Sage let out a shriek of ecstatic joy that echoed throughout the cavern. He bounced up so high his head nearly hit the ceiling. Meanwhile I was stuck, slack-jawed, wracking my brain to make sure I’d heard correctly.
“He’s—he is?” I asked.
“He is,” she confirmed. “I detect a little jellybean growing.”
“You hear that, Xander? A jellybean! I’ve got a jellybean and in a few months it’s gonna be a big one and come out as a wolf or a cat, I dunno, I don’t care either way! We’re gonna love it no matter what!”
He threw himself at me, laughing. I caught him with my strong arms and stroked his back. The shock in my system was dissolving into pure happiness.
Tears stung my eyes. I couldn’t remember the last time that had happened. I must not have cried since I was a child, but I was affected enough by this life-changing news to shed tears. Sage noticed and gently brushed them away with his thumb. He must have known I was feeling emotional because he didn’t make any joking comments. He just kissed me on the lips and we shared our mutual joy.
* * *
We had a long journey,so after a light dinner of meat jerky and homemade juice, we set out before nightfall. However, there was still something on my mind that I wanted to ask Dr. Pine. If anyone would have known, I had a feeling it would be her.
“Doctor, do you know anything about human alphas or omegas?”
She paused, putting a thoughtful finger to her lips. “Human, you say? Not shifters?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, are you talking about that guy we met?” Sage chimed in. “The one who somehow knew I was an omega?”
I nodded, suppressing the growl in my throat. I hated even thinking about him, but I wanted to know the truth.
“That’s odd,” Dr. Pine said. “And you said he was certainly a human?”
“I can’t know for sure, but I suspect he was human. He had no shifter species of his own. If hecouldshift, why wouldn’t he? And anyway, Sage was in heat and the guy knew it. But a human shouldn’t be able to smell it that strongly.”
“No,” she murmured. “A human shouldn’t.”
She gazed off into the sky, quiet in thought. For a while she said nothing. I wondered if there was some hidden nugget of truth that she wasn’t telling us.
“And you said there was only one of these men?” she asked.
“Yes. Why?”
She smiled. “No reason. In any case, I’m sure it was just a shifter who didn’t want to shift. Maybe he had an embarrassing animal, unlike your noble mountain lion form.”
“Perhaps,” I replied, though not entirely convinced. But it didn’t seem like she had any other information to give us. I left it at that.
After all, I had more important things to focus my energy on.
Sage and I were going to have a baby.
* * *
I should have beentired after the journey back, but I wasn’t. I felt more energy buzzing in my veins than ever. My mate was pregnant and I wanted the whole world to know.
Sage apparently felt the same. He couldn’t help himself from howling before we even returned to the grove. The pack met us halfway, streaking across the field to meet my summoning call.
“Sage, what is it?” Dax asked. “Your howl sounded serious.”
“You can tell just from his howl?” Red asked, raising a brow. “Sheesh, you wolves are so dramatic.”
Dax flicked his tail in Red’s face, which was enough to shut him up.
“Well,” Sage began, chewing his lip in anticipation. “As you guys know, we went to visit Dr. Pine…”
