Page 35 of His Unicorn Alpha
“If you’re about to say ‘enjoy the sex that made them’ or something along those lines, I think it’s safe to assume that Brandt and I have made up for that.”
My friend snorted. “No. But thanks for the mental imagery, asshole.”
“You’re welcome.”
Shaking his head, Beck ignored my snarky teasing. “I was going to say that you didn’t even get a choice…I mean, I guess youdid, but…Ugh, I’m not saying this right.” He huffed out a breath of frustration, then stared up at me with a whole bunch of emotions on his face. “I’m just saying, it would have been totally understandable if you were pissed with Brandt, or if you weren’t ready to have kids.Threekids, Mike.”
“Yeah,” I sighed and pushed the suitcase further up the bed so I could sit beside my friend, “it would have been understandable. But I didn’t feel like that. And that doesn’t make your freakout when Ollie got pregnant any less valid, by the way.”
Beck scrunched his nose. “Except—”
“Nope. No exceptions. And if you’re still feeling guilty about that, that’s something you need to talk to him about.”
“I’m not. Not really. I mean, this whole thing with you and Brandt has kind of shaken up some of those old feelings, but I guess I just assumed…I mean,three babies, Micah. You’ll be outnumbered.”
“We, uh, we’re talking about employing help, actually. Like…a nanny.” I cringed as I said it, associating the word with the rich and affluent. “Not to, like, do all the work or raise them for us or anything. But I will have to travel for work, and Brandt wants to keep working at the clinic, and…what?”
Beck was staring at me with wide-eyed surprise. “That's…Wow. You only met him yesterday.”
“And I bonded with him.” I smiled softly, remembering my awe when he first told me about bonding with Ollie. “With the biting and the foreverness.”
His own expression softened, likely remembering the same conversation, and he nodded. “With the biting and the foreverness, yes.”
“And I chose that, Beck. I knew it was an option and…I chose it.”
I didn’t need to tell him that that was where our pivotal difference was: all of this had fallen in his lap and had taken him by surprise when it had happened to him. I had grown up as a shifter and, after he and Ollie bonded, I understood that the magic wasn’t just in stories anymore. While I had never imagined that I, as a beta, would ever be presented with the opportunity to bond with a mate, I had known what I was doing before I went with my instincts. I hadchosenmy fate.
It was that choice which made the sudden changes in my life seem so much easier to handle. I had known what I was signing up for. I had known, theoretically speaking, what to expect going forward.
“It’s that easy for you?” Beck still sounded a little bewildered. “I know you chose it, but it’s still happening so fast. This time yesterday, you hadn’t even met the man. Now, you’re bonded forever and are having triplets in, like, six months. How are you so calm?”
“Sandy asked you that same question, remember? Or at least something close to it. And you said that what was done was done and there was no sense losing your shit over something you couldn’t go back and change.”
“Well, yeah, but Ollie’s pack had just tried to snatch him off the street, too, and that kind of put it into perspective for me.”
Thankfully, my mate was not at risk of being kidnapped by a cult-like pack. Or, rather, I hoped he wasn’t. At least, no more at risk than any other member of Shifters Sanctuary.
I clapped Beck on the shoulder and squeezed. “This is still kind of like that. Not with the life-endangerment, but Brandt was already pregnant either way. He was having my kids either way. And, honestly? Even if I could go back in time to change it, I wouldn’t. Not just because of the whole thing where it might potentially help keep an entire species going, either.”
The flash of guilt across Beck’s face made me aware that my words might have struck a nerve, but he shook it off and asked, “No?”
“No. Brandt has wanted to be a dad for hundreds of years. This…this makes himsohappy. Am I a little terrified of having kids with someone who is practically a complete stranger right now? Yeah, I am. But yesterday, while the bond was still settling in, I couldfeelhis happiness inside me and there’s no way I would want to take that from him.” Pushing back to my feet, I added, “It’s different to your situation. I know you and Ollie love the twins, but neither of you expected them and, on top of the alpha thing being a surprise, and the threat from his pack, you had a lot to deal with. For me? The only threat I’m facing is that my mom will want to move here and never leave when she finds out she’s getting grandchildren.”
Beckett laughed at that. “She’s welcome here. Everyone is. That’s kind of our thing.”
“Don’t tell her that,” I joked back, then I groaned as the truth of what I was saying fully dawned on me. “She’s going to beimpossible. She’s been wanting a grandbaby for a long time. Add to that the fact that she was right about coming back here…”
“Wait, what? What do you mean?”
Reaching for one of the t-shirts in the pile of clothes I still had to pack, I started to tell Beck everything about my feelings since I visited for his wedding, and the conversations I had had with my mother. My suitcase was fully packed by the time I was finished, and Beck appeared contemplative.
“Do you think there’s something to it?” he asked. “To her connection with the universe, or whatever she calls it? Because Sage and Dex are looking into the magical side of shifters and alphas and stuff...and maybe your mom can help with that?”
Didn’t Brandt say something about it sounding like the old ways last night?
My thoughts swirled as I started to consider the fact that my mom’s airy-fairy talk might actually be a bit more than just a quirk. What if she and her family before her had been passing down forgotten magic from the older generations of shifters? If something she knew could help the pack —my new pack,Brandt’spack— I couldn’t risk not asking.
“I guess I’m calling Mom.”
