I pat the back of his hand, then run my fingers up and down his arm. “Sorry,” I say, voice tinged with amusement. “Didn’t mean to insult you.” I pause, a hint of tension returning to my body. “Are you, um, still wolfing out? I mean, I’m definitely not complainingabout what just happened. That was super hot, but… I think we still need to talk about things. Like how this whole fated mate thing is going to work.”
He lets out an inquisitive noise, face still pressed into the back of my neck.
“You realize if we complete the bond… that’s it, right? You’ll be stuck with me.”
“Stuck with you…?” His voice is a deep rumble, the words slightly slurred as if spoken through still not quite human teeth. There’s a long pause as he takes a few deep breaths before continuing, his words clearer now. “Is that how you really see it?”
I clear my throat and turn over to face him, relieved to find his more lupine aspects have receded. “No. Well… maybe?” I glance up to meet his eyes. “If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m not exactly a catch.”
“Not a…” He stares at me, stunned, shaking his head. “Of course you’re a catch.”
I let out a self-deprecating laugh. “Yeah, not really. I’m a broke—and currently pretty much homeless—diner cook who moonlights as a part-time con man.”
“And I was a full-time pit fighter and murderer,” he replies, brows raised. “Does that mean I’m not a catch?”
“But you didn’t have a choice,” I say, twining my fingers with his and pressing our joined hands together.
“And life left you so many choices?”
I open my mouth to argue, but then pause. Because he’s kind of right. My life might be a product of my choices, but there weren’texactly a whole lot to choose form. The only choices I had were limited by circumstance.
Blake presses a soft kiss to my forehead. “I’ve only ever seen one set of fated mates before—my parents—but I don’t think fate gets something like this wrong.”
“Your parents were fated mates?” I don’t bother to hide my surprise. Sure, I knew fated mates were a thing, but the idea has always seemed closer to myth than anything, and I’ve never known anyone who had a fated mate before I met Blake.
He nods. “My mom always said Dad wasn’t perfect, but he was perfect for her because fate knew all their broken edges would fit together. That’s how I like to think of it.”
“That’s… beautiful,” I say softly.
He pulls me closer, tucking my head under his chin and running his hand up and down my back. “I know you’re not ready to complete the bond. I’m not either, but I don’t have any doubts about what I want when the time is right.” He goes quiet for a moment. “You should know… even if we complete the bond, you can still change your mind.”
“What do you mean?”
“Most shifters are taught that mate bonds are unbreakable, but that’s not the case for omegas. If we… if you…” He shakes his head. “I don’t think I’m explaining this right.”
“Your explanation is fine in that the words make sense, but I don’t understand how that’s possible.”
“I don’t know how it all works either,” he says. “Rockcastle has been… blessed with a higher-than-normal number of omegas—my brother being one of them—so the pack’s knowledge of them is more extensive.”
“Okay… so I have options I didn’t know about.” I lean back to study his face. “Why does it seem like there’s more you aren’t telling me?”
A hint of pink fills his cheeks. “Fated mate pairings can be rather, um, fertile, and one of the reasonsI’mnot ready to complete the bond is because I’d like things to be a little more settled before bringing a child into it.”
I stare at him, uncomprehending. No, notwantingto comprehend because he couldn’t possibly mean…
Whatever my face is doing makes him frown and he reaches up to cup my cheek. “You understand what I’m saying, right?”
“I think so?” I squeak out, one hand unconsciously moving down to touch my stomach.
Blake doesn’t want to complete the bond yet—doesn’t want to have sex yet—because it seems, despite my assertions to the contrary, the fanfics were right and male omegascanget pregnant.
Raquel will never let me live this down.
Twenty-Two
Neil
Thenextmorning,wehead out a little after eight to make the final leg of our journey. I’m still reeling a bit from everything Blake told me, and my mind hasn’t quite wrapped itself around the fact that I can get pregnant. There is, however, at least one benefit to being a male omega I’m kind of excited about: no need for lube. Apparently, with the right person—for example, my fated mate—I’m self-lubricating.
