The day was warm and humid, even though it was early autumn, so it was a relief to return to the relative cool of the cave. Sophie went straight to the back and flopped down in the nest of blankets, staring up at the high rock ceiling overhead.
Marco chuckled. “I thought you wanted something to eat,” he said.
“I’m tired.”
He came over to her with a few strips of jerky in hand and passed them to her. “You’ve got to keep your energy up,” he said. “You’re probably eating for two now.”
“Two?” She raised her eyebrows.
“An expression.”
“Because you know I’m probably eating for, like, eleven or something.” She rested her hand on her stomach, marveling at how ordinary her body felt, even now, when it was likely that something extraordinary was taking place within. “Do you really think I’m pregnant already?” she asked.
“I’d say almost definitely yes,” Marco said. “You’ve probably been pregnant since the night you spent with Burton. That was the whole point, after all.”
“If it didn’t work, will we do another mating ceremony?” she asked.
“It worked,” Marco said confidently. “You’re an omega. How could it not work? Of course it worked.”
She nodded, frowning. She wished she had the faith in her body that her alphas seemed to have. It was hard to believe that she could already be pregnant, that she had only to wait, and in a few months, her body would begin to grow again, the way it had with her last children. It felt as if more effort must be required on her part to achieve that kind of result.
I wasn’t trying last time. That’s why this felt so different. Last time, her pregnancy had taken all of them by surprise. It had been a welcome and wonderful surprise, but it hadn’t been something they were expecting. It hadn’t been something they would have felt the lack of if it hadn’t happened.
But it was different now. If Sophie didn’t get pregnant by the end of this ceremony, she would feel at fault somehow. She would feel as if she had failed them.
Calm down, she told herself firmly. It’ll happen. It’s what your body was made for, after all.
But it was so hard to think of herself that way.
Being an omega had meant something different for the bulk of her life. When she had lived below the Arctic Circle, when she had belonged to Josh’s pack, being the pack’s omega had meant that she was the lowest on the totem pole, the one who could be pushed around. It had meant that all the men, including the betas, felt free to leer at her or even to grab her as she walked by. It had meant that she was intended, one day, to belong to Josh for him to use however he liked.
She had never seen it as a good thing.
Then she had come north and met the men who had become her alphas, who had formed her new pack. And everything was different now. They would never treat her the way Josh and his pack had. They revered her. And being their omega meant that she was useful and important, that she was the one with the power to help the family grow.
She knew she had that power. She had seen it at the birth of her first litter of children. But it was still difficult to believe sometimes.
Marco took a seat beside her, biting into his own strip of jerky. “This stuff’s good,” he commented. “Pretty fresh.”
“Cam made it,” Sophie said. “He’s been experimenting with different meats to see what dries the best.”
“What’s this?” Marco asked, holding it up.
“Trout,” she said.
He stared. “Cam made jerky out of fish?”
“They do it in Scandinavia,” Sophie pointed out. “Besides, it worked.”
“Yeah, it did,” Marco allowed. “I’m just impressed that the kid even thought of it.”
“He’s getting good at living wild,” Sophie said. “I thought it would take him longer to find his feet than it has, but he’s really turning out to be a good addition to our pack, even though he isn’t a fighter.”
Marco nodded. “Everyone’s valuable,” he said.
“Ryker’s been talking about bringing more betas into the pack,” Sophie said.
“We’ve all been talking about that,” Marco said.
“You think it’s a good idea too?”
“The bears are gone,” Marco said. “The whole northern territory can be ours now. There’s no reason for any division between wolves. Yes, I think it’s best if we find as many pack members as we can, and do whatever we can to unite amongst ourselves.”
Chapter Six
BURTON
Cam ducked out of the tent and made his way over to the bonfire, where Burton sat watching the flames lick higher and higher. “Okay,” he said. “All the babies are asleep.”
“Even Caleb?” Burton asked, vaguely surprised that it had been so easy to get his oldest son to go down for the night. Every other evening of the campout, Caleb had been up much later than any of the others.
“Finally wore himself out, I guess,” Cam said, taking a seat beside Burton.
“Who’s with them now?” Burton asked.
“Petra,” Cam said. “She’s a little worn out too lately.”
“Is she sick?” Burton asked.
“Nah,” Cam said. “She’s all right. Just working a lot harder than she normally would. You know how it is. Usually, she stays in the cave most of the day—we both do—or we do a bit of fishing or berry picking by the river. You alphas, and Robby and Chrissy, do all the hunting and perimeter patrolling.”
“There are more than enough of us to handle those jobs,” Burton said.
“I know,” Cam assured him. “But Petra’s been feeling like she wants to get involved lately. That’s why she’s been tagging along with Robby and Chrissy more while we’ve been camping out.” He shrugged. “I think she might be afraid to talk to you and the other alphas about changing her role in the pack.”
Burton surveyed Cam. Talk about changing your role. Cam was probably the best example of that sort of thing. When he had come to them, he had been practically silent, afraid to talk, content to let his sister speak for him. Now he was as vocal as anyone else in the family. Burton could see that he’d really allowed himself to become comfortable here.
It was fascinating to watch the way his family had evolved over such a short span of time.
But then, I guess in the eyes of the other alphas, I’ve probably changed more than anyone.
If that was what they thought, Burton would have had to concede that they had a point. His life had been wildly different before he had come to the pack. He’d been living completely on his own, struggling to survive, racing to avoid the threat of the wild bears with whom he had shared the woods back then.
It had been a hard life. He had had to fight for everything. Every ounce of safety. Every scrap of food.
And when he had smelled fresh meat one night, he hadn’t been able to resist its appeal.
It had seemed at the time that Ryker and Marco would never forgive him for the sin of trying to steal from their cave. Only Sophie had understood that he had been nearly starving. Only she had pleaded with the others to spare him, to try to forgive him.