Chapter 149

Michael POV

"That went well. Your brother seems like a good guy, and I like his mate. She's funny," I said as we walked back to Shawna's parents' cottage.

"Funny Michael?" she asked.

"Uh, quirky?" I said.

"That's a better word. She's a nice girl, though. I don't know what Mom's issue is. I don't think they are faking anything. My brother can't keep his hands off her, and that to me looks more like a mate bond. They are worse than we are," she said with a smile. "It's cute, actually."

We walked into the house, and Shawna's parents were sitting on the couch, both reading a book by the light of the lanterns. "How was dinner?" her Mom asked as we walked in.

"It was great," Shawna answered. "We're kind of beat though, so going to bed. We can do breakfast in the morning Mom."

"Oh okay," she said, looking down at her lap. "That sounds good."

We went to the room, and began undressing so we could go to sleep. "You don't want to spend time with your parents tonight?" I asked.

"No. I don't. I need to have a conversation with my mother about Cassidy and Ben and I want to be well rested to do it. I need to find out exactly what she's doing, ignoring the fact that she's going to have a grand child in a month. She loves Ben, I just don't get it." she stripped down and put on her pajamas. "I'm going to go brush my teeth and then I really do want to go to sleep. I'm feeling kind of worn out."

I watched as Shawna went to the bathroom to finish getting ready for bed. She had said earlier that her stomach didn't feel right. She was saying earlier that she was feeling tired and now she is telling me she's worn out and wants to go to sleep. I smiled to myself. Maybe my little mate is pregnant. We have been having a lot of sex and she did have her heat just a few weeks ago. I decided I'd ask her when she was ready to get into bed.

Shawna returned and I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth myself. I splashed a little water on my face and told myself I'd shave in the morning. I'd fit right in with all these other men if I didn't shave but that's just not how I'm comfortable. I went to the room and climbed into the bed next to Shawna and pulled her into my arms. I wrapped my arms around her and rested her head on my chest. "Babe?"

"Hmmmm", she answered.

"Perhaps your pregnant. You said you weren't feeling great, when are you supposed to have your cycle?" I asked her.

Shawna sat up with her eyes wide, "Oh," she jumped out of bed and grabbed her planner off the dresser. I watched as her expression changed from concentration, to confusion, to anxiety. "Umm, I think I'm late."

"That's a good thing, isn't it?" I asked her, not wanting to assume that my mate is ready to be a mother yet.

"Umm, yeah it's great, but Michael, we can't stay here. I don't want my mother to know and I will not go to the doctor here." She looked a little panicky. "My mom will expect us to stay till the baby is born."

"Shawna," I got out of bed and walked to her. "It's going to be fine. We don't have to tell anyone anything. We can leave in a couple of days. We can get you a pregnancy test when we get into town, if that's what you want. You can see the doctor at my pack, it's early enough that nothing needs to happen right now."

"You're right. I don't know why I'm freaking out. We want to have pups, I mean I do." She looked at me. "Oh do you not want children? I never asked you."

"Of course I do Shawna. You just seem a little freaked out, but honestly, it's between you and me and we don't have to tell anyone until you are ready." I pulled her against my chest. "You don't even know for sure that you're pregnant, it's just our suspicion right now. Let's finish up our time here and go home. We can worry about it when we get home."

"Right. I know," she sighed. "I'm sorry, I did get a little freaked out. Let's go to bed," she said as she stood on her tip toes and kissed me. "Let's go to bed."

We crawled into bed and snuggled up under the covers. Within minutes, Shawna was asleep. I was thrilled that she was likely pregnant. I had spent a better part of my adult years wondering if I'd ever have a mate. Being a guardian was demanding and left very little room for a personal life. I was lucky though, not only did I have a mate, I found my fated mate. We had just been given the green light to move on with our lives and to return to my home pack. There, we would start our lives together and build a family. There had been so many blockades the past couple of years, I honeslty hoped we were past all of that. It seemed the best thing to do was to get out of this mountain side village in the middle of nowhere and get my mate away from her overly demanding mother. That's what Shawna indicated that she wanted as well, so I was going to do my best to convince her that we should leave in the next couple of days, rather than staying for the week we originally discussed. I didn't think she'd put up much resistance to that idea. Her mother was already driving her crazy.

Shawna shifted in her sleep and I placed my hand on her flat stomach, thinking to myself, there's probably a baby in there. My baby. Finally, everything that we both had hoped for, might actually be coming true.