Chapter Forty-Five

If y'all got a notification about ch32, sorry lol. I accidentally republished it with this chapter somehow oops

Bridger

Kian invited me to sit in a meeting between him, Corzo, and Marquise. I think this is his way of trying to get me involved, ensuring that I feel important and play an active role in his pack. I appreciate it, truly, but little does he know that that's exactly what I don't want. Over the little time I've had to adjust to this new setting, I've given thought to what I want to do here. I came up with two thoughts: retire and be Kian's house-husband.

At first, I thought 'no way, that doesn't suit me'. I've been a beta my entire life and have been calling shots for so long that the idea of being a "boring house husband" didn't sit right to me – plus we're not even married. But then it occurred to me yesterday that I actually enjoyed having the house to myself to build things for our pup and clean, plan meals to cook for my family; I thought 'maybe this role isn't too bad, afterall'. I allowed myself to imagine waving goodbye to Kian as he goes off to work for the day with our pup on my hip. Perhaps, I'll be wearing an apron, who knows. If I'm becoming a house-husband, I'm going the full picture: aprons, babies on the hip, cooking something, mopping somewhere. Goddess, what a beautiful life that would be. The perfect retirement plan.

I haven't told Kian this little fantasy of mine. The roles in many relationships like ours are typically reversed, but I know Kian would likely love the idea. Plus, while he's busy trying to build a wonderful pack, we'll need someone to take care of our pup and who better than his own father? It'll be an excellent bonding time between our pup and I; maybe it will even heal something within me that always wished that my own father and I had a closer bond. Plus, who here would shame me for wanting to care for my family in this way?

I'm not complaining about or disappointed that Kian wanted me to join his meeting. His reasoning was that he wanted me to play a role in choosing the Pilot Group – the first group of omegas to join our pack. However, I also believe he thought I was just bored with nothing to do.

"I gave it some thought and realized that we can't accept omegas who need special services right now," Kian says slowly before his eyes go wide, "wait! That sounds mean. I mean, omegas who need special services will always be welcome but right now, we don't have those ...um...those services. Like pups: they need schooling, we don't have teachers or a schoolhouse right now; or omegas who need healers all the time or are pregnant, we don't have a clinic yet."

"I understand what you're saying," Marquise agrees with a nod as he flips through an enormous pile of files. "I also considered all of that and have compiled a list of potential omegas who would be good to start out with."

"Did you guys educate these omegas in your safe houses?" I ask, "I ask because it may be a good idea to consider the highest educated ones for now so that we can go about training then to take on roles such as teacher, healer, and so on. That way we can speed up the process of building the things we need and then getting more omegas into the pack who will need to utilize services like schools and clinics."

Corzo nods. "If I may add, do not forget that while these things are underway, I can offer these services. If a pregnant omega comes into your hands before a clinic with pre-and post-natal professionals are available, my pack will happily offer those services to he or she–

"Or they," Kian quickly adds. I watch Marquise bite back a smile as he continues to flip through the files.

"Y-Yes, or– them," Corzo corrects himself with a confused look, "anyways, that and I will be happy to offer education in my pack. But my Sigmas and Phis are only trained to care for and teach infants to 13-year-olds, by then they're high-school age and we send those to the high school in the human city which is good because there are hardly any packs near that school so our teens are always safe from trouble."

I type that on my computer. The task of transcribing is a delta's responsibility, but I noticed Vic wasn't here and no one else had a laptop so I quickly pulled mine own and started typing.

"But how would we go about transporting between my pack and yours?" Kian asks.

"A bus, maybe?" I suggest, "It's not ideal especially for medical emergencies, but it's the fastest way to get to and from. Running, even in our wolf form, could be shorter, but we must consider the possibility of many of our packmates and neighbors might not have that ability."

"A bus could be an option then, a van maybe," Corzo agrees, "up until you have all the resources you need."

Kian nods. "Okay, so for now we'll get a bus to transport the Pilot Group for when they start training. Speaking of, Marquise, you said you already have a list?"

Marquise sits up in his chair and begins laying out the files. As he does so, Corzo distributes them between Kian, me, and himself until we all have five each and twenty to choose from. As discussed earlier, the Pilot Group will ideally have ten adult members, all able-bodied, without children, and do not need accommodations or special services. The pile in front of Marquise disappears in thin air as he sits back down to look at the five files placed in front of him.

I open my first file to a young woman named Emily Prinkett. Her picture shows a chubby brunette with a young face covered with red freckles and striking blue eyes. The file lists her information such as her age (25), height (5'1), and ethnic/racial background, but also goes into detail of her daily life. I'm glad the files don't post any private information such as her family, pack, or why she's in a safe house to begin with – that way if she chooses to disclose that information, it'll bring her closer to this pack. Plus, I'd hate if a group of strangers were reading my private information, judging me without me being there to defend myself.

Apparently, she obtained a teaching license and has been teaching pups that come into the safe houses for four years. There's a quote at the end that says "I want to join a pack because I want a place where I truly feel at home with wolves who genuinely care about me".

"Just remember that, eventually, everyone will be in this pack," Marquise explains, "so don't worry if they don't make it into the Pilot Group, they'll make it here eventually.."

We silently go through the files, creating two different piles– one for the Pilot Group and another for the "next time group". Kian asks if these omegas are from the same safe houses and Marquise explains that some of them are while others aren't, he didn't purposefully choose them based on their safehouse but instead on the factors previously mentioned.

After a few minutes, we finish with two piles of ten.

"Any comments?" Marquise asks as he slides the "next time" pile towards him.

We all shake our heads and the pile quickly disappears. Marquise takes the Pilot Group and lists the omegas we chose.

"These are good choices, they all have jobs they're comfortable in that will help with the progress of the pack," Marquise states, "for now, Corzo, you said you're comfortable with sharing your resources. Are you also comfortable with training?"

Corzo nods. "My members have been training Kian and his friends for a while now. It'll be no issue."

"All of them seem more educated than me," Kian blurts as he nervously taps his fingers against the table. "Do you think they'll want me as their leader? Someone who seems underqualified?"

"Of course, they will," I affirm before anyone can respond, "they may have more education, but they're not the ones starting a pack – you are. Point blank."

"Exactly, plus, you've been through several meetings with me where those involved didn't respect you," Corzo chimes in, "you handled it like a champ. You're leadership skills have grown tremendously and what did I say about leading a pack?"

Kian sighs but he can't stop the smile that tips the corner of his lip upwards. Shifting in his seat, he says, "to never question my own abilities and never care about what I think someone thinks about me."

Corzo beams. "Exactly. A leader who questions their abilities creates followers who question their leader's abilities; and a leader who worries that their followers think less of them will affect your ability to make confident decisions. You're not an alpha and this is what should make them respect you all the more."

I remember running home from school one day in shambles because I made a fool of myself in front of the class. Arron and all the other pups had laughed at me and I distinctively remember stupid Ronnie Johnson whispering to Arron 'that's going to be your beta in the future? Really?'

My father grabbed me by the shoulders and growled that I need to man up before telling me something similar later that same day. After our altercation, I hid away from him all day until the omega who helped in our house made us dinner. At dinner, I guess he put on his 'father pants' and gruffly explained to me that if I wanted to be a leader, I had to stop doubting myself and caring about what people think of me. I had sat silent, but I did hold onto everything he stated. There were rare times in my childhood where my dad stopped being an asshole and actually treated me like a son – those are times I cherish deeply.

I continue typing the rest of the notes from our meeting. Kian expresses that he wants to prepare a welcome celebration for the omegas. The meeting quickly goes from serious to smiles as everyone gets closer to the table to discuss how they should go about planning a party for the omegas who are due here – according to Marquise – in "maybe" three days. Marquise explained earlier that the angels working the safe houses will have to tell the chosen omegas and then help them prepare which could take a while.

We all decide on what should happen for the small welcome party Kian wants to throw. He wants to create a banner that has all of their names on it and asks Marquise to get their dietary preferences. He also offers to bake the cake and looks at me with big, hopeful eyes which I couldn't deny. I hate baking, but Kian is too excited to make me not want to.

As party talk comes to an end, Corzo looks over at me. With a relaxed smile, he asks,

"And you? You're fully retired at your ripe age?"

He's joking, I know, but I also hear the expectation in his voice. Of course anyone would expect my yearning for a similar rank as I had before – it would be insane for a high-ranking werewolf to no longer want that. Especially someone with my experience having been a beta way before it was official.

"I'll do whatever Kian needs me to do," I decide to say because it's true. As lovely as being a house husband sounds, if Kian needs me to do something more, I will gladly do what needs to be done.. "But for now, I don't plan to go back to being a beta – or whatever the equivalent is."

Corzo's eyebrow quirks up, but he thankfully doesn't press on the subject. Instead, he asks Kian how his pregnancy is going and they fall into a short conversation about that as I finish making edits to the transcript. Corzo briefly mentions his desire for pups while Marquise cringes and rejects the mere idea of having any children. I forward it to Kian's email just as the three wrap up their conversation.

As soon as I'm done packing up, Kian slips his hand into mine and we make our way out of the meeting room. The new packhouse has at least five plants on every floor and is somehow naturally brighter than the old one. There's a floor dedicated solely to empty offices where Kian excitedly explained that in the future, these offices will be ran by the heads of different tasks: the equivalents of zetas, kappas, and so on. He knows only alphas and omegas are determined by blood, but he doesn't know if the omegas here will feel comfortable being called a "zeta" or anything similar considering common past experiences.

"You don't want a big role do you?" Kian asks as soon as we're out of the labyrinth that is his packhouse.

I don't know why, but suddenly I'm embarrassed. Joking, I respond, "You make me sound lazy."

Kian laughs and slaps my arm. "You're not lazy and I just assumed because of how you react when I want you to do something like a meeting with me or when Corzo asked if you're retired."

"I react?"

He nods, laughing. "Yeah, you're like oh, yeah, okay."

I frown. I don't sound like that. "Well that's a lie because I don't sound like that."

He rolls his eyes. Crossing his arms, he stands right in front of me, taking my breath away as he smiles up at me with the sun illuminating those dark brown eyes. For a second, I don't hear what he says as I take him in. My beautiful, strong omega – all mine.

"Bridger!" Kian snaps back into reality, laughing as his face reddens. He knows I was admiring him. Who wouldn't?

"Oh," I shake my head and rub my neck. "I just enjoy being your trophy husband."

Kian's blush deepsn as he briefly looks down, fighting a smile. It wins. "We're not married yet."

"Yet?" I smirk down at him and his squints at me in mock annoyance. "Is marriage in our future?"

"If we can't magically become mates, I suppose it is."

I gasp. "Kian Blake Santos, are you proposing to me? Without a ring at that."

Marriage for werewolves isn't necessarily uncommon. It's just, in comparison to the mate bond, marriage is very lackluster and therefore, not as common as it is for humans. Other species have their other celebrations of life-long commitment to their lovers: fairies enjoy a week-long pre-wedding called Sövai where they drink and drink to the point they don't even remember their actual ceremony; incubi enjoy a night of orgies and sharing their "wedding bed" with as many warm bodies as possible. Werewolves are pretty much the only ones who don't put on extravagant parties to celebrate. When alphas find their lunas, usually there is a celebration after the first time they mate as the entire pack usually knows. We celebrate the potential of our alpha's lineage, our new luna, and pray to Goddess for a healthy relationship and pup-bearing. So wedding proposals are usually unique to unbonded pairs such as Kian and I.

Kian stops in his tracks, eyes wide. Ears ablaze, he stammers out, "I-I-I didn't mean it like that."

I laugh and pull him into me, his eyes still wide as he tries to take back whatever he said. With my arms around his waist, I peck him on the lips.

"I'm joking. You're doing all the Big Man stuff, you can at least let me propose to you," I laugh as I kiss him again.

Kian relaxes in my arms. He gives into the brief kiss before pulling back and saying, "I don't remember telling you my name."

"I saw your file," I admit, "just your name."

"Well, when we do get married, I want your last name."

"Kian Levoh," I try it aloud, "I like it. It fits your name well."

"The Levohs," Kian says with a Marquise-y accent that makes both of us laugh. "It sounds fancy."

I laugh as I lean back down to kiss him yet again. I don't care if we're in public, there aren't too many people out here to see us. I just can't resist my relaxed boyfriend with his sun-kissed golden skin, long blonde curls, and muscular body softened a bit from pregnancy – he's just too fine and gorgeous for me not to kiss every second. I slide my hands from around his waist and to his curved belly, rubbing my thumbs against the sides.

"I can't wait to get married to you," I say, "and spend the rest of my life with you and our perfect family."

It may not be the life I thought I'd get, but it's certainly the life I've always wanted. Everything is perfect.

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Word Count: 2513

Yikes why is this chapter all yap.

Anways, I actually wanted Kian to propose but I decided to wait. So much is already happening, it's kind of hard to talk about all these big things all at once because that's what it feels like is happening. I feel like one big thing is happening after the other and it makes it kinda weird to read, so sorry for that. These filler chapters are also weird buffers between the big stuff. I'm just ready for him to have his baby like damn you've been pregnant for too long (literally like 5 months) and there's so many other things I need to write. I can't wait for this book to end though, I am very excited for what might come next.