Alone

Chapter 27

*Damien's POV*

If Jacob weren't in wolf form, he'd definitely be blushing.

I don't care. I'll tell him he's beautiful a thousand times, if that's what it took to get it through his thick skull. 

My mate's beautiful wolf had vibrant, grey fur that stands out from a mile away. Almost like the color of graphite from a pencil, his fur was intoxicatingly perfect. On his feet and the tip of his ear were patches of white fur that made him look extremely adorable. He was the size of a pup, about 3 feet tall. It was disconcerting, sure, but considering his past and how this is his first shift, I suppose it's understandable. 

I kiss Jacob's muzzle playfully, and I'm returned with a wolfy grin and a lick across my cheek. Ryder gets the same treatment. 

"Oh Sweetheart," Ryder's sorrowful voice breaking the silence. "We're so sorry that we almost missed your first shift."

Jacob yips playfully. Weirdly, both my brother and I understand what he meant. 

I shake my head. "No, it's not ok. We know how painful your first shift can be, and we should have known better. It was only going to be a matter of time after we mated."

Jacob shoots us a confused look. I smile internally. I never expected that I would be the one telling him the news. 

After mind linking the others, telling them to scatter, it's just the three of us in the clearing. Jacob is in Ryder's lap, positioned so that he's half-facing both of us. 

I take his little paw in my hand. I have to resist staring in awe at the pillowy-soft fur that greets my skin like a cloud.

"Love, I know this is sort of a weird way to tell you this but I suppose it's as good of a time as any." I take a deep breath, hoping that he'll take the news well. "The reason you shifted is that your anatomy had to change."

I pause for a moment, letting the news sink in. "It had to change because it had to make room for something, something that it normally would not have to carry."

His innocent eyes stare back at me, still genuinely confused as to what I was going on about. I get a little closer, and send him a reassuring smile. "It's a pup, Jacob. You're carrying our pup."

There we go. Immediately after I said the word pup, Jacob's paws instinctively fly to his stomach. It's almost cute how human-like he acts, even while in wolf form.

Honestly, though, I wasn't interested in that. I was interested in how he felt about having a baby. He's only 18, for goddess' sake. Even girls, who have an innate understanding that pregnancy is a possibility for them, aren't truly ready for kids at his age. Ryder and I are 26 and we're only barely ready

I can see the gears turning in Jacob's head. Through some kind of mate-bond magic, I know what he wants. He wants to speak. 

I pull him off of Ryder's lap and onto the ground. I strip off my shirt and place it next to him, as his own had gotten destroyed during his shift.

"In order to shift, you need to think of your human body. How it looks, how it functions Running and grabbing with hands and feet, rather than with paws." I smile at my beautiful, handsome, perfect mate. I pat the shirt, "We'll turn to give you some privacy, then we can talk." With that, Ryder and I rise and turn around.

I hear soft grunts of exertion as Jacob tries to figure out his new abilities. It only takes 5 minutes, though, before I hear the familiar sound of bones breaking and rearranging themselves to form a human body. To my right, Ryder smirks. Our little mate is a prodigy. It took us 7 and 12 minutes to figure out how to shift to our human forms.