Charlie

When my brother and his mates arrived home, I could automatically tell something was wrong. Karsen carried Erin in his arms, and Rowan had a look of defeat on his face. I frowned in confusion, looking for Presley. He trailed behind the trio, and he, too, shared a look of disappointment on his face.

"What happened?" I asked, approaching my mate.

"I'll talk to you when we're alone," Presley responded. Pulling me to his chest, he gently placed his lips on my forehead. I nodded my head in agreement, and we followed my brother and his mates to their living quarters.

It had been decided that Karsen would remain in this pack, relinquishing his alpha title to his beta to remain with his two mates within Presley and I's pack. We decided that would be his best course of action, seeing as my parents, Karsen, and I knew that our pack members wouldn't allow one rogue, let alone two, into the pack.

Presley and I's pack would be able to accommodate them just fine with a smooth transition. When we got to the living quarters that Karsen, Rowan, and Erin shared, my brother turned toward Presley and me. "Can you two please look over Alicent and Emilio for the night?" He asked.

I didn't hesitate to answer. "Of course." I nodded my head.

"No– No, please, I want Alicent with me," Erin responded, gripping my brothers shirt in desperation.

"Erin–" Rowan spoke up, but the feisty omega cut him off.

"I want my baby," He strained.

"I'll go get her." I waved the baby monitor that I had in my pocket to him. "She fell asleep not to long after you left."

Tears welled in Erin's eyes, and I handed him the device. He took it into his hands and cradled it to his chest.

"I'll be right back, okay?" I met the omega's eyes. His lip quivered, but he nodded and let me leave them.

By the time I returned to everyone, they had cozied themselves in their bed, and the omega was in between the two alpha's, sobbing into the crook of Rowan's neck. They didn't speak a word, Erin had pulled himself up to grab the infant from me, and he held the little girl close to his chest. Karsen dismissed me and mouthed that he would talk with me later, and I nodded my head in response. Presley guided me out of the room, gently shutting the door behind us.

"What happened?" Was the first thing I asked when the door was closed.

"We didn't see the boy there... There was a lot of blood in the house too. Fresh blood..." Presley reached behind his neck and began to scratch it. "I'm going to take a few people with me later to get some samples to make sure. But we're assuming something– or someone happened."

"Do you think it was him?" I asked.

His name didn't need to be mentioned for Presley to know who I was talking about.

"I can't make a judgment completely, but the days line up... If it was, I have some hope the boy is alive." Presley responded, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. I laid my head down on his, and we walked slowly toward our apartment. "I'm sure he'll be able to tell that boy is his. Unfortunately, he smells half of that mutt."

I frowned. "If you find out his blood is not there, will you look for him?" I asked.

"Of course. He's technically, in a weird way, not blood-related, but he's my nephew?" There was a questioning tone in Presley's voice.

"I mean, I think so?" I asked myself. "We'll call him our nephew. Blood doesn't always mean they're family."

Presley nodded his head. "You're correct, angel."

"My parents are watching Emilio. Do you wanna just go home and snuggle?" I asked.

"I'd love to." I could hear the smile in my mate's voice.

— — —

It was found out that the blood in the cabin wasn't the blood of Erin's son. My brother and Rowan took turns looking for the boy, to the point where Erin begged us to let them go to nearby packs to see if he had done the same thing he had when joining our pack. Presley had told them that he had put it out that Mateo was dangerous to not only all packs in the area but to all of North America.

He hadn't gotten any reports from any alpha, so he assumed that the newly formed rogue was on the loose, living off the grid. Erin, despite being stressed, depressed, and manic for the past month, was thankful to at least know there was a chance that Gage was still alive, out there, somewhere. Waiting on Erin and Rowan to come and get him and protect him.

We tried to hold off on things until everything was back in order or as orderly as things could get within the pack. I still grieved the loss of a friend that I was fooled into believing was a sheep when in reality, he was one of the worst kinds of predators, and I was the easy prey he had latched onto.

When Presley told me that Mateo had only used me as a gain to get back at Presley, it only made me feel even more emotionally detached. I had let him in to destroy my trust in people. As if I already didn't have a hard enough time within the very pack, I was meant to be the luna of.

Things had been put off for far too long. My mating ceremony. My announcement of my pregnancy. My transfer of power to Luna of the pack...

All because of him...

Even thinking about him made the vomit want to come out.

He destroyed me.

He was nothing to me.

— — —

"Pea?" I called out to my mate.

"Hmm?" He grunted in response. He was probably still in bed, half asleep, not wanting to get up after our relations the night before.

I poked my head outside of the bathroom. I smiled at the alpha, whose hair was messily sticking up every which way.

"C'mere," I responded, turning back into the bathroom.

My stomach was larger and almost damn near impossible to keep from anyone. It had been around five months since I had found out about the baby now, putting me around six months pregnant.

It just felt like there was never a good enough time to tell everyone. In a way, it made my relationship with Presley feel a bit more intimate. Like it was us against the world. Between Mary having August and Alexandre's first grandchild. My parents adjusted to the fact that not only did my brother have two mates, but he also had two bonus children, which one was missing. That was an adjustment for everyone in reality.

"Hmm?" Presley groaned, walking into the bathroom.

"Look." I grabbed his hand and placed it on my round belly. I poked the protruding stomach a couple of times right above Presley's hand and waited for the fluttering feeling to return. A few seconds later, our baby moved within me, and Presley's eyes widened in wonder.

"Is he moving?" Presley's voice was shocked.

My alpha was so in awe that he dropped to his knees in front of me, placing both hands over the fluttering baby. "He sure is. I could finally feel it with my hands this morning. Sorry to wake you."

"No– I needed to wake up for this." He met my eyes. Nothing in the world could have matched the look on my mate's face. His face was lit up like a Christmas tree. It was evident he was just as excited as I was.

The look on Presley's face took my breath away and filled my heart with joy. I placed my hands on top of his, gripping onto them tightly.

"I love you." I choked out, not realizing that I was on the verge of tears.

"And I, you." He pressed his lips to my hands.

"I can't wait until we're married."

"Neither can I. I'm hoping that it's sooner rather than later." He stood straight, and he cupped my face in his hands.

"I just feel like right now is not the right time for anything. To announce that we're going to have this beautiful blessing from the goddess. Our mating ceremony... Everything just feels like it needs to be put on halt." I leaned into his touch.

"The world doesn't stop turning, unfortunately. I know it seems like one thing after another lately. But don't forget. You can't keep putting yourself on the back burner because of someone else. It's okay to delay things. It's okay to change things up. But your feelings matter too. People who love and care for you will understand." Presley rubbed his thumb on my cheek.

"I know, I just don't want to hurt Erin's feelings..." I swallowed.

"Erin will understand. He's much like you." He leaned forward and pressed his lips to my forehead.

"Can we tell our families that we're expecting tonight for dinner?" I asked quietly.

"Baby, you don't have to ask me. Let's tell them." 

A/N: I'm deadass sorry it took me so long to update this, I wanted to have the first chapter of Shmut for Erin, Rowan, and Karsen first. So I have that written. Y'all can enjoy that on patreon! https://www.patreon.com/NeonSkies95