Even through my pajama pants, the tile was cold against my ass as I hugged the toilet, my cheek resting on the rim of the seat. A strong kick had me glaring at my distended stomach, although I couldn’t help the smile that escaped at the sight of what looked like a hand pushing against my taut, rubbery-looking skin that was stretched nearly to its breaking point over my baby mound.

Yeah, thank the goddess that I hadn’t had a multiple pregnancy like Connor’s family was known for… I couldn’t imagine how much larger I would possibly be at this point if I were carrying twins or triplets. Or for that matter, how my body would even accommodate such a thing.

A giggle escaped me as I watched my belly button pop in and out like a turkey timer with each kick. Even though pregnancy made me grumpy, knowing my child was in there made up for it—almost.

“How are you doing, sweetness? You think you can get up yet?” Connor looked concerned as he walked in, his broad shoulders filling the doorway. “I’m so sorry this entire pregnancy has been so awful for you. I thought morning sickness was supposed to pass after the first part, you know?”

I groaned as I sat up and leaned back against the tub. “Ha! I wish it had only been morning sickness. Nobody told me it would be morning, noon, and night sickness. This is such bullshit.”

Connor moved to the sink to dampen a pair of washcloths. I watched as he wrung them both out and neatly folded one of them into a rectangular strip before coming over and crouching beside me. “Lean forward, baby. You know this will help.”

“Quit being so sweet. How can I call you my caveman when you have to go and be so damn precious with me?” I grumbled as I bent my head downward for him to lay the folded cloth over the back of my neck. With the other, he gently wiped my face and chest before tossing it into the hamper and pulling me into his arms.

“Have you seen the new trick your bellybutton is doing?” he asked after a few moments of silence. I looked down and snorted at the sight of my bellybutton doing the turkey timer bit again. “That is either the coolest or creepiest thing I’ve ever seen.” Based on the sound of awe I heard in his voice, I figured he was probably thinking it was cool.

“I saw his hand a few minutes ago too; you just missed it.” I rubbed a hand over my belly, tracing circles over the places I felt our son kicking.

“Dammit, I have the worst timing. At least I got to see the foot last night though, right? That was pretty cool.” He rested his hand over mine, threading our fingers together as we cradled our baby. When both of our hands bounced, we started cracking up. “He’s got to be an alpha, with kicks like that.”

My head snapped to the side so fast that the washcloth went flying, landing with a splat on the tile beside me. “And now we’re back to caveman. Have you forgotten how strong your omega brothers and friends are? Don’t make me have to omega out on your ass.”

Connor snorted. “Omega out? What, is that like Hulk out or something? Are you going to Hulk smash—or should I say omega smash my ass?” He paused and tapped a finger to his lips. “Although, now that I think about it… I’d like to hear more about what your plans are with my ass. That’s intriguing, lamb chop.”

Anything I would’ve said was halted by a loud gurgling in my stomach. Connor jumped to his feet and reached a hand down to help me up. “That’s our cue. Time to feed the baby and his papa.”

I whimpered as he helped me stand. “Yeah, by all means let’s prime the pump so I can blow more chunks later.”

Connor pulled me close for a soothing hug. “Don’t worry, I have all the ingredients laid out by the blender for your mint and pineapple smoothie. And if that one doesn’t sound good, I can do a lemon ginger one instead, or even apple.”

I rested my chin on his chest as I pouted up at him with a scrunched-up nose. “Can I vote neither? I don’t care what my dad says, that shit is nasty. I mean, maybe if you swapped out the spinach you insist on adding in there for ice cream or something, it might be better.”

Connor chuckled as he turned me around and marched me toward the door. “You need the iron and folate from the greens. Sorry, not sorry. I’ll be happy to get you a scoop of ice cream later, if you think you can hold it down. Sammy brought over some sorbet he made with the same lemon ginger or mint and pineapple flavors that you prefer for your smoothies. I think he made a peppermint ice cream, too. I’ll have to check the freezer, he stuck a bunch of tubs in there and told me they were for you. I kind of lost interest when he started listing ingredients though.”

“For the record, I don’t prefer any of those flavors for my smoothies. We both know that I prefer my smoothies to taste like candy bars, but at least these recipes my dad gave you seem to help the nausea a little.”

As he guided me into the kitchen and led me to a stool at the counter, Connor brushed a kiss over my temple before scooting around to the blender. “I promise that once you’re not puking all the time, I will happily make you all the chocolate peanut butter smoothies your heart desires.”

“I mean, I think those are technically milkshakes, but I’ll take it… after a month or so. Maybe a year. I don’t know, but it’s going to take me a long time to be able to look at a smoothie again after I pop this baby out.” I shook my head at the thought as I absently rubbed a hand over my belly.

After he’d made my liquid breakfast, Connor set about straightening the kitchen while I sipped at it. I looked up at Connor after I looked at the ingredients in my glass. “You know, Baba laughed when he said that these things were the only thing that helped him through his miserable pregnancy with me. I can’t help but wonder if a small part of him isn’t finding poetic justice in watching me go through the same thing. Although, maybe it’s a good sign? He wasn’t sick at all during his pregnancy with my sister, and look at what a brat she turned out to be. Maybe our son will be sweet like me, you think?”

Connor threw his head back with a loud laugh. He was still shaking his head when he glanced over to see me frowning. He held up his hands. “Trust me, I’m not stupid enough to touch that one. But yes, you’re definitely the sweet one… mostly.”

I lifted a brow. “A wise man would’ve stopped before that last word, just saying.”

He leaned over the counter to steal a kiss. “And I’m just saying that maybe I like a little salt with my sugar, Mr. Feisty.”

When he reached for an apple and bit into it, I rolled my eyes as I remembered our mission and took a drink. “Do you think we’re ever going to find Atalanta’s apple? I mean, we’ve been looking through every possible bit of lore handed down through the generations and there’s nothing. Not even a thread. Your grandpa Frankie and my sister have both been scouring the internet. If those two techno-freaks can’t find it, maybe it really doesn’t exist.”

Connor shook his head. “It has to exist, or the goddess wouldn’t have put us on its trail. I mean, we could be following the wrong myth, but I don’t think so. We all feel strongly that this is the one, so it definitely exists. We just have to find it and guard it. Easy peasy, remember?”

“I know, I’m just frustrated because it feels like we’re just sitting here twiddling our thumbs while I grow larger by the second. The baby’s due in three weeks; if we don’t find a lead soon, I’ll be out of commission when it comes to retrieving it.”

“If it takes that long, we’ll just wait until you’re on your feet again. Because there’s no doubt that we’ll both need to be there. Easton wouldn’t have included you if you weren’t meant to be part of it. You said it yourself, our parents’ quests were done in pairs, and it looks like history is repeating itself.”

I sucked in a breath. “Parents! Shit. What time is everybody showing up? I wasted the whole morning hugging the porcelain god and we’re hosting that barbecue to welcome our packmates who are visiting from England.”

“Don’t worry, precious. All you have to do is sit there and let everybody fuss over you. Your dad has insisted on doing the grilling and my family are bringing all the sides. Sammy has our refrigerator filled with pans of marinating meat. I’d show you, but you and I both know what happened the last time you smelled raw meat.” Connor shuddered at the memory of that one. Not only had I not made it as far as the bathroom, but his shoes had been baptized—to put it kindly.

“Are you sure people won’t think I’m playing the pregnancy card?” I chewed my lip, frustrated that I was so far from my normal self these days. I’d never been a guy to sit idly by while everyone else did the work, it just wasn’t my style.

Connor smiled gently. “There is not a person around who’d ever think that of you. Shit, don’t forget that Uncle Ansh is a diva’s diva. If anything, he’ll be upset that I’m not sitting at your side waving palm fronds or some shit like that.”

I giggled at that idea. “Good point. Although now that you mention it,” I frowned as though deep in thought, “palm fronds probably would give me a nice breeze. And I do get so hot.”

“Nice try, but we both know you’d break my wrist if I tried something like that. Goddess, can you imagine the comments from your sister?”

“Now see, that just makes it more appealing,” I laughed.

It was so good to see our friends again. Kyle and Jude didn’t make it over here often enough for my liking. Kyle was hilarious, loud, and completely adorable. His twin, Jude, was his polar opposite. He was one of the most mellow, laid-back, and patient people I’d ever known. They were two of my favorite alphas on the planet, but then again, I felt that way about all my friends and pack “uncles.” I just hadn’t seen these ones as much lately. But sitting here with Connor and my pack around me, everything finally felt right with my world.

“Oni! How are you feeling? I’ve heard about your awful indigestion issues. I brought you an entire case of Chimes ginger chews. Not only are they a tasty candy, you’ll find they work great for nausea. They really are quite a treat; I stumbled over them while we were traveling through Indonesia a few years back.” My uncle River settled down in the chair beside me, passing me a package of candy as he spoke. “The rest of the case is in your kitchen, Connor assured me he would put it in a cool, dry place to store it.”

His mate, my uncle Mark, shared an affectionate smile with River as he joined us. “I’ll have you know that your uncle was determined that you were to have that candy. Believe it or not,” he made a playful gasp, “he even sprang for express shipping so we’d have it in time for the trip.”

We all laughed at that one. Uncle River was known for his distaste of capitalism in every form, but especially when companies extorted you for what he considered to be exorbitant shipping rates. I made a show of opening the package and unwrapping a candy. It didn’t smell too awful, so I popped it in my mouth and patted my uncle’s hand. “Thank you for your sacrifice, Uncle River.”

He threw his long hair over his shoulder with a grin. “It wasn’t a problem. I just closed my eyes when I hit enter. See no evil, hear no evil, right?”

“Yeah, because that works, Uncle River.” Kyle dropped down on the ground beside my chair and snuck a candy out of my bag. His face screwed up as he spat the candy right back into his hand and tucked it back into its wrapper. “No offense, but yet again, I’m glad I’m not an omega if you guys have to deal with shit like that.”

I shrugged. “If it settles my stomach, I’m all for it. Anything is better than puking my guts out day and night. Besides,” I flashed a smile at my uncle, “it’s not bad. Trust me, I’ve grown accustomed to the spicy taste of ginger. It pairs well with apple or lemon.”

“Ooh! Speaking of apples, what’s this I hear about you and Connor being on some big quest from the goddess? Are you guys trying to undo everything our parents did, or is this a do-over to show you can do it better?” Kyle reached out with a grin to take a beer from Jude’s outstretched hand before looking back to hear my answer.

Jude gracefully lowered himself to the ground beside his brother. “Are you allowed to talk about it? Don’t let Kyle bully you into spilling the beans if it’s not okay.”

The rest of my adopted uncles and pack perked up at the topic and slowly meandered closer to hear what I had to say. Connor and his brothers all came and sat down on the grass near me while our parents took seats in the assorted lawn chairs. Connor rested a hand on my knee. “Tell them whatever you want, sweetie pie. I don’t feel like we aren’t allowed to discuss it freely. And it’s not like we haven’t already shared the details within our immediate families.”

As I launched into our tale, all of my parents’ generation smiled when Easton’s name came up in conversation. Connor’s uncle Parker shook his head. “That guy again? It figures he’d be hip deep in this one. Is he still banging the goddess? Or is it not okay to say that?”

Connor’s papa started laughing at his brother’s questions. “I’m pretty sure that nothing good can come of joking about the goddess’ sex life.”

My baba rolled his eyes as he settled onto my dad’s lap. “Can we get back to the conversation at hand, please? The last thing I want to think about is anyone else’s sex life, let alone that of a goddess and her Fae bae.”

“Bae?” My sister snorted soda through her nose. “Please tell me that our honorable baba did not just say Fae bae.” She shook her head. “Although, it does sound awesome, right? Say it three times fast in a high voice and you’d almost think you’re hearing an ambulance siren.”

“Anyway…” I said pointedly in an attempt to bring the conversation back around. “We followed the clue he gave us and it led us to the legend of Atalanta and her golden apple. The only problem is while her story has survived the ages, we can’t find any record of an actual gold apple ever existing. And that’s where we’ve been stuck for the past three months.”

Kyle held up a hand, his eyes bulging with excitement. “When you say golden apple, are you meaning that it’s a solid gold object or a basic, ordinary yellow delicious fruit? Because if you’re talking about solid gold, I’ve freaking seen one matching that description in this series of recurring dreams I’ve been having. In fact, I just had the damn dream again last night.”

Everyone grew silent as we turned to look at Kyle. Jude looked thoughtful for a moment. “Why don’t you tell us about your dream? Because I’m pretty sure that nobody would dispute that there are no coincidences in this life.”

Kyle rolled his eyes. “Jude, you’re such a fucking hippie. But, you’re not wrong. So this dream, it’s crazy! It’s like I’m looking at this dude who looks just like Father. He’s dressed in like this kilt or loincloth-looking thing, but it’s white linen. Oh, and he’s got all these gold bracelets, a fancy necklace, and even gold sandals on his feet. He could totally be my father if he was trying to look like an ancient Egyptian, even down to having kohl lined around his eyes. But anyway, this Father-clone is standing in this room hiding it, looking around to make sure nobody is watching. I got the vibe that he’d stolen it or something, just by how secretive he was being.”

My baba nodded gravely. “It sounds as though you have your father’s gift for dreams. In our day, our group would form a circle, using our gifts to channel all of our powers so that your Uncle Kent could cast a dreamscape so we could all view the vision or dream that had been seen. You know, Kyle, it was your dad, Cody, who would hypnotize us into a dream state for this to happen.” Baba paused to look at me and Connor. “Perhaps you kids might consider doing the same.”

Kyle shook his head. “But I’m a precognitive dreamer. I’ve always had visions of the future in my dreams, not ancient shit.”

Jude looked amused. “Have you never heard of ancestral memories? They often come in the form of dreams.” He turned to look at his own father, my uncle Kontar. “Doesn’t our family line come from Egypt, on your side?”

His father shrugged. “Yes, but I don’t know much of my family history. I’ve heard a few things, but I was orphaned too young for my parents to instruct me. And as the last of my line, all I had to go on was hearsay from other shifters who’d known them. There are even rumors that we still own property somewhere over there that has been passed down through the generations, but if it exists, I’ve never seen a deed or laid eyes on it. I don’t know that we really want to root into my family history though; what little I do know tells me that my ancestors were a bit unsavory in former generations.”

“Unsavory? What the fuck does that mean, Father?” Kyle looked intrigued now.

Uncle Kontar chuckled softly. “Don’t look so excited, son. When I say unsavory, I mean evil. My ancestors had great wealth, but they earned it through slavery. They sold their own brethren for their personal gain. Thieves, liars, and slavers—that’s what my line is made of, or so I’ve been told.”

Jude looked saddened by that as he frowned down at his lap. “I’m glad that recent generations have cleaned up their act, but it breaks my heart to know that we have that in our family history.”

“Forget about all that, we can’t undo the past. All we can do is do better in our future, everybody knows that. But you know what I do know?” Kyle pumped a victory fist high over his head. “I know that I smell an African excursion in our future, guys!”

I grinned at Kyle. The guy really did crack me up. “That’s all well and good, but first we’ll have to figure out where. Egypt is a broad area; we’ll need to pinpoint a better location.”

Connor spooned me from behind, his hand resting possessively over my belly as he slowly thrust into my welcoming heat. “How are you feeling now? You’ve had a long day, my love.”

I smiled at that. Of all the myriad of endearments he used on me, “my love” was probably my favorite. I looked back over my shoulder. “Are we talking or fucking right now?”

With another gentle thrust, Connor nipped at my neck before flashing me a grin. “We can’t do both?”

I bit back a moan as the fat head of his cock slid over that magical bundle of nerves inside my ass. “We can, but don’t expect me to concentrate on stringing two coherent words together for very long.”

“What about if I do this?” Connor grinned almost wickedly before bending to scrape his teeth along my omega gland. “Or little bit of this?” His hand wrapped around my dick and began to stroke in rhythm with the undulation of his hips.

His hand moved down to fondle my balls before sliding back up the length of my dick in a gentle caress. I gasped when his fist closed around it again, and I squirmed back against him, coaxing him to plunge in deeper and harder.

The fragrant scent of my slick meshed with the musky aroma of our sweat filled the air. My breath hitched as he grazed his teeth over my gland again before sucking a kiss on my neck. I could feel my body vibrating as my inner cat began to purr.

“Yessss… do more of that.” I shivered as he blew a hot breath over my ear. I could already feel his knotting vortex beginning to swell with each stroke, sending frissons of scorching electricity through my body. I hissed through my teeth as my balls drew tight.

I began to writhe against my mate when another graze of his teeth pushed me over the edge. I was powerless to hold it back another second. My dick pulsed as I shot ribbons of cum onto the bed beside me.

“Fuckkkk, you and that vibrobutt are gonna be the death of me,” Connor groaned as his knotting vortex fully inflated, locking us together as his cock began to pump liquid heat into my channel.

I gave a languorous sigh as I leaned back into his strong chest. This was my favorite place in the world—being wrapped in his arms and firmly stuck together. Connor’s hands rested possessively over my belly as he pressed a soft kiss to my neck.

“Sleep well, my love. We have another big day ahead of us tomorrow when our friends come over.” His voice was like velvet in my ear as I floated toward sleep’s siren call.

“I will, dearest. I always do when I’m glued to my caveman,” I whispered as I gave into the soft embrace of peaceful slumber.