Page 21 of Her Choice

I’d had plenty of orgasms, especially with our bond, but something was different about this one. A deep ache simmered low in my body, followed by a gush of what I assumed was arousal.

I leaned back, staring down at the puddle now lying in the fallen leaves. “Did I just squirt?”

Aaron pulled his soaked hand back. “Or your water broke.”

My eyes widened as an excruciating pain started low in my back, rumbling toward my stomach. “Oh crap.”

Aaron charged toward me, holding my stomach as the wave of pain slowly subsided, and I gulped in deep breaths of air.

“I think the baby’s coming,” I gasped.

“Let’s get you to the hospital.”

He held my stomach, arm around my waist, as he helped me shuffle back through the woods.

We bypassed the party and headed straight for the gravel drive, where all the cars were parked. There were a ton more vehicles than were normally around since several people from Timber Ridge were here—including both of our families. My mom and dad had visited shortly after Aaron and I had taken care of the men who’d tracked me down, and it was the first of many times they’d come to see us.

Another wave of pain shot through my stomach, but this time, it was just as heated as Aaron’s grip on my waist.

“Some asshole is blocking my truck,” he growled.

“Hey, no need to call names,” a deep voice bellowed.

I couldn’t even catch my breath or turn around as our beta sauntered toward us. Leyton came to a halt in front of me, eyes widening as he looked down.

“Is she okay?”

“No, she’s about to have a baby, and you're blocking my truck,” Aaron growled.

He pulled his keys out of his pocket. “Okay, then, let me drive you guys. It’s the least I can do, and then you can focus on your mate instead of the road.”

Aaron started to protest, but I shook my head. “Just let him do it. The sooner this pain is over, the better.”

Aaron shut his mouth and nodded before helping me into the truck for what would hopefully be a quick ride to the hospital. Luckily, Leyton had nerves of steel because he had to put up with my screams the entire way there. The only time he’d seemed rattled was when a nurse ran out of the hospital to help me into a wheelchair, barely noticing him.

It was a good thing she was hyper-focused on me because she was able to get me in a room with a doctor to help deliver our boy only minutes later.

“You did so good, sweetness. Andrew is perfect,” Aaron murmured, running his hands over our son’s cheeks, looking even smaller against his large fingertips.

His birth might not have gone how we expected, and I was pretty sure we scared Leyton out of ever wanting to get someone pregnant, but he was here.

As I watched my mate look down at our little boy with so much love, I knew there was nothing wrong with timing. It was all about how you made it work. And we sure as heck had done that to the point of perfection.

EPILOGUE

AARON

Icurled my arm around my mate and tucked her closer against my side before placing a soft kiss on her temple. She smiled up at me, and just like every other time, my heart thumped, and desire shot through my body.

I wanted to hop right back in the car and take her to the nearest bed, but I’d promised her a date night. Andrew and our one-month-old baby girl, Cassie, were with my parents. We were headed into Timber Treasures for dinner, but then I was taking her home to ravish her beautiful body until we picked up the kids tomorrow.

“Aaron?”

I stopped short at the sound of my name in a vaguely familiar voice.

Turning my head toward it, I had to think for a second why the woman looked familiar. Then it hit me. She was the human woman who had rejected fate. I expected to feel a rush of hatred flow through me, but instead, all I felt was relief. Nothing else. Not even the tiniest flicker of desire. How could I when I had the most amazing woman in the world in my bed and my heart?

I was grateful that fate had given me a second chance. The chance to meet my real mate. The woman I could never live without.