Page 80 of Alpha's Claim
“Is that genetically possible?”
“No,” Lana and Teddy say in unison.
“Are you going to explain that to Everest?”
Teddy just sighs.
Everest’s bear form moves around the tables. I’m guessing Lana made sure the party would be outside, so he could come.
I mention this to Darius, and he nods. “We're having a family meeting soon to talk to him about shifting back into human form. I think he's been living off the land like a bear.”
I want to ask him more, but Lana’s guests arrive. She had a big party in LA for her celebrity friends to attend, so this one is for shifter friends and family.
Standing beside Darius, it’s almost too much to take in–there’s so much love. So much togetherness. After ten years of solitude, I suddenly have everything. It feels like my heart will burst.
Hutch and Bern helicoptered in women from Taos. They’re the human mates of Rafe, Lance, and Deke, the guys who helped rescue Wren. Adele, Charlie, and Sadie are all close with Lana.
“Are the guys coming?” Lana asks, giving each woman a hug.
“They’re on babysitting duty,” Charlie says. “Girls’ trip only, and we didn’t drive, so we can drink!”
I offer her a spiked cider, and she thanks me with a sigh.
“They do send their congratulations,” Sadie says. “AndDeke and Lance fought over which one would give you a baby carrier as a gift. They have strong opinions on baby carriers.”
“How are your twins, Sadie?” Lana asks.
“Keeping us up all hours,” Sadie says with a tired smile. “Ansel is a night owl, and Bonnie wakes up at the crack of dawn. Luckily, Deke functions fine on low sleep.”
“You want some coffee?” Wren offers her.
“Or spiked cider?” I hold up my tray.
“How about some spiked coffee.” Sadie says.
“Now you’re talking.” Adele lights up, and we all laugh.
After our boozy brunch, we do gifts. Adele owns a chocolate shop in Taos. She brought gifts for all of us, golden and white boxes with little chocolate bears. Lana loves the books we bought for the nursery. Teddy and Darius both model different sorts of baby carriers, using two teddy bears as baby models.
My ovaries really like seeing Darius holding a ‘baby.’ He catches me staring at him, and his eyes light up gold. I look away before his bear gets ideas.
Wren leans into me. “Are you and Darius gonna make me an aunt?”
I playfully swat her arm. “Not for a while yet. We want a little time to ourselves. And I want to build my career.”
“I’m just saying, Darius would be a great stay-at-home dad.”
I shush her. Werebears have super sensitive hearing. “Don’t tempt me.” When I look up again, he’s got a sexy smolder directed my way, and I decide if he puts a baby bear in me sooner rather than later, I won’t mind.
“Are you going to do a gender reveal?” Charlie asks Lana.
“It’s too early. Besides, Bern spent three hours yesterdayexplaining that there’s more than just a gender binary.” Lana smiles up at the goth triplet. He clears his throat as if he’s about to launch into the explanation, and Hutch and Canyon grab him and clap a hand over his mouth.
“I did ask the doctor to give us some pictures of the last ultrasound,” Lana says. “We haven’t seen them yet.” She holds up an envelope. “Teddy, will you do the honors?”
He takes the envelope and lets an accordion of black and white images unfold almost to the floor. It takes a few seconds for us to parse what we’re seeing.
“Baby one,” Lana reads the label on the top image. There’s a set of images and then another label. “Baby two.”