DONOVAN
Three weeks later…
He curled up next to me. His body was warm. His breathing was soft. His belly was swollen.
I ran my fingers through his hair and massaged his head.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
He let out a contented sigh and not much else.
We laid on my bed, naked and completely bare to one another. The open door to my bedroom balcony brought in the daytime breeze to keep us cool.
“Shouldn’t you be working right now?” Lucas asked. “I’ll be just fine laying in bed by myself. You don’t have to keep me company.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at his suggestion.
“What’s so funny?” he said, looking up at me with those innocent brown eyes of his.
“You truly don’t know what life in Azure is like, do you?”
“I guess not. I’ve only been living with you for a few weeks—”
“And you haven’t realized that there’s no need for me to work. The fortune I’ve made is a result of the hard work of my ancestors.”
“The resources your lineage owns. You control all of it?”
“Yes. The metals and the lumber… We oversee the territory it’s being gathered from. And it’s my responsibility to see how it’s distributed.”
“There are so many places in Dirge that could use those resources. Oil. Metal. Wood…”
“I know. And I fully intend on doing my part to keep Dirge standing. I’ve been sitting alone in my ivory tower for too long. Now I know that there are other parts of this city that need my help.”
I put my hand on his chin and brought my face to his. His lips were warm. His tongue was wet. His mouth was so inviting. Him being pregnant seemed to make him more attractive somehow.
A knock on my door interrupted my tender moment with Lucas.
“Master Donovan,” Dirk said as he stepped inside. “Someone here to see you.”
“Speak of the devil,” I said.
I kissed Lucas softly before getting up from the bed. A pair of silk pajama pants to cover my modesty, I followed Dirk out of the bedroom.
Andrea was waiting for me in the small lounge I had near the entrance of my mansion. The Beta woman was calm, staring out of the window.
“Master Donovan,” Dirk announced me to her.
My friend turned and smiled at me. She looked me up and down as I took a seat across the table from her.
“You look well,” she said.
“I am well.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t visit you earlier. Beta life and all—”
“There’s no need to apologize,” I said with a laugh. “You have your life to live. There are more important obligations to worry about than some injuries.”
“Injuries…”
Her eyes shifted toward the scars on my body. They were more than noticeable, so I couldn’t blame her for looking.
“There are rumors going around—”
“They’re not rumors,” I said. “I went to the Timberlands to deal with a problem. And that problem has been solved.”
I winked at her. She tried to fight the smile on her lips before eventually snickering softly and shaking her head.
“That’s the Donovan I know,” she said. “Efficient as always.”
“Indeed.”
“I’m happy for you.”
“You’re happy for me?”
“Yes… The Omega—”
“Oh! Right. I didn’t get a chance to tell you.”
“How far along is he?”
Her eyes narrowed. A knowing look in her eyes, Andrea was always able to read me like a book. I didn’t know if it were her education or just her Beta instinct.
“Three weeks,” I said. “The birth is planned for next week.”
“One-month pregnancies. Alpha and Omega relationships are certainly remarkable.”
“They are… How did you know?”
“Besides the look on your face?” she said with an eyebrow raised at me. “I could smell it on you.”
“My smell? What does it smell like?”
“I don’t know. I wouldn’t know what to compare it to. It simply smells like someone smells when they’ve bonded.”
“I see…”
I nodded in understanding. Now that I thought about it, Lucas did have a scent about him after I impregnated him. I thought it was only him though.
“I didn’t just come here to congratulate you,” she said.
“I know. And after everything I’ve been through, it only reaffirms what I was trying to do in the first place.”
I stood up from my seat and walked over to the window. I looked out into the distance as I explained to Andrea my plans.
“My lineage will always have something,” I said. “My ancestors worked too hard for me to squander a fortune and a place in Dirge. But I know that I have too much. The mineral mines. The forests. The oil. I’m not interested in making profits any longer. I plan on distributing to those who need it in Pandora.”
“I don’t think even you have enough fortune to help everybody in Pandora.”
“No. But I can start and someone else will eventually finish.”
I spun on my heel and turned back to Andrea.
“I’ll start with a school,” I said. “Something to educate the young ones and help them become more productive members of society. Then a hospital. Something to help those who are sick.”
“I can’t think of a better way to start.”
“The last time we were there, we looked at all of the bars and small shops, trying to figure out a way to invest. The truth is they need something new. Hopefully, new resources can be a symbol of hope and inspire others to do good.”
Andrea stood up from her seat. Her hands on my shoulders, she looked me in the eye with a wry smile on her lips.
“You’ve grown,” she said. “You’ve grown so much.”
“I still have a lot of growing to do. I’m not even 30 yet.”
“That means you have plenty of time to try and do good.”
“I already have everything I could ask for. I have many successful businesses. Hundreds of people work for me to give me this comfortable life where I don’t have to lift a finger. Though I’m a jaguar, I will do my best to help all of the citizens of Dirge.”
“A philanthropist. Who would have thought?”
We shared a laugh. It was tender moments like these that I cherished the most with Andrea.
“I’m well aware of the perception of the rich jaguars in Azure,” I said. “Many people are not fond of me.”
“You’re going to change that?”
“I don’t care about changing it. I am only going to live my life with Lucas and my child. A good life. The people of Dirge will decide on their own what they think of jaguars.”