Chapter 411 – Falling for the Alpha as a Surrogate Novel

Filed To Story: Falling for the Alpha as a Surrogate Novel

But all over he’s fuzzy, and he’s warm, and his little ribs are rising with his breath, and his little tiny paws are the cutest things I’ve ever seen –

He is a good pup, I hear Roger’s wolf tell us, proud. I like him.

We both laugh at that – at the simple, flat way Roger’s wolf states things – and I glance over my shoulder to see my own wolf prancing and pressing herself close to Roger’s wolf, raising her snout to tap her nose against his, agreeing with the sentiment.

“I like him too,” I say, resting my head down so that my nose is inches from the baby’s.

“Yeah,” Roger says, curling up behind me and peering over at me so that he, too, can stare at the pup as much as he wants. “We’ll keep this one, for sure.”

I laugh at my mate at his weird, dry sense of humor that always keeps me guessing and then, to my grief, the world slowly starts to fade as the dream brings itself to an end.

“Oh no,” I cry, suddenly frantic, wanting to stay here forever – for days, for weeks if we can to watch him grow maybe see him open his eyes –

“It’s all right,” Roger murmurs in my ear, pressing a kiss to my cheek. “We’ll be back.”

“That’s right, little baby,” I say, turning back to my son, who sleeps peacefully on. “We’ll be back. We’ll see you here soon.”

“We love you so much,” Roger murmurs.

And then his voice fades, and the vision fades, and all that is left is rest.

Cora

When I wake up the next morning the dawn sun is already streaming through the windows, and I am absolutely – hands down – the happiest I’ve ever been. I’m curled up against my mate’s side, my hand still on his chest where I placed it when I fell asleep, and when I look up into his face? I see him already smiling down at me.

My mouth bursts into a smile.

“Well,” he says, turning fully towards me now and nudging my nose with his. “That was an incredible dream, wasn’t it?”

“Do you think it was real?” I whisper, desperately, desperately hoping that it was.

“I do,” he replies, nodding. “I don’t think…well, the things that you made up the beach, the landscape… they were all pretty static, no?”

I gasp a little, offended – “It was not static! It was intricate and there was a breeze I could smell the salt -”

“No, Cora,” he says, laughing, “I mean like, unchanging. The things that changed – you, me, the feeling the baby passed to us, and the wolves? Those all seemed very real.”

“Yeah,” I say, relaxing again and snuggling close, tucking my head beneath Roger’s chin. “I think it was real too.”

“He’s a really cute pup,” Roger murmurs, sleepily kissing my hair. ” Way cuter than Rafe.”

“I know, right?” I mumble, yawning. But we don’t have to tell Ella and Dominic that.”

“No way,” he replies. “No need to hurt their feelings. They’ll find out soon enough. We’re quiet for a moment before I ask my next question. “Did that go…how you thought it would?” I ask, hesitant.

“No,” Roger says instantly, laughing. “Honestly, Cora, I thought we were going to have way more *** -”

And then I burst into laughter too, because that’s what I had expected as well. I don’t know what Sinclair told his brother, but from everything Ella has said? It sounds like the dream state has been a place for them to really explore their relationship in a very physical way – after all, they had *** there first, before they ever did with their real bodies.

And while I can certainly see Roger and I using the dream state for that kind of exploration in the future? A part of me is really, really glad that mine and Roger’s experience brought us closer in a different way.

Because right now, I feel so much more like a family than I did before we went to sleep. And it’s not that we weren’t a family before – but now that we’ve…we’ve felt him? Met him, just a little bit?

The baby is so real to me now, so vividly himself, already, that I can’t help but think of him as my son, and me as his mom, and Roger as his dad, and us – all of us – as a very real family.

“I know,” Roger says, placing a finger under my chin and turning my face up to his. “I feel exactly the same way.”

I laugh then, curious. “Wait, how do you know what I’m feeling?”

“You’re passing it down the bond,” he murmurs. “Are you not trying to?”

“Not intentionally,” I say. “But…I was thinking about you. And the baby. So maybe it just…went.” He nods, agreeing, understanding.

Then, curious, I reach out and take Roger’s hand, giving it a little squeeze and passing a curious little pulse down our mating bond to him, seeing if I can do it intentionally. I’m still not used to this wolf stuff, and I don’t know how good I am at it. “Did you feel that?” I ask.

“I did,” he murmurs, pleased. ” You’re curious.”

“Yes,” I reply, smiling happily. And then I close my eyes and concentrate, still keeping one touch on the bond between me and Roger but also giving a little tap on the bond that I now feel so much more powerfully between me and the baby than I did yesterday. I give it just a little nudge.

And to my shocked pleasure, the baby responds, nudging us back.

My eyes flash open and before I can even ask, I see on Roger’s thrilled face that he felt it too.

And then I laugh, and look down at myself, and send another little nudge, this time with a question attached.

…Happy? I ask.

It takes a moment, but then the reply comes and I feel it ring through me like a bell. Happy! My boy sends back, and I laugh, and feel myself start to cry again. Happy, happy.

And then he curls away again, content.

“He’s happy,” Roger says, choked up, taking my face in his hands and kissing me again. “And I don’t think I’ve ever once been happier, not in my whole life.”

“Same,” I reply, laughing at how stupid it sounds, to say it so simply like that. “Roger, I feel exactly the same.”

Ella

When the car turns into Cora’s driveway, she’s already standing outside her door with a to-go mug of tea in her hands, a big smile on her face. Rafe gives a little squeal of anticipation when the car stops and Cora starts to walk towards it.

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