Alpha Dom and His Human Surrogate

Ella

I’m groggy, a few hours later, when I wake up because I honestly haven’t gotten much sleep. But still, I’m instantly aware that I’m awake because something in my body is…different.

s my eyes crack open, I have absolutely no idea what it is, and no real interest in finding out. Because nothing feels wrong or off…just… different…

So, I yawn and snuggle my body back against my naked mate, my spine pressed to his warm stomach. Sinclair gives a deep, sleepy little growl as he tightens his arm around me, holding me close even as he sleeps. I smile at this, happiness sweeping through me as I think about how lovely it is to have a mate that holds me and protects me even when he’s mostly unconscious.

And he’s so warm, and the bed is so soft, and the sheets are so smooth under my bare skin that I almost…

Almost fall back asleep…

But then? My eyes suddenly fly open.

Because there is…there is something new within me.

As I start to put the pieces together, I am instantly, starkly awake – and so is Rafe, I realize, as I peer through the dark over the side of the bed. My sweet baby is peering at me curiously through the slats of his crib – almost as if he can feel it too

This new…new thing within me, a bond that wasn’t there hours ago – but which is there now, just a tiny silver thread of something new

My hands fly to my mouth and my eyes instantly fill with tears because even though I didn’t experience this with Rafe – my wolf wasn’t awake then, after all, to help me feel it – I suddenly know precisely what it is.

My voice is shaky as I breathe the word, hardly daring to voice it.

“…baby – ”

Rafe burbles something, smiling at me and leaning forward, grabbing the edges of his crib, trying to pull himself up so that he can be closer – almost like he knows it too –

– the sound bubbling out of me, rich with joy. “Baby!” I say again, sitting up in

him onto his back and throwing a leg over his hips so that

I shriek, thrilled, almost in pieces because of it, completely unable to contain myself, or think coherently, or

confused – worried but one look at my thrilled face makes him realize

I breathe, laughing and giggling as I lean forward. “Don’t you

a second – “Ella,” he murmurs,

then his eyes suddenly go wide and I know, instantly,

little so that I’m sitting in his lap, his arms going tight around me as he

baby!” I shriek, throwing my hands

he murmurs, his eyes suddenly flooding with tears as a mystified

my arms around his shoulders, as he tucks his head against my neck and takes a

sudden anxiety, and joy, and pride, and a

mate’s cheek and pull his face up to mine, grinning at him with abandon and wiping away his shocked and

he sniffs his tears away, still laughing a little in shock. He pulls away from me just a

to mine and kissing him, passing all my own joy down the bond. Because this moment –

close and rocking

he says, his voice eager and thrilled, “let’s

anxious – is

around his neck before I close my eyes. I feel Sinclair connect to me down our bond, and then together we turn

forward to it, almost as if he

rush, I suddenly

but also has a line of sweetness and determination within it not that that Rafe lacks those traits, but

they’re filled with tears

ask quietly, completely overwhelmed. “When Rafe was still growing? When he

Slowly, Sinclair nods.

tell me!?” I ask, smacking