“And where did you come from?” she asks after a time, raising her eyebrow. “You seem to have appeared out of nowhere.”
I swallow, then look up into her gentle face that reminds me so much of Harry’s, and decide to tell her the truth.
Theta is silent for a long time after I finish, having told her everything up to Harry’s rescuing me from Greld. Her eyes travel to her son, who also sits in silence, waiting for her judgment.
“Your uncle, too,” she says after a moment, “was a late alpha. It just takes one crucial moment for it to spring to the surface.” Her eyes soften. “I’m glad you’re free of that man, and I’m glad Harry found you that night in the woods. Because I think you were meant for each other.”
When she hugs me, I wonder if it might be possible again to have a family after Father.
After an appropriate visit of two days, we head home again, and I’m pleased at how well it went. I look forward to seeing her again in the future. Maybe with that ring on my finger.
Back home, we fall into a pattern of life of eating together, laughing together, and sleeping by each other’s side every night.
Now I have everything I need.
HAROLD
I am biding my time, waiting for the moment to arrive. I already have a ring chosen, which I was easily able to afford on my new wages. It’s simply a matter of time before Selene notices.
It starts at first with Selene’s nipples getting sensitive, and I must be more careful with them when I make love to her. Her need for me every night—and often in the mornings—grows more acute. She frowns when she eats her buttered bread and asks for odd things: pickles, sour cream, and hazelnuts, of all foods.
Her blood doesn’t come, and that’s when Selene starts to wonder.
“Perhaps,” I say gently as she puzzles over it at dinnertime, “there is another life growing inside you.”
Her brows fly high on her forehead. “Is that it?” she asks, her eyes brightening. I smile at her innocence.
“I have spent inside you many times,” I remind her. “I think there’s a good chance.”
She leaps to her feet, so I get up too, and Selene throws herself into my arms. I swing her around, kissing her face, loving her with everything I have.
Then I draw away, and Selene gazes up at me with curiosity.
“I have something for you.” I reach into my pocket, where I’ve been keeping the ring for just this purpose every day since I first had a suspicion. Her mouth falls open as I produce the box, then get down on one knee and open it in front of her.
“What?” She looks at the ring and then up at my face. “You want to marry me?”
“Of course I do.” I hold it out to her, and with all the gentleness in her heart, she takes it. “I love you. I want to be with you forever. I want to raise our children together, and?—”
She silences me by bending down to kiss me. I grin against her mouth as I rise to standing, then encircle her with my arms.
“You have to put it on first.”
Selene giggles as she takes the ring out of the box and slips it on her finger. It fits perfectly, as I’d hoped, and the gemstone flashes in the light.
“Thank you,” she says, and I notice tears trailing down her cheeks. “I love you too, Harry. More than I can describe.”
That night, I take exceptional care with her, nursing her to her finish over and over, until my knot can’t bear any more. The idea of my child growing inside her, my ringon her finger, pushes me over the edge. I unleash everything I have to give.
When we’re finished, I bring her in close against my side and kiss the top of her head.
“I can’t wait to do this forever,” Selene says with a giggle.
I smile against her. “Forever starts right now.”
And then I take her again, telling her with all my soul how much she means to me.
Beingpregnant appears to be uncomfortable business. Selene tries not to complain, but I see how her joints ache as her belly gets bigger with our child. She must run to the bathroom more and more often, and her feet often hurt. Her body changes, to my delight, but she is self-conscious about it.
