Page 22 of The Quiet Alpha and His Fox

"Oh yeah? Like what? Tell me everything."

"Well…" He smiled and slid one hand down to my stomach. "For starters, did you know you're carrying our baby?"

I wanted to laugh and protest, but I immediately knew it was true. I'd been feeling something for the past few weeks, but I’d been afraid to believe it. But now, feeling the raw wound on my neck and seeing Waylan's proud smile, I felt ready for anything. "A baby," I whispered.

Waylan's eyes glowed with a deep happiness. "A baby."

Chapter 13

Waylan

I'm not exactly sure how I knew Joe was pregnant, but I did. At first, I assumed he also knew and was just waiting for the right time to tell me. Once his scent changed, that was a clear sign. That and the way he’d been so tired lately. He also hadn't been eating as much and kept complaining that his stomach felt upset.

But when I saw him go after the foxes with such viciousness, I realized he might not know he was growing a life in his body.

It made sense.

I'd grown up in a pack and had seen many pregnancies in my life. From what I’d gathered about Joe's childhood, he might not have ever known a pregnant person, and definitely not a shifter.

Waiting for him to tell me turned into me finding the right time to tell him.

To be honest, I wasn't entirely sure he'd be happy about it. I'd been waiting for an opportunity to talk to Joe about our future, to see if he wanted to stay with me through the winter or if he was thinking of heading back onto the rambling journey he'd been on when I met him.

Deep down, I knew he was my mate, but since I still hadn't marked him, I wasn’t sure he knew it. Somehow, marking him felt like dooming him to a life of sadness with me.

But when I woke up the next morning and saw my inflamed mark on Joe's neck, I was filled with absolute joy. A joy I’d never experienced before.

Joe opened his eyes to find me staring at him. "Hi." He smiled and brought his hand to his neck, as if checking to see if my mark was still there. When his fingers touched it, his smile grew bigger. "It's real."

It was real. I had marked him. I had a mate. If I'd felt protective of my omega before, it was nothing compared to what I felt now. And he had my baby growing inside his belly. Pulling him close to me, I wrapped him in my arms. "Yep. Now you have to stay right here."

He sighed contentedly. "That sounds perfect, but don’t forget that your boss is coming today."

"Ugh, I was trying to." I squeezed him harder and buried my face in his neck. "Help me. Hide me. I don't want to go to work!"

Joe laughed and started to tickle me. I loved that he could get me to play in a way I never even experienced as a child. I wasn't great at letting all my guards down yet, but I was learning.

He pulled away and sat on the edge of the bed. "Okay, let's get going. We've got hungry foxes. You remember them, right? Our prisoners."

Joe had barely gotten to his feet when he went pale and ran to the bathroom. It hurt my heart to listen to him getting sick, even though it was probably normal pregnancy stuff.

I made our usual breakfast burritos, but when he came out, he pushed his plate away. "No eggs."

"You need the protein. The baby needs it. Can you at least try?"

He took a few bites, and then pushed it away again. "I'm sorry, babe. I’ll eat some toast. That sounds good."

I made some toast and then took breakfast down to the foxes. I rapped on the door to the root cellar, waited a minute, and then opened it up. As had become our usual routine, their leader came up the steps and was waiting to take the pan of enchiladas from me.

I peered down into the darkness to look at them. They were doing fine after three days, but I was becoming increasingly worried that someone might come looking for them. As much as I dreaded it, I was looking forward to having Este here to deal with them.

I hoped, for their sake, Este arrived in a decent mood.

While they took turns eating, I took them out two by two to use the bathroom. Keeping prisoners was tedious. Usually, Joe joined me for that part, but he never showed. After they all had a turn and finished eating, I locked the cellar door and went into the house to check on Joe.

He had just finished getting dressed.

"You okay?" I put one hand on his forehead.

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