Page 45 of Lone Wolf
And then the baby wailed and Oscar brought him up to lie on my chest. “Baby boy, guys. Gonna be an alpha like his dad from the sound of those lungs.”
I stroked my baby’s head and soothed away his cries.
“Here,” Damian said. “I have a blanket.”
“He should be washed first.” But I couldn’t stop staring at him.
“Now’s the time for that water,” Oscar said casually. I felt a tugging sensation in my belly and then a heavy falling feeling and out of the corner of my eye I saw Oscar wrapping my afterbirth up in one of the towels that Damian had brought with him.
I’d been so wrapped up in the baby that I hadn’t even noticed Damian leaving or coming back until he handed me a warm, damp cloth. “Is there anything I can help with?”
Oscar excused himself, having the grace to give us a bit of privacy for this moment by puttering away at something at the far end of the apartment.
“Help me make sure I don’t drop him?” I asked.
“Sure,” Damian replied, and began to hover in a way I suddenly found absolutely adorable. He seemed as captured by the baby as I was and together we cleaned our son of the evidence of his birth.
“Oh.” I said softly as we got to the last bits. “Not alpha.” A narrow line, a shade or two pinker than the flesh around, stretched from one hip to the other. I’d given my mate an omega, which in Nevada Ashes was no big deal, but I realized in that moment that Montana Border for almost certain thought differently about them. That Damian most likely thought differently about them.
Damian stroked the baby’s cheek and leaned his head against mine. “I know an alpha’s supposed to wish for another alpha to carry on the line, but I find it hard to be disappointed. He’s perfect, just as he is. I never thought I’d ever meet a pup of my own getting.” He kissed the pup on the head, and then kissed me. “Thank you.” He hugged us and I felt how happy he was in the touch of his skin against mine.
I had to look away to hide the upswell of emotion that filled me. So much joy, so much relief. I had a mate I’d never chosen and a baby I’d never asked for, yet somehow it felt absolutely right. As if I’d just had to get out of my own way and the world had given me exactly what I needed. It was a miracle of the strangest sort.
“What should we call him?” I asked. We hadn’t spent much time talking about names. I certainly hadn’t considered any omega ones.
“Back home, we’d pick something gentle. Did you do that in Nevada Ashes?”
I nodded.
He handed me the blanket again and I wrapped our son in it and handed him to his sire. “I think,” Damian said in that slow way that I’d already learned meant that he’d actually put a lot of thought into this. “We’re going to live among humans. We’re going to act like humans, interact with humans. We’re going to do human things. Unless you’re tied to the pack traditions, I think we can name him whatever we want.”
Oh. Sudden vistas opened up before me. “Anything?” So many names to choose from…
“Anything,” Damian assured me. “Except Oscar.”
I laughed. “No, no Oscar.”
“Well, I’m insulted,” Oscar said from behind us. “And after I left a hot date for you.”
“You’ll live,” Damian told him carelessly.
Oscar casually picked up one of the cloths Damian had dropped on the bedside table and dipped it into the warm water. “Unless you want to clean your mate up?” he said, raising his eyebrow at Damian.
I looked up from the baby and caught Oscar’s eye. “I think you’d probably do a better job.” I grimaced. “I have to…” I blushed. The human had seen me split from hip to hip—I should have been able to talk to him about sealing my line.
“Yeah, I know.” Oscar smiled and went to work and, honestly, he was as gentle and careful as I’d seen any of the midwives being back in Nevada Ashes. And when he was done, I was pretty certain he’d done as good a job as any of them would have, too. Not that I thought Damian would be bothered, but it eased something in me to know that I wouldn’t have the odd bulges or wrinkles that sometimes happened if a line was resealed crookedly.
“I think you’re done,” Oscar said reassuringly as he wrapped a long bandage around my hips. “I’m going to stay in the house upstairs. Buzz me if you think anything’s going wrong. Do you want me to talk to Quin and see if I can get one of his medical people over here to look you over?”
“Are you going to have to take a beating again in trade?” Damian asked him.
“Might.” Oscar looked at the baby. “Small price to pay for that little bit of hope. Let me know. Underneath it all, he’s a good guy. Hell of a Master Sargent. I hear he’s working for more equality for your people.”
I didn’t care. I just wanted my mate and my baby and our home. But, just in case… “I feel fine, but if that changes?”
Oscar nodded and gathered up his things. “I’ll leave you three to get used to each other.” He stopped at the door and turned back. “I know breastfeeding is a big thing in the packs, but you know human males can’t do that, right?”
“We’ll figure it out,” I said stubbornly.
