Page 52 of Her Second-Hand Mate

I simply stood there until she noticed me. Her face immediately sobered, and her eyes became cold. Someone had the good sense to turn off the music, and silence fell over the backyard. My mother made her way through the crowd and gave me a brief hug.

“Welcome back, Dominic,” she said without her usual smile. She wasn’t too happy with me either. “I think the pup shower is over since I believe your Alpha is tired from his trip,” she told the crowd.

She then turned to Penelope, “Don’t you dare clean any of this up. We’ll swing by later to do it. Theo and Elliot will bring the presents in now, and Sonya and I will pack up the food, but that’s the only thing that's urgent.”

Penelope just nodded.Say something,I begged internally.Let me hear your voice.She was still just observing me. Was it possible to become even more beautiful in only three months?

Her pregnancy had made her even curvier, and if I used to be a weak male before, I was completely done for now. Her hair had grown a bit, still not back to its former length, but I still itched to run my fingers through it, to smell it. I saw her stand up, and in three steps, I was in front of her. She took a step back, and my wolf yelped in pain. I inhaled sharply.

She walked toward the house, and I followed. I could feel disapproving glares on me, but I let it be. I was happy they were on her side, especially after the whole mess in Spruce Mountain. They were a good pack.

“Penelope,” I rasped once we were out of earshot of the others. “Why – how? Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant?” Ifinally got the words out, and something flashed in her eyes before she donned the mask of indifference again.

“I tried telling you,” she said calmly, “when I came to your office the last time, but you told me you had to work, so I didn’t want to disturb you further.”

I remembered the incident. I was struggling with myself and my wolf about leaving her for so long, and her standing there, rambling so adorably, was weakening my resolve. So I pushed her away like I always did.

“I’m sorry. I wish you’d felt comfortable enough to tell me. I wouldn’t have left if I’d known.”

She raised an eyebrow to indicate her skepticism but didn’t comment on the claim. She then shrugged and looked away.

“Can I feel him? Can I feel our pup?” I said in a wobbly voice.

What was happening to me?

She reluctantly nodded, and I fell on my knees before her and gently put my hands on the firm bump. He smelled male and strong and like a mixture of the two of us. He was definitely mine. I hated myself for even thinking that.

I reverently put my forehead against her belly and softly greeted him, “Hello, son,” and immediately got a kick in response. I jerked and looked up at Penelope. Whatever awe I felt must have shown up on my face because hers softened for the briefest of moments before it went back to the mask she now wore.

I took her by the hand and led her to the living room. Just that small contact meant the world to me, even if she took it back as soon as she could. I noticed some changes in the house, but the biggest was that the mating ceremony photo of Cassie and me was gone from the fireplace. Thank God.

I kept it there as a reminder for myself and never found the strength to get rid of it. But it was time. Penelope noticed where I was looking and lifted her chin defiantly, expecting me to maybe scold her. I loved that face, and I wanted to kiss her whenever she’d make it, which was tricky, since she mostly made it when she was angry. With me, obviously.

“I’ll shower, and then we’ll talk, okay?” I asked her, and she nodded.

It was so hard getting a word out of her.

When I entered our bedroom, I immediately knew something was wrong. It didn’t smell like her, or better said, her smell was too faint. Like she didn’t live there anymore. Her things were gone from the room, as well as the en suite. The walk-in was still being used. The bed in which I spent so much time looking at her and loving her was empty and cold now, and my poor wolf was losing his mind.

After showering, I found her sitting in the guest room, which she’d apparently turned into a nursery. It was painted a deep dark green and had a crib, an armchair, a dresser with a changing surface on top, and a single bed with a tiny crib-type thing attached to it.

The message was clear: only one pup and one adult would sleep here. I swallowed the hurt and walked around the room, examining the furniture and the walls.

They held framed photographs of Penelope with her friends, her brother, and with her grandmother, as well as photos of Penelope wearing the same gauzy wavy dress as today, cradling her belly somewhere in the forest. She looked like a nymph orsome other ethereal being. Again, the writing was on the wall, so to speak.

I cleared my throat.

“I love what you did with the room.”

She dipped her chin in thanks, and then said, “Your mate’s old stuff is at your mother’s house, so you and Heather can decide what to do with it.”

I winced, remembering how I’d dumped all that stuff into this room and just never opened it again. This was after the incident where I rage-destroyed the bedroom.

Meeting Penelope had been so unexpected that I never cleared it out, nor did I stop to consider how she might feel about it. I was just catching up with what life threw at me, reacting to things instead of thinking ahead.

“Youare my mate, Penelope,” was all I managed to drum up in response.

“Could’ve fooled me,” she said in a sing-songy voice that was clearly meant to be mocking and tried leaving the nursery, but I blocked the door with my body.

---