Rejecting My Shifter Boss by Skye Alder

Fourteen

Roman

One Year Later…

I smileas I let myself into our house and hear my wife singing in the shower. She loves doing this to me and I hurry to head upstairs and into our bathroom.

There she is, naked, wet, and soapy with a wide smile on her face. I laugh, grinning at her as I peel off my own clothes and step in behind her.

My hands instantly go to her round stomach and she sighs and leans back against me. She’s nine months pregnant and is set to give birth any day now to our first pup.

The pregnancy has been great and I know that she’s loved going through it at the same time as her sister and Everly.

The three of them are still thick as thieves, and now that they’re all settled with their own mates, we see them more often. It helps that both Stryker’s and Archer’s cabins are close by.

Kiera and I got married right after the mating moon. It was just a small celebration with our friends and family there for the ceremony. We had a picnic with the pack that weekend and I explained that weddings aren’t really that common among shifters. The mating bond and marking is more than enough to tie a couple together for life, but I married her because I wanted to tie Kiera to me in every possible way, plus having a different last name might make it harder for the cult to track her down.

“How are you feeling, mate?” I whisper in her ear as my hands start to caress over her skin.

“Big,” she says with a laugh and I turn her in my arms.

“You’re beautiful. The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“You have to say that,” she teases and I smile.

“Doesn’t make it any less true.”

“How was work? Are you far behind without me there?” she jokes and I laugh.

I never got any work done with her as my assistant. I couldn’t keep my hands off her, so I’m lucky that she wants to stay home with our kids once they’re here.

“I missed you,” I say as she starts to soap me up.

“I missed you, too. Peyton came by for lunch.”

“I know. Stryker was bragging about how he got to see his mate today and I didn’t.”

“Is that why you’re home early today?” she asks with a laugh and I nod.

“My wolf and I needed our fix.”

I turn off the water, grabbing a towel and drying her off before I dry myself. I take her hand in mine as we head into our bedroom.

“Pajamas?” she asks, and even though my wolf and I are dying to get lost in our mate, it’s obvious that she’s tired and needs her rest.

“I’ll grab them,” I tell her, turning and heading into our walk-in closet.

“Roman?” Kiera calls and I stop to turn back to her.

“Yeah?”

When she doesn’t answer, I poke my head out to see her standing there, her eyes wide, and her hand on her stomach as she doubles over in pain.

“He’s coming!” she shouts and I spring into action.

I call the midwife and move Kiera over to the other room that we already prepared for her home delivery. We can’t exactly go to the hospital since babies tend to shift to their animal without warning.

“You’re still naked,” Kiera reminds me and I hurry to tug on a pair of pajama pants as the midwife, Stryker, Peyton, Everly, and Archer all come into the room.

“We brought presents!” Peyton says cheerfully and I see Stryker smiling at her.

“Thanks, Peyton and Everly, you can stay, but I don’t want you two seeing my mate like this,” I growl at my friends and they nod and back out of the room in understanding.

The next five hours are spent holding my mate’s hand as she pushes and screams. When I hear the sound of our son crying for the first time, my wolf and I both want to howl in happiness.

“He’s perfect,” I say as I carry him over to Kiera and lay him on her chest.

She’s sweaty and tired-looking, but I swear she’s glowing.

“I love you,” she says and I notice that Everly and Peyton have both left the room to give us some privacy.

“I love you, too. So much, mate.”

We cuddle our son and celebrate with our friends for a few hours, but I can tell Kiera is tired. I kick everyone out, promising that they can come back tomorrow to visit before I head upstairs to my wife and son.

Both of them are asleep and I smile, shifting and letting my wolf nuzzle and sniff our new pup. His happiness is radiating off of him in waves, and it’s euphoric.

I shift back, sliding into bed behind Kiera and cuddling her close.

She’s the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I’m so happy I was able to keep her safe.

Most of all, I’m happy I was able to convince her to be mine.