Three months had passed since Darren was certain his life was over, and true to the promise he’d made his mate, he hadn’t wasted a day of it dwelling on the mistakes of the past. It was easier when every day brought with it new joys and milestones.

As worried as Darren and Zander had both been about Bobby’s emotional wellbeing after the trauma of everything that had taken place at the falls, the boy seemed to have adjusted well with a combination of biweekly therapy sessions and more love and fussing from his parents and grandparents than he knew what to do with. Bobby had been the one to insist on going back to school early even though he had more than an adequate excuse to stay home for a couple of weeks, because they were all “driving him nuts.”

The kids had a half day at school that afternoon, so Darren had taken Caleb up on his offer to meet at the park for lunch. While Bobby pushed Stephanie on the swings, Caleb was feeding their newborn son his bottle.

“He’s so cute,” Darren cooed, letting the infant wrap his hand around his little finger. “He’s got Dustin’s eyes.”

“He does, doesn’t he?” Caleb smiled proudly down at his son. “How’s your little one doing? You had another sonogram today, didn’t you?”

“Can you keep a secret?” Darren asked, grinning.

“Always,” Caleb said in a scandalous tone.

“It’s a girl. I’m telling Zander tonight after dinner.”

“Congratulations,” Caleb said, reaching over to touch his shoulder. “How are you gonna do it? He’s hard to surprise.”

“Oh, I know,” Darren sighed. “But I’m pretty proud of myself this time. I put an announcement in one of his case files.”

“You didn’t!” Caleb laughed. “Well, I guess that’s one way to get his attention.”

“Oh, it’s not so hard to come by.” The Alpha had been keeping a close eye on him and while he hadn’t gone as far as house arrest, Darren sometimes wondered if he’d been entirely joking. Not that he minded the excuse to spend as much time with Zander as possible.

* * *

That night, once Bobby was tucked in and the dishes had been done, Darren settled on the couch with Zander while the Alpha reviewed his case requests for the week. He received dozens any given week, and while he only took a few of them, he was trying to take care of as many important jobs as he could before the baby came. Darren had a cup of tea and was pretending to be interested in the nightly news while he waited for Zander to come across the planted announcement. The fact that Zander had a habit of mumbling aloud whatever he was reading to focus made it all the more amusing for Darren.

“Bounty, lupine female… Meadowlands Pack member… First name unknown, Last name…” He did a double-take. “Paxton? Birthdate…” He turned slowly to look at Darren and his confusion turned to disbelief. “Seriously?”

Darren grinned, setting aside his tea because he knew what was coming. “Guess you won’t be able to go with ‘Paxton and Sons’ after all.”

“We’ll work something out,” Zander said with a joyous laugh as he gathered his mate into his arms. He kissed Darren so hard the omega’s head spun. “Just when I think life can’t get any better.”

“It’s about time we had some good surprises,” Darren said, stroking his mate’s cheek. He yelped when Zander pulled him into his arms suddenly and started carrying him towards the bedroom. “I thought you had to finish work!”

“Work can wait,” Zander said, kicking the door shut. He placed his mate down on the bed and resumed the kiss where they’d left off.

“No complaints here,” Darren purred, letting Zander help him out of his clothes since his pregnant belly posed a bit of a challenge those days. The Alpha had no such trouble turning him over and kissing his way down Darren’s spine. The omega bit down on a pillow to stifle his moan as his mate spread him open and slipped his tongue into his crevice. Zander was as skilled with his tongue as he was with everything else, and Darren was in danger of climaxing when the Alpha finally showed him mercy.

By the time he felt Zander’s cock pressed against his slick entrance, he was desperate enough to be filled to press back against him.

“Easy,” Zander chuckled, resting his hands on either side of Darren’s waist as he guided himself into the omega’s waiting hole. Darren groped the pillow in front of him as Zander slid deeper into him and started thrusting. He lasted all but a minute before the pleasure became too much. Zander hadn’t even touched his cock before it pulsed streams of silken pleasure onto the sheets. The Alpha was still rock hard inside of him, and Darren had no sooner recovered from his first orgasm than he felt a second building where it had left off.

“It’s so fucking hot when you come for me,” Zander growled, wrapping his hand around Darren’s shaft as he tunneled into him. Darren whimpered in blissful suffering as his Alpha stroked his sensitive member until they climaxed together and Zander’s knot swelled up inside of him.

Entwined and breathless, Darren turned his head to meet Zander’s kiss as the Alpha lay behind him. “Worth it,” Zander mumbled groggily.

“What?” Darren asked, still struggling to catch his breath.

“Every year, ever day, every minute,” Zander whispered in his ear, kissing his cheek softly as he wrapped his arms around his omega, keeping him safe and secure in his embrace. “One minute of having you in my arms was worth all of it.”

Darren smiled softly. “A minute, huh?” he teased, arching his back into his mate, whose knot was still swelled up inside of him. “I think we can do better than that.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” said Zander. Sleep was overrated, anyway.