"I think so. This is exactly how I felt with Eliza. Earlier today I thought I was blushing but now my cheeks feel hot from the inside out. That was something I felt with her the entire pregnancy. And I threw up several times the first few months. This feels exactly the same."
"Oh my God." He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her gently. He kissed her forehead and her cheeks and then her lips. "You have made me the happiest male in the world. I can't wait to raise another baby with you." He smoothed his thumbs over her cheekbones. "Do you think Eliza will be happy? When will you tell her?"
"We can tell her whenever you want."
She was thankful that shifters rarely had troubled pregnancies so the likelihood was that everything would be fine.
"Should we tell her right now?" Roman asked.
Everleigh glanced out the window where shifters were trickling through her backyard toward the lake. "No. She'll be beside herself. She won't be able to enjoy the ceremony at all. Let's wait till it's over and then we’ll tell her. She's going to be so happy," Everleigh said.
"Did she want a brother or a sister?" he asked.
"Oh yes. She's asked many times. I'm surprised she hasn't asked you yet, really."
"Maybe she's working up to it.
"Do you know when the baby will be born?" he asked.
"I would guess it will take about seven or eight months from now. But I'll go see one of the healers as soon as everything calms down from the meeting ceremony."
He was still grinning wide. "I just can't believe I'm going to be a dad again. I'm really excited to experience the pregnancy and birth and the infant stage to the toddler stage. Don't worry though, I won't say that in front of Eliza."
"She probably will have questions about where you were during that time."
"I'll do my best to answer them."
Eliza nodded. She knew he would. She peered out the window again, where the crowd had grown. "I think we better get out there. I think everyone's ready to do this." She stood up on her tiptoes and framed his face with her hands. "They want to see their Alpha mated. It's been a very long time coming."
"You're right. I think some of them had given up on me ever doing it and thought that I would be single forever."
She was sure they were relieved, to an extent. An Alpha could be single, but most packs believed that a mated shifter was a happier shifter, and that an Alpha would be more stable if he were mated.
She tucked her arm through his. "In that case, let's go before you slip out of my clutches," she said.
He kissed her neck. "Never," he said.
Eliza was already outside with some of the pups from the pack. They stopped to take her hand and the three of them walked side-by-side out to the lake.
As the Alpha, Roman usually conducted the ceremonies so he’d asked Derek if he would do it.
He’d said he thought maybe it would be a good prelude to him and Everleigh mending fences. Not that Everleigh felt she had any responsibility to mend the fences. The whole crazy situation had been Derek's fault.
But Derek had come to her and he had apologized. He'd even come to her home when she was still living in the city. She had forgiven him instantly.
As she walked from their yard and through the woods on the pack land, her stomach rolled a little bit, and she hoped she would not vomit. That would not be the best start to a mating ceremony. If she threw up in front of other females, they would know exactly what was going on.
Derek brought the three of them to the edge of the lake.
"This is a very special meeting ceremony for our pack. For the first time in our pack history, we have a bear shifter joining us. All of us know that Roman and Everleigh had a rocky path to get where they are, but now we are also grateful that they made it."
Derek put his hand on top of Eliza's head. "And our little pup here is also a cub. She has joined our pack, and we couldn’t be happier about that. Congratulations to Roman, our Alpha, and his mate."
Derek lit the torch and then he used it to light both of theirs as well. Then each of them turned and lit someone else's, until all of them were holding a lit candle. The effect was beautiful. "Now we will move on to the next part of the ceremony. Extinguish your lights on the edge of the lake. Roman and Everleigh, may your union be blessed," Derek’s voice cracked, and he seemed as choked up as she and Roman were.
Roman pulled her close and kissed her passionately. She pulled away and she blinked up at him. "My mate,'' she said. "Let's go do this hunt."
They placed their candles in a glass bowl and ditched their clothes. They took off running. Before long, Everleigh had to take a break. That was definitely a result of the baby. This was exactly how she felt Eliza. Back then it had been scary and daunting, but now she was excited. She couldn't wait to do this with Roman.