Inevitably Yours

QUINN

“Ahhh,” Nic cried with another contraction upstairs.

Her water broke while I was dealing with our teenager problem, and I returned to a very wide-eyed warrior unsure what to do with his Beta in labor. I linked the doctor on the way back to the packhouse, and then I asked Judy to come help. Jacqueline was calling Michael, so I needed to get ahold of Stephen. Nic probably hadn’t told him yet. Michael and I were less than excited about his involvement, but it was what Nic wanted.

When I arrived, the doctor was only a few minutes behind me and brought a nurse with him. Junior was stirring, so I let the doctor and nurse go ahead to get Nic comfortable and prepared while I went to calm my pup first. Just as I got him changed and wrapped in a blanket, Judy popped her head over the stairs. She looked sleepy, but she was ready to help.

“Luna Mommy, you call Alpha Daddy yet?” Judy asked, unable to stifle a huge yawn.

“No,” I answered as I bounced Junior in my arms and pulled together a bottle to start making it. “Junior woke up as I got home, and I haven’t had a minute yet.”

“Oh, you give me puppy and call Alpha Daddy! Go be with Nic! I take care of little Michael.” Breathing a sigh of relief, I handed Junior over to my tiny Korean angel, and I pulled out my phone.

Jacqueline was calling M, so I needed to get ahold of Stephen. I didn’t have his direct phone number, so I would have to call the Towering Timbers packhouse. I started down the stairs as Judy began singing Junior a lullaby. I could hear Nic screaming as I landed on the floor below us. “You better pick up,” I sighed, dialing.This text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.

The phone rang for a long time before someone answered it. “Hello?” A female voice sounded.

“Good evening. I am sorry to call so late. This is Luna Quinn with Stary Pack. I need to speak with Beta Stephen,” I said.

“Hey Luna, where are you?” Jacqueline linked.

“Upstairs,” I told her. “Near Nic’s room.” I heard footsteps on the stairs coming in my direction.

“I apologize, Luna, but Beta Stephen is asleep. He does not like to be disturbed,” the female said.

“You misunderstand. This isn’t a social call. He should know that the mother of his pup is going into labor. He needs to leave right now and come here,” I told her.

“Oh no. Um, let me try,” she said nervously. Jacqueline appeared in the hall. She came over, phone in hand.

“Is that M?” I whispered. She nodded and held out the phone to me. “M?” I asked quietly, pulling the bottom of my phone away from my face.

“How is she doing? Is he there yet? Do you think I have time?” he rattled off. I motioned toward Nic’s door to Jacqueline, and she got the hint.

“I’m trying to get ahold of Stephen now. The doctor is in with Nic,” I told him. Another scream sounded from the open door. “If you leave quickly, you might make it. I sent Jacqueline to check real quick.”

“I’m already on my way,” M said, and I heard the car start in the background.

“Um, hello? Luna?” the female voice returned on the other phone. I popped the speaker phone on and answered her.

“Yes, where is Beta Stephen?” I asked.

“I’m really sorry,” the girl said nervously. “He, um, well, he said he was going back to sleep. He said he couldn’t push the pup out, so he went back to bed. He wanted to be well rested before he comes to see it.”

“WHAT DID HE SAY?” Michael roared over my phone. He evidently heard that.

“I’m really sorry, ma’am…” the girl apologized again.

“It isn’t your fault. Please impress upon the Beta for me again the importance of his presence. We’ll be waiting for him,” I said, then hung up. I went back to the call with Michael.

“That slimy son of a b***h,” he growled.

“M, just get here, okay? Nic’s gonna need us both,” I told him.

“I think I can get back in less than two hours,” he confirmed.

“Should I tell her?” I asked.

“Just tell her I am rushing home. We’ll deal with the rest,” he returned. “I love you, Blue.”

“I love you too. Please be safe,” I begged.

Jacqueline came out of Nic’s room as we hung up. “She’s still got some time. Her water is broken, but she is barely dilated. Could go fast, though,” she reported.

“Michael’s on his way. Stephen isn’t,” I informed her.

“Oh, this will be fun,” Jacqueline sighed.

–

I watched Michael holding Diane all bundled up in his arms. Something stirred in my chest, and Sapphire was being all mushy. He cooed and rocked her back and forth, keeping her calm. Junior was coming up on his first birthday but watching Michael now made me think there might be more in our future.

Luckily, Michael made it home just before it was time to push, and Nic was very relieved to have him there. From the moment he got into the room with us and held her hand, everything seemed to move seamlessly until a new little girl had officially joined the family. Nic had not reacted well when I had to tell her that Stephen wasn’t coming, but Michael’s arrival helped some.

After she finished eating, Nic quickly fell asleep. Diane had the same idea as her mother, drifting off to sleep in Michael’s arms. He carefully transferred Diane to her bassinet, and we left it next to the bed. Next, it was time to clean up, so there wasn’t so much chaos when she woke up. Nic had to be exhausted because she barely stirred as Michael lifted her so I could quickly change the sheets under her. I was thankful for the nurse putting down the waterproof sheets on the bed when they arrived.

By the time Nic woke up a few hours later to feed her daughter for the first time, the room was fresh and clean. None of us were exactly in a hurry to call Diane’s s***m donor. We let Nic decide if and when she wanted to let him know he now had a pup.

–

Michael snored softly beside me as I watched him sleep deeply. We were with Nic and the new baby all morning before Michael started to nod off. With a little convincing, I got him up to our room and tucked into bed. When we got upstairs, Michael sent Judy home. I thanked her a hundred times for helping with Junior. Fortunately, she kept him awake for a long time while we helped Nic through labor, so he was sound asleep as we crashed into our bed. I curled up next to my mate, thankful for a few hours’ rest with his warm body next to mine.

–

Several days passed as the pack and packhouse adjusted to the new normal of our Beta being a mom. Michael sent Enrique over to the pack he was working with, offering profuse apologies for leaving so suddenly. Once he explained everything, no one was upset, and they were more than happy to accept training from Enrique. They planned for Michael to come back when he was able.

Michael wasn’t too happy with Midnight Meadows when he was brought up to speed. He called the teenagers into his office, and they left looking terrified for their lives. He also visited Midnight Meadows personally, but it wasn’t for an apology. After that, he was happy to be back to everyday life.

“I’ve had the idea floating around in my head for a while, but I think we should expand the business,” he said quietly, watching me get dressed at the end of the bed, staring intently as my shirt came off to reveal I wasn’t wearing a bra beneath it. The sound he made looking at me made my insides melt. He remembered he was talking and continued, “I want to expand us into providing security services to wolves and humans. We need to broaden our ability to make money beyond just me and Enrique, and I think this would be perfect for us. I could take volunteers from the warriors, and they could easily staff most jobs. I can train them from here. What do you think?”

He’d mentioned the idea before, and I’d thought about it. I loved the idea of Michael being home more, so I didn’t feel like it could be a bad thing. “I’m okay with it. Do you know how to do it, though?” I asked. I didn’t really know what his idea entailed, so there was going to be a learning curve.

“We need some licensing both as a company and the individual employees. I can register us as both a company and a school, and I can do all the training myself,” he buzzed. He went on for quite a while about the logistics of opening a licensed security company. It sounded complicated, but Michael also sounded like he had a handle on everything we needed.

“Let’s do it,” I agreed with a smile. Michael beamed at me, and he continued explaining what we were going to need to do to get started. Licensing would take some time, and so would training. Now that I’d say yes, I had a feeling Michael would be starting the process. Once he got something in his head, it was hard to get him to let it go.

–

“Hello?” I answered my phone. I was feeding Junior at our small kitchen table while Michael was showering.

“Quinny, oh thank Goddess, we need your help,” my mom gasped.

“What is going on?” I asked.

“It’s your brother. We need you to come to the high school,” she explained.

“Why? What can I do?” Junior reached his hand into the food bowl and fisted his mushy rice cereal. I tried to pull the bowl away, making food drop on me.

“The principal is trying to expel him. This is all just insane,” my mom worried.

“Woah, expel him for what?” I asked, trying to prevent any more food from spilling. Michael came out of our room, pulling a fresh shirt over his head.

“Expel?” he mouthed at me.

“For contraband or something. Please, just come to the school. I’m sure if the Luna speaks to them, they will drop this,” she insisted.

“Mom, I…” I trailed off. Michael just looked at me, worried. “Let me call you back in a few minutes. I have baby food all over me.”

“Sure,” she said and hung up.

“What is going on? Who is getting expelled?” Michael asked. I pushed away from the table, rolling my eyes at my child, who now had his lunch all over his clothes.

“My brother, I guess. My mom wants me to come to the school and convince them to drop it,” I told him.

“Well, that’s not exactly ethical….” Michael said.

“Yea,” I sighed. I set down the mostly empty bowls on the counter and went to get Junior from his chair. Michael took the bowl to wash as I started stripping Junior from his messy clothes.

“What did he do to get expelled?” Michael asked.

“I don’t know, contraband my mom mentioned,” I told him.

“We aren’t going to be able to prevent him from getting in trouble. And it isn’t fair,” Michael said.

“I should probably go, just to calm her down,” I sighed.

“We can go together, but the best we can probably do is negotiate it down to a suspension,” Michael said, bringing a towel over to me. Junior clapped his hands and started chanting, ‘dada.’

“Let me change, and we should go,” I said.

“I’ll get this one,” Michael offered, picking up Junior.

–

When we got to the school, the principal greeted us and took us to his office, where my parents and brother were waiting. My brother just looked mad.

Michael was able to stop the expulsion, but my brother was still suspended for a few weeks because the principal’s daughter was in the little warrior class and talked so highly of Michael.

My mom was thankful that we could stop my brother from being expelled. I told her that Kent was only lucky this time because the principal had so much respect for Michael. My brother just grunted thanks to Michael but didn’t have much else to say.

When we got back to the packhouse, Adi was sullenly sitting on the front porch, her chin resting on her palms. Michael stopped and kneeled down to her level before going inside. “What’s wrong, champ?” he asked.

“Sally said I can’t go to the dance this weekend because I don’t have a dad! I told her I did, but he’s with the Goddess, and she says it doesn’t count!” she complained. Michael looked back at me.

“The elementary school has a Daddy-Daughter dance every year,” I linked him. Adi’s father had died when she was little. Andrea didn’t like to talk about it; it probably still hurt her.

“Well, that wasn’t very nice of Sally,” Michael said. Adi shook her head. “Did you talk to your mom about it?”

“No, she doesn’t get it,” Adi said. “I just want to go with all my friends, but you need a dad to go.”

“Well, how about an Alpha? Do you think that would get you into the dance?” Michael asked. Adi’s face slowly lit up.

“Really, Alpha Michael? You would go with me? You have a pup, so I think you count as a dad! We can bring Junior too!”

“Well, I think Junior might be a little young for a dance,” Michael laughed. “I’ll talk to your mom and call your teacher. How does that sound?”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she squealed, standing up and throwing her arms around his neck. He hugged her, chuckling at her sweetness. Michael sent her off to the park to play until it was time for little warrior class then we went inside.

“It’s this stuff that makes me want another pup,” I cooed to my wolf.

“Mmm. I vote yes; let’s get to work on that now!” Saph agreed.

I must have been smiling stupidly at him because Michael looked at me strangely. “What are you thinking about?”

“Making you a dad again,” I said without thinking. I stopped, covering my mouth with my hand.

“Oh, really?” he said in a seductive voice. “You want more pups?”

“Well, sort of,” I answered, lowering my hand. Michael grabbed me by my h**s and pulled our pelvises flush.

“Ask, and you shall receive, my Luna. Let’s put a pup in you.”