Gypsy Moon

Chapter Forty-eight: Sinah

. . . . . . (mid August-early October)

6wks

Gyam heard it first. My cubs' heartbeat. He lost his s**t, too. Woke Aiden up rather rudely by yelling through a mind link before bolting out the door. Aiden forgave him seconds later as he and I focused on the faint, irregular thumping. Tears were streaming down my face as the beat picked up to a neat, steady rumble, like a kitten's purr. Aiden and I made love very slowly after that, our wolves as overcome with emotion as we were.

It was also the only time Gyam had left my side since we arrived at Desert Falcon. I smiled to learn the only thing more important to him than my safety was announcing the cub's heartbeat. And that he was considerate enough to go outside the packhouse before making his announcement to the surrounding half mile radius with a deafening howl that set off a snowball of howling and cheering.

7wks

Work has begun on Gypsy Moon's packhouse. Lilian and Kyle hired wolves from our home packs, as well as the local wolves, and I have the feeling very few of them plan to return to their old packs. In fact, I doubt very much that most of them were 'hired' as opposed to 'recruited'.

Aiden has fallen into his new role flawlessly. We have been spending most of the day in the study with the others. We'd taken it over as a temporary base, everyone talking on the phone or in a chat with suppliers and supervisors.

My job is to sit comfortably, read, and pet Gyam. Selene and I discovered a hidden benefit of this pregnancy. We radiate a faint aura that encourages growth, the same growth occurring in my womb. Gyam's recovery has been startling even amongst werewolves, and Lilian suggested it might also trigger a growth spurt in Gyam, giving him a good chance to repair years of stunted development. The constant contact and reassurances from me have been doing wonders for his disposition, as well.

8wks

Aiden's new favorite stress relief game is sneaking up on me and s******g me. Gyam is no help. Aiden isn't a threat to me, and I like the surprise affection, so he refuses to tell me when Aiden is stalking me. Which is all day.

The rest of Desert Falcon have terrible poker faces, so at least I'm not at a total disadvantage.

10wks

I think I just slept through two weeks. I did literally nothing but eat and sleep. This is normal? Who would have thought growing an entire person would be so exhausting, to say nothing of sharing that energy with Gyam.

None of my underwear fit quite right. Aiden thinks this is a fantastic development and enjoys taking advantage of it. Selene is now convinced she will get to set a new record for offspring, and I think she might be right. My stomach looks puffy, I know it's my baby, but it seriously looks like I just murdered a buffet.

11wks

We can actually see the definite start to my baby bump. As a result, my entire wardrobe is now suspiciously comprised of nothing but crop tops and extremely low-riding jeans. Aiden swears no involvement, but the way he struts around says otherwise.

12wks

Alright little uterine occupant. We need to set some ground rules. I'm a werewolf, you cannot make literally every smell make me sick. Also, a little warning BEFORE making the slightest contact with my breasts suddenly to be the most painful thing that has ever happened would have been nice.

-----

I sighed and sunk under the water of the bath I was in, letting the warm water muffle the noise in the bedroom. The noise was my mate explaining why he was nursing a bite on his wrist. It would go faster if he and Gyam could stop laughing. I rolled my eyes and stood up from the tub.

"I bit him." I wrapped a robe around myself and stepped into the room grinning. "This morning's symptom is extremely tender breasts."

"I'm less excited to have my own if it makes you bitey." Lilian laughed. Kyle chuckled as he looked at the fading wound on Aiden.

"I have the sudden compulsion to invest in condoms."

"Hey, your mate is human," he laughed. "Her teeth are a lot less pointy." I gave my mate a toothy grin, letting my canines elongate. Lilian jumped up and chomped down on Aiden's arm next to the bite I had left, and he shouted in surprise. He glared at her smirk for a moment before looking at the bruising she'd left. "I take back the human comment, that f*****g hurt, impressive." Bryce's eyeroll was clear, of course an alpha wolf is going to get distracted by unexpected strength.

Aiden was frowning at the bruise on his arm, his eyes clouded.

"Lilian, you trained at White Moon with Sinah during her therapy, right?" She nodded.

"I figured out it was based on combat exercises pretty quickly, and I asked him to train me as well." She tilted her head to the side like we do, and I hid my smile. "We trained every other day, and I had a special session every Sunday focusing specifically on combat training." My smile grew as everyone blinked at Lilian. "What? I'm not stupid, I was not about to live with a bunch of werewolves and be a helpless little human, screw that." Gyam went to her and sniffed her as if he'd never met her before and she laughed and ruffled his fur playfully.

Kyle made an embarrassed noise and looked at the floor.

"I can shoot. I also have combat training, but I'm rusty." Aiden raised an eyebrow; Lilian and I both shook our heads, but Kyle spotted us. "I joined the military after high school. I was good. I liked it and that scared me, so as soon as my enlistment expired, I bought the diner and haven't fought since." Aiden nodded grimly.

"You both need to keep training. Gyam protects Sinah, but Lilian smells very similar to Sinah, and could easily be mistaken for her. I can't risk losing Lilian any more than I can lose Sinah. Any of you." Lilian wrapped her arms around Aiden's neck and pecked his cheek. Kyle rubbed his own cheek distractedly, but smiled anyway.

"I will happily train, Alpha. Anything to protect my mate." Lilian smiled at Kyle, and I caught Bryce roll his eyes again. He saw me looking at him and winked. Aiden nodded seriously and stretched.

"Where are we with the packhouse, Lil?" Lilian produced her tablet from thin air as far as I could tell, and I giggled at her sudden switch in behavior.

"The Alpha suite won't be done for another three weeks, and our attached wing should be done about a week later." Aiden nodded and she continued. "I was contacted by a four-star hotel and casino in downtown Reno, a couple hours from our territory that has acceptable security to serve us as a temporary home until our suites are finished and work progresses a bit further on the dorms. They offered to let us lease out the top three floors, since they have a private access elevator, but I'm not entirely sure how they knew we needed a temporary home." Aiden blinked and chuckled.

"We're going to outgrow our welcome here if we keep attracting new wolves. I took a chance and sent a note to the reservation north of Reno. The guy must have recognized my scent. Take them up on their offer and thank their Puma specifically. Sinah, please contact everyone's parents and packs to alert them to our new address, we will move over tomorrow." He strode to the door. "Bryce, go round up the recruit candidates that passed Lilian's crazy interview and let them know we will have the ceremony to add them to our pack tonight. Then I want you to take Kyle and Lil to the training grounds so we can get an idea of where they are. Desert Falcon should have a couple of new wolves you can borrow to train with." The pair nodded as he opened the door.

"I'm going to run the border and alert the patrols in case the Puma decides to visit. I don't want any misunderstandings about his aura." He paused and looked at Gyam. "You have alpha breeding; his aura should only bother you for a few seconds and I could use your senses out there with me." Gyam looked at me conflicted and I hugged him reassuringly.

"My job is phone calls; I will lock the suite and the bedroom doors. If anyone tries to get to me, I will have more than enough time to alert everyone." Gyam growled in his disagreement.

"Bryce told me you managed to track him with ease; we've never found another wolf that could." Aiden's stare was level. "The Puma has an aura that scares creatures. I do not want the thanks we give his tribe to be his injury, or worse." Gyam lowered his head, fighting with himself before growling in frustration and jogging through the door.

I smiled at Aiden as he caught my eyes before leaving. He was clearly not happy leaving me unguarded as well, but his current task was more important. I locked and bolted the suite after they left and looked around. It did feel a little weird to be alone for the first time in two months and I giggled. I had gotten so used to Gyam's breathing that everything seemed overly loud without it.

I returned to the bedroom and locked the door, enjoying the silly thrill of being alone. The urge to watch a scary movie was overwhelming. Selene laughing at me in my mind wasn't helping.

I sighed and sat at the desk, scrolling through my contacts to find my mother.

. . . . . .