Okay. Karis could do this. Her stomach was in knots as she made her way to the barn. The boys had chopped down trees from the ranch and taken them to a lumber mill in town. Sure, they’d had to spend some of the money they’d earned on the trail ride, but it was a heckuva lot cheaper than buying the wood to rebuild. They had been working out here for two days, and so far, they had the framework and one wall up. And though they had a long way to go, fixing the barn was step one in rebuilding this place.

This morning, Karis had realized just how important it was to keep this home. Because it wasn’t going to just be her and Colt, Ava and Trig, and the animals anymore. Now there would be someone extra. She was already tearing up, and she hadn’t even gotten to the Clan meeting that Trig had called.

She didn’t stay as warm anymore, so she zipped her jacket and flipped up the collar to shield her neck. Over the last few days, she’d missed her bear terribly bad, but now everything made sense, and she was relieved to know this disconnect was temporary. The bear just had to make room for someone else. Someone important. Someone Karis had wished for all her life, and Colt—her Colt—had given her the greatest gift.

She could do this.

There wasn’t a door on the barn anymore, so she walked inside, right past the corral of horses out front. Trigger was holding a long two-by-four steady, and Colt was sitting up on a rafter nailing it to a long support beam. He was frowning and looked lost in thought, but when he saw her, the two nails between his lips twitched as he smiled a greeting. And wow, that man’s smile for her. Bright-white, big, with genuine happiness for her presence, existence, all of it. The grin lifted the scarred side of his face, so she knew he was having a good day.

Ava exited Norman’s stall. “Hey, Karis!” She looked at Karis’s face though, really looked, and then frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“I…” God, where did she even start? She was still in shock from the three tests she’d just taken in her and Colt’s cabin. “I was going to buy this little…” A tear slipped to her cheek, and feeling embarrassed, she dashed her knuckles across it.

Colt jumped down from the rafter and landed with little impact on the dirt floor in front of her. “Karis, what’s going on?” The fury in his eyes was instant as he did a quick scan outside and back to her. “Is it the crows?”

Trig chuckled. “Nah. They’re gonna make us wait before they make a move. That’s their style. I think Karis finally figured it out. About damn time, too. I was tempted to spill the beans, like fourteen million times.”

“What the fuck are you talkin’ about, man?” Colt asked, wide-eyed. “This ain’t the way it’s supposed to go. You said you wouldn’t give her hints!”

Wait, what? Karis pursed her lips and then asked, “How what is supposed to go?”

Colt puffed air out of his cheeks and pulled her left hand to him, kissed the little zip tie ring he’d given her after the Darby War. They couldn’t afford anything else, but she proudly wore that little plastic ring every day.

He glanced up at her, trapped her in his serious gaze, and then pulled the black plastic ring off her finger.

“No,” she murmured. “That’s mine. I love it.”

“Well, I was hoping you would love this one even more,” he said, slipping a thin silver band with a sparkling diamond onto her finger.

“What?” she whispered, eyes burning as she stared at the ring. “How? When? What bank did you rob to get this?”

Colt chuckled and said, “I have to make payments on it still, but now that we have a couple more trail rides booked, I can. I got it right after I proposed, but they had to re-size it because your fingers are the size of a shrimp’s.”

“Do shrimps have fingers?” Trig asked.

“Shut up, man.” He searched Karis’s eyes. “Do you like it?”

Her mouth was hanging open in shock. She’d come in here on a mission, not knowing Colt had a sweet mission of his own.

“I love it so much. And I just…just…feel like the luckiest girl in the whole world.”

Colt held her at arm’s length, his smile uncertain as he searched her damp cheeks. “Woman, that’s a lot of girl-tears for a diamond this small. Did I do good or did I do bad?”

Her shoulders shook and, helpless to find her voice, she nodded. “Better than you even realize,” she croaked out.

“Well, tell me. What’s wrong?”

“Not a thing. Everything is right. For the first time in my life, everything is right, and it’s because of you. My heart is so full I don’t even know how to process everything. No one person has a right to be this happy—”

“Babe, what’s happening?” Colt looked panicked now.

“I’m gonna give you a baby,” she whispered.

Colt flinched, his hands squeezing her arms, and then he froze. Three breaths, and he thawed out quick. His grin stretched his scars. It was the real smile she loved the most. “Say it again.”

“I’m gonna give you a baby.”

“You pregnant?” His voice shook.

Karis nodded, and now the tears were making rivers down her face. Colt’s eyes filled in an instant. He took a few steps back and threw his hat up at the ceiling with a loud, “Whoop!” He walked a tight circle, hands linked behind his head, his green eyes brimming with moisture. She’d never seen him look so happy or so handsome.

Ava sniffed loudly, and Trigger said, “Just what we need. A little Warmaker Junior runnin’ around. Probably gonna burn this place to the ground.”

“I wanted to get a little black onesie with Daddy’s lil Outlaw on it, but I couldn’t wait to have the printer make it. I had to tell you now. I’m no good with secrets!”

“You’re sure?” Colt asked, his voice pitched higher than his usually deep timbre. “You took tests?”

“Three. All positive. And my bear disappeared. I didn’t know what that meant. I thought I was sick, but I called my mom last night crying over it and she told me that’s what happens when a shifter gets pregnant. The animal goes to sleep, so I can’t Change until I get the cub here safe.”

“Holy shit,” Colt said, rushing to her. He picked her up off the ground and hugged her, burying his face against her neck. “I’m gonna be a dad. I’m gonna be a dad, Karis. A dad.”

Well, now she was sobbing.

“What if I suck at this?” he murmured against her neck.

“You won’t,” Ava said, tears running her mascara down her cheeks as she approached. Ava threw her arms around them both and said, “Colt, you aren’t anything like Dad. You were the best big brother raising me. You’ve got this. Easy as pie. You were born to do this.”

Colt’s breath hitched, and he wrapped his arm around his sister too, hugging up his girls so tight. “Come here, big guy,” he called to Trigger, who was leaning against the newly nailed two-by-four.

“Pass.”

“Bring it on in,” Colt said.

Trig muttered, “Polite decline,” but a smile was slowly stretching his lips.

“Group hug.”

“If I do this, can we get back to work?” Trig asked.

“Probably,” Colt answered.

“Fine.” Trigg hugged them all up in a tight embrace, then let them go, nodded once, and said, “Now get back to work. We have a ranch to save, and a cub to prepare for.”

Colt’s laugh was emotional and the exact sound of true happiness. He settled Karis on her feet and cupped her neck, shook his head like he was the one who didn’t know how he got so lucky. And then he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers, another one of his silent I love yous he was so good at.

This life wasn’t perfect. Not even close. But she no longer lived a bland existence. She hadn’t settled. Fate had always had different plans for her. She just hadn’t realized it until now. Until this moment, when everything she’d always wanted clicked perfectly into place. All the hard had been worth it. She could see that so clearly now and was grateful for the struggle, because how could she truly appreciate the gravity of this moment if her life had been easy?

Colt had always called her a fixer, but she wasn’t the only one. He was a fixer, too. He’d pulled her from a path she’d planned, a path that would have led her to an unmemorable life. And he’d given her purpose, a home, a Clan, and now this…

He’d given her something she’d always, always dreamed of.

He’d given her the best gift—a cub, and the promise to always be there to protect their little family. And all of it was possible because of his very first gift to her.

Without hesitation, he’d given her his heart—the heart of the Warmaker.

 

The End