Page 69 of Connected

“Yeah, well that can wait cos your actin’ awfully shifty and I don’t trust you not to get QT in some sorta shit. You comin’ in here with one of Kat’s books. What the hell is this about?”

“I’m simply curious. I had some time, and I got to thinkin’ and I just wondered how they work that shit out. I’m just showin’ an interest, that’s all. This chart is pretty damn confusing, though, and so I figured QT would know how to decipher it. I mean, codes are his specialty, right? And books… he knows more about books than me. So anyway… hypothetically, how would I work it out? Take me and Rosie as just an example, how would I know?”

“Well, you… you cross r-r-reference your type of w-wolf and her t-t-type. Then the moon and…. Digby, it’s c-com-complicated.”

“Complicated? Why? What d’ya need to know?”

“Diggs…” Zak frowns, “Why the hell do you need to know all this?”

“Geez, is it such a big deal that I just wanna know? There’s no reason. I just wanna be involved this time. Is that okay with you? You know those wolves all caged up—it affected me. Got me thinkin’ about things.”

“Right… just it’s strange, that’s all. I mean, you’ve never shown no interest before.”

“Well, I am this time. So, QT, can you work it out?”

“M-Maybe. I don’t know.”

“All right, so let’s say Rosie’s a beta and I’m Alpha and the moon was… hell, I don’t know. It was a couple of months ago, maybe three? Just make that shit up.”

“Yeah, but hold up, you’re the pup of a blood-alpha so that might make it more complicated… I guess you need to check that too. From what I remember, cos didn’t we try’n work this out once before—one of those others you got pregnant?”

“Z-Zak’s right, it’s c-complicated. If it were you-you and K-Kat, it would be easy. Two bl-blood-alphas is easy to work out.”

“Easy why?”

“Be-c-cause it would be a bb-boy. Needs to be a s-super—”

“It needs to be a super moon to be a girl. C’mon Diggs, you know that. Hell, I thought everyone knew that’s what makes them so special—Why Kat’s so special. You only get a girl Blood-Alpha when all the moons align at some special thing. I can’t remember the exact details but…”

“So, what you mean, it’sdefinitelygonna be a boy?”

“Yeah, but that’s with Kat, not with Rosie. You were talkin’ hypothetical. Like QT said with Rosie it gets a lot more complicated. Don’t ask me why I don’t know. This stuff, it’s not my thing. Rosie told you she was havin’ a girl so just go with it. Those women at the commune will have it all worked out. Hell, they know everything about havin’ wolf pups—they’ve been dealin’ with it for centuries. It’s not for us to get involved in all that. Trust me if she says you’re havin’ a girl, then you’re havin’ a girl.”

“A boy?” Digby gasps under his breath. Ignoring Zak, he sinks into the pillows on the couch; a huge smile fills his face. “A boy… and you’re sure about that? About the blood-alpha-moon thing?”

“Yeah, we’re sure. But Diggs, as we said, that’s only for you and Kat—not Rosie. Rosie’s not even a real alpha, you know that. That is what we’re talkin’ about here, right? Oh god have you got someone else pregnant? Shit… Kat’s gonna spill her juice over this. Diggs, how could you be so damn stupid? You do know there are ways to stop havin’ pups… Oh god—” Zak gasps and stares at QT, as a sudden realization crosses his mind. “Oh… Oh no, wait a damn minute. That’s what you were doin’—the other night when I came in, you were fuckin’ and… That’s why she was so angry. Holy shit! You got Kat pregnant!”

Zak’s mouth drops open and the gasp makes him breathless as he and QT exchange disbelieving looks.

“Diggs, did you knot with Kat? I mean, how the hell did that even happen? I thought she had an implant; that she took care of that stuff?”

“I don’t know. It just did. Alvarez… what happened, remember the cut… the implant—the full moon. She came in heat and we didn’t realize. I don’t really know how but… a boy,” he smiles.

“What the fuck?” Zak stares—watching as Digby sits there, a huge grin filling his face. “So, what the hell’re you gonna do?”

“What? Oh, that um… Yeah right, firstly you cannot tell anyone about this. I mean it, you can’t breathe a word to anyone. Do you understand me? Pack-oath. Swear it. Swear you will not say a fuckin’ word, because if she doesn’t, then I will cut your balls off. Do you understand me?”

“She’s in pup? Oh, my fuckin’ god! What the… So, how’s she takin’ it? I mean, is she okay? Wow, she’s gotta be goin’ outta her mind, after all her whole fuckin’ career just blew up. Shit… this is, this is… Wow!”

“All right, don’t be so fuckin’ dramatic. Hell, it’s not like she’s dyin’. We’ll take care of it—get some childcare. Zak, it’s gonna be fine. Like I told her; we can sort this. We’ll manage.”

“Get some childcare? Diggs, have you heard yourself? Are you fuckin’ serious? Childcare… for wolf pup… on a military base? You’re special operators, so how the hell’s that gonna work? You gotta be jokin’; you can’t go through with this. Digby, have you seriously thought this through?”

“Yeah, of course, I have. Look, it’s all gonna be fine. Anyway, the way I have it figured, in a couple of weeks, her wolf hormones kick in, they take over and she’s gonna wanna give up operatin’. It’s the law of nature, right? Being pregnant, it’ll be the start of somethin’ new—somethin’ more permanent for us? Zak, it’s fate; she’ll come around to it.”

“She’ll come around. Fate? Are you fuckin’ serious?” Zak sneers and wrinkles his nose dismissively. “Well, I sure as hell hope you’re right because I’m not so sure. How the hell could you two be so careless? I mean you, yeah, I get that. But her? I never thought Kat would be so dumb. Oh hell…” Zak sits himself on the arm of the couch and QT takes a hold of his hand, trying to reassure him. “What a fuckin’ mess.”

“Hey… I didn’t know she was in heat. It wasn’t until… until the vanilla scent, then I kinda knew. She’s the fuckin’ medic and even she didn’t know. Anyway, it’s her body she should have taken more care of… Oh no. No, shit sorry. I didn’t mean to say that. That was a shitty thing to say. I just… hell, I’m all over the damn place right now.”

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