Page 87 of His Rejected Alpha Mate
I took a deep breath before I asked what had been in my heart for weeks now. “I’d also like to change my last name. Angelica’s, too. Dakota, would you marry me, the human way, and adopt Angel? Make it all legal?”
He didn’t speak for a full minute until he got himself under control. He looked me in the eye and spoke clearly. “Yes. To both.”
Epilogue
Dakota
“I want to come see my brother, but we just can’t right now. I’m so sorry, Dad, Papa.” It was easy to hear the pain and worry in Kade’s voice over the video call and to see his torn expression as his eyes kept straying to his own wrapped up bundles.
“He looks just like you, Dakota,” said Blake. He wrapped an arm around Kade and pulled him close, trying to comfort him.
Should we go to them tomorrow, if you feel up to it?I asked Jasper over the bond.
That’s a great idea. We can tell them the rest of our news in person.
“We’ll come see you tomorrow if all is okay. Angelica is getting dropped off in the morning. Grady and Trey didn’t want to wake her. So we will wait for her and take a pleasant walk.” I told them. In the background, Roan was lurking as if he didn’t want to attract attention.
“Hey, Roan! Good to see you up and about. You’ll be there for baby snuggles tomorrow, won’t you?” Jasper said brightly. We’d both expressed our concern about our friend over his injuries. Kade had been lost without his best friend, a role I was happy to hand over since dad was a step up.
Roan looked slightly sheepish and ran a hand over his closely cropped hair. “Hey, I’ll be here. Can’t wait to meet him.”
We ended the call when Kade and Blake’s children all wanted to be fed. They certainly had their hands full over there.
Hayden wriggled in my dad’s hold, and he raised frantic eyes to Papa.
“Here, he likely just needs to be fed.” Jasper made to get up from the bed where he’d been drinking tea and snacking as we called to let everyone know the news. I laid a hand on his shoulder, preventing him from moving, and went to take Hayden from Dad.
“Oh, I have some of those pre-made bottles!” Papa rummaged in his case and drew out a box. “Ah ha!” Opening it carefully, he removed one, wiped his hands, and got it ready for Jasper.
Watching my mate feed our newborn son for the first time was magical. So much had changed in the last half a year. I’d gone from believing that I couldn’t have a mate out there, still grieving for Cooper, to being mated with a full family and a whole lot of love. The goddess had blessed me beyond my wildest expectations.
Later, the reality of being a parent to a newborn that didn’t know what sleep was set in.
I took my turns feeding and changing him. I loved holding Hayden on my shoulder to burp him. The satisfaction of watching him drop into a contented sleep was amazing. Letting Jasper get some much needed rest felt like I was looking after my mate properly. He’d birthed our son with next to no time to get ready. He had so little support, thinking that I wanted him to go it alone. His fox had been so brave and a little stupid, trying to do it in secret. Jasper’s fox had wanted to present our alpha cub to me as proof of being a suitable mate, as if I would cast Jasper aside for giving me something lesser.
Then it hit me. Rincoln had nearly killed Jasper for giving him a beta girl. Only needing to save face and keep Kade close prevented Rincoln from casting the pair of them out.
It would take years for those mental scars to fade. Years of loving Jasper properly and showing him that Angelica was perfect as she was, regardless of her inability to carry babies.
In the early hours of the morning, I sat in the nursing chair in the newly decorated nursery, holding my son to my chest, skin to skin as he seemed to prefer. He snuffled against me in his sleep and I felt my ability to love expand to something fathomless. I traced his tiny button nose, that cute pink pout. Hidden were his gorgeous purple eyes under eyelids lined with long, dark lashes. His brown hair was close in shade to Kade’s dyed color. Looking closely, I could see threads of gold and red.
Something was missing from this perfect moment. I missed hearing the sleepy sounds from Angelica’s room as she moved in her sleep. She would have conversations with whoever she was dreaming about. While having a few days without her had been nice, now that her brother was here, I was just looking forward to her coming home.
As if called by my thoughts, someone knocked on the front door.Dakota, Jasper, it’s us. She couldn’t wait any longer.Grady called over the link. Rather than work their asses off for the council, they now reported to Deke as enforcers for the pack. As much as I hated to admit it, they’d been useful during the aftermath of the attack on Elliotte. We could rely on their loyalty and they had never looked at my granddaughter like there was something wrong with her.
Be right there.
I returned Hayden to his Papa, rousing him with a kiss. “Angel is here, my love. Wake up.”
His eyes opened slowly. “She’s here? What time is it?”
“About 5am. Seems she couldn’t wait. I’ll go get her.”
I rushed down the stairs to the front door, unlocked it, and dropped the new wards for Trey and Grady. “Sorry, I forgot to get you both keyed to them.”
“Oh, it’s fine.” Grady waved me off. “We’ll wait to meet him down here. Let you have some family time.” I had to admit that I’d warmed to Grady more than Trey. The latter seemed to live to aggravate me.
“Daddy? Can I see Hayden now, please?” Angelica asked. She was a rumpled mess, likely having gotten up and made her demands without letting her sitters get her anywhere near a hairbrush.
