“How was that decided?” she asked.
He pressed his lips to the back of her neck, and she felt him smile. “Rock paper scissors.”
“And what did you three decide, anyway?” Sophie asked. “How long do you and I have together?”
“The whole day and night,” Burton said. “I’ll leave when you’re asleep, and someone else will be here for you when you wake up.”
“Who?” Sophie asked.
Burton laughed. “That would be spoiling the surprise,” he said.
She pouted, feigning frustration. “Don’t I get to know anything?” she asked. “You planned this whole thing without me.”
“That was the idea,” Burton said. “We’re the alphas. We should be allowed to plan the mating ceremony. That’s the tradition.” His fingers entwined with hers and he gripped her hand. “You don’t need to worry, Sophie,” he added. “This whole thing was planned with you in mind. It’s all about what’ll make you happiest. If we came up with anything that you don’t like, all you have to do is tell us, and we’ll adapt.”
“I’m sure I’ll like it,” she said. It was impossible to imagine any of her alphas doing anything she didn’t like. They had always been so careful with her. They had always done their best to provide for her and take care of her every need.
Burton rolled onto his back. “Clouds are coming in,” he said.
Sophie looked up. Sure enough, the sky was darkening. “It smells like rain,” she said.
Burton nodded. “We should get back to the cave,” he said.
“What about the others?” Sophie asked. “The kids and the betas? Ryker and Marco? We should go get them and bring them back, shouldn’t we?” She grimaced at the thought of her babies out in the rain.
“They’re fine,” Burton assured her. “They have tents, remember?”
“No,” she said. “I didn’t know that. Where did you get tents?”
Burton got to his feet, clearly avoiding the question.
“You stole the tents?”
“We had to get them somehow.”
“Burton, you know how I feel about stealing.” Condoms were one thing—they were fairly cheap and absolutely necessary. But big-ticket items gave Sophie a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had lived too close to the human world for too long to look the other way on things like that. Her alphas didn’t seem to have that problem—but then, it had been a lot longer since any of them had tried to live a human life.
“We avoid it when we can,” Burton defended himself, holding out a hand to help Sophie to her feet. She sighed and accepted it. This was an old argument between the two of them. It certainly wasn’t going to be resolved today, and there was no point in staying out here under these ominous clouds when there was a nice warm cave to take shelter in.
They made it home just before the rain began to fall. There was a pile of tinder, as always, in the driest corner of the cave, and Burton began to arrange a fire as Sophie pulled on a pair of clean clothes. After a few moments, the fire was snapping merrily. Burton sat beside it and held out his arms to Sophie, and she positioned herself between his legs, reclining against his chest.
“What do we do for the rest of the night?” she asked.
“Whatever we want, really,” Burton said. “The others won’t be back, so we have this time to ourselves.”
“Are you sure it’s all right?” she fretted. “The babies are so young.”
He laughed. “You’re being silly, do you know that?”
“How so?”
“The babies live in a cave, Sophie. They were born in a cave. It’s the only life they know. Weather comes in through the mouth of the cave all the time.” He kissed the top of her head. “You’re thinking of them as human again.”
“It’s hard not to.” None of the babies had ever shifted. They were too young. It was very uncommon for a shifter to take animal form in the first six months. When Sophie thought of the rest of her packmates, she was able to envision either humans or animals, as the situation warranted. But when she thought of her children, the only thing that ever came to mind was human babies.
Tiny. Helpless. Unable to fend for themselves.
She loved her wild life. She loved living in the cave with her pack. But she couldn’t deny that there was a tiny part of her that wished her children had a roof over their heads.
And now they didn’t even have the protection of the deep stone cave. Now they had nothing but thin canvas tents to shelter them against the elements.
“Hey.” Burton shook her gently. “Stop worrying. They’re fine. Marco and Ryker and the betas are with them. Everyone’s okay.”
She nodded. “You’re right,” she said. “I know you’re right. I just worry.” She laughed a little at herself. “I worry too much, don’t I?”
“You’re a new mom,” Burton said. “Sometimes it’s hard to remember how new all this is, given that we’re already trying to get pregnant again. We’ve only had the babies for a few months.”
“Do you think we’re ready to have a whole new litter?” Sophie asked.
“Well, they won’t be here for a while,” Burton pointed out. “The ones we have now will be about a year old by the time the new ones come along.”
“A year old.” She thought of her tiny children, still so new a part of her life. It was crazy to picture them as year-old children.
“We’re just lucky our pack is so big,” Burton said. “With the nine kids we have already, plus however many are in this new litter—well, it’s going to be a lot to deal with. I’m glad there are eight of us adults to manage the load.”
“Petra and Cam might be adding to that number soon themselves,” Sophie said.
“You think?” Burton asked.
“It could happen.” Petra and Cam, the two more peaceful of their betas, had become a mated pair only a month and a half ago. Ever since then, Sophie had been eagerly waiting for the announcement of their first pregnancy, knowing that the addition of an unrelated genetic line was a great opportunity for their pack to grow from within one day.
“At least they’ll only be having one at a time,” Burton pointed out. “That’s the one perk about betas.”
Sophie glanced up at him. “Do you wish I only carried one child at a time?” she asked him. She was teasing—she knew the answer. If her body worked that way, it wouldn’t be possible for her to have three mates.
He laughed and kissed her cheek. “Definitely not,” he said. “You know I’m into how big and heavy you get when you’re pregnant.”
She smiled, feeling positively adored.
“In fact,” Burton said, “maybe we should take advantage of this alone time to put in a little more work on that.”
He cupped her breast and stroked her nipple once, gently. Invitingly.
Sophie sighed happily and turned in his arms, accepting his invitation.
Chapter Two
RYKER
He stood outside the cave, staring up at the stars, awaiting his turn with his omega.