Page 54 of Tempting Frey

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I had never regretted not being able to shift. My parents worried about it more than I did. But seeing Frey in his bear form stirred something in me.

I wanted to share that with him. I should be able to join him.

My mate, of course, noticed something was off. Back in his human form, he slipped into his cut-off sweats and ushered me back into the house. Standing in the living room, he studied me.

“What is it, Oliver?” he asked softly. Feeling his worry as if it were mine, I took a second to appreciate the power of the bond. If he seemed sad, I would want to know why too. I had to tell him.

“Seeing you shift… it brought back some old stuff.”

Teddy hugged me to his broad chest, and feeling his warmth made everything better. “Because you can’t?”

“It never bothered me, I swear. My dads made a big deal out of it when I turned sixteen. Hunter reassured them I was healthy, that it was most likely just in my head, but since I was fine with it, they should let me be. But my alpha dad wanted a second opinion, so he found another shifter doctor in Green Peaks. An omega. Of course, the guy told him the same. There was nothing wrong with me.”

He stroked my back up and down. “Of course there’s nothing wrong with you. You’re perfect.”

“Seeing you, I wish I could run around the mountains with you.” I shrugged and gave him a half smile. “But it’s okay. I’m healthy, and that’s the most important thing.”

With his hands on my shoulders, Teddy leaned back to look at me. Frowning in that thoughtful way of his, he studied my face. “Do you think it could be just in your head?”

“Probably. When I couldn’t shift at the same age as my older brothers, I got nervous about it. The more I tried, the more hopeless it became. My brothers gave me all this advice and showed me a thousand times, claiming it was natural. ‘You’reoverthinking it, Ollie. You need to turn off your brain, Ollie.’ It was easy for them to say when they didn’t have much thinking going on in their brains to begin with. My dad took me camping in the mountains, and we did all these ridiculous exercises he’d found on some dubious blogs online. I couldn’t do it. I stopped trying. My pa finally stepped in and told them all in no uncertain terms to let me be.”

“You haven’t tried since?”

“No.”

“Do you want to?” he asked softly, and miraculously, there was zero expectation in the question. He just asked what I wanted. He wouldn’t push me, try to convince me, or influence me in any way. My mate simply needed to know what I thought was best for me so he could support me.

It seemed that while Theodore Frey could be as pigheaded as any alpha, he wasmypigheaded alpha.

“Maybe,” I replied. “But not now.”

“Of course not. It’s late, and you’re recovering from heat. But someday soon, when you feel the time is right, we can try. Together.”

“I’d like that.”

“No pressure.” He tapped the tip of my nose with a fingertip. “I only want you happy, Oliver.”

“I am. The happiest I’ve ever been.”

Teddy kissed me, long and slow, then he hoisted me up and carried me to bed.

We slept wrapped around each other. I woke up a few times during the night, probably due to unfamiliar sounds and the fact that a huge alpha, who radiated heat like a furnace, was occupying two-thirds of the bed. Every time I stirred, I only had to remember where I was and with whom, cuddle up to him, and I would fall asleep again in seconds.

15

FREY

Predictably, my dick was the first to wake up. While I was trying to clear the cobwebs from my skull, it throbbed and ached. My balls felt swollen and my knot tingly.

Nimble fingers brushed the underside of my erection, and I groaned.

“Oliver…”

“Good morning,” he whispered. The mattress shifted under me, and Oliver pressed to my front. A hot, wet mouth closed around my nipple, and the naked skin of his soft belly cushioned my cock.

Pregnant.My mate is pregnant.

With a growl, I thrust against him. Only half awake, I clutched my mate to me, rocking my hips.