“Two days too many if you ask me.” Charlie got into the car once I opened the door for him. “Take me to my food, alpha. Your children are hungry.”
I shook my head at my silly mate. “At this point, it’s more likely mymateis hungry than my children. They are still too tiny to be causing many cravings.”
“Shush, you, and just drive.” Charlie slapped my arm playfully. “When a pregnant omega blames it on the babies, you are meant to just smile and accept it. To point out anything else as the truth is rude. Stop being rude to your omega.”
“Alright, I’ll stop being rude. Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Charlie turned up the radio and leaned back in the seat. “Just make quick of this drive and fill my tummy with yummy things, and I will forgive this indiscretion.”
“You really are a brat.”
Charlie shrugged and stuck out his tongue. “Isaac warned you.”
“I ignored him anyway.” I chuckled. “I’d ignore him again if given the chance anyway.”
“Of course you would.” Charlie flashed me a wink and then closed his eyes. “Now, be quiet and drive. I want to get lost in this music for the next twenty minutes, if that’s okay. Today has been a bit overwhelming, and I really want to just chill out for a moment.”
“Do your thing, baby.” I started the car and took off on our journey. “Rely on me to get us to our destination. You focus on you and the music.”
“I love you, alpha.”
“I love you even more, omega.”
I really did. Even if he was sometimes a brat. He was my brat.
Chapter Thirteen
Charlie
I stared at the phone, my slow pregnancy brain trying to process the message. This was the second time this week that an unknown number had reached out to me. At first, I’d decided to ignore it.
I figured it was just the wrong number. Someone reaching out to someone else, telling them they weren’t worthy of their mate. I knew at the time that it couldn’t really be meant for me. After all, my mate was my fated, and I was the only one worthy of him. So, it had to be a wrong number. That night, I deleted the message and curled back into the spoon position Jamie had me in.
Today, I was taking the message differently. Maybe it was because I had grown even larger in my pregnancy and felt insecure. Maybe it was my hormones making my paranoia go crazy and causing a lack in my self-perception of worthiness. Regardless, today, I was not just dismissing these messages as accidental. Today, I needed to know why I was being sent them.
Unknown:Sorry to tell you the truth.
Unknown:But your mate is mine.
Unknown:Leave him and let him be happy.
Unknown:With me.
“What the fuck?” Isaac looked over my shoulder and saw the text. “Who the fuck is that? And why are they lying?”
I shrugged. “Dunno. But maybe they aren’t.”
“The hell you say?” Isaac swatted me in the shoulder then rubbed it gently. “Sorry, I forgot I had to be gentle with you for a moment. But seriously, brat. You are believing that shit. Be smarter than that. Your alpha loves you and only you. Have you seen that man? When you are around, he has heart eyes. I swear,I never believed in those before. But after seeing Jamie around you these last several weeks, I am a firm believer that there is such a thing. You are his world. Whoever texted that to you is playing games. Just ignore them.”
“I can’t.” I picked up my sweater and grabbed my cross-body bag. “Let’s go.”
“Um, okay.” Isaac stood from the couch he had just plopped onto. “Where are we going? Grabbing matcha at the café? Shopping for baby things? Oh, I know—the bookstore.”
“None of that—well, maybe the matcha on the way back.” I opened the door and locked it up once Isaac was outside with me. “We are going to go check on my mate. I need to make sure this text is bullshit.”
Isaac let out a long-overdue sigh. “You do realize this is a dumb idea, right?”
“Maybe. But I gotta do it.” I clapped his shoulder. “And as my bestie, you must come along for the ride. Make sure I don’t commit any crimes.”
