Inevitably Yours

MICHAEL

As if I didn’t have enough worries on my plate, Q wasn’t pregnant yet. I wasn’t worried about it happening, not really anyway. I knew it would happen, but I was a little surprised it didn’t happen quickly. I knew it was eating at her, though, which made me worry about her.

We spent the entire night in bed together. I held her and tried to comfort her. Eventually, she did fall asleep but fitfully. When I could extract myself, I snuck out and decided to go for a run. Eros was agitated, and I needed the fresh air.

When I got back, Q wasn’t in bed. I found her in the kitchen, making muffins. She silently handed me one on a napkin and returned to what she was doing. I sat by the counter and ate the muffin while I waited for her to be done. When she finally was, we wordlessly went back to bed. The next day, she was back to her usual self.

True to his word, my dad started taking over training for me. With one responsibility now removed, I could spend more mental energy on school. While I never found school hard before, it wasn’t the same with college. I’d never really taken school seriously. I was put in a lot of honors classes and always managed to pass despite sleeping in most of them and never doing homework. I generally received A’s on exams and papers. I wasn’t able to do the same with college.

My struggle had to be evident because a couple of weeks after my dad started helping, Quinn came into my office with a plate of food and a worried look on her face. “What time is it?” I asked her.

“Well, Adi is off the school bus and already here. So past lunch,” she winced.

I sighed and pushed my hands through my hair as I sat back in my chair. She came around my desk, setting the food down next to my textbook. “Let me help you,” she offered. “Tell me what I can do.”

I looked at everything in front of me. I couldn’t just have her do my schoolwork; that was cheating. But school wasn’t the only thing I had to get through, “Do you think you can go through my email? There is so much in there. Spam and actual emails.”

“How about I handle all this, too?” she asked, picking up the stack of paperwork from the warrior compound. It was full of reports to go over as well as scheduling and budget matters.

“Are you sure?” I asked her. She smiled and kissed my cheek.

“I got this. I’ll get it all organized and give you the cliff notes later. I’m sure Nic and I can handle any major problems,” she assured me. “But, you have to promise me two things.”

“Anything in my power, my love,” I told her.

“One, eat the food. You need to eat,” she said sternly.

“Okay,” I chuckled. She always made sure I was well fed. “And two?”

“Make a pup with me tonight,” she smiled seductively. I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her down into my lap, earning me a surprised yelp. I nipped at her lips, and she giggled.

“I will make a pup with you right now,” I said in a low voice.

“You have homework due in only a few hours, so do that first. Then pup,” she said, bringing me back to reality. I hung my head and then nodded. “Alright, Mr. Alpha. There will be a gaggle of pups here ready to beat you up in a little while. You get to work, and I’ll get to your other work.”

Quinn pushed herself out of my lap, and I had to sigh again. “Yes, ma’am,” I agreed. She pushed the plate into my hands, grabbed the stack of papers, and sauntered out of my office. I slipped a chip into my mouth as I watched her turn the corner.

“Be smarter,” Eros huffed.

“Hey now,” I rebutted. “I’m not entirely sure when the last time I needed to plot equations was, but I damn sure punched someone in the face last week.”

–

With Quinn’s help, things became more manageable. I didn’t feel great about putting my responsibilities on her, but she insisted it was okay. Somehow she could complete her own school work and all the pack stuff she helped me with while keeping up with the chores in the packhouse.

Courtney had her pup and was now bringing her over to the packhouse regularly. Quinn would spend time with her while taking care of things. More than once, I caught a glimpse of Quinn holding Courtney’s pup or playing with him. I couldn’t miss the longing feeling that filled the bond between us during those times, and I wanted to fix it for her.

The time came for Quinn to take another pregnancy test. She impatiently waited for me to wrap up my preparations for a class I was teaching the following day in the human town before dragging me to the bathroom again. She was just as antsy as the first time, and I hoped the result was favorable this time for her sake.

I stood in the doorway, blocking the bathroom while the test processed on the counter behind me. She paced back and forth, silently this time. I watched her nervously chew her lips and wring her hands. I couldn’t help my excitement at this; she was adorable worrying herself so hard.

When the timer went off, she froze and stared at me. Just like the first time, I grabbed the test and brought it around so we could look at it. She spun around and covered her face. “I can’t look,” she said through her fingers.

I looked down at the test and frowned. One line, not pregnant. Eros growled unhappily. I waited too long to say anything.

“It’s negative, isn’t it?” she asked. I looked to see her hands drop to her sides and shoulders slackening. I shoved the test into my pocket and pulled her into my arms, her back to my front.

“Hey, it’s okay,” I said. “We have our whole lives for a pup. There is no due date here.”

“I need a minute,” she whispered, pulling away from me. I let her walk away as I tried to swallow her disappointment. She turned into our room and the door quietly closed.

“f**k,” I hissed.

“What is taking so long? What are you doing wrong?” Eros barked at me.

“Wrong? Are you kidding me? It’s not something I can do wrong, and it isn’t like we haven’t had plenty of practice.” I argued back.

“Our mate is upset because you can’t do your most important job,” Eros snapped at me.

“Excuse the s**t out of me. I have a lot of important jobs! You’re part of me, so if I’m f*****g it up, so are you!”

“Hmmpphhh,” he snarled, ignoring me now. I rolled my eyes and went down to our room. I leaned against the door, listening for Quinn. It was quiet on the other side other than the occasional sniffle.

“Quinn?” I said softly. I turned the door handle, but something heavy kept the door from moving. She was sitting on the other side. “Quinn?”

“I just need a minute, M, please,” she linked back. Even in our link, I could hear the quiver in her voice. My heart sank; I didn’t want her to be upset about this. This was supposed to be a happy thing for us.

Frustrated, I stepped back. I wanted to comfort my mate but knew I had to respect her space. I went to the living room and sat on the couch, not really sure what to do.

I sat with my elbows braced on my legs, my foot bouncing from the stress until Quinn appeared in the doorway to the living room about ten minutes later. Her eyes were red-rimmed, but she showed no other signs of distress. “Ice cream?” she asked, her voice completely clear now.

“Go with it,” Eros urged.

“Uh, sure,” I said, standing. I walked over to her, grabbing her waist before she could get away. “Everything alright?” I asked quietly.

“Yea,” she answered with a tight smile.

–

After our second test, it took Quinn a few days to be back to normal entirely. She was quiet and reserved until she snapped back. It took us a week to start trying again, though.

The third test went much like the second. I could see the devastation in her eyes when I shook my head to tell her the results were negative. Again, she holed herself up in our room until she decided she was okay and pretended everything was fine. My heart crumbled each time I had to watch this happen.

Nic wasn’t making matters any better. I know she was trying to help Quinn cope with humor, but her eyes got glassy every time Nic made a joke about needing pointers. Finally, I had to put a stop to it.

“Nic, I need you to stop,” I said at the end of our run.

“Um, we just did,” she panted next to me as we pulled clothes on near the treeline.

“No, with the jokes. The baby jokes,” I told her. She looked at me, confused.

“I’m not being mean,” she said.

“Yea, well, Quinn isn’t okay. All the pressure around getting pregnant with an Alpha pup is getting to her. It’s not helping the situation,” I explained.

“I’m sorry, Michael. I really didn’t mean anything by it….”

I slung my arm around my best friend. “I know you didn’t. She is just sad, and I don’t want anything to make it worse.”

“To be honest, I was getting a little worried. It’s been months now, not to mention you guys were going at it like rabbits before,” Nic confessed. I frowned. Eros and Sapphire were right there with her.

“I can’t propose that it’s her. It would destroy her if she thought she couldn’t give me a pup. I am a little worried about the fae thing, though,” I admitted.

“Next week, you guys test again, right?” Nic asked.

“Yea,” I said. We all knew exactly when it was time.

“If it’s still negative, we should do some research. Maybe your witch friend can weigh in. If it is the fae magic stuff, we should find out sooner rather than later,” Nic said.

“You’re right. But let’s get back. She’s been locked in her office studying all day. I think she forgot what sunlight looks like,” I said.

“Yea, but that chili that’s been cooking all day is going to be amazing,” Nic drooled. “And shouldn’t you be studying too?”

“At this point, it’s in the Goddess’s hands,” I chuckled.

–

“Baby, are you absolutely sure you want to do this? We can just wait and see if you start to get bigger,” I told her. She was standing in the bathroom, staring at the test.

“Yes, M,” she said quietly. She had acted off all day; I knew it was about this.

“I don’t care what the results are. I love you either way. Whether we have pups or give our love to the other pups in the pack, I’ll be happy just to be with you,” I told her.

Her eyes squeezed shut. “i***t,” Eros said. I was putting my foot in my mouth without trying to.

“Let me take this,” she said. I stepped out of the bathroom, and like the last three times, she took the test and left it on the counter. When she stepped out, she leaned her back against the wall facing the bathroom, and the waiting began.

Five minutes felt like an eternity, and I was terrified when the timer went off. She stood and looked at me. “Are you sure?” I asked her. She just nodded.

I grabbed the test but didn’t look right away. First, I closed the distance between us and grabbed her face, pulling her into a k**s. Leaning my forehead against hers, I stroked her cheek with my thumb. “I want a pup, but I want you more, understand?” I whispered.

She nodded, eyes closed. “Please just look.”

Hesitantly I pulled away, and my heart fell once again. My eyes went back to her. She stared blankly down at the test in my hand. She turned on her heel and breezed down the hall without a word.

–

“I’m sorry, Michael. I don’t know much about Fae. I don’t think many do,” Haven said over the phone.

“I’m just trying to figure out if there is a reason why she isn’t getting pregnant,” I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. I called Haven the next morning, needing to make sure there wasn’t something else going on.

“Fae are rumored to be from an entirely different realm. I don’t know that I have ever come across one. Ask my mate; I like to stick my nose where it doesn’t belong,” she laughed. I could see that. She seemed to genuinely like to help others, no matter the risk to herself.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

“I appreciate it anyway,” I told her.

“I’ll see if I can find anything or have any contacts. I probably have more enemies than friends at the moment, but I can still try,” Haven promised.

“Be careful,” I warned her. “Talk soon.”

Nic came into my office with food in her hands. “The amount you eat and your ability to stay in shape amazes me,” I commented. She shrugged, taking the seat across from me.

“Banana bread? Blue put peanut butter in it this time,” she offered. I took a big piece from her plate. “Haven know anything?”

“No, and I don’t know if Quinn will survive another negative test. We have finals tomorrow, and she hasn’t touched a single book today. I’m worried,” I told her.

“I asked Courtney to avoid the packhouse for a couple of weeks. Give her a break from seeing a pup,” Nic informed me. “Where do we even find out about her Fae stuff?”

“I don’t know. But I really need to figure it out,” I grimaced.