Then came a kick, a hard one. It pushed against Doc’s cheek, so forcefully that his heart leaped in surprise.
“Oof!” Ottis said.
“Sweetheart!” Doc breathed, his chest so full that he felt as though he might explode. “I felt that!”
“So did I.” Ottis grinned, brushing his fingers through Doc’s hair. “Maybe if you stay there for a while longer, you might get another.”
“I never thought being kicked in the face would be this exciting.” Doc squished his cheek against Ottis’ belly, only to get another nudge in his face. He couldn’t stop grinning. “Here, Marcie, come feel your sibling kick. You’re going to be a big sister soon.”
He scooped the pup up and pressed her paw against Ottis’ belly, only for there to be another kick.
Marcie pricked her ears, nosing curiously at Ottis.
“This is wonderful,” Doc said with too much feeling. Ottis grinned and scritched Marcie’s ears.
“No Circle-walking during the danger times,” Ottis said.
“Of course not,” Doc agreed.
Ottis wentinto labor when they walked the Circle.
Of course he did.
They had taken great pains to avoid this. Doc had blocked out the weeks in which Ottis was most likely to go into labor; he had arranged for the bonding to take place before that.
It had been such a calm day, too. Doc had arranged for Ottis’ pack to travel to his flight’s ancestral lair; they had all settled in nicely to the mansion facing the ocean. Ottis’ belly had swollen to the size of a watermelon by this point, and his feet had been aching for the past several weeks.
“Why do I need to peeagain?” Ottis whined, leaning into Doc’s side.
“Sorry,” Doc said with a wince. “At least it’ll be over soon?”
Ottis glowered. “Don’t jinx it.”
Doc held up his hands. “I promise I’m not.”
He helped Ottis to the bathroom, passing Ottis’ brothers on the way. All of them watched Ottis warily, as though he might pop any second. A few of the alpha wolves even had their arms outstretched, in case Ottis fell and needed catching.
The mansion was more crowded than it had ever been. Growing up, Doc and his siblings had occupied a few of the mansion’s several rooms; his parents had hosted balls and built enough rooms to accommodate their many guests. But they hadn’t had many guests in a while—until now. It was such a special occasion that Doc’s brothers had returned, all of them peering down at Ottis.
“Tell you what,” Phalen said. “The good thing about having pee at your disposal is that you can now pee in a circle around Doc, anytime you want. Keeps people from stealing him.”
Cadmus scoffed. “Why use pee as a defense mechanism, when you can squirt it on your enemies? Attack with it!”
Doc winced. “Go away, you guys. You’re embarrassing me.”
Ottis squeezed his hand. “They’re making good points, though.”
“Sweetheart,” Doc sighed. “You’re not supposed to side with my brothers.”
“Your brothers are good people,” Ottis pointed out. “I wouldn’t call them geckos.”
They exchanged a look, and snickered. Despite Doc’s warnings on the day Sevrian destroyed his hedge, Bruiser had not managed to stop himself from antagonizing Uriel. Uriel had called him a gecko five times. Hijinks had even printed out several gecko pictures, and given them to Uriel for ammunition. Everyone knew about their rivalry now, even Doc’s brothers who lived overseas.
“I should move back and watch that drama with my own two eyes,” Iver said.
Qais scoffed. “I’m one step ahead of you. I’ve already bought a place in Cartfalls. This is gonna be good. Front row, popcorn-worthy.”
Remington elbowed him. “Two ahead. I’ve just established a business in Cartfalls and gotten in on their group chat. Sooo much drama.”
