“No, no, no,” Luca asserted.
“Doctor?” Samantha looked up at her with puppy eyes hoping she’d get the correct response.
“You’re okay for the party, but you are to remain seated for the rest of this evening. Also, you should expect to be taking daily naps from now on. Don’t wait until you feel dizzy to lie down. As soon as you are tired, rest. While the fatigue and nausea are perfectly normal, you need to go easy. Usually women don’t faint but it can happen, as you just found out. As far as your training, no more than one hour per day. In another month, you’ll be feeling much better. Luckily for you, your pregnancy will be only six months. One of the benefits of being supernatural,” she quipped. “Okay now, I expect to see you in my office next week, Samantha. Luca’s got my number.”
After thanking everyone for their assistance, Luca and Samantha lay quietly in bed. She cuddled into him, resting her cheek on his broad chest. They were both thrilled to be having a baby together; neither thought it could really be happening. Unassumingly, Luca took her hands in his.
“Samantha.”
“Yes, daddy-to-be?”
“I was going to wait for tonight, to surprise you. But now, this news. I’m so happy. I never thought. Damn, I sound incoherent. Okay, just close your eyes.”
She closed her eyes and added, “I’m not sure if I can take any more surprises today.”
“I think you’ll like this one.” Slipping an engagement ring on her finger, he smiled down at her. “Since I’m not so good with words right now, I’ll simply say, ‘I love you.’”.
Samantha opened her eyes and glanced at the stunning ring he’d given her. “I love it! Thank you, it’s beautiful.”
His head dipped down as he captured her lips. Deliberately seeking her sweetness, he swept his tongue over hers. They kissed lightly, unable to stop smiling; altogether exhilarated from learning they were expecting.
Samantha laughed. “You know, this is crazy, don’t you? A month ago, I was down here for a conference, and now I’m a witch who’s getting married to a vampire. And we’re having a baby who’s going to be a witch.”
Luca laughed. “How are we gonna explain this one to your parents?”
“Guess we’d better get married soon, huh?”
“The sooner the better. I can’t wait to hear her little feet running around this house,” he said excitedly.
“Hey, speaking of running, is Kat going to make it tonight? I invited her you know, but she hasn’t called me back. I left a message on her cell phone. I sure hope everything’s okay. And Tristan, it’s a shame he couldn’t be here tonight either. Told me had some sort of pack thing going on.”
“I’m sure Kat is fine and we’ll celebrate with Tristan when he comes down here again next month. No worries, my little witch. Tonight is for celebration, and I want to spend every minute showing off my new fiancée and sharing our good news.”
Luca held Samantha as she drifted off to sleep. He did wonder why Kat hadn’t replied to their invitation, but he didn’t want Samantha to have concerns tonight over the wolves. In the morning, he’d phone Tristan to tell him about the baby and make sure he and Kat were all right. Regardless of wolf problems, he now had a family to care for; it was not his responsibility to monitor pack concerns. As requested, they had flown Kat down to New Orleans. He knew both Tristan and Marcel would have her back. As far as Luca knew, their pack was still actively patrolling the area in search of the two escaped wolves. He guessed they would have made their way back to New York by now anyway.
Kissing Samantha’s soft hair, he gingerly touched her belly, knowing his daughter was growing inside. Peace. In all his life, he’d never felt it. Today, lying here with his mate, Luca had finally found it within her magic embrace.
EPILOGUE
Tristan burned down the open highway on his Harley. Aside from going wolf, there was nothing like the freedom of tearing it up on his steel horse. Returning from a week of running his wolves had brought a much needed peaceful vibe to both him and his pack. After helping out with the mess down in New Orleans with Kade and Sydney and trying to keep Kat out of trouble, his own wolves needed his attention.
He smiled, considering the she-wolves who had vied for his attention over the holiday. Preferring to keep jealousy and discourse to a minimum during their run in the wild, he’d rebuffed their advances. Sure, he’d danced with a few and flirted shamelessly, in his usual style, but he’d decidedly stayed celibate. Tristan wanted to keep his head clear and focused, and women certainly had a way of blurring the lines. At the very least, they took up a lot of his time, and time was a commodity when it came to pack activities. Instead of self-indulging, he’d given of himself, concentrating on the needs of all the wolves.
It was no secret that the pack elders yearned for him to mate, but Tristan knew it wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. Leading the pack was an earned honor that he enjoyed doing alone. After all, he was by no means lonely; the ladies were drawn to him like bees to honey. Everyone knew that the Alpha happily played the field as long as no commitment was required.
Tristan had made up his mind a long time ago, that he wasn’t willing to settle for any woman just for the sake of mating. Yes, there’d been women he liked a lot over the years, but no one female was a true mate to his wolf. The only serious relationship Tristan had had in recent years was his friendship with Sydney. While she was well and truly an Alpha female, she was human, not wolf. So while they’d made love on occasion, and he’d even asked her to move in with him, he knew she wasn’t his mate.
He admitted to himself that watching his good friends find love struck a chord in his heart. Kade and Luca were at peace and truly seemed happy. At times, it made him wonder if perhaps he was missing out on something in life. Regardless, it wasn’t as if he had even a hope of finding his true mate within his own pack. While many of the she-wolves appeared quite lovely on the outside, he knew that most only wanted him for his Alpha status. And the human women he’d met were mostly interested in his bank account.
Despite the pressures to create a breeding pair for the pack, which would greatly increase the number of cubs born to all wolves in the pack, Tristan had no intention of giving into an arranged mating. No, he’d grown up seeing many an Alpha pair irrevocably tied through a forced mating, hating each other, yet shackled together for eternity for the sake of their wolves. Even though the archaic custom was still practiced in a few regions, Tristan and his brothers had long ago begun the tide of change from old world to modern pack laws. As a result, all of the Livingston brothers lived unmated, but were contentedly and successfully leading their packs. Adhering to the law of the natural selection of mates, they frowned upon imposing an artificial Alpha mating. The new tradition bred strength and happiness into his pack members. Tristan felt strongly about the law; he would not be forced into a pairing nor would he force others in his pack to submit to it either.
The shit storm that New York Alpha, Jax Chandler, had caused was brought about by his perverse belief that a male Alpha could simply pick his wolf as his mate, indifferent to her agreement. Tristan had always felt strongly that not only would his woman submit to him of her own volition, she’d also choose him as a mate. So when Jax decided he wanted Kat for his mate, there was no way Tristan was letting that asshole simply take his baby sister. From what Marcel had relayed to him, things had settled with Jax. Marcel had spoken to him over the phone, explaining clearly that Kat was in no way interested in becoming his mate. Jax was understandably irritated by her brush off but told Marcel that he’d back off if that’s what she wanted.