Hearthway Hollow

Beau: Part Two

Male Reader/Monster x Female Human

Hearthway Hollow was supposed to be a punishment for me. I was left here to die and be forgotten by the world. To the rest of the weres, Hearthway Hollow was a joke, a blight of weakness in what had once been a strong lineage. Werewolves didn't have families, or quaint towns in the mountains. For the most part, werewolves saw themselves as wild animals.

Wolves do not have alphas, but werewolves are not wolves. They are human in nature. Humans need leadership and guidance, and sometimes they need an alpha. Usually, the alpha was chosen not because of their own skill or merit, but simply because they were the biggest, the meanest, and most unbeatable. For a long time - it feels like ages ago - that was me.

I led a wild pack, and we did horrible things. I would not have considered my younger self a good person, let alone a person at all. I was lonely and willing to do anything to keep my pack around me even though I despised most of them. But easily enough, they turned on me and left me broken, beaten, and bloodied in Hearthway Hollow.

I should not have survived, let alone thrived the way I have. I have my own business, I own a farm, and I'm married to the love of my life. I am beyond lucky, and now that I am expecting my first child, I am half certain I am dreaming.

Shauna is ready to pop any day now, and has been placed on bedrest for about two weeks. She refuses to sit still, so I cannot leave her alone for very long. She keeps wanting to fix things in the nursery, or rearrange the kitchen for some strange reason.

I can't blame her. I have been nesting since Shauna told me she was pregnant. I have rebuilt the fence around the house, replaced all the locks on the doors, gotten new windows for the whole house. I have safety latches for everything, which Shauna hates because she can't figure out how to operate them.

"It's way too early to be putting safety precautions around the house!" She complains. "The baby isn't even out, let alone tearing through the kitchen looking for the drain cleaner."

"I can't help it!" I grouse back. "I was a terror as a pup. Imagine your worst nightmare and then make it thirty pounds of pure rage."

"What makes you think this one will be like that?" Shauna points to her belly.

I sigh, slouching my shoulders. "I'm just worried, Shauna, that's all. I know I was raised to be hell, and I want to raise our baby to be, well... I want them to be so good."

"And he will be," Shauna scoffs.

I furrow my brow. "He?"

Her eyes widen while she sucks her lips into her mouth. "Who?" Her voice cracks.

I look down at her and tilt my head to the side. "He. You called our baby he!"

"No?" Her eyes dart around out of guilt. "Did I?" She lets out a hoarse laugh. "No! I didn't. Crazy." She punches my arm.

I grab her hand. "We agreed not to find out until the baby was born! It's a boy?" I start to cry like I haven't done since she told me she was pregnant. I cried when we got married too, but this is a different sort of happy tears.

Shauna smiles, wiping the tears from my face as I grin. "He's a big one. The doctor says I will probably give birth to a giant."

I scoop her up in my arms, lifting her from the ground and spinning her.

Ever since we announced the pregnancy, the Knitting Circle has been making things for the baby nonstop. We have more blankets than I ever could have hoped for. There are enough tiny booties to fill a grain silo, not to mention all the adorable sweaters and onesies. Billy has given us a handmade crib, quite possibly the most unexpected gift I ever received besides Shauna and the baby themselves.