Don Salvatori held up a hand to silence his son when Vito started to open his mouth. Denys nodded at Pops. "My family is good with that plan, Francis. And my men are at your disposal should you need any help."
Denys Stanislav's beady eyes shifted right and then left before he shook his head. "I agree with the plan, but I insist that two of my sons accompany the Novaks when they follow the lead." He held up a hand before anyone could say anything. "Not because they let the woman get away when there was shooting in a high traffic area and a pregnant omega’s presence clouding their judgment. I can let that go. But I would remind you that it was my son who was taken originally. Pavlo deserves to have justice and for his brothers to see it done."
Funny how he didn't mind dropping Pavlo's name when they never seemed to care too much about him the rest of the time. As for the pregnant omega and clouded judgment comment, I decided to let it go. It wasn't worth my time to let that disgusting toad get under my skin.
Seamus shrugged. "Not all of us are quite that cold when it comes to our pregnant mates, Denys. I'd take care, if I were you, when you make remarks like that." He turned to my father. "Francis, if you need someone small to do advanced scouting, my boys are at your disposal. Not that I think you need any help, but the offer is there if you need it."
Pops stared at Denys until the shorter man looked away. "Tensions are high, so I will let that remark pass. As for your sons coming along? I will allow one son— and it better not be Uriel, because he's shown himself to be a hothead—to accompany my boys and bear witness to whatever does or does not go down. Whichever son you send, I would suggest sending one with a cool head because I will not tolerate any problems caused by a Stanislav being present."
Denys considered that for a moment before giving a terse nod. "Fine. Artem will go with them. He knows how to keep his mouth shut and follow orders."
"Thank you. I will let you know when we're ready for Artem and finalize the details after I meet with Liam O'Malley tomorrow about the berries." Pops gave his attention back to the O'Malleys. "Liam, I appreciate your sense of urgency but I agree with your father. Take your time and make sure you have the best information. Is noon good or do you think you'll need longer?"
Liam shook his head. "Noon sounds great. That even gives me time to sleep."
Vas walked over and held his hand out to Liam. As they shook, Vas thanked him again while everyone else started looking around as if they were ready to leave. Pops must've been on the same wavelength because he took a moment to shake hands with the other Dons. "I think we are done here, gentlemen. Thank you again for showing your trust by meeting like this tonight. I'll be in touch when I have something to share."
After we shifted and made our way back to the trees, I felt almost dizzy with relief. Not only had we managed to get through that meeting in one piece but we had an actual lead.
And even better? I was only about half an hour away from crawling into bed and snuggling my mate. Our son was due soon and I didn’t like to be away from Tanner this long. Hold on, Facts. I’m on my way home…
13
Tanner
In the last week, I’d gone from looking solidly pregnant to ready to burst. Moving around was exhausting now, and I regretted all the bragging I’d done just the weekend before about how the only thing that had become difficult was putting my socks and shoes on.
Now everything was difficult. Sitting down. Standing up. Rolling out of bed. Standing. I only sat down when I planned to stay down for a while, especially when Ivan was out. Like he was tonight.
He’d be worried when he got home and realized I was still awake, but it was hard to sleep when a tiny monster kept kicking your kidneys and bouncing on your bladder. Not a monster… our son. We had a name picked out and everything. The only thing missing was for him to actually be here.
Like a true Novak, our boy made his presence known. Like he did every time he played soccer with my internal organs. And sticking his elbow out like he was trying to bust out like an alien baby… or I thought it was an elbow. Maybe a knee.
I gently poked the offending appendage back in. “Boop.”
He shifted, maybe switching to the other side, and then pushed out against my belly again.
“Boop.”
This is how I’d been entertaining myself the last few days. Playing booping games with my son. That, and whispering his name to him when no one could hear me. I just didn’t want people to think I was weird.
“Alexei,” I crooned. “Is it going to be weird when I wake up and you’re not in there anymore?” I framed my stomach with my hands and waited for him to push out again. Nothing happened. I could still feel him moving, though.
“Alexei, huh? You decided against Baby Yoda, then?” I startled at the sound of River’s voice. He laughed and came all the way into my room. “Sorry if I scared you. I’m waiting up for Vasily and thought I’d poke my head in and make sure you didn’t need anything. I know how hungry you’ve been lately, and heaven forbid you miss your fourth dinner or whatever.”
Which was code for he was worried about me. River reminded me of those candies with the hard, nutty exterior and nothing but sweet, milk chocolatey yum in the center.
“There’s no such thing as fourth dinner—you’re thinking of second breakfast. And yeah, we decided on Alexei. Do you like it?”
River shrugged, taking a seat on the side of my bed. “It’s good enough, as names go. Does that mean I get to call him Lex Luthor when he grows up all big and growly?”
“Lex Luthor is intelligent, which is why he uses the power of his mind to fight Superman. So no, you can’t call him that because it wouldn’t fit someone big and growly. Plus, that’s assuming he’s an alpha. And a bear. We don’t know that part yet, remember?” I rubbed my belly again, hoping to make Alexei pop a foot out for Uncle River. It squicked him out every time which always made me giggle.
River raised a brow. “Are you suggesting that omegas can’t be big and growly? I’d watch that around Joey, if I were you.”
I felt my cheeks go hot. “Crap! I was just joking, I didn’t even think. I would never seriously say that about omegas, or women either, for that matter. Did you know the world’s strongest woman only weighs a hundred and twenty-five pounds but she holds the world record for lifting over eleven hundred and fifty pounds?”
“Easy, now. Don’t start with the ‘did you know’ schtick. I was just messing with you anyway. Let’s circle back to your baby hybrid and why you aren’t naming him Baby Yoda.” River leaned back on his elbows, watching me with a big grin.
I stuck my tongue out at him. “Quit messing with me. That’s mean. I didn’t say our baby would be a hybrid, I merely suggested it would be adorable if he could be. I think it’s a shame that children from mixed pairings only get to inherit one animal or the other. A bi-species child would be awesome. And a baby that’s half flying squirrel-half bear? Too cute for words. I’ll fight anyone who says different.”
River lifted a hand. “Different.” He winked and leaned back again. “Don’t fight me, though. I won’t hurt a friend… especially a pregnant one. Now let me tell you why I disagree.”