It had complicated all their lives when he had imprinted on her. He had never wanted to be part of a pack. He had liked the fact that he was independent. Living on his own had been his preference, even though it had been hard.
But from the moment he’d laid eyes on Sophie, leaving her behind had ceased to be an option. She had become the center of his universe, much more important to him than food had ever been.
It had taken the others a while to accept him, to adjust to his presence, but Sophie had loved him immediately. She had never questioned that he belonged among the pack.
Maybe that was why Burton had been the first to accept the betas when they had crossed paths. He was the one who had invited them into the pack, without waiting to see what Ryker and Marco thought of it. He knew they had been upset about his impetuous choice at the time, but now it was hard to imagine life without his betas. They belonged every bit as much as Burton himself did.
Cam moved closer to the fire and began to add tinder. “Are we expecting Sophie back soon?” he asked.
“Pretty soon, I’d guess,” Burton said, though he wouldn’t have been surprised if Marco had been dragging his feet on bringing her back to the clearing. If he had been the last one to be with her, he probably would have made the most of every moment.
“It’s nice that we got a clear night,” Cam said. “If it was raining again, we wouldn’t be able to have this fire, and there’s something really celebratory about it.”
Burton nodded. The fire had grown steadily higher over the course of the past few days. There had always been someone awake to watch over it, even in the middle of the night. Now that they’d reached the final night of the mating ceremony, the fire was tall enough and bright enough to light up the whole clearing, and when a log snapped, it could be heard from a long way away.
We would never have been able to do this when the bears were around. It would have been far too dangerous. The fire would have lured them in, given them information about the wolves’ presence. Burton thought back to his early days with the pack and the way they’d stuck to the cave at all times, only daring to go out by the light of day to hunt and fish, and always in pairs, making sure no one was ever on their own.
And Sophie never went out at all.
Sophie had spent all her time in the cave, always with someone to watch her back, and even with all those precautions, she had still been kidnapped by the bears.
It hurt Burton to think about it.
If they ever come back, he thought fervently, I’ll tear them apart. Nothing will stop me.
He was pulled from his thoughts by movement across the clearing. Marco emerged from among the trees, with Sophie close behind him.
Burton got to his feet. “You’re watching the fire?”
“Of course,” Cam said.
Burton jogged across the clearing, embraced Sophie, then pounded his fellow alpha on the shoulder. “Welcome back,” he said.
Sophie looked around. “What happens now?” she asked. “Do we pack up and go back to the cave?”
“No,” Burton said. “We’re staying out here for one more night.”
“We are?” Sophie asked.
“Bonfire party,” Marco explained.
She looked up at him. “You knew?”
“Of course I knew,” Marco said. “This was the plan all along. Now that the mating ceremony is done, we’re celebrating the growth of our family with a party. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
Sophie bit her lip. “I suppose so,” she said.
What’s up with her? Burton frowned. She seemed anxious.
Marco rested a hand on her shoulder briefly. “Why don’t you go see if Cam needs any help with the fire?” he suggested. “You haven’t spent much time with the betas lately, and I know they’re eager to see you.”
A slight expression of relief crossed her face. “That sounds good,” she said and hurried over to where Cam squatted beside the flames.
Burton watched her go. “What’s her deal?” he asked. “She’s acting strange.”
“She’s worried,” Marco explained. “She thinks she’s going to disappoint us.”
“Disappoint us how?” Burton found the idea staggering. “She couldn’t disappoint us. There’s no way.”
“She’s worried she isn’t going to get pregnant,” Marco said.
“Is that all?” Burton laughed, relieved. “Of course she will. She’s an omega.”
“It’s probably hard for her to believe, though,” Marco said. “Think about it. The mating is over. She ought to be pregnant already.”
“I’m sure she is,” Burton said. “It’s not like we’d be able to tell by looking, for God’s sake.”
“I know that,” Marco said. “But she feels the same as she did a week ago. It must be hard to put your faith in the fact that something so monumental is happening in your body when you can’t even feel it.”
Burton nodded. “I guess that’s true,” he acknowledged. “But I don’t know why she’s worried about it. I mean, if she wasn’t pregnant for some reason, it’s not like it would be a problem. We’d just keep trying, and I’m sure it would happen soon enough.”
“Yeah, I know that and you know that,” Marco said. “She’s just having trouble with the idea. I mean, the last time she was pregnant, it took us all by surprise. There was never an interval of waiting and hoping. This is the first time she’s had to do that.”
Burton looked over at Sophie. She was sitting beside Cam now, staring into the flames of the bonfire. Burton could see that Cam was doing his best to talk to her, but Sophie was fairly nonresponsive, nodding or shaking her head at intervals but not bothering to speak.
“This is supposed to be a party,” he said unhappily. “She’s supposed to be celebrating. Enjoying herself. Not worrying about things outside our control.”
“I know, but I don’t want to put any pressure on her,” Marco said. “Stress is the worst thing for her right now. We just need to do our best to make her feel comfortable, even if that means all we do tonight is sit quietly by the fire. If it’s not a big party, that’s fine. We can have a party in a few days when we know for sure that the pregnancy has taken.”
Burton nodded. “You’re right,” he said. Even though all three of them were alphas together, all equal in rank and status, Burton often felt as though Marco and Ryker were wiser than he was. They were both a few years older, and he looked up to them and had gotten used to taking their advice. “What should I do?”
“She’s in good hands with Cam,” Marco said. “And I think we can count on him to come and let us know if she needs us. Why don’t you and I go fix some plates of food? We can bring plates to Cam and Sophie too, and then we’ll get an idea of whether or not they want us to join them.”
“Good idea,” Burton said, relieved to have something to do. “There’s still plenty of turkey left.”
Marco chuckled, breaking the tension a bit. “I still can’t believe Ryker rustled up a turkey,” he said. “What a strange, random thing to want.”