My Mate Is An Omega
Chapter 52

Caitlyn POV

The week following the unexpected discovery was quite chaotic, but also very joyful.

After allowing my mate and I some time to adjust to the whole situation, the doctor came back to run some tests, which concluded that both the baby and I were healthy. I was apparently in my third week of pregnancy, and the vertigo was definitely related to it. Although he said I could experience more dizziness accompanied by nausea or headaches, I thankfully didn't feel any of the symptoms; I could only hope it would stay that way for the next three months until the little one was ready to come out.

At first, I was mostly scared. I was still young and had so much to learn; how could I possibly start caring for another life so soon? The insecurity didn't last long, though. Lance was extremely supportive, and seeing how happy he was, I couldn't help but feel the same way. He was certain our pup was a gift from the Goddess after all the suffering we had to endure, all of the challenges we faced with our heads held high. Honestly, I was starting to believe him.

We decided to tell our friends the very next day. As expected, Luke and Sasha were thrilled. Megan was all about having a niece or nephew, but if I knew her well enough, it would still be a while until she considered having her own pups. To my surprise, Even Jasper seemed excited about the idea of becoming an uncle. Their reaction warmed my heart; after my father passed, I was mostly raised by my mother, so it was great to know my baby already had such a big, amazing family before they were even born. Following the former Beta's advice, my mate proudly made an announcement to let the pack know we were expecting a pup. They were already in a festive mood after our big win, so they quickly celebrated the news with cheers and howls. For the past few days, I had been visited by members who wished to bring gifts to celebrate Diamond Tempest's future heir. It was encouraging to be showered with love, especially by Lance.

However, I would be lying if I said his presence around me lately wasn't a bit overwhelming.

Ever since we found out about our pup, he had become overprotective of me. It was kind of cute and made me feel safe, but it could also be quite annoying sometimes. He treated me as if I was frail like glass, insisting I shouldn't do anything dangerous - although I couldn't see how walking down the stairs instead of being carried could cause me any harm. The lack of privacy was definitely the most tiring; he wouldn't leave me by myself for longer than five minutes. "Everything all right in there, beautiful?"

And speak of the devil.

I had to roll my eyes as I sunk lower into the bathtub, taking a deep breath. The doctor instructed me to bathe in specific salts to help balance my hormones during the pregnancy, but my mate's constant knocks on the door weren't helping me relax. I could feel his hesitation through the matebond, which made me realize I should reply before he kicked the door down.

"I'm fine, Lance. Just like I was two minutes ago, when you asked for the fifth time." I didn't bother hiding the annoyance in my tone. Did he think I was going to drown in our bathtub? In his long silence, I could practically hear Atlas whining at my harshness, and it made me feel slightly guilty. I sighed in defeat. "But you can come in to see for yourself if you want to. The door is unlocked."

My sweet Alpha poked his head through the door shyly, coming in before I could change my mind. He approached me slowly, crouching beside me right next to the tub. There was always a mix of hunger and admiration in his eyes whenever he stared at me before, but this time, there was only love in his gaze.

"I'm sorry." Lance flashed me a saddened look. He knew his protectiveness of me was tiresome, yet he couldn't help it. For some reason, it made me smile. "Do you need some help?"

"Not really," I chuckled, lifting my hand to brush his cheek. He leaned into my touch, completely unbothered by my wet fingers; in fact, he seemed to enjoy it. "But I love it when you wash my hair."

My invitation immediately made him cheer up. "Anything for you, beautiful."

I closed my eyes, focusing on the sensation of his skilled fingers shampooing and massaging my head. He thoroughly untangled my waves, gently as always, before finally rinsing them. He proceeded to rub circles around my neck and shoulders, forcing my muscles to relax. When he was done, his hand traveled down my arm, smoothly diving into the water to search for my hand and pull it to the surface. I didn't miss how the corner of his lips turned up slightly in a smile as soon as his eyes landed on the delicate wooden ring he had given me.

"You're the woman of my life, Cait," he whispered, pressing his finger against my chin to make me look at him. The way he stared intensely into my eyes always made me lose my breath. "And you're carrying my most precious treasure."

"Our treasure," I corrected him. "I know you only want to make sure we are safe, but I can take care of myself."

He smirked. "I know you can. You are a fierce she-wolf; I've known it from the moment I first laid eyes on you. I promise I'll try to back off and give you some space."

"Not too much though. I still love having you close." I gave him a quick peck on the lips before rising to my feet. "Let me get dressed and we can go to the office."

"The office?" He furrowed his eyebrows, handing me the towel.

"Yeah. We still work on Fridays," I recalled playfully.

"Maybe you shouldn't work too much. It could be bad for the-" He stopped mid-sentence the second I arched a brow at him. He sighed as he remembered the promise he had just made. "Anyway, we barely have anything to do now that we solved our bear problem." "I'm not quite convinced it's over yet. We don't know how many they were, and what if-" I was about to head into the room when he pulled me by the wrist, wrapping his arms around me from behind. The towel I had wrapped around my body would have fallen off if I hadn't instinctively held it tighter.

"You need to stop worrying about that. Our Sentinels haven't found traces of bears on our borders anymore. Our Scouts couldn't locate any of them in the nearby areas," he insisted. It was hard to pay attention to his words when his lips were so close to my neck, but his hot breath against my skin sure was convincing. "I told our team they would be free as soon as they were done with their tasks for the day. Maybe we can take the day off as well."

"And what should we do?"

"You tell me, my beautiful Luna." He placed a kiss on my cheek before leading me to the room. "Is there anything you'd like to do?"

I was thoughtful for a moment. "Now that you've mentioned it... I kinda feel like cooking. I haven't set foot in the kitchen ever since we gained our titles, and I've been having cravings for my mother's moose stew." "Pregnancy hormones, huh?" He laughed as he gently pulled away. "Sounds like a plan."

I put on a light blue button dress while Lance changed into a new plain white T-shirt, since the one he was wearing had gotten damp. He took my hand and walked me out of the room, stiffening once we got to the stairs. It was clear that he was reluctant about letting me go down the steps on my own. Thankfully, he chose not to say anything, kindly giving me the chance to prove to him that the stairs wouldn't eat me alive.

I thought Lance was hard to deal with until we made it to the kitchen; the staff was adamant about not allowing their pregnant Luna cook. For a brief moment, I seriously considered using my Luna tone for the first time on them, but I decided against it. After what seemed like an eternity, they finally agreed to leave us after they demanded their Alpha to take good care of me. It was an interesting scene to watch.

We quickly gathered the ingredients and necessary equipment before starting to prepare our meal. My mate insisted on chopping the meat and vegetables so that I wouldn't have to get near a knife. As stupid as I thought his concerns were, I had enough of arguing with him about it. For once, I let him have his way, content to just give him the instructions. At least I was allowed to stand near the stove.

"Hmm... I guess it's fine," I observed, using a small spoon to taste the stew. "Now we wait."

"The smell is already amazing." Lance smiled as he stood right behind me like a pup anxious to have his food. No matter how annoying he was, I could never truly get tired of him.

"It probably won't taste as good as my mother's, but it'll have to do." I shrugged before stepping closer to the kitchen sink. It had been a long time since I last washed any dishes, and weirdly enough, I kind of missed the simplicity of it.

"Wait! I can take care of that!" My mate immediately rushed to my side.

"I'm sure I can handle some cutlery and a few cooking pots, Lance." I frowned at him, completely ignoring his concerns as I turned on the faucet to start cleaning. "Seriously, you need to- Argh!" I winced.

The knife I was washing fell back into the metal sink with a loud bang. Distracted with reprimanding my mate, I must have gripped the blade too tight and ended up cutting myself. Out of reflex, I pulled my hand back, closing it before I could even assess the damage. "I told you!" It was Lance's turn to scold me. He was by my side in less than a second, but I dodged his touch.

"Of course! If you keep saying something bad will happen, eventually you're gonna be right!" I barked, furrowing my brows.

"Whatever. Let me see it."

"It's just a cut. I'll heal." I waved him off, but he wasn't satisfied.

"Come on, Cait. Just let me see it," he insisted. I growled in annoyance as I stretched my hand out, showing him my palm.

To our surprise, there was nothing there. Under the fresh blood, there were no cuts, no scars.

"What... did it heal?" He stared at my palm in utter confusion.

Honestly, I was a bit shocked too, but I just shrugged it off. "Like I said, it was just a superficial cut."

"Still, Omegas shouldn't heal that fast. I sure as hell don't," he observed.

"I'm technically a Luna now. The power transfer ceremony must have enhanced my abilities."

"Maybe, but-"

He stopped suddenly as his eyes clouded over - someone was mindlinking him. The expression he had on his face when he turned back to me made my heart stop.

"What?"

"Jasper needs me at the town square. He said it was urgent," he informed me in a serious tone.

All I could do was nod as I followed him out of the kitchen. My mind was racing as I tried to think of what could possibly have happened. Maybe a conflict between warriors of different species? No, we hadn't had those since the first week after the foxes came to stay with us, and it wouldn't make sense for them to fight now. Had my nightmares come true? Were the bears back to torment us? "Over here!" The Gamma's yell got my attention.

And my despair was slowly replaced by anger as I realized where he was - at the bar, alongside the other ranked members. Lance seemed just as annoyed as I was, but we still allowed Jasper the chance to explain himself before we murdered him for scaring us. "Dude, you need to try this drink Megan just invented!" Judging by his excitement, I could tell he was already tipsy.

"A drink? You said it was an emergency!" my mate complained.

"It's a shot, actually," my best friend stated, holding up a small glass filled with three colorful layers of different liquors. "I named it Screaming O****m. It's just as good as an o****m, and it'll have you screaming in pleasure!" She laughed proudly, handing her invention over to Lance. I noticed he was holding his rage back to prevent his fingers from shattering the glass.

I, on the other hand, had to laugh. Megan wouldn't change even if she became a queen.

"Screaming O****m?" I repeated, failing to hold my laughter.

"I'm sorry, babe. You're not allowed to try this alcohol-ecstasy for the next three months," she joked.

"Oh, but I'm curious." I turned to Lance, who arched an eyebrow at me. He seemed to relax when he realized my anger was gone. Without saying another word, he downed the whole glass. "Wow!" he gasped, widening his eyes.

"Yep. Screaming in pleasure." Jasper tapped him on the back.

"Not as good as a real o****m. But close," my mate remarked, making us all laugh.

"Come on guys, we've had enough drinks for today. Let's do something our soon-to-be momma can enjoy too." Sasha smiled at me.

"Oh! If you're hungry, we can have dinner together. Lance and I were just cooking a..." I widened my eyes, exchanging worried looks with my mate.

"The stew!" we both said in unison, rushing back to the kitchen. Our friends seemed oblivious to our concern, but they followed us nonetheless.

Thankfully, we arrived before the stew was ruined. Each of us grabbed a bowl before sitting down at the table to eat together. Our friends all praised my cooking skills, and Lance insisted it was even better than my mother's. Before the kitchen staff came back to kick us out, we had the chance to enjoy each other's company. For the first time in a while, we got to spend some time together like a group of friends rather than work colleagues, and it was truly nice. I loved them with all of their flaws, their individual traits that made them so unique.

And I could only hope we would have many more moments like this.