Page 27 of An Alpha’s Guide to Finding the One

Lainey nods, nerves and excitement clear in the bond as the ultrasound tech squirts gel over her skin. Everything is quiet for a few moments as the tech looks at the things she needs to, but then she lets out a quiet “oh!” that sets my teeth on edge. “What is it? What’s wrong?” I growl.

The tech tilts her head my way but her wide eyes stay locked on the doctor, who has a huge smile on her face.

It can’t be bad news if she’s smiling, right?

My heart is racing so fast I think I might be sick. I’ve seen some scary things in my job, but an ultrasound is going to be the thing that finally makes my heart give out.

“Well we don’t see this very often,” Doctor Mel laughs brightly and turns to Lainey. “The reason you’re measuring so far ahead for one baby is because it isn’t just one baby.” She turns to the rest of us, face alight with excitement. “Congratulations, mom and dads! You’re having twins.”

Lainey’s gasp is the last thing I hear before the world tilts and everything goes black.

“Oh shit!” I dive forward to catch Law before his head hits the tile floor. Lainey is in shock and stuck on the bed while the tech finishes the ultrasound, but Lucky and Wyatt are doing a terrible job at holding back their hysterics over Lawson’s fainting.

I turn to glare at them, but Lainey beats me to it. “Stop it!” She hisses. “Lawson faints and you two are giggling about it? At least wait until you find out if he’s okay before you start with your nonsense.” She shakes her head. “For fuck’s sake.”

The doctor and tech are the ones snickering now, and the doc nods at my omega. “I wish I could say this is a first for me, but it’s not. I’ve had three alphas pass out in here this week alone.”

Lainey shrugs, glancing my way. She’s rubbing at her sternum, and I wonder what she’s feeling through her bond with Law. With him being passed out, I doubt he would be able to hide his feelings if she were to go digging. Though Lainey doesn’t really seem like the type to take advantage of a situation like that. “Is he alright? Did he hit his head?”

I sigh, feeling around his head for bumps. I’m fairly certain I caught him before he hit the ground, but if my omega asks me to check, then I’m damn well going to check. “From what I can tell he did not hit his head. I caught him before he hit the deck.”

She looks at my younger two pack members and smirks. “Now you can laugh.”

And laugh they do. The idiots cackle like hyenas as the doctor and tech lady exit the room stifling their own laughter.

Lawson is stock still in my lap, so I do what I would do for any of my pack members that were in distress. I purr. It doesn’t wake him, but it does make him tuck his head instinctually closer to me. “If any of you give him shit for this, I will put hair remover in your shampoo and pierce things you absolutely do not want pierced in your sleep. Are we clear?”

Lucky and Wyatt nod frantically with wide eyes, likely because they know I’m serious, but Lainey just tilts her head to the side. “You do piercings too?”

I nod, and her eyes narrow. “What kind?”

Oh shit. “Um…” the guys start snickering again so I shoot them a glare. The last thing we need to add to this insane appointment is a jealous omega. Although her jealousy worked out really well for me last time… “You know. The normal stuff. Noses, ears, faces, that type of thing.”

“Don’t let him be modest, kitten. Rhys’s shop is also the go-to for genital piercings. He’s done dozens if not hundreds of them in the three years they’ve been open.”

I’m going to jail for murdering my pack mate. I just know it. I turn to Lainey with a frown. “How attached are you to your baby daddy?”

She looks him up and down then offers a mild shrug, canting her hand side to side in a ‘so so’ gesture. “Meh.”

Lucky’s jaw drops as he brings a hand to his chest dramatically. “I think that’s the most hurtful thing you’ve ever said to me, little mama.”

“Then stop saying shit to try and make me jealous and get your pack mate in trouble, ball boy.”

“I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck,” Lawson groans, making all of our attention snap to him. It takes him several seconds to open his eyes but when he finally does and sees where he is, he bolts upright only to moan and clutch his head. “What the hell happened? The last thing I remember is the…” he trails off, jaw dropping as the color drains from his face again. “Oh, holy fuck.”

Lainey nods, lips mashed together to hold back laughter. “Mhmm. Two babies. Turns out my incubator works really well.”

Even I snicker at that, but Law looks woozy again. “Right, well, maybe we go home and process this? Free up this room for the next patient?”

Lucky, Lainey, and Wyatt don’t hesitate to leave the room, giggling to themselves at our pack leads’ expense. I hang back with my best friend, waiting silently until he lifts his head from his hands. He hits me with a desperate, pleading expression. “What the fuck am I going to do?” He croaks.

I cock my head to the side, confusion sliding through me. “What do you mean?”

He yanks at his hair, knocking it from ‘artful disarray’ to ‘electric shock’. “I was already worried about how to keep her safe and healthy when it was just one baby, but now there are two? Multiples pregnancies carry significantly more risk than singletons, you know how I know that? I have spent every single night since we found out about Lainey poring over every single medical journal, expecting parents book, and online article I could find about pregnancy in the United States. We have the highest maternal mortality rate of the developed world, and nobody does fuck all about it. So tell me how the hell I’m supposed to keep our omega safe when it seems like the odds are stacked against her just for being pregnant in the first place, let alone with twins?!”

We’ve been friends a long time, but I have never seen him spiral like this. Not even after he drove his first truck into a ditch the same week his parents bought it for him. I wrap an arm around his shoulder and pull him into a loose hug, breathing deep to get my purr going again. He might hate it now that he’s conscious, but maybe it will settle him knowing he isn’t alone. Relief crashes over me when he sinks into the embrace. “First of all,” I start. “You aren’t in this alone. It’s important to me that you know that. You have me, you have your brother, and we all have Wyatt to keep us in line when shit goes sideways.”

He lets out an amused huff, which gives me hope. “Second, you don’t have to do anything. We can make sure Lainey eats well, gets plenty of rest, and stays comfortable. We’ll follow any instructions and come back as often as they tell us to, but otherwise, it really is just about letting nature take its course. Lainey’s an omega. Her body is made for this. And we’ll be right here ready to support her if something happens. But living in the ‘what if’ of it all is only going to give you an ulcer and drive a wedge between you two.”