DYLAN ||

I watched Raiden sniff my stomach, my whole body frozen in fear. He was desperately looking for something, that same thing that I seriously prayed to Goddess that wasn't true.

Gabe and Hunter told me that men can carry pups, they said men can grow a womb based off their mates. If the male's mate is more domineering, then the lesser dominant male will grow a womb to accommodate their mating.

I seriously wished we were the other option, which involved two equally dominant males, matching each other's strengths, then both males would grow a womb after their marking.

Unfortunately for me, my leopard is without a fucking doubt, more dominate than I am. So it seemed like my fear of being a pregnant alpha male was becoming all too damn true as I watched Raiden continue to sniff me before his eyes met mine.

"Pups, you're pregnant."

I knew..

As soon as he sunk his canines into his mark, I felt it. The warmth, the new energy, that cinnamon taste on the tip of my tongue and I couldn't fight it. There was no point because Raiden had a death grip on me and then when he let me go, I still couldn't move.

My symptoms over the last 3 weeks made complete fucking sense now.

The nausea, the exhaustion, the pain, the headaches, the hunger, the mood swings..

I'm terrified right now.

This can't be fucking happening.

I can't be a pregnant alpha male.

That's just laughable.

I just became comfortable with my sexuality and now I have to become comfortable with this new thing so fucking quick?

It's not fair, I'm not ready for this.

FUCK. This can't be happening...

SHIT.

I continue to stare at Raiden as he finally stands up from his position on the floor. His eyes were locked on mine and I couldn't help but get emotional. This is a fucking nightmare.

When did he even knot me?

Noticing my overwhelmed expression, Raiden pulled me into a hug. "Don't cry puppy, it's going to be ok."

"No it's not." I cried into his chest as he cradled the back of my head.

"Yes it is baby, it's going to be just fine. This is a beautiful thing, we're going to have cubs."

"Cubs?!" I exclaim through my tears as I pulled away from his chest to look into his eyes. I searched for the lie, I wanted to find it, I needed to find it. I can't be a pregnant alpha male, much less one carrying more than one pup.

"Yes love, I think you might be carrying a litter." He explained with a soft smile, which only further pissed me off.

"How do you know that? You don't even know if I'm.. that." I couldn't bring myself to actually say the word out loud. I can't be pregnant, no way and I was going to live in denial until it's confirmed.

"Pups, I can feel them as much as you can.. their warmth, their light, their energy. Your scent is so much sweeter, they brought on some cinnamon scent that's so unique to them. I think it's two cubs, but it might be more." His smile grew, deepening my frown.

"A litter Raiden? I don't want to have a fucking litter! I don't even want to be pregnant. I'm a man!"

"And men can carry cubs Dylan."

"Not alpha males! This shouldn't have happened! When did you even knot me? Why didn't you warn me before you did that?!" I yell, forcing my way out of his grasp.

"Alpha males can carry cubs Dylan, it's as normal as other ranks carrying them and don't pretend like you didn't knot me more than once during my heat." His voice was calm, but I felt how frustrated he was through our bond.

I swallow and turn away, unable to look him in the eyes. He was right, I didn't ask him before I knotted him and I did that way more than once. If he were the one to grow a womb and become pregnant, I wouldn't have freaked out the way I'm freaking out now, but fuck man, this is not ok.

I'm spiraling, legit spiraling.

"Pups, look at me." Raiden whispers, I tear my gaze from the wall and look back at my mate once again.

"I'm here with you." He tells me, taking a step closer before grabbing my hands. "I'm here and if you don't want to do this, I understand and I'll be with you for any path you want to take."

"If you want to take care of this and try again later, I respect that. I can't lie and say I won't be sad, but I'll respect your decision and I'll be there with you every step of the way." I shake my head as he kissed my fingertips.

My frown deepened to an unrecognizable level. My tears fell heavily as I tried to process what the fuck was happening. I didn't want this, I wasn't ready for this, but my mate is so happy and I might actually be pregnant with our pups.

My pups.

I couldn't get rid of them. I wouldn't want Raiden to do that if he was pregnant.

"I love you puppy and I know you're scared." He whispers tucking my hands into his and closing the gap between us. His face was mere inches from mine, I could feel his breath fanning across my lips. "But I'm right here with you and I'll do whatever I can to help you get through this."

One of his hands releases mine and trails down to rub my stomach. I flinch as new tears rush towards the surface. I hated the feeling of his hands on my stomach, rubbing it lovingly like I'm some pregnant shewolf that needed pampering.

"You're carrying our cubs baby." He kisses the tip of my nose and I sniffle. "That's a huge blessing."

"It feels like a curse." I whisper back, hanging my head, only seconds later, I felt his finger hook under my chin and force my gaze back into his.

"You just tell me what you want to do and I'll be there, to follow your lead and support you"

I stare into his eyes, they were so full of emotion and care and love and I hated it so much. I know I'm not ready for this, it's hard for me to accept this, but could I really get rid of my pups? The ones that I would carry and nurture and grow?

No..

So all I did was shake my head and Raiden's smile grew once again. My heart flipped at his happiness.

"We can get the pack doctor and have him do an exam today just to confirm and then we can go from there, ok?" He offers gently and I nod.

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|| TWO HOURS LATER ||

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Raiden left me after our little conversation earlier. He went to go get Liam and tell him what was going on, I was fucking terrified for anyone else to find out, but he needed to know so that he could make sure the pack doctor knew what to bring and how to help me.

He asked if I was ok with Taj and Bennett knowing the news, seeing how my brother volunteered in the pack hospital, he was bound to know, so I reluctantly agreed and waited for everyone to get here to confirm or deny Raiden's suspicions.

As soon as the pack doctor came in. He introduced himself, saying his name was Miles and he has over 30 years experience in the medical field and to my surprise, he was Human.

Miles said his mate is a wolf named, Allio, who's one of the best male warriors they have here in the shadow pack. Liam found Allio near the human city, severely injured. He was the first wolf apart of Liam's pack.

Liam helped free Allio from the trap he was stuck in and as they traveled through the human city to the local hospital. Liam figured since they both were in their forms, nobody would suspect anything and it's not like humans can actually smell the beasts within us, so Liam took Allio to the human hospital and Miles was the doctor that helped treat him.

Long story short, Allio fell in love with his mate during his month long stay in the hospital and he brought Miles with him. The three men built the shadow pack for what it is now, which was truly fucking incredible.

According to Miles, he knows more about the male womb aspect than most because he's had to study it in depth when he and Allio were trying to have pups. With Miles being human, his womb didn't take properly, so they had to find a way for Allio to grow a womb which involved an equally dominant or more dominant wolf to mark him.

That's where Liam came in. He offered to mark Allio just for the sake of his body being able to grow a womb.. Liam rejected him the same day they found his womb had fully developed, which was so amazing.

My new dad didn't care about weakening himself or his wolf for the sake of helping his friends. The whole thought of his selflessness caused a twinge of pain in my chest as I used to be afraid to reject Raiden, all for the selfish reasons of weakening myself.

Liam is a way better man than Dean, he's a better man than I am.

Hearing another form of his selflessness, I put my big boy briefs on and tried to grow the fuck up to stay still during this ultrasound.

Miles and Allio brought in a portable ultrasound machine, this handheld thing and some goo that they squirted all over my stomach before rolling the handheld thing across my abdomen.

I laid flat on the bed, Raiden sat next to me and held my hand. I could see Taj, Liam and Bennett on the other side of the bed as Miles and Allio were sitting in front of the ultrasound machine.

The machine made a few clicking sounds and a whirring sound, my eyes stayed glued to the ceiling as I frowned when I felt the handheld wand thing roll across my stomach even harder.

I subconsciously squeezed Raiden's hand when I heard the thumping of a heartbeat, praying to Goddess that it was just mine.

Then I heard everyone in the room gasp and the sound of my heartbeat, plus

One...

Two...

Three..

Other heartbeats flood the room and I suck in a sharp breath before closing my eyes.

FUCK.

Then I heard Raiden's voice in the midst of it all.

"Pups, look." I shake my head at his soft tone of voice. I didn't want to look, I didn't want it to be true, fuck me man, I can't be a pregnant alpha male.

"Dylan." My mate's voice forces it's way through my panicked thoughts as he calls out to me through our link. "Open your eyes love, look at our cubs."

CUBS.

He said cubs, plural, like more than one, like I'm actually pregnant and there's more than one inside of my fucking womb, that I grew, that I wasn't supposed to and now I'm pregnant, with more than one little booger snatcher and I'm a man. FUCK.

"Come on baby, open your eyes, share this moment with me." His voice tears through our link one more time.

I swallow nervously, my lip trembling as I slowly open my eyes. Staring at the ceiling, my heart was pounding while my leg started shaking fearfully before my eyes travel to the side to look at my mate.

He stared back at me with tear stained cheeks and a smile of his face, while he bit his bottom lip. I frown at his happy expression before finally looking at the screen on the ultrasound machine.

Sure enough, there were 3 little jelly beans wiggling around on the screen and the stupid wand thing was still on my stomach, forcing no doubt in my mind that those jelly beans belonged to me and Raiden and they are fucking growing in the womb, that I'm not supposed to have.

I guess Raiden got his fucking litter.

FUCK ME, I'M PREGNANT.

"Congratulations Alphas, you have three healthy little ones." Miles smiles at me then at Raiden.

I rolled my eyes, tearing them away from the screen.

"Can you tell if they're canines or felines?" Raiden asked, causing me to roll my eyes again before I closed them all together.

"No, not yet, I won't be able to verify their species until they are born, but I can tell you how far along Alpha Dylan is."

My eyes flew open at Miles statement.

"According to the scan and the sizes of each fetus, Alpha Dylan would be approximately 3 weeks along."

"How long are werewolf pregnancies?" Raiden asks.

"About 20 weeks with a singular pregnancy, however with litters, we tend to see the carrier last up until about 15-17 weeks, majority of the time, litters come earlier than expected."

"Would that mean our cubs won't be fully developed?" Raiden asks.

"Sometimes, but we will perform ultrasounds every 2 weeks and if the little ones are showing any growth issues, we can administer growth hormone shots to Dylan at every scan to ensure a healthy birth weight and the full development of organs at birth." Miles explains, I shake my head again before pulling my hand from Raiden's grip.

He didn't even seem to notice as he just kept asking questions.

"When would we be able to find out the genders?"

"Around the halfway mark, so about 10 weeks."

"You hear that babe, 7 more weeks and we can find out what our cubs are! I bet they're boys." Raiden was practically giddy, all I could offer him was a sarcastic smile and a totally unenthusiastic nod.

"Is there anything we should know about like risks? Is there anything Dylan shouldn't be doing?" Raiden asks, causing my attention to snap to Miles.

"What? There's risks? Like I can't do certain things?" I ask frantically.

"Yes Dylan, there's quite a few things you shouldn't be doing. I'll provide Raiden with a list of no-no's." Miles laughs, as does my stupid mate.

"There's also some things I want you to know during your pregnancy... There won't be any shifting..."

"No shifting?!" I yell, completely interrupting Miles. "Will I lose Maddox too?"

"No Dylan, you just won't be able to shift, this is a normal reaction that happens to all those who fall pregnant, it's your body's way of protecting your little ones. So there won't be any shifting, you will still have to ability to control your canines and claws, but not the shift. You will always maintain the link with your wolf, but I want you to avoid lifting heavy items, avoid stressful situations if at all possible, no smoking, no alcohol, no caffeine and no sports."

"That's a long fucking list." I growl.

"Well it's just a precaution, this will the first pregnancy I'll oversee that involves not only triplets but young ones that can be canines, felines or hybrids... so I just want to make sure we cover all the bases to keep you and your little ones safe."

"You mentioned hybrids, why?" Taj asks this time.

"Well when young ones have two very different species for parents, like in this case, they can either take the DNA of the wolf, the DNA of the leopard or a mixture of both, effectively becoming a hybrid of sorts."

I glare at Raiden then. His big goofy grin hadn't faded even in the slightest. He was just as happy as he was when we first started this shit and I'm so ready for everyone to get out of my room, so I could move that damn box that's been getting on my nerves in the closet and then go back to bed.

I'm over everything at this point.

"End this shit now Raiden." I tell him through our link and he nods once I understanding. I was sure he could feel how anxious and irritated I was right now.

This is all too fucking much and it needs to be over, so I can attempt to process everything.

Raiden only asked two more questions before asking if everyone could leave so I could get some rest.

The moment everyone was actually out of our room, I got off the bed to move that damn box that's been on my mind for days. I needed to put it on the top of the closet so I could actually walk through the fucking thing without constantly stepping over the cubed, cardboard bastard.

Raiden was on my ass literally the whole time I walked across our room. The moment I stepped into the closet and grabbed the box, he freaked out.

"Pups! Put that down!" He yelled, rushing towards me and trying to grab the box from my arms. I yanked it away from his grasp.

"Stop it Raiden! I can fucking do it!"

"No you can not, you heard Miles. He said no heavy lifting and this is heavy, so let me do it." He tries to grab the box once again.

"I said I can do it, back the fuck off!" I growl, yanking it away from him again.

"I'm not going to back off, you're pregnant."

"Don't fucking remind me, I seen the little fuckers swimming around in there!"

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. I regretted the words as soon as they left my lips. It was the truth, but I didn't mean for it to come out so harsh and I didn't mean to call our pups little fuckers. That was wrong.

"Don't ever disrespect our cubs that way, Dylan, never again." Raiden's voice was still calm, but I could feel the threat behind his words.

"Just leave me alone Raiden." I whisper, setting the box back on the ground and turning away from him, facing the wall, I let out a heavy sigh.

"Do you not want to be a father?"

Fuck, that's a loaded question.

"I don't know." I answer honestly.

"You don't know?" He snapped at me, so I turned around and glared at him.

"No, I don't know Raiden. I wanted pups at some point, but not right now. I'm only 23 and I don't exactly have the best track record of positive male role models in my life." I snap back at him before pushing past him and walking out the closet.

"I don't even know if I'm still the Alpha of my pack. I feel so lost and confused. The men I thought were my father and uncle, who raised me my entire life turned out not to be my family and then I learned that they tried to kill my brother, who I also find out is alive after 7 years of thinking he was dead. Then I find out this new man is my actual father and he's awesome, but it's all confusing. I finally accept my sexuality and I let myself fall into you, I gave myself to you and now I have to accept the fact that I'm a pregnant alpha male. It's a lot Raiden and I'm freaking out about it." I yell my way through my words before sucking in a huge gulp of air and shaking my head.

I noticed him walking towards me out the corner of my eye before stopping right in front of me. His hands cup my face and I lean into his touch.

"That is a lot to deal with baby." He says quietly, then leaned his forehead against mine.

"I'm scared Raiden and I can't pretend that I'm as happy as you are because I'm not.. I'm fucking scared." I whisper, clinging onto the front of his shirt.

"It's ok to be scared love." He kissed the tip of my nose and I sighed. "I'm scared too, I never thought I would be a father and I'm sorry I acted so ridiculous earlier, I didn't think about your feelings in all of this and that's my fault. I'm sorry pups."

I nod against his forehead.

"Just be patient with me please because I'm freaking out and I need you to be my calm right now." I strained my words through the lump in my throat that threatened to spill over in the forms of tears once again.

"I will pups and whatever you need from me, just tell me and I'll do it, I promise."

Nodding again, I hold onto my mate who I needed the most right now.

This is a lot to fucking swallow and I'm not exactly ready to accept what's happening to me.

All I can do is take this shit one day at a time.

I can't believe I'm fucking pregnant.

With a damn litter!

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