“The first time is always painful but it is easier the next time when you initiate the shift yourself. Has he ever tried to do that?” asked Ian.
“Not that I know. After the first shift, David was shackled to prevent him from doing it again and now, I think, hedoesn’t see a reason to do it since he can disappear,” Zane answered.
“Well, I can try something else,” said Ian. “But let’s keep the option open just in case.”
Colton stuck his head in the door asking Ian, “Ready for the ultrasound? I have everything set up.”
Ian glanced at his mate. “David isn’t awake yet and I want to be here when he comes to.”
“Is everything all right?” asked Colton.
“Yes, he’s healing nicely,” Ian replied.
“Go ahead and get checked out, Ian,” Zane said. “I’ll stay. Just tell me what to do in case he does wake up while you’re gone.”
“Are you sure?” asked Ian.
“Yes…besides, Colton will owe me big for this, right bro?” Zane snickered.
Smiling at his brother, Colton said, “Right.” Then, motioning to Ian, he added, “This way, Your Majesty. It won’t take long.”
Ian chuckled before checking David’s vitals one more time. “I’m sending Logan in,” he said, “to come get me when he wakes up or if you need me for anything else. I don’t want you leaving David’s side.”
“Gotcha,” replied Zane, his eyes roaming over his mate’s sleeping body.
After Ian left, Zane lowered his head onto the bed, taking in deep breaths of his mate’s scent, willing him to wake up. He had refused to leave David, even for a minute, during the procedure and Colton had set up a screen inthe operating room so he could sit near his mate’s head without seeing Ian make the incision. The smell of David’s blood nearly drove his wolf insane, but he was able to control his shift with the help of Logan using his alpha power on him.
When the operation was over and Ian handed the bio-tracker to him, Zane could finally relax—now all he needed was for David to wake up so he could hold him once again. Then it would be time to figure out how to rescue his mate’s mother. Sitting in the quiet room, Zane wondered what Jackson’s reaction would be to the addition of a human to the Blackwood Pack, something he was sure Logan hadn’t even thought about—mainly because he didn’t know about it…yet.
As Ian exited David’s room, he saw Logan leaning against the wall, and said, “David isn’t awake yet. I’m going for my ultrasound. Would you please stay with Zane, and if David wakes up, come get me?”
“No problemo,” Logan said before heading into the room Ian had just left.
Glancing at Colton, Ian said, “Now I’m ready. Let’s go.”
After helping his mate up on the exam table, Colton rolled the ultrasound over, lowered the lights and sat down next to him. After he prepped his mate’s belly, Colton turned on the ultrasound, pressing the paddle to the slight baby bump. Looking at the screen, Colton was stunned as he spotted two pups. “Babe, we’re having twins,” he gasped before moving the paddle around further. Suddenly the room was filled with the sound of three heartbeats. “Oh, my gods, we’re having triplets!” Colton shouted, looking up at his mate.
Staring at his mate, Ian was still trying to accept what was happening to him.Triplets? Three pups? No wonder I’m so tired all the time!“I thought I was only having twins,” Ian murmured.
“You knew? When were you going to tell me? I’ve been worried sick something was wrong with our pup because you were tired all the time and it was far too early in your pregnancy for that.”
“I didn’t know for certain, it was just a feeling I had.”
“Did this ‘feeling’ occur before our trip to Scotland?”
“Yes, but I decided that everything could wait until we were home again. Don’t give me that look. I’m a doctor you know.”
“But I’m your mate and that trumps everything else.” Colton clenched his jaw, reining in the anger and hurt filling his body.
“I didn’t tell you because you were already freaking out,” growled Ian.
“I was not,” Colton said, indignant at the accusation.
“Yes, you were and you know it,” Ian said, struggling to sit up. “Ever since you found out I was pregnant, all I ever hear from you was ‘don’t do this’ or ‘don’t do that’. You treat me as if I’m an invalid or that I don’t know a thing about being pregnant. Grant you, I don’t have firsthand knowledge but I’ve had hundreds of pregnant patients that I successfully took care of including the birthing of their pups. But does that mean anything to you? No, because for some reason you think that because I’m pregnant, I’ve suddenly become stupid.”
Grabbing a towel and wiping the gel off his belly before standing up, Ian pulled on his scrubs, headed for the door and wrenched it open. Then turning to look at his mate, he said, “Do you know how much it hurts to know you don’t trust me to take care of the life…lives growing in me? I’m their papa…and a doctor who has taken an oath…yet you believe I’d be so careless as to hurt my…our pups.”
Colton stared at the door Ian had just slammed shut behind him, his mate’s words still lingering in the air. His immediate reaction was to reject what Ian said, but as he thought more about it, Colton knew it was true. From the moment the pregnancy test came back positive, he’d been hovering over Ian and always cautioning him about everything from standing too long to walking too much to not getting enough sleep. Groaning, he remembered the day they spent at the National Museum and the frequent rest breaks he forced his mate to take, ignoring Ian’s protests that he was fine.
