The Council by Cooper (Jara & Mason)
Chapter 33
Jara
The next morning, Mason is beyond attentive. I warned him that I was nauseous but it’s already better, having laid on Mason all night. He had the kitchen send up some cr*ckers, and before I get out of bed, I eat a few.
Mason follows me into the shower, nuzzling me, bathing me, in general pampering me in every way possible.
When we go downstairs walking into the dining room hand in hand, I shouldn’t be surprised, but Mason immediately stands in front of the room.
“Mason.” I hiss at him.
“Yes, come stand with me, my love.” He says, taking my hand and pulling me up beside him.
“That’s not what I meant.” I whisper to him, but he’s not listening. I can tell through our bond that he’s beyond excited and can’t wait to share our good news with our pack.
“I have an announcement to make.” He says and the room goes quiet. He looks down at me and his eyes are filled with so much. love. “Your Luna has informed me that she is pregnant with our pup.”
The room erupts with howls, cheers, people pounding on the tables and the chairs. Mason leans down to kiss me softly, before I lean my head against his chest, looking out over my happy pack members.
When the noise level finally dies down, the questions begin.
“When will we know if it’s a boy or a girl?”
“How far along are you?”
“Do we have a due date? We need to plan a party?”
The pack’s excitement is contagious, and I’m thrilled that they are all so happy. Mason raises his hand. “Your Luna and I will be making an appointment to see the pack doctor.” He nods in his direction, and the pack members begin slapping him on the back, as if congratulating him on being the doctor that gets to provide the pack with great news.
“We will keep you informed as we get information and I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that sparring with Jara is now off limits.” Everyone laughs at that.
“On a serious note, I’m also sure I don’t have to tell you that now, more than ever, we need to be diligent and ensure that Typhon does not gain entry into our pack. We flushed him out over the weekend, but that only makes him more dangerous until we find him.”
They flushed Typhon out? Mason didn’t tell me that. Of course, we were too busy having our own celebration, but it sounds like we have some things to talk about. “I will also be having an alliance meeting later today and after that, I will have more news to share with all of you. But, in the meantime, know that we have some friction with some other packs. We will be putting in extra safeguards to ensure that they do not have access to our pack. I’ll be giving a list of those packs’ names to Beta Elijah and our Lead Warrior so we can monitor their potential threats.
Any questions?” He asks, still holding on to me.
“Okay then, it’s a day for celebration! Dr. Johns, please come see me.” He says and the room erupts into cheers again.
We make an appointment to see Dr. Johns later this afternoon, before we sit down to eat.
Breakfast is a festive affair. Everyone is excited and wants to come congratulate us. When we finally head out of the dining hall, the whole pack is buzzing. “What time is the alliance call today?” I ask as we head back to Mason’s office. “Another hour. Did you want to sit in?” He asks me.
“Maybe, but why don’t you tell me about Typhon before the call?” I tell him.
He tells me about finding his den and putting patrols on it to watch for him, but no one has seen him.
“So you think he’s watching the pack, watching me?” I ask. Instinctively, my hand goes to my stomach. I haven’t known I was pregnant very long, but I already feel very protective of my little one.
“I do, and that’s why I’ll be putting a guard on you whenever you aren’t with me. Please don’t fight me on this. Before you were pregnant, you could shift and run or at least fight in your wolf form. Now, you’ll not only be stuck in your human form, but you’ll be trying to protect our pup, so you won’t be able to fight at full force.”
“I won’t fight you. I want to protect our little one just as much as you do.” I tell him. He comes over, lifting me out of my seat before sitting down, tucking me into his lap. “I thought I understood Asher’s protectiveness before with Mignon, but I didn’t. Knowing that I now have the two most precious people in my life right here, it’s intolerable that I wouldn’t be able to keep you safe. So, I’m warning, you now, Jara. I’m going to be protective, probably overbearing, at least while we have two threats against us. Please be patient with me but understand that I won’t back down. Your safety and the safety of our pup is everything to me, and I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe, even if that means you and I have to argue about it.”
I roll my eyes at him. “Fine, keep me safe. Keep our pup safe. Twist my arm. But make Lewis my primary guard while we’re in the pack. He’s doing great, barely showing any signs of feral-fever and I’d like to keep it that way.”
“That’s fine. Elijah said he was impressed with him over the weekend. But I’ll need to add a couple more so they can take shifts and still gets some sleep. Anyone else that you specifically want or don’t want on your guard duty?” He asks me and we talk about it, deciding who my guards will be until it’s time for our call.
Seth starts the call, welcoming everyone and letting us all know that there is a lot to discuss. Before he starts, he asks if anyone has anything to say before we start.
Mason jumps in. “I do.” He says, nuzzling my neck. He moved to a new seat, but he still has me in his lap. “Jara let me know that she’s pregnant, so now three of our mates are pregnant.”
The Alphas all cheer for my pregnancy until Alpha Antonio interrupts. “Actually, all four of our mates are pregnant. Annabel let me know when she returned home this weekend that she too is pregnant.”
We all cheer again. This is excellent news. “Have you learned the s*e*x of your pup, Seth?” Mason asks him.
“We have, we went this morning. We are having a little girl!” More cheers from the group. It’s a beautiful day, knowing that we’re all happily mated, pregnant and at least two of us will be having girls.”
I know it must be the hormones already kicking in, but I begin crying happy tears that Mason gently wipes away.