Epilogue
Conrad
Hayden said second-time omegas usually gave birth earlier than first-time papas.
Hayden said his body would give signs of the baby coming sooner than before because he would recognize them.
Hayden said labor the second time around was easier.
Hayden was a freaking liar.
Jasper was forty-two weeks pregnant when his water broke at the freaking super store where we both thought it would be a good idea to “walk out the baby” the way the stupid baby book my brother had sent us with his shower gift suggested. Not a sign, just whoops, look at that puddle. In hindsight, the idea was flawed from the get-go, but Jasper had pleaded, batting his big eyes at me, and there was no way I’d ever be able to turn those eyes down.
And that was how we ended up having our baby on the side of the road, with Owen strapped in his baby seat, Jasper screaming in pain, and me begging Hayden via the phone to get there stat. To his credit, Hayden did arrive before Jasmine did, but only just.
Jasmine was the perfect baby, not that I was at all biased or anything. She had her papa’s eyes and my nose and won our hearts before we even saw her.
After Owen was named by Travis, the entire “who names your baby when you’re a wolf” thing started to itch away at me. Panthers didn’t do that. I was fairly sure no one else did that. It was just plain weird.
So, I did what every rational alpha would do in my position. I begged Travis not to name our child something weird like Zlailiah Lindsoriah. He just laughed and said he hated naming babies and to go for it. We ended up compromising, and he named the child the name I’d picked—Jasmine after his brave badass omega papa.
Now that we were home and settled in, just the four of us, I couldn’t be happier. Never in my life had I imagined feeling as complete as I did when surrounded by my family.
“Owen, what are you getting into?” I watched as he toddled behind the sofa. Owen was one for mischief or, as Jasper called it, creative expression. Creative indeed.
I walked around to redirect him away from the electrical cords I guessed he was after—my future electrician—and stopped short as I saw his face scrunch up in a way that could only mean one thing.
“Love, come on down here please.” I picked up Owen and growled. I hated to do so, but it needed to be done. He was about to have his first shift, and his wolf would need to know the pecking order if he was going to settle at all. Or so Travis and Jamison tried to explain to me. The whole wolf thing still was odd to me, but I was now a brother wolf, and I needed to get used to them if I was going to raise not one, but two wolves—possibly more. Scratch that, hopefully more.
“Come on, Owen, let’s get you out of your clothes and in the fresh air.” I made a beeline for the door, not waiting for Jasper before heading outside. He’d heard me and would be on his way, and I wanted Owen outside when he shifted for the first time. I remembered the horror stories my folks told when Ron and I first shifted.. Rumor had it we destroyed both a couch and a recliner our first shifts. Fine…rumors and photographic evidence.
I stripped Owen out of his clothing before kissing his sweet head and placing him on the grass just as Jasper came out, Jasmine in his arms having her second breakfast.
“Already?” he asked as I pulled the shirt over my head and toed off my shoes. “He’s still a baby.”
“Already. He’s about that age, and his face did the thing.” I unbuttoned my pants, stripping them off. “You remember what Samson said. He’s advanced for his age.” Samson had meant physically, but I chose to believe he meant in all ways. Because that’s what dads did. It was genetic or something.
“Let me call Russell and see if he can watch Jasmine so I can come with.”
Owen’s nose did the scrunchy thing again.
“If you do, better make it quickly, he’s pretty close.”
I watched as Jasmine unlatched as she fell asleep, and Jasper tried to pull out his phone without waking her. Our sweet baby was in a milk coma. She was good and asleep for at least a half an hour, not that Jasper seemed willing to chance it. To be fair, Jasmine was not her typical sweet self if we woke her.
“Knock knock.” Samson’s voice echoed around the building.
“Just the man we were waiting for,” Jasper called back.
Samson must’ve taken it the wrong way for he sprinted to us. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, Samson, we just hoped you could watch Jasmine for a bit. It looks like Owen is about to have his first shift, and I would like to go with.”
Samson held out his arms and Jasper placed her in them before joining Owen and me, trailing his clothing the entire way.
“I was here because your brother is at the gate and they wanted to know if he should be let in. I’m guessing he can wait.” Samson smirked. My guess was my brother was being an ass to the guards, probably stating his company name as if it held worth here.
“He can come in. I just won’t be rushing things is all.”
“Love, look.” Jasper pointed to our little man. “It’s time.”
I shifted, as did Jasper, and as we stood there in animal form, our little man looking up at us, I pulled on my alpha strength and forced his shift. It took a full minute from when he took his wolf form to when he was steady on his feet, but the second he accomplished that, his tail was wagging.
Love you, Owen. Jasper leaned in and licked his snout.
Wanna play? I nudged him with my nose, and he bounded at me.
I took off, and he took the hint, running after me as his papa took up the rear. Exhilaration flowed through me as the three of us ran, wrestled, and explored the area behind our home, Owen for the very first time.
When he began to slow down, exhaustion setting in, I nudged him in the direction of home and helped him shift once we reached the clearing.
“Looks like we wore him out.” Jasper reached for our little man who was mid-yawn. “I’ll take him in and get him ready for a nap, and you can find Samson?”
“Perfect.” I leaned in, giving him a small peck on the cheek and then kissing Owen’s head. “You are going to be a fierce wolf, little man. Badass like your papa.”
Jasper went inside, buck-ass naked, and after ogling him, I slipped on my jeans and grabbed our discarded clothing before walking around to the front porch where I assumed I’d find Samson and Jasmine.
Sure enough, they were sitting on the porch glider as my brother paced the length of the porch.
“You look like a cat in a room full of rocking chairs,” I jibed as I climbed up and gave him a half hug before dropping the cloths on the side table.
“You were right,” he stammered. “Dropping the division was bad for everyone, including the environment. Come back.”
I stood there, slack jawed, shocked by what my brother had said. “Did you just apologize, and in front of others?”
I sat next to Samson, taking Jasmine from him. “Remember this day, little one. Your uncle Ron can sometimes be wrong.”
“Har-har.” He leaned against the porch rail, and I offered him Jasmine to hold, his face exploding in a smile as he held her like she was about to break. “So, will you?”
It took me a second to remember what he was referring to, but no time at all to decide.
“Absolutely not. This is my life now. I am beta of this pack, mate to Jasper, and father to amazing cubs. There is nothing more I could want.”
Jasper picked that moment to emerge from the front doorway, gave me a questioning look then shrugged his shoulder before addressing Samson.
“Thanks for watching our Jasmine while we ran.”
Jasmine looked toward the sound of her papa’s voice. A-freaking-dorable.
“Good to see you, Ron. Staying for dinner? You, too, Samson. I made lasagna.”
“Is it a special occasion?” Samson asked.
“No. Just dinner. Why is lasagna a special occasion food in your family?” Jasper thought it hilarious I’d assumed lasagna was for birthdays when we first mated. From the sound of the lilt in his voice, he still did.
“Absolutely. Birthdays, holidays, promotions—you name it.”
“Then, yes, this is a special occasion. Ron is here, Owen shifted, and the sky is clear.” Jasper came over and sat on my lap. “So, are you both staying? It will be another half hour, but it already smells wonderful.”
“If but I could.” Samson got up and bared his neck to us. “I promised my mentor Matilda I’d come by for a few days to help with her current project. I just stopped by to ask Conrad to possibly make a few extra runs, if you catch my drift.”
“I am on call tonight and running tomorrow. I will make sure they are safe,” I vowed, and I would. I remember how it felt to be in his position—needing to protect while staying at arm’s length. “And tomorrow night is movie night for Jasper, Hayden, and the new arrivals, so no worries, friend.”
Samson bared his neck again before stepping off the porch. “Nice to see you again, Ron.” He was lying, but the courteousness was appreciated by all involved. Ron really had to learn to be less abrasive and self-important.
“You staying brother?” I asked.
“Any chance I’ll change your mind?”
“Not a single one. But I can recommend some people you might want to consider for the position, people I trained. And I can share my mate’s amazing cooking with you.”
“Deal.” He gave Jasmine a huge smile followed by a silly face. “You want your uncle to stay for supper, little one?”
And as if on cue, Jasmine spit up on her uncle. Was it wrong I was proud?
“How about I take her and you go clean up. Meet you in the dining room?” Jasper popped off my lap and took the baby from Ron as I tried to contain my amusement.
Ron went inside, and, just as the door clicked closed, Jasper’s face turned serious.
“Mate, did you want him to say no?” Jasper never seemed to mind Ron the way so many did, but something was definitely off.
“Do you want to…go back, I mean?”
“Oh, dear sweet love, there is not a single molecule of me that wants to be anywhere but where I am. I love you, our family, my place in this pack. This is not only where I want to be, it is where I need to be. My tiger would never let me leave even if I was foolish enough to attempt to—which, for the record, I am not. You, Owen, Jasmine—you are my life. Period.”
“I just don’t ever want to hold you back.”
“And you never will. You are the reason I soar. I love you with all that I am. I love my life. I never felt that before I met you. I was always going through the motions, trying to be the best person I could be. With you? I finally feel like I am.”
I reached up and wiped a tear from my omega’s face. “Happy tears?”
“The happiest.” He leaned into me. “I love you, alpha mine. You make me the luckiest shifter on the planet.”
He was wrong. I was the luckiest.