,” said Blake, smoothing Jess’ hair behind her ears. “Anyway. Truck’s loaded up. Hale’s doing one last sweet of the cabin. After that, I think we’re good to go.”

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