“Gods, Dante, your mate is really something else!”hesaid.
“Did you see that, Dante?” Gabriel cried, his facelitup.
“Was that you?” I asked in disbelief, turning to Ryu. “You weren’tdoingthat?”
Ryu shook his head. “No. It was allGabriel.”
“Yeah, have some respect for your mate!” Gabe said,grinning.
“Holy shit, Gabe,” I said, running towards him and hugging him tightly. “That’s clear magic! Not even some dragons can pullthatoff!”
“I know,” he said breathlessly. “Ryu said he can barelydoit.”
“Well, now, don’t throw me under the bus,” Ryu grumbledplayfully.
“That’s incredible,” I said. I kissed Gabe. “Soon you’re gonna be unstoppable with all thismagic!”
He laughed, sounding a bit tired. I held onto him just in case he felt dizzy again. “I think I’m good with earth and clear magic. It takes a lot outofyou.”
“Well, yeah, you’re a wolf,” I said. “You’re not even supposed to be magically aligned, but here you are. Son of a gun. The baby’s probably gonna come out of you a fully trained wizard orsomething.”
Gabriel laughedbreathlessly.
“Shall we head home?” I asked. “You look like you need a nice,longrest.”
He nodded, to my relief. “Yeah.Carryme?”
“Of course. Seeyou,Ryu.”
Ryu waved us goodbye as I shifted, carefully took Gabe in my arms, and carried himbackhome.
“I can’t wait to show you the nursery,” I said as welanded.
“Did you already finish?” Gabe asked, lookingsurprised.
“Yep. Me and my dad worked on it together. I did the painting and he did all the buying-of-unnecessary-baby-toys.”
Gabe grinned. “Well, now I’ll be the judge of what’s unnecessaryornot.”
When I led him to the nursery, he gasped. “Oh, Dante… It’sperfect.”
He walked inside and touched the crib’s railing, running his hand up and down the solid cherry frame. Inside were baby blankets and pillows, and of course, astuffedwolf.
“It’s so cute,” Gabe said with a smile. “Your dad has good taste inbabytoys.”
“Maybe. Not sure we needed two hundred of them,though.”
He chuckled and wrapped his arms around my waist. “We can put them in a toy chest and whip out a new one every time the baby gets bored. Howaboutthat?”
As he leaned closer to me, a strange scent met my nose. I smelled his clothes. He blinked inconfusion.
“Gabe, why do you smell like alcohol?” I asked, then more panicked, “Were youdrinking?”
Instantly he was irritated. “No! Are you crazy? I would never drink whilepregnant.”
I sighed but I was only half relieved. “Then why do you smell likeabar?”
“Because I was in one,” he said. “And before you ask, yes, Ryu did take me. I was looking for someone and he knew exactly where that personwouldbe.”
