A huge form lurked outside, but when Rome didn’t hesitate to open the door, I figured it was one of our packmates.
Keane, who’d been gone since we arrived, shoved Rome away and stepped inside. He looked determined and fierce as he glanced around, clearly looking for something. “Where is she?” he growled.
“What the fuck, Keane?”
“Where is my mate, dammit!”
My eyes went wide, and I walked into the entry, holding Danika close and glaring at the alpha. “You better not be talking about my daughter,” I growled. Could shifters sense their fated mate as babies?
Rome hurried over to me and pulled me into his arms. “Relax, baby. It’s almost unheard of for someone to know their mate before they’re at least teenagers.”
“Almost?”
Keane was storming around the living room sniffing, but at my comment, he glanced my way and growled, “It’s not your pup. But she’s near, I can smell her, but…not in the cabin…she’s…” He trailed off as he headed toward the back of the house.
We followed, but when he left through the back door, I stayed just inside and watched as he made the rounds in our backyard.
Suddenly, there was a rustle in the forest, and both Keane and Rome stiffened, alert and ready to shift at any sign of trouble.
There was another rustle, and a woman stumbled out of the tree line.
Keane growled, “Mate.”
The woman looked up at the sound of his voice and spotted our alpha. Her eyes were glued to him, seeming not to notice anything else around her. But when he took a step forward, she squeaked, spun around, and ran back into the thicket.
Keane sighed, clearly annoyed at her reaction, and took off after her.
Rome and I both stared at where they’d disappeared for a few stunned moments. Then I burst out laughing.
Rome shook his head and grinned as he walked back to our cabin. “I wasn’t sure that grumpy bear would recognize his mate if she ever came along. I thought he’d be too caught up in his brooding.”
I snorted dryly. “From what Ramsey’s told me, you could’ve given him a run for his money before we met.”
“I didn’t brood,” Rome protested with mock offense. Then he shrugged and winked at me. “Maybe I did, but it was sexy when I did it.”
“Like Ramsey would have noticed that,” I muttered, rolling my eyes.
“No, but you’re picturing it now and can’t deny it’s turning you on.” He crowded me back into the house and shut the door behind him. “I can smell your desire, pretty baby.”
He wasn’t wrong, and I squeezed my thighs together, trying to relieve some of the ache between them. “Danika is…” I didn’t finish my thought because when I gazed down at my daughter, she was fast asleep in my arms.
“I think she’s got the right idea,” Rome practically purred in my ear. “Nap time for everyone.”
I shivered and hot-footed it back to the nursery, where I carefully placed my daughter in her crib. Rome brushed his fingers over her fuzzy head, then leaned down to place a kiss there. Seeing how sweet he was with our daughter only heightened my desire.
When he stood back up and turned to face me, I swallowed hard at the fierce hunger in his eyes. The last couple of months of my pregnancy, I’d been under orders from the doctor not to have sex because I was at risk of going into early labor. Then we had to wait six weeks after her birth.
When I was given the green light, Rome practically vibrated with anticipation until Danika’s next nap time. Ever since then, it seemed like he was trying to make up for all the orgasms he would have given me over those three and a half months.
Not that I had a single complaint about it…I wasn’t any better and practically jumped him whenever I got the chance.
Although…when I turned up pregnant a few months later, I blamed him. He’d only laughed and proceeded to demonstrate how I’d agreed every time. Over and over.