Aiden was halfway through sharpening his blade when it happened.
Not pain.
Not heat.
Just… movement.
He froze.
The whetstone slipped from his fingers, clattering softly to the floor as his breath hitched. Aiden went completely still, one hand braced on the table, the other hovering over his abdomen like he was afraid to touch it.
"…What the hell was that."
It came again.
A gentle nudge from the inside. Not sharp. Not strong. Just a soft press, like knuckles tapping from beneath his skin.
Aiden swallowed hard.
"This is not funny," he muttered, staring down at himself like his body had personally betrayed him. "If you're a cramp, I swear—"
Another movement.
Clearer this time.
Aiden sucked in a breath so sharp it hurt.
His wolf howled.
Not out loud—but inside him, a sound of pure, startled joy. The wolf surged forward, tail curling instinctively over Aiden's stomach, ears pricked, body lowering like it had sensed a pup for the first time.
There.
Aiden dropped into the chair, breath coming fast now. "Okay. Okay—this is just… muscle twitching. Or stress. Or—"
The kick came again.
Undeniable.
Aiden's hand flew to his abdomen, palm pressing lightly as if he could stop it.
It didn't stop.
Instead, something shifted beneath his touch—small, insistent, alive.
"Oh."
The word came out broken.
His wolf went utterly still.
Then—reverent.
Protective.
Aiden laughed once, sharp and disbelieving, eyes burning. "You've got to be kidding me."
The bond stirred.
Theron.
Before Aiden could even think to call him, the door opened.
Theron didn't speak at first. He crossed the room slowly, eyes locked on Aiden, then dropped to his knees in front of him.
"…Did you feel it?" Theron asked softly.
Aiden nodded once. Couldn't speak.
Theron lifted his hand—but stopped. Waited.
Aiden hesitated, then nodded again.
Theron's palm settled over Aiden's, warm and steady.
As if on cue, the movement came again.
Aiden flinched.
Theron didn't.
He exhaled a breath that sounded like a prayer.
"There you are," Theron whispered.
Aiden's throat tightened. "Don't say it like that."
"Like what?"
"Like… you've been waiting."
Theron smiled faintly. "I have."
Aiden looked down at their joined hands, at the place his body no longer quite felt like his own.
"…I'm not ready," he said quietly.
Theron leaned forward, pressing his forehead to Aiden's knee. "Neither was the moon the first time it was pulled."
That earned a weak huff of laughter.
Aiden swallowed, fingers curling protectively over the spot where the kick had been.
"…They're strong," he murmured.
Theron's voice was steady. Certain. "Of course they are."
Aiden didn't correct him when he said they.
Aiden woke before dawn.
The den was dark, fire reduced to embers, Theron breathing slow and even beside him. For a long moment, Aiden just lay there, staring at the ceiling, one hand resting idly on his abdomen out of habit more than thought.
Then—
A shift.
A small roll. Not a kick this time. More like a stretch.
Aiden closed his eyes.
His breath trembled.
"…Okay," he whispered into the dark.
The word felt heavier than any vow he'd ever spoken.
He shifted onto his side carefully, instinctively curling around himself. His tail followed without him telling it to, draping protectively over his stomach. The wolf inside him settled, calm and sure in a way Aiden hadn't felt since before everything broke and remade itself.
"I get it," Aiden murmured, voice rough. "You're real. You're… here."
Another soft movement, like an answer.
Aiden laughed quietly, the sound breaking halfway through as his eyes burned.
"I fought gods," he whispered. "I fought kings. I fought him." His fingers pressed gently against his abdomen. "And you're what finally gets me to stop."
Theron stirred beside him, half-awake. "Aiden?"
Aiden didn't look at him yet.
"I kept thinking if I denied it long enough, it wouldn't be true," Aiden said softly. "That if I stayed angry, stayed sharp, stayed me—this would just… go away."
He finally turned.
Theron was watching him now, eyes soft, wary, like he was afraid to move too fast and spook something fragile.
Aiden met his gaze.
"I'm still me," Aiden said. "But I'm also… this."
He took Theron's hand and placed it where his own already rested.
Theron inhaled sharply as he felt it—felt the subtle, living presence beneath skin and muscle.
Aiden's jaw tightened. "I'm scared."
Theron nodded. "I know."
"I don't know how to be an omega."
"You don't have to," Theron said immediately. "You only have to be their father."
That did it.
Aiden's breath broke.
He leaned forward, pressing his forehead to Theron's chest, fingers clutching fabric like it was the only thing keeping him grounded.
"I accept it," Aiden whispered. "I accept them. I accept… this life."
Theron wrapped his arms around him fully then, not possessive, not claiming—just there. Solid. Present.
Aiden stayed curled against him, one hand still over his abdomen, the other fisted in Theron's shirt.
His wolf sighed.
Content.
At peace.
And for the first time since the bond snapped shut around his fate, Aiden didn't feel like something had been taken from him.
He felt like something had finally chosen him back