Doc sighed. “I can’t believe you guys are moving back because of this.”
“Gecko,” his brothers chorused.
“Who doesn’t love gossip?” Cadmus added. “We exist to stir the pot and fan the flames.”
Doc shook his head. He was about to speak when one of the wolves squawked.
“You’re pregnant?!”
Ottis’ omega dad, Joe, looked embarrassed. “Yes? We’re really not sure how it happened. Ashton and I—”
“Nooo,” Ottis cried. “We don’t want to hear how your condom broke. Please. It’s going to scar me for life.”
Joe shot him a wry look. “Youwere the result of a broken condom.”
Ottis clutched his head and whined.
Doc laughed, tugging Ottis against himself. “C’mon, now that everyone’s here, we should start the ceremony. Before anything else gets jinxed.”
“Oh gods, you’re right,” Ottis blurted. “We don’t need any more weird crap happening. You’re gonna save the day.” Then he met Doc’s eyes. “I love you.”
Immediately after, both of them froze.
Over the past few months, neither of them had said those exact words to each other. Doc had been waiting for the perfect moment, and he suspected that Ottis was too. It wasn’t something urgent; the sentiment had been obvious from the way Ottis looked at Doc, the way Ottis relaxed in his presence and trusted him in his everyday life.
“Yeah?” Doc murmured, his heart skipping anyway.
Ottis hid his face in one hand. “I was going to be so much smoother than that.”
A laugh bubbled out of Doc. He turned Ottis so they were facing each other. Then he brushed his thumb over Ottis’ cheek and tipped his head up, leaning in to kiss him softly. “I love you too.”
Ottis lit up, his pulse loud in Doc’s ears. “I love how you’re so selfless and giving. How great you are with Marcie. How you accept me as I am.”
“You accept me too,” Doc admitted. “You make me smile every day, without even meaning to. You remind me that there aredifferent ways of looking at things, both silly and serious. You also remind me of all the love we still have left to give.”
There was more, so much more that Doc loved about him, like the way Ottis fit perfectly in his arms, the way Ottis looked when he woke up in the mornings, sleep-rumpled with pillow creases on his cheek. He loved the way Ottis laughed, the way he wrinkled his nose when he found okra in the kitchen, the way he wriggled with Marcie amongst the wolfnip shrubs.
“Mine,” Doc murmured, kissing him again.
Ottis laughed softly against his lips.
“Hey, weren’t you supposed to do this at the Circle?” Remington asked. “Or is this—fuck, is this your actual love confession?”
“Shhh!” said everyone else.
“I’m asking the important questions,” Rem hissed over his shoulder.
Doc gave Ottis an affectionate nuzzle, before straightening up. “Thatwasour actual love confession.”
Rem gaped at them, horrified. “You agreed to bond for lifebeforeyou exchanged your ‘I love you’s?!”
“We’ve exchanged bonding marks,” Ottis said. He turned his arm to show Remington the gold lines.
Rem gaped.
“You can judge us when you actually have an omega,” Doc said dryly. Remington sulked.
Doc rubbed his hands over Ottis’ swollen belly, his pulse skipping at the heartbeat in there. These days, their baby wasn’tkicking as much; there was hardly any space left to move around. He scooped Ottis into his arms. “C’mon, let’s get to the Circle.”
