I trust you, trust all of you. But I hadn’t considered the possibility that Lon could’ve gotten me pregnant.”
“I think he would’ve had to claim you first.”
“He would’ve though.” Jack Henry rubbed his neck where Jasper’s claiming bite sat, the little round scars from Jasper’s fangs visible as white dots against his summer tan. “He’d have forced a claim on me, raped me, gotten me pregnant, and I wouldn’t have had any idea what the hell was happening.”
“Jackie.” Elias could only hug him. “It didn’t happen. Let’s not dwell on it.”
“I wish Jasper had killed him.”
“He’s all the way back in Ferris. He’s grumbling because he’s a whiner, but he’ll get bored with talking about you soon enough.” If only Elias believed that. He didn’t pass on the rumors he heard from his parents to Jack Henry because there was no sense worrying him, but he told Jasper because he was worried himself. “And if he decides to make trouble, he’ll be sorry for it. Jasper won’t let him live a second time.”
Jack Henry pretended to be convinced, but Elias could tell he was rattled. They were silent on the drive home, both in their own thoughts. Back at the build site, Jasper and Saul were waiting for them on the steps of a newly constructed front porch. Jack Henry went straight to Jasper—an omega seeking his alpha when times were tough. He sat on the step below Jasper and nestled himself between Jasper’s knees.
“How’d it go?” Jasper asked.
“Sounds like I can get pregnant. We won’t know until we try, but the doctor says I’ve got all the right parts.”
“And he didn’t have any suggestions for birth control other than what we’ve been doing,” Elias added.
“Do you and Saul need to use condoms?” Jasper asked. “Or just me.”
“The doctor thinks any sperm will do. It could be any of us.”
In the doctor’s office, Elias had been concentrating on technicalities, but now the full meaning of what he’d just said occurred to him. He could make a baby. With Jack Henry. He’d been prepared to love and cherish any child their pack produced, but he hadn’t imagined the child being his. Literally his.
Saul’s smile suggested he was having the same thought. “We could be daddies? Any of us? All of us? That’s so fucking awesome.”
“Only if Jack Henry wants to,” Elias reminded him.
“Of course.” Saul’s smile dimmed. “We all have to want to, but especially Jack Henry.”
Without taking a vote, Elias could guess they all wanted to except Jack Henry.
“Now wouldn’t be the right time for a baby anyway,” Jasper said. “We have to get the house finished, at least. Wouldn’t want a baby without electricity and running water, would we?” He kissed the top of Jack Henry’s head for punctuation. “Plenty of time for us to process what we’ve learned.”
“The house will done soon though,” Jack Henry said gloomily.
“That’s not the only thing I want to have settled.”
Jasper didn’t specify what else needed to be settled, but they all knew. The angry townspeople. Saul’s father. Lon. All those ominous threats that rumbled along the bond warning them they weren’t safe. They were happy for the most part, and comfortable for now, but Jasper was right. They weren’t settled. Now wasn’t the time for a baby, even if all four of them wanted it. And it seemed only three of them did.
SAUL
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This was the best family Saul had ever had. Back when his mom had been around, it’d been him and her against the common enemy of his father, but two people standing against a third didn’t make a family. More like a pair of sympathetic hostages.
But him and Elias and Jasper and Jack Henry—they were a pack. And pack was family. So of course he wanted a baby. Lots of babies. He didn’t want to put Jack Henry in any jeopardy, but human babies were born by c-section all the time. In a hospital with a doctor, Jack Henry would be safe, and then there’d be children for him to coddle. He didn’t care whose sperm made them. He just wanted kids. Theirs.
“I’ve got a surprise for you-all upstairs,” he told his mates. “Come on, let me show you.”
He straightened away from the post he’d been leaning against and went into the house. They didn’t have a front door yet because it would just be an obstacle to deal with as the crew went in and out. Some of the sheetrock had gone up, but not all of it, which