“It’s okay.” Ricky rubbed his lips together. “I’m not mad and I hope maybe we can be friends now? I really like your mate and I know you’re important to Morgan.”
“Of course we can be friends.” Lillian reached over and clasped Ricky’s hand. “We already are friends. I’ve been friends with you in my head forever. You’re the person who was going to come and make my best friend happy again and now you’re here.”
“That’s nice.” Ricky lowered his gaze and shifted in his seat. “I really will make him happy you know. I won’t ever stop trying to do that. He is so good to me, and as his Omega, that’s my role in the pack, right? If the Alpha’s happy, the pack benefits.” Wanting to prove himself worthy, Ricky quietly added, “I can give him a big family. He said he wants that.”
“He does. He really does.” Lillian laughed. “But be careful making that promise around Morgan unless you want to be pregnant all the damn time. No man I know dreams of having babies as much as he does.” She shook her head. “He was even like that when we were teenagers! I’ve teased him so much over the years about his weird biological clock.”
Ricky shrugged. “I’m an only child so a big family sounds nice.” He thought about how much he would have enjoyed more laughter and noise in his home growing up. He loved his parents, but having playmates around would have been great. “How many do you think Morgan wants? Like four kids?”
Lillian cackled.
“Five?”
“Oh no.” She held her hand out in a stop motion. “I’m not getting myself in the middle of this one. This is a conversation you can have with your mate.”
“More than five?” Ricky said nervously. That was a really big family. On the other hand, his parents would probably move to Golden Valley, and they were all about being super involved with him growing up, so they’d jump to help with their grandkids. Plus, Morgan had already shown himself to be an involved father. And with so many pack members around all the time, there were sure to be lots of extra hands.
“Anyway,” Lillian said, drawing out the word. “Not to change the topic from this hot potato but back to what I was trying to tell you earlier.” She flicked her gaze to Alex’s foot. “The birthmark? It’s a Peters thing. Did Morgan tell you that?”
“No.”
She sighed and shook her head. “Can’t say I’m surprised. He never put much stock in it. But it’s true. Everyone else thinks so.”
“What’s true?”
“Every Golden Valley pack Alpha has been a Peters and every one of them was born with a golden star birthmark.” She gazed at Alex. “That little one right there is going to lead our pack one day.”
“Really?” Ricky looked down at his sleeping baby. It shouldn’t have been a surprise. If he thought about it at all, it made sense that Morgan’s child would lead Golden Valley just like his father and grandfather had before him. “It’s weird to imagine that when he’s so little.”
“It was weird to imagine it when Morgan was four, with chocolate on his shirt and his hair cut funny because he got into the scissors, but everyone was sure of it. Believe me, I know because I was six and my parents let me have it after I knocked down his castles in the sandbox.” She scoffed. “They said I disrespected my future leader and grounded me for a week.” She sighed. “Anyway, as soon as someone notices Alex’s foot, word will spread.”
“Is that bad?” Ricky asked nervously as he cradled Alex more tightly against his chest.
“I personally think it’s good. Knowing we have a leadership line in place makes people feel secure. Alex having the golden star means Golden Valley is set for the future.”
“That makes sense.”
“It does. And it happened because of you.” Lillian tugged on her shirtsleeves and stood. “I’ve been listening to the whispers today and everyone’s talking about how happy Morgan is, how he’s glowing. He nearly died and he’s been unconscious in his bed and then you came here and poof. Happy, healthy Alpha. Most of them already want to throw you a parade for healing him. Once the rest hear about that golden star, anyone who’s still wary will warm right up.” She winked at Ricky and turned around. “And on that note, off I go to unintentionally mention it to a few people. Save me a seat close to you at dinner tonight. We can chat more.”
***
“You and Lillian seemed to hit it off today,” Morgan said as he lifted the blanket for Ricky.
“Yeah.” Ricky wriggled out of his pants. “We had a talk and I think we have a lot in common.”
“That’s good.” Morgan furrowed his brow. “So, uh, what is it you have in common?”