"I bet." I rubbed my face. "Hopefully she'll sleep for a few hours. Why don't you get some sleep too? She doesn't need us to watch over her; we'll know if she wakes."
He nodded once, then disappeared into the bedroom. I traveled down the hall to the kitchen. I was beat, but the farm still had basic chores, and I couldn't let Leo do them alone. The quicker they got done, the quicker we could crash.
At the door, I pulled on my boots, then stepped outside. The sun was painfully bright, birds chirped, and it was like the world was singing the praise of something we were not yet privy to. I shielded my eyes, looking for Leo and spotting him unloading feed to the barn. He was moving sluggishly as he slung the bags over his shoulder, and I couldn't blame him. Exhaustion ran through all of us, but damn if it wasn't the best form of exhaustion I'd ever felt.
"Need help?" I called to him, and he looked up, giving me one of those charming smiles that have melted me so many times before.
"I never reject help." He hefted the bag higher, adjusting the weight, making his bicep bulge. I've been obsessed with the sight for longer than I could remember.
My steps were slow as I approached. Hell, every muscle hurt after the marathon of sex we'd had over the last few days. I never imagined, hell... even what I had imagined... what a heat would do to us. How it would drive us. What we would do to satisfy our girl.
Noticing my limp, Leo's lips quirked. "You too?"
"It's been a blast, but damn, as sorry as I am to see it go, I can't deny that we're ready for a reprieve." Besides, now thatwe've broken the tension and she's been claimed, we can have each other whenever she likes, not just in heat.
"I won't deny that my body is screaming for some rest." He plopped the feed down on the ground before he turned and looked at me. "Think it was a success?"
A success? Did I think that soon we'd be parents to a beautiful child that was the perfect mix of our omega and alpha, who would have each of us wrapped around their tiny fingers? "I fucking hope so."
"It's crazy to think we could be a family soon."
I corrected him, because while having children was our goal, it didn't define us. "We are a family now."
He nodded once. "We are. But imagine this place with little boot prints."
I grinned, because how fucking cute would that be? "If all else fails, we've got her cat."
He laughed because she sure did baby that kitten. "Let's hope it won't fail. We'll know in a few weeks."
I pulled a knife from my pocket and sliced open a bag of grain. "Yeah. A few weeks."
I got busy helping my best friend, one of my first loves, my family, do the farm chores that kept us going, until the sun started to lower, and our stomachs grumbled. Then, we went inside to join the rest of our family for a simple meal that made my soul content and happy.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FOUR
JAMES
Every time I looked at her, my alpha went wild. I thought it would fade with the heat, but if anything, once he had her, he couldn't get enough, and now he's begging me to take what is ours at all seconds of the day. Reproducing be damned, that was only a bonus to him. His main goal, the only one that mattered, was hearing his omega scream his name as his knot stretched her and locked inside her pretty little pussy.
"Focus," my mother laughed as I watched our omega flirt with Leo as they prepared a bowl of mixed fruit for our brunch.
"I'm not going to lie, Mama, it's becoming increasingly hard." My eyes refused to look at my mom as I spoke for fear I'd miss something the omega did.
"I can't wait to meet my grandchild," she sighed happily.
"We don't know if that's true," I murmured.
"It's true. A mother knows. Plus, you're a strong alpha; I know she was knotted well."
"A mother knows?" My face turned red, realizing how weird it is to be having this conversation with my mother. Announcing you're going to have a child is weird enough, because then yourmother knows what you've been up to. But talking about if it's successful? About how well I knotted my omega... well...
"Can't you sense it?" My mother inhaled and smiled. "Yes... she will make a great mother to my grandchildren."
Sense it? I inhaled deeply, copying my mother, then felt my chest tighten. Normally, what my mother says is crazy. She spouts a lot of things I choose to ignore, but this time, she's right. I can sense it. It's not strong, not yet. But just under the surface of her delicious scent was a subtle difference.
My chest rumbled, "Omega. We need to speak. Leo and Bran will serve our mothers."
