To Be Protected

Chapter 23: The Child

Look! Look! I'm not dead! I just fell off the face of the earth!!

Jackson's POV

Sneaking through the Clan I hushed Den as he stepped on a twig and it snapped loudly. Clan members bustled around me but none of them spotted me as I slunk around, and because I didn't want to be seen I don't even think that any of them noticed me. It was nearly three weeks after I had been deemed fully healed of Keller's attack and ever since then Mathis had been hovering over me and barely letting me breathe. He didn't let me out of the hut and barely let anyone into the hut and when I tired to talk to him about it he had just brushed me off. And I was tired of it. When he went out to get more food I took the chance to slink off and here I am. Moving through the now familiar clan I made my way to Edice's home where I knocked on the door.

Bear pushed the door open and was shocked to see me standing there. As he gaped like a fish I gave him an unimpressed look, "Is Evelyn here?"

"Uh, Um,-" he groped for anything to say.

"Who is it?" I heard Evelyn call from somewhere behind Bear in the hut. She poked her head out from behind the door and beamed as she spotted me.

She pushed past the still stunned Bear as she hugged me but she was careful of my stomach. Her, Mathis, Clara and I were the only ones who knew that I was pregnant. You usually don't announce pregnancies until the third month, and I am only on month two and you could barely see the bump and wouldn't notice it if you weren't looking.

"What are you doing here Jackson?" Evelyn asked as she smiled at me and scratched between Den's ears as he sat beside me obediently.

"I need some space from Mathis, will you accompany me to the Omega Hut?" I asked her as I too scratched Den's head as he leaned into my hand and thigh with his tongue lulling out of his mouth.

"Of course," she then looked over her shoulder to the still gaping Bear, "I will be gone for a while," she then gave him a pointed look, "And you better not rat on us to Mathis. Jackson needs some space right now."

He looked like he was going to say something but Evelyn cut him off as she slammed the door shut and took my hand as she led us to the Omega only hut. The guards were still out front and we entered with a nod from them and made our way into the heavily cushioned room where a group of Omegas were lounging as they snuggled into each other. Omegas aren't shy with affection, especially with other Omegas, and with it being in the later end of fall it was starting to get chilly out.

To my surprise, in the far corner of the room were the Omegas from Konek and they were all wrapped around each other as they buried themselves in the softest furs and snoozed away in more comfort then I have ever seen them be in before.

I immediately caught sight of Susan's blond hair as she lounged with a fur tossed over her lap to keep her warm and we settled in next to her as we buried ourselves into the fur, almost like nesting. Den wrapped himself around me easily. While we are standing up his shoulder was nearly at my hip and he was still growing rapidly. Brody, the leader of the Clan who gave Den to me, said that with the rate that he was growing he would be able to carry one person on his back when he was fully-grown, which was a rare trait among the wolves of her clan. Brody told me that there were only a handful of wolves that big in her clan and that I was very lucky. His body wrapped around me was warm as his soft and his filling out winter fur engulfed me pleasantly.

We were silent for a while before Susan's eyes popped open and she looked at Evelyn and I with a smile, "Well, it is good to see you two again. What can I do for you? Or were you just searching for a place to rest?" she asked kindly as she maneuvered herself so that she was facing us. She saw me looking at the sleeping Konek Omegas and gave me a smile, "They were all dehydrated, malnourished and exhausted when they got here and they are still adjusting to getting full meals and being able to sleep somewhere safe and warm, the poor things. But, like you, they are all incredibly talented in the crafts and are nothing but a joy for everyone in the clan. We have never seen such hard and well trained workers before, it is just a shame how they got that way."