The Human In The Wolf Pack
Chapter 37

Rose had decided to spend the night, since we hadn’t been able to in so long. After everyone left, well into the night, we bunkered down in the guest room with popcorn. We were watching one of our favorite shows, when she suddenly threw a piece of popcorn at the screen.

“Why would Elena chose Damon? Stefan is totally husband material,” She sighed, annoyed.

I gasped, shocked.

“No way. Damon is, like, totally committed, and even though Stefan seems reliable, he goes on crazy benders every season. Damon is obviously the better choice,” I told her, frowning at her choice.

We debated for awhile before she smiled, looking over at me.

“We haven’t done this in so long,” She mused “I missed this.”

“I agree. I can’t remember the last time I had a girl’s night.”

“Yep, so spill the beans. How are things with you and Rider? How far have you gone? I saw your mark earlier at dinner,” She teased, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

I giggled at her, my hand unconsciously going to Rider’s mark as I blushed.

“Well, we’ve gone all the way, I guess,” I admitted.

Rose squealed, falling back on the bed and kicking her feet.

“Did it hurt? It hurt the first time, for me,” She asked, her eyes eager for more details.

“Well, at first it did, but then…” I trailed off.

“So was he big? Like… this?” She asked, holding up her hands, at a distance from one another, to measure her guess.

I grabbed her hands and pulled them a couple inches farther apart, a bit bashful. She gasped, looking at me with wide eyes. I nodded at her silent question, as her eyes seemed to say “Are you for real?” We bursted out in another round of giggles, before settling down.

“I think I want to have a pup with Jeremy,” She admitted, the moos suddenly turning serious.

“Are you sure? You’re still so young,” I asked, propping myself on my elbow.

“Yeah, I think so. It’s just, we’re both warrior wolves for the pack, so I know we are pretty busy, but I want a family of my own. We have an empty room in our house, and I just keep imagining a nursery when I look at it.”

“Aren’t you scared, though?” I wondered, thinking back to my own situation.

“Well, yeah. I always wonder if I’ll be a good enough parent, or what if my kid grows up to hate me or something, but I don’t know, I think it’s natural for people to doubt themselves when they’ve never done something before. I just think it would be amazing to be a mom. If Jeremy and I had a pup, it would be a little of him, mixed with a little of me, and I think it would grow up to be something amazing,” She smiled as she said this, and I could tell she meant it.

I hadn’t really had time to think about the life growing inside me. When she put it that way, it was amazing that I was growing something that literally represented Rider and I’s love, but wasn’t that a bit too romantic? I was still only nineteen, so how could I be a good mom? I know that werewolves tend to start their families early, since fertility among wolves were low, but humans weren’t like that. I was worried. Was I mature enough to raise a baby properly? Could I look back eighteen years from now, and have no regrets? It was a stressful thought, and Rider and I hadn’t talked much about what we were going to do.

I think for now, we are just taking things one step at a time, but I had my own worries. I couldn’t really imagine myself as a mother, but I felt an unexplainable affection for the little thing inside of me.

“So, are you going to tell me?” Rose asked, interrupting my thought process.

“What?” I asked, confused, before I realized: Werewolf hearing.

She already knew.

“I’m… pregnant,” I admitted, though she clearly was aware.

“Why didn’t you tell us earlier, at dinner or something?” She wondered.

“I…just don’t know how I feel about it. It wasn’t something that Rider and I had planned, or really talked about before. I’m still young, and Rider and I haven’t spent a lot of time together since I was off training.”

“Well, he knows, right?”

“Of course, he knew before I did.”

“What do you want to do?” She asked, her tone concerned, but free of judgement.

“I have no idea. I want to survive this battle, and save the world. I want to be alive at the end of it, I want all the people I care about to be alive at the end of it. I want them to be able to live peacefully.”

“And you will. Plenty of wolves have come to support you guys, so just have faith, ok?”

I was silent, what she said was easier said than done. I had little, nagging doubts. Would I have to die in the end, either way. Tristan said he was looking for an alternative way, but he hadn’t said anything about replaceing a way.

“Listen, Ver,” Rose said, grabbing my attention.

“It’s good to want the people you love to be happy, but you should be happy too. I’m sure they’re grateful that you’re thinking about their future, but you should think about what you want, too. This battle isn’t then end of your story, after all. It’s just a chapter, that’s all. So, Vera, how do you want your story to end?”

Her question struck a chord. I had been going along as if I had no choice, not even trying to change anything. What if I could? If I could decide, how would my story end?

“I would be old. My hair would have gone grey years ago, and my face would be full of wrinkles. Rider would be the same, old and grey, but still handsome to me. Our pack members would have lived a full life, and I would have lived everyday alongside all of them. The Gifted wouldn’t need to be Gifted anymore, they could have just been ordinary people. I would die surrounded by the people I love. Rider, Tristan, Eliza, Ariel, Adele, Dax, you and Ripley. And… even this child would be there, with children of its own,” I decided, a small smile coming to my face as I touched my stomach, which had started to swell slightly.

Rose smiled back, it was a warm look and we basked in that moment for a moment before she spoke up.

“I’m not letting you leave first, Vera. You’ll only be able to die over my cold,dead body,” She huffed, stubbornly.

I laughed at that, and I thought about how grateful I was to have Rose in my life. A knock sounded on the door, and after a moment Rider opened it, taking in the sight of Rose and I haphazardly laying on the bed, a bowl of popcorn between us, and the TV displaying our favorite show. He smiled at me, seeing the happy flush in my face.

“You ready for bed?” He asked, opening the door a little wider.

“Awww are you stealing her from me?” Rose pouted.

I laughed, but got up to meet my mate. Once I stood before him, he placed a k**s on my forehead. I beamed at him before turning to wish Rose a good night. She waved me off with a grin.

Not long later, laying in bed with Rider’s arms around me, I thought about the small being growing inside me, the man wrapped around me, and the future we could have together.