Two chapters left 😭

Also, Happy 3 million Delicate readers!!!!!!!!!

We've come a long way and I love you all 💗

---------

William's P.O.V

"He's waking up!"

"The human's waking up!"

"Yes, Aiden, I think we all got that part."

"Can everyone just back up and give him some room?"

"Room to run? Because that's the first thing he's going to do."

"Josey, you're not helping!"

"None of you are helping!"

I recognised that voice to be Damon's and the slight panic in his voice was what had me fighting to regain my consciousness. 

A groan escapes me as I force my eyes open, blinking back my heavy eyelids as I try to figure out what the hell was happening. The last thing I remembered, we were all eating lunch in a field and then... darkness.

Maybe someone touched me and I passed out? I hoped not, I didn't want Damon worrying over me on his birthday.

"Shit," I grumble when everything suddenly becomes bright, making me wince slightly before I try again to look up at the blurred heads hovering so closely over me. 

Before fear can prick at me, Damon's hand slides over my arm and the touch reveals them to be his family. I relax, but that's only for the second before I take a closer look at their expressions and quickly, real fear began to well up inside of me.

It had been a long time since I'd seen Damon's family look so scared.

Julian had his arms tightly wrapped around himself while he repeatedly kept swallowing down nothing with the same terrified expression Damon was sporting, except Damon looked like he was a few seconds away from shitting himself.

Levi and Jayson were holding each other like they were about to face a battle together and that solidarity pointed my way wasn't reassuring in the least.

I look to Hagen, expecting his usual smile, instead, I find the pretty stellar impersonation of a squirrel he was doing. He had a slab of meat tightly clenched between his fingers which he kept taking large bites from while he stared down at me with wide and unblinking brown eyes.

Next to him, Peter was doing that unblinking thing too, but his fingers were playing with the ends of his hair that he was trying to hide behind while simultaneously sneaking glances my way.

The only people who looked anything other than scared were Aiden and Josey, who were amused in the way they always were when something was seriously wrong that others were rightfully freaking out about.

That wasn't a good sign.

I curse under my breath as I try to sit up, and thankfully everyone backs away as Damon helps me up.

"What happened?" I ask while I take a quick look around the room we were now in, a room  I did not recognise at all.

Nobody answers my question and if it's even possible, somehow they all grow a little tenser as they look to Damon. 

I do the same, turning to look at my mate, expecting his usual confidence, but as I watch sweat gather above his brow, I lower my expectations.

"Well, you see..." he starts with a nervous chuckle that sounded more like a sob.

"Should we be here for this?" Jayson asks in a not so quiet whisper like an innocent child afraid of getting in trouble.

"Yes," Josey and Aiden reply together.

Ignoring them, I focus my attention on my nervous werewolf. "Damon," I say softly but when he jumps, actually jumps with me in his arms, I feel my internal worry implode, "Damon, are you okay?"

"Oh, he's fine," Aiden says with a snort, "it's you were worried about human."

"Me?" 

Damon growls in a low warning that had Aiden throwing up his hands despite his smirk.

"Everyone be quiet," Julian snaps sharply as he scans the room, "where here to offer support and support only."

Support? 

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" I ask, my patience withering entirely in the face of fear, "we were all having lunch, Damon and Jayson were working things out and then..."

My brain decides to use that verbal prompting to fill me in on exactly what happened next.

What if you got him pregnant?!

"Oh God," I mumble, suddenly feeling faint again as I looked down at my stomach.

Had Damon put a baby in me?!?

"Oh, God!" I nearly scream. 

"Ding, Ding," Josey starts and Hagen finishes it mournfully, "time for round two." 

"Will," Damon starts gently but his voice was anything but calming right now as I passed my hands frantically over my stomach.

"Am I pregnant?!" I shriek as I scramble free of his arms to look at him, "Damon, did you-"

"No! No! You are not pregnant!" Damon promises with raised hands as if he were approaching a wild animal, which I might as well have been with what I felt inside. "It doesn't work like that!"

"Then how the fuck does it work, Damon?" I demand, trying to wrap my head around the alien concept. "How the fuck does a man giving birth work?!"

When Damon stammers on a response, I glance at everyone else, but all of a sudden, not a single person could hold my gaze.

They were all either scratching at their necks or looking at their nails, even whistling as they looked to the perfectly plain ceiling with sudden interest.

Male pregnancies. I wanted to laugh at how absurdly insane it sounded, but it was real. All this time, I'd thought it had been surrogacy but no, Julian had carried them all. 

Julian, a man, had been pregnant and now I...

"I-It's not as strange as it sounds, I promise!" Damon says when he finally gets his words out, but they only make my eyes bulge further as my heart accelerates in my chest. "Okay, maybe it is?"

"Damon," I start with a chuckle that was anything but humorous, more like manic, "let's do this slowly cause I'm about to lose my fucking mind."

Damon curls into himself a little.

"First, you were telling me that you were a werewolf, and I took that pretty well. Then you were telling me you were possessed and that Theo was living inside of you, and I was all on board and now I love Theo! 

"Then! Then we shared a fucking soul and..." I laugh again as I suck in a breath, "I think I've taken everything really well so far, Damon! But now you're trying to tell me that men can get pregnant!"

I gasp for air after my mini-rant and Damon opens his mouth to say something but when I wheeze his name, he quiets down, curling into himself a little.

"What's next Damon?" I ask through pants, "can you fly?" He blinks at me, lost, "Damon, can you fly?!"

Aiden snorts, and though he tries to cover it up when I glare at him.

"How," I start before shaking my head, "how can you even have a child? As wolves or..."

I shake my head again as my brain tries to put together an image of a male wolf giving birth to a little wolf that I did not need. But then babies were grown in a womb, did that mean that everyone here had a womb, not just Josey.

"Holy shit," I whisper, quickly spiralling down this new rabbit hole.

I knew I was probably panicking but with the chance that I'd be carrying the next Calderon, I couldn't seem to silence my brain.

"William," my eyes snap Julian's way, and though his face was as red as a plum he was trying his best to look calm, "I know how crazy this must sound, believe me, I do, but I need you to try and take a deep breath for me. At this rate, you might pass out again."

I didn't want to take a deep breath when I was being told that men had babies after a lifetime of believing otherwise, and honestly, I didn't think I could at this point. But I also didn't want to pass out either, and that was exactly what I was going to do if I didn't calm down.

So I let my eyes fall shut before I take a few deep breaths, mentally trying to calm myself down the way I always did with Damon. 

It takes time and despite all the eyes I could feel on me, I manage it. 

While that would usually freak me out, I knew this family well enough to know that nobody here would ever hurt me or try to take advantage of me. So I did what Julian said, I focused on breathing until I was calm again and my brain wasn't sending out a million distress signals.

When I open my eyes, everyone's staring at me again with shy, hopeful gazes that had a bit of my tension ebbing a little.

"Want me to get you some water?" Hagen offers hopefully, his fingers tightly wrapped around his salami, at least, that was what I was hoping it was.

I shake my head, offering him a weak smile. 

Hagen sinks back down with a nod and he stares at his salami for a minute before he raises it, but when I shake my head he happily chomps down on it again.

"So," Damon starts but he stops when Julian pats his knee gently.

"It might be best if your father and I led Will through this particular conversation, hm?"

"You don't see this shit as weird and that's the problem," Aiden cuts in when Damon tries to argue, "the human will understand it better from us."

With a pout, Damon shuts his mouth and looks up at me from under his lashes with hope I could feel steering through our bond. I wanted to screw his head in and flip that hope off, but I also couldn't deny him a thing in this world, or live with the panicked worry trickling into our bond.

So I try not to sigh too loudly as I offer him my hand.

Damon comes over right away, quickly fixing me back in his lap before he wraps arms around me, holding onto me as if to keep me from running.

I don't let my anger go completely, but I also don't fight his loving caresses as I look back to Julian and Aiden, "so you guys think it's weird too?"

"Well, we used to," Julian answer diplomatically while Aiden dives right in.

"Nah it's fucking weird," Aiden shrugs, "Before we found out Julian was pregnant, we never knew male werewolves could get pregnant, so we reacted just like you did today," Aiden explains before he glances at Julian and laughs. "Well, nobody actually fainted, but Jewels was pretty close."

"I was not," Julian argues with a frown.

"Where is it going to come out of?" Aiden mocks with a facial expression that made everyone laugh a little. "Sound familiar?"

Julian's cheeks pinken again as he raises his chin, "I think that's a perfectly reasonable question to have when someone tells you that there's a baby inside of you. At least I wasn't the imbecile who thought I had the mumps." 

"The mumps?" Levi asks with interest while Aiden rolls his black eyes.

"That's a story for another time," he grumbles before looking to me again, "The point is, we were freaked out about it too. These shitbags have grown up with it, they know nothing else, so they don't really understand how weird the whole thing is."

"Untrue," Jayson inputs with a raised hand, "I still find the concept a little strange."

"I wasn't talking about you, runt."

Jayson scowls but doesn't reply, instead he props his head on Levi's shoulder where his mate pats him gently.

"Firstly, you're not pregnant, William and you never will be," Julian says firmly, leaving no room for doubt, "male pregnancies aren't possible in your species, so you don't have to worry about that."

"Are you sure?" I ask wanting to check every possible base with just how much I let Damon cum inside of me.

Condoms. Lots and lots of condoms from now onwards. 

"Yes," Julian confirms, "it is physically impossible." 

I relax at that. That confirmation was enough for me to stop panicking and sneaking glances at my stomach as if there was something in there. 

"But you guys can?" I ask looking around the room with new eyes.

"B-Biology," Peter whispers from his corner. When nobody buts in, he peeks out from behind his hair to look at me, "we're b-biologically able... like...like seah-horses...i-its natural."

Julian smiles encouragingly at Peter before he looks to me again, "It's easier to comprehend it if you remember that werewolves aren't human, William. Despite the many traits we share, we are an entirely different species, with an entirely different biology that allows for things like this."

That made sense, logically, I knew that made sense. But even knowing that, when I looked at Julian and tried to imagine him pregnant, my brain tried to reboot itself.

"So you have a womb," I ask trying not to sound too freaked out, "all of you?"

"Not all of us, it forms a little while after the mate bond is completed," Levi answers with the kind of smile that could make anyone smile.

"Okay," I say because what else could I say.

"Look kid," Aiden deadpans, apparently tired of this topic, "all you need to know is that we don't push them out our assholes or anything, they come out through a c-section and they don't come out as little four-legged wolves."

I feel my cheeks heat as I nod jerkily at that.
I was suddenly very glad that I didn't voice that mental question in my panic.

"It's just a c-section and then you get rid of the overweight baby that's been fucking up your emotions for six months!" Aiden groans, as if those words told a personal tale... maybe they were.

"Wait," I start with a frown, "did you..."

Aiden winces as he glares at the twins who high five one another without a word, "these two were a daily battle."

"And now we're a daily blessing," Hagen coos but Aiden only snorts.

"Blessing my ass."

"You were pregnant?" I ask, trying to sound neutral but I had to bite my lip to stop a smirk.

Pregnant Aiden. For some reason, that thought was even harder to comprehend than a pregnant Julian, or any pregnant man, but it was also unreasonably amusing to imagine at the same time.

Aiden scowls at me, his eyes narrowing with distrust, "Yeah, and what about it human?"

"Nothing," I say with a shrug, but mentally, this was new ammo in the constant battle where he called me human. "I just wonder if you were the emotional type or..."

"Ha!" Julian's outburst turns into an evil cackle that was all the answer I need to that particular question.

"Don't," Aiden warns, but his husband was already going.

"Aiden never left the hormonal phase," Julian says with a snort, "I had to cuddle him every night or he'd get upset because he thought that I didn't like him with a belly."

I cover my mouth, I wasn't going to laugh in Aiden's face but then Levi had to speak.

"One time, we were drawing together cause Po was feeling and I quote, 'inspired'," Levi explains, laughing with amusement even though he wasn't done, "my pencil tip broke and before I could even find the sharpener, Po was crying."

"You cried over a broken pencil?" I coo through chuckles that were never going to stop now. Aiden flips me off but I just hold my hand to my chest in a loving gesture. "That's so sweet."

"I asked him why he was so fat at the start and he didn't talk to me for two days," Damon adds which was had me laughing so hard, Damon had to hold me to keep me from falling.

Aiden glared at the pair of us and then everyone because we were all laughing now and there was no escaping it, no matter how much he cursed us.

"I'd say I regret having you all, but you were all mistakes anyway," Aiden starts but Julian quiets him with a hand over his mouth and placating kisses to his temple.

"Our very best mistakes," he corrects while his mate grumbles in his hold.

"Po carried the twins and Dad had Peter and me," Damon explains against my ear as my laughter settles and I get myself back together.

A memory flicks back to me and I look at Damon with a small gasp, "That's why you lied when you were telling me about your parents. You said they got you but..."

Damon nods, "At the time I was really hiding the whole werewolf thing but I honestly just forgot that male humans couldn't have kids afterwards."

"Again, how do you forget something like that?" Hagen asks, his salami gone entirely.

That boy could eat.

"There's just so much to tell him about," Damon explains with a groan as if it was a daily chore, "It wasn't just our species, but our bond and then all the shit I'd ever done. Plus, Will didn't want to be patient and let me do it my way, because he just want-"

I cover Damon's mouth because as open as he was with his family, there was no reason for them to know that I'd wanted to fuck Damon so much that he forgot to cover all bases.

No reason at all.

"Once there's not anything else, I think I'm all good," I say with a nervous chuckle before I look at Damon seriously, "please tell me there's not anything else like you've got another mate on another planet."

Damon shakes his head behind my palm with a deep frown, the anger pulsing through our bond saying more than enough about how he felt about other mates.

"Can you guys confirm that?" I ask looking back at the family that was all grins now.

"If you know all about our wolves, how the packs run and our reproduction..." I laugh at that and he smiles, "I think you know everything then."

"Okay,"

The subject of male pregnancies was not something I completely understood, but right now, I was okay knowing that I wasn't going to be carrying anyone's babies. 

I could accept a lot, like my boyfriend being the future alpha of a werewolf pack in the middle of the woods, but I was not getting pregnant for said boyfriend.

Nope. That life was not for me.

"Why don't you guys take a few minutes to yourselves before coming back out?" Julian suggests as he gets to his feet before gesturing for everyone to do the same, "the pack is probably freaking out about what happened, so we'll calm things over and then we can get back out there."

"Thanks," I say as I watch everyone quickly file out of the small room.

"Meet us at the hall," Aiden prompts with a way too obvious wink that makes Julian facepalm and Damon frown.

"What was that about?" He asks when we're on our own.

"Nothing for you to worry about now," I say, shaking my head while I shift enough so that I'm facing him. His curious look fades when I rest my hands on his shoulder and give him my most serious look, "So..."

Damon sighs, his head falling with shame, "I'm sorry Will. I didn't mean to lie to you or hide this, it just never came up and I completely forgot."

"It never came up because I thought you were all adopted like Levi," I explain with a little poke to his chest, "and then when I actually saw everyone, I thought it was surrogacy."

"Sorry," Damon mumbles, his eyes barely meeting mine as that kicked puppy look returned.

"It's okay," I promise, "just no more surprises, okay? My human heart can only take so much."

Damon snorts at that, "Deal," he whispers before he leans up to nose at my cheek affectionately, the touch making happiness bloom inside of me.

Sinking into his touch, I return his touches and caresses, loving the way it made my skin warm and my heart race. The feel of loving Damon was an addiction I never wanted to cure, ever.

"I just have one question," I say when we part.

"Shoot," Damon says with a hum.

"We've talked about kids, like how many we'd want in the future and what our family would look like," Damon nods, worry filling his gaze as if he thought I'd changed my mind. I hadn't so I take Damon's face in my palm and kiss his nose to settle his useless worries, "I just wanted to know if you... did you always envision that you'd be the one to have them?"

Damon stiffens at that, his blue eyes flashing with all sorts of emotions that make our bond waver slightly, my chest tightens when my wolf looks down at his lap as if to hide.

"Damon," I whisper encouragingly as I watch that familiar warmth returns to his cheeks. "I'm not going to judge you or anything, just," I pass my thumb over his cheek, "tell me the truth. Is that something you'd want?"

Damon stays quiet for an unbearly long time but evenutally he manages a nod, and then it's my turn to stiffen as Damon looks back up at me. His dark blue eyes search mine for some sort of rejection but I could barely comprehend what it was that I was feeling right now.

Excitement? Fear? Longing or maybe dread?

The thought of a pregnant Damon wasn't any less strange than the thought of a pregnant Julian, but for some reason, with Damon, thinking of him with our kid... my heart thumped a little faster at that possibility.

"We don't have to," Damon whispers when I don't say anything, "we already agreed that we'd adopt so it's not like we have to physically have the rest. I just..." his fingers tighten at my waists, "I wouldn't mind... having a kid with your eyes."

My heart leaps again and I'm sure this time that it's excitement as I look at my mate, and then again when I envision a little girl with Damon's crooked smile or a boy with that same little mole at the side of his lip.

"I wouldn't mind that either," I confess, the vision so fresh and real in my mind.

"Really?" Damon asks, his breath hitching as he sits up a little straighter.

I find myself nodding, nodding to the possibility of having a child with Damon one day, to having a little us, to our family.

We'd agreed long ago that when we were ready, we'd have four or five little devils to call our own, at least two of which would be adopted. Damon wanted two girls, girls first, and I honestly didn't care that much about it.

But we had a plan, or a dream, and that was still the plan now, except for now, Damon might be the one having them.

"Yeah," I reply with a chuckle, "I mean it's years off, but I think I'd really like to have a kid with your smile."

Damon's lips spread and he shows me the very smile I meant, the one that lit up his face from the inside out and made him look like there wasn't a thing in this world he couldn't face.

That smile I'd first seen when we were neighbours and I was returning his knife, and the one I'd come to love as he showed it to me every morning when I woke up, and every night before I closed my eyes.

"But you do know that means..." I let my words trail off for Damon to catch them but they seem to go completely over his head as he tilts his head with a frown.

"That means?" He prompts, his confusion like wool over his eyes.

I guess I'd just have to say it.

I gulp, feeling my ears heating as I speak the words I'd barely ever considered, out loud, "It means that I'd be the one to fuck you, Damon." Silence, "I'd be the 'top'."

A few quiet seconds pass before Damon's pink cheeks burn into a rosy red and his bulging eyes try to settle on anything other than me. And fuck me if that nervous reaction didn't make the thought of fucking Damon all the more appealing.

In truth, I'd never really liked topping. 

I mean, I'd done it once or twice and it felt great and all, but it wasn't nearly as good as having someone fill me. So when I met Damon, I hadn't even considered fucking Damon because he always fucked me just right, so what was there not to love?

But now that I was thinking about it and imagining the way Damon's large body would react under mine... with those addictive blushes and sexy growls...

Yeah, I could probably get behind that. Literally.

"I-I know," Damon replies eventually, his voice adorably quieter now, "it's just like how I had to work myself up to kissing you and touching you... it'll take a bit of time, but-"

"But you'd let me fuck you?" I ask bewildered and incapable of hiding it.

I'd expected Damon to cover his asshole and run away at even the suggestion of fucking him, that's why I'd never even joked about it with him.

But here he was saying all he'd need was time?!?!

Damon frowns, "I don't like that word, I wouldn't be letting you do anything. It wouldn't be a prison sentence."

I gape at him, wondering who the fuck exchanged my mate with the man in front of me.

"Will," he breathes out, sounding truly offended now which just made this crazier.

"What? You never spoke about bottoming before!" 

"Because you never spoke about topping, but I figured one day..." Damon's blush returned, "I just thought it would happen eventually."

"And you're cool with that?" I ask because triple-checking wasn't enough with this subject, "You're okay with me fucking you one day?"

Damon rolls his eyes as if I was being ridiculous, but what was ridiculous was the alternative universe I'd been placed in where Damon would carry our child one day and be willing to take my dick up his ass.

"Yes, William," he drawls out clearly, "I'm okay with you putting your dick in me one day."

"Well shit," I breathe out as I finally slump against him, "this was not how I expected your birthday to go at all."

"Neither did I," Damon agree with a soft laugh as he hugs me to him, rubbing my back with an satisfied hum, "We can stay here a little longer before we get back out there."

"That would be nice," I admit as I hug him tightly, "I need to minute to compute the fact that you want my dick in your ass."

"Will!"

I chuckle, enjoying his horrified reaction while I adorn his neck with kisses before I finally get to my feet and drag him up with me.

"Okay, no more hiding, let's go. We've been in here for long enough and everyone's waiting."

Damon's frown returns as he tilts his head to the side, "Waiting? Waiting for what?"

I smile up at him, studying his face now so I could compare it to the one he'd make soon enough

"You'll see."

--------------------------- 

The day Damon and Will have kids, I will break.

Thoughts???????????????

What did we think of Will's reaction?? I think it was about time he freaked out about something!
What about the kids talk at the end? Ughh my fucking heart.

Any theories on what's happening in the hall???

I've already written Chapter 80 and that will be out sometime tomorrow, I know I promised a double update but I want to make sure I am 100% happy with the ending before uploading it.

I've also finished the first epilogue today adn that'll be out Saturday or Sunday, and I'm going to try and finish the second epilogue today.

If you're wondering how or why I'm doing this all so quickly, I've got another internship that starts on Monday. It's a really good one, and I'm excited to start, but I have no idea how hands-on it will all be. But I really don't want to be stressing about two books or finishing Delicate though, so I'm trying to get it all done before I start working.

Luckily, I've known how I wanted to end Delicate for years so it's all coming very easily.

If you enjoyed this chapter, please comment and vote!!! I love reading all your comments!!!

After all the Delicate updates, I'll do a Patreon Extra and then give Master lots of love.

Until next time,
Byeeeeeeeeeee Humanssssssssssssssss