Page 68 of His Temporary Alpha Mate
“And miss my cuddles with Kanako or Rieka? No thanks. This uncle has to be a presence in his niblings’lives, you know,” I teased as I straightened my shirt. I left the tie off. I had my blazer for warmth since while it was nearly March, there was still a bite of cold in the air.
The pack had gone to a lot of effort to make the yard at the rear of the mansion look magical. There was probably a lot of magic involved, actually, since the witches, demons Toth and Mori, and so many elves, were there.
“Dalton! Larken!” Tate called to us.
I sat down in a chair and was presented with a baby. “Hello Kanako,” I cooed. All I got in return was a gummy smile. She was so sweet.
“Dally!” Jewel toddled towards me, breaking into her wolf form at the last moment
“Careful!” Larken swooped down to steal the little girl into his arms.
She squealed. “No! Dally!”
“He’s holding your sister. Wait a minute, okay?”
“Here,” I offered to whoever was paying attention. “Take the baby. I want Princess Jewel hugs.”
As I expected, Jewel stopped her fussing and waited patiently for me to hand off her sister. I didn’t let her away with such behavior a lot, especially since alphas should never get their way all the time. She would be a handful, but she would learn to respect people.
“That was very nice waiting, Princess Jewel. Would you like to come up for a hug?”
“Please.” Her speech was impeccable, which is why I was blaming Chase for her always calling me Dally rather than my name. I would never admit I liked it.
We arrived just in time for Blake to take the sort of stage. He had his voice magically amplified.
“Thank you all for coming to celebrate with us. Axel and Teárlach’s mating and marriage has sealed a bond between the Sweetwater pack and Abrocaelum. I, for one, can’t wait to see more of the elves shift and find love. Actually, I have had one more couple come to me with good news.”
I already knew about Hakeem and Candace being mated because I had been the one they came to about getting a larger house. Candace and her son, Riff, had a little two-bedroom house. Moving Hakeem into there was impossible. They needed a much bigger place. Especially now that they had news.
“Candace and I would like to announce that we are pregnant.”
Yes, another baby for the Sweetwater pack. I had another brief pang of jealousy and brushed it off. Larken and I were so new. There was time. Lots of time for us to enjoy each other before a little one came along. We discussed getting another pet in the meantime.
Everyone around us congratulated the pair. It had to be especially poignant for the elves. Many likely feared the prince was a one off. His daughter the only one of a generation. Now they had Hakeem and Ívarr becoming fathers since Michaella was also pregnant. Yes, our midwife was having a baby.
Blake stepped forward again. “Thank you, Hakeem and Candace. We are so happy for you both, and of course Riff, too. You’re going to be such a happy family. Our blessing to you.”
The crowd was especially noisy. I couldn’t really blame the elves. Cryabell had her owl form, as did the queen. Both were over the age where they could have children, so their designation didn’t matter. The queen was an alpha, though. Ívarr wondered if that was why she could only have one child.
“I have more news,” Blake went on once everyone quieted. “We have successfully trialed the alpha bond potion and now have a former beta pair! Congratulations, Jake and Sebastian. We hope you are blessed with little chicks soon!”
We finally had a beta pairing turned into an alpha and omega. The potion tied Sebastian to the pack forever, though not Jake. They had shown nothing but loyalty to Sweetwater. I couldn’t see them wanting to move on, even if they could.
“Jake goes into heat before me. They could be pregnant before us,” I pointed out to Lark while Jewel went to join her brothers.
“I’m putting a baby in you this time. Last time was just the warmup.”
“You know I don’t mind. A couple of days locked away to have sex with you is worth not having a baby,” I joked. It fell flat.
“Look!”
We all cried out with joy seeing Janet, The Luna and another figure watching us.
“That’s their mom,” I whispered, afraid to break the spell and make them vanish.
The Sweetwater men each saw their mother. She watched them back, something like pride on her face. Thanks to her, they had broken the cycle and forged a new, better way for shifters. We stood with allies their father never would have dreamed of having, and were much more prosperous for it.
The gathering broke up not long after. I saw Chase watch his twin walk away with his husband.
