“Jules,” said Tess gently, “you have to get off him now, honey. He needs to eat.” She waited until he moved and sat up in bed next to me. As soon as we did, she handed us each a heaped plate of dessert. “You boys need to get something in your bellies. Start with the protein balls I made. They’re the healthiest.”

“The carrot cake is healthy too,” said Mrs. O’Malley, peeking her head around the doorway. “It has carrots in it. If you think about it, it’s basically a vegetable casserole.”

Jules and I shot each other surreptitious glances and tried not to laugh. We ate until our sugar levels were worryingly high, and the members of the pack who’d popped in to check on me had gone home. Jules got out of bed and hit the shower and I finally had a quiet moment with my mother.

“So,” she said with an apologetic shrug. “We’re a couple of alphas, huh?”

I had questions and a lot of them. Despite all the sugar, I was struggling to find the energy to get into it with her right then.

“Did you know that this is what I’d be?” I asked.

“Maybe.”

“Maybe? Maybe? And you didn’t think to warn me?”

“No.”

“No?! I’m really going to need a little more than one-word answers here, Mom.”

“I'm not a wise woman like Mrs O'Malley, Sully, but I had a gut feeling about you, because I know what I am. I sent you up to the cabin for your first shift in case your designation was alpha. I wanted to make sure you were far from Dalton, so you could shift safely and and find yourself in your own time. I had no idea about Jules being an omega. That was a surprise. I thought he'd be a beta like his family."

"I've heard that's not exactly how it works."

She smiled, "No, I suppose not."

"Are you and Dad okay with, you know, everything?"

"Oh, Sully. Of course we are. We've always loved Jules like a son. We might not have seen it coming, but both of us can't imagine anything more wonderful than Jules formally being part of the family. It was a quick shock, but the second I saw you together i had one of those, ah, I get it now, moments."

I wasn't surprised to hear her say that. I knew her heart, but it still felt damn good.