The Alpha's Rogue ✔️

16 | A Great Mother

4197 words

"What was that?" Savannah stood up quickly, her body instantly on alert as she scanned the area. The scream seemed to have come from inside, so she slid the door open and was about to race across the threshold when Zion grabbed her hand.

"It's probably just the baby."

"Baby?" Savannah listened carefully, tuning out the heavy thrum of falling rain and the occasional rumble of thunder, and instead heard the clear sounds coming from in the house - low murmurings of bickering wolves, running water in the pipes, and the unmistakable cry of a newborn.

"Yolanda gave birth last week. The pup is inconsolable, Marlon tells me," Zion explained. "Makes me happy I'm a single wolf."

Savannah shot him a dark glare, her mouth gaping at his apparent dislike for parenthood.

"I mean, I'm glad I don't have any pups to worry about now. Not that I don't ever want to have any, I just mean—"

"I get the picture," Savannah threw up her hand to stop him from digging a bigger grave. "You hate pups. Got it. Good thing I don't want any, either."

"You don't?" Zion's eyebrows rose and a hopeful expression lit his face.

"I'm kidding! I want ten!"

His eyes seemed to widen in horror, and Savannah couldn't stop the laugh that burst from her throat. "The look on your face right now," she pointed and giggled some more. Shaking her head, she stood directly in front of her mate. "You know, I'll walk away right now if you don't want any children. I was joking about the ten, but I can't imagine my future without at least six. If you don't ever want to have any, find some other shewolf to claim as mate, because it definitely won't be me."

"Of course I want pups someday," Zion quickly amended, sitting up straighter as if reaching for her. "And I'm sure you'll be an amazing mother. So one day, if...when things work out between us, I'll be ready to give you the children you want."

Despite being in a joking mood about this, something about his words caused a fire to spark in Savannah's stomach. It curled to life and had her mouth watering as she gazed at her mate sitting sprawled out on the chair. She almost leaped onto his lap and kissed his gorgeous mouth until they were both senseless, but she held back, instead focusing on his next words.

"It's just that, Marlon and Yolanda are barely getting any sleep, and I couldn't handle that right now."

Savannah felt the desire leach from her body and she scoffed. "Of course you couldn't. Having a pup would definitely mess with your killing schedule. Wouldn't want to come home from murdering your enemies and have to change stinky nappies, right?"

"Savannah..." Zion groaned, annoyed that she would bring that up again. He sighed and ran a hand through his damp hair, pushing it back off his forehead. "I suppose you're right, though. I'm a heartless rogue. You wouldn't want me to be a bad influence on our children, right?"

She narrowed her eyes and grinned sarcastically. "That's a good point. Seems you and I are going nowhere until you break your addiction."

"Is that what it is now?" he smirked. "So...." Tilting his head, he regarded her in a smug way that caused her stomach to tighten in knots. "If someone were to drive past and start shooting at you, you wouldn't want me to hunt them down and catch them?"

She lifted a shoulder, then dropped it, disguising the shiver that ran through her body from his intense gaze. "Catch, maybe. Kill? I think that's a little harsh."

"Tell me you've never done that." He suddenly rose from the chair, his large frame now silhouetted by the light shining out from inside. Golden light spilled around him, and Savannah backed up against the railing to preserve some space between their magnetic bodies.