He grunted. “I’m excited. Sue me.” After a short pause he asked, “How will we know if you’re pregnant? Is there a special thing you do in your herd?”
His eagerness was endlessly amusing. “Excited or impatient?” I asked.
He tweaked my nose playfully. “Both.”
“To answer your question, no. The omegas and females always just let nature take its course. Though, to be honest, it’s pretty easy to tell a month in since a fawn is so large.”
Dax’s eyes widened, like he couldn’t wait to see me like that. I blushed.
“I see,” he murmured. “Well, if you’re interested in knowing for sure, we know a human doctor who lives nearby. She’s the one who confirmed Len was pregnant while we were traveling.”
“Really?” I asked hesitantly. “How does she know? Does she use human gadgets or something?”
Dax shrugged. “Surprisingly, no. To be honest, I have no idea how she did it. Some kind of old magic, maybe.” When I let out a relieved sigh, he looked at me in mild confusion. “Why? Don’t like human gadgets?”
I suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. “I’ve never actually met a human before,” I admitted. “I’ve always been nervous at the idea, given that many of them can’t tell the difference between a natural animal and a shifter. And…” I gestured to my head, where my rack of antlers would’ve been if I was in buck form.
“Ah, I understand,” Dax said seriously. He pulled me closer. His strong arm was warm around me and I felt safe next to him. “You don’t have to worry about that here. We’ve never run into any humans, and if we did, I’d protect you.”
I smiled. “Thank you, Dax.”
A fiercely loyal growl snuck into his voice. “Anything for my fated mate.”
I barely suppressed a shiver. It was incredibly sexy when his wolf’s voice laced with his own. It reminded me that my mate was a powerful predator, which was hot as fuck.
My mate, huh?Maybe there’s something to this fated mates thing after all…
Leveret’s big ears popped into my vision. He wasn’t as talkative as his sister but his eyes spoke volumes. Even without words, I knew he was trying to tell me something.
“What is it, Lev?” I asked.
He glanced at the grove with his ears laying flat against his head. He seemed to be longing for something.
“I think he wants his daddy,” Dax suggested with a smile. “Do you want to go see if he’s awake?”
Leveret nodded enthusiastically.
“Okay. Do you want to walk—” Leveret shook his head, “or do you want one of your uncles to carry you?”
His choice was obviously the latter. He shifted to human form and grabbed my leg with his tiny hands.
Dax chuckled. “I think you’re the chosen one. Wanna grab him and I’ll take the other one?”
I smiled and scooped up Leveret. He nestled against my chest, quickly comfortable with being carried.
It was late afternoon when Dax’s brother Hugo and the omega wolf Remington returned. At first, I thought they hadn’t any luck on the hunt because I didn’t see any large prey items, but as they neared I saw the mouthful of wild birds they carried.
I was surprised to notice that the sight of approaching wolves didn’t fill me with anxiety anymore. Only a few days among the pack had alleviated that primal fear, which I was glad about. If my fated mate was a wolf then it was a good thing to be comfortable around them.
“Dad!” Lupa and Leveret both called at the same time. They dropped what they were doing and ran at Hugo, throwing their tiny bodies at his furry form. His tail wagged happily before he shifted to human form and scooped them up in his arms to cuddle them.
“Hey, you dropped all the food!” Remington complained as he picked up the fallen birds.
“How was the hunt, you two?” Len asked after giving Hugo a quick peck on the cheek.
“It was fine,” Hugo said. “We ended up with enough game birds for the whole pack, but not enough for seconds. Sorry, baby,” he added to Lupa, who pouted.
I noticed Remington giving me a quick side glance before staring at the ground. “Wedidsee a deer, but…”
