The Alpha’s Pregnant Bride

The Alpha’s Pregnant Bride Age Gap Shifter Romance Beaufort Creek Shifters Layla Silver Copyright © 2023 by Layla Silver. All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the original purchaser of the book only. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form, including recording, without prior written permission from the publisher, except for brief quotations in a book review. Contents Chapter 1 - Troy Chapter 2 - Skye Chapter 3 - Troy Chapter 4 - Skye Chapter 5 - Troy Chapter 6 - Skye Chapter 7 - Troy Chapter 8 - Skye Chapter 9 - Troy Chapter 10 - Skye Chapter 11 - Troy Chapter 12 - Skye Chapter 13 - Troy Chapter 14 - Skye Chapter 15 - Troy Chapter 16 - Skye Chapter 17 - Troy Chapter 18 - Skye Chapter 19 - Troy Epilogue - Skye About the Author Books by Layla Silver Chapter 1 - Troy A well-earned sense of accomplishment glowed within me as I bowed my head toward the newly purchased patch of land set next to the Beaufort Creek ranch. The fields would need tilling. The trees would need trimming. Animals would soon be bought once the housing was finished up. All of that would come in due time. But the time was also now. Part of me bristled at the thought of having to start over. As resilient as I’d always been, my heart quivered at the thought of failing the only remaining members of the Bravecrest pack—which were four in total including me. Many suns had already set since our last encounter with our families. Many moons had signaled the passing of those dear to us. I stepped up on the porch and wandered inside the cabin, punching the security code into the pad next to the door. As I tucked my keys into my pocket, I inhaled the fresh scent of pine and wood. I noted the hints of tobacco on the air and patchouli hanging around. The scent made me smile at its familiarity. The teapot on the counter called my attention, so I went about making tea to prep for my meeting. That dreaded night when my pack died echoed still in the back of my mind. It kept me up at night, often my cousin too, and frequently our friend, Wendell. Isaiah was settled with his mate, and now that a month had passed of him attending his anger management therapy sessions, he had shown significant improvement in many areas. Our friendship had only gotten better in the same time. Much to my dismay, my confidence had dropped. I thought perhaps once a member of my pack had gained notoriety and security, I would have felt more at peace with our situation. And as accommodating as Blake had been, I found myself struggling to accept the ample charity he had provided. These thoughts weighed me down like chains as I boiled water for the teapot. The charity was far from scraps, for Blake wasn’t that type of alpha. I felt no malice or pity from him. I hardly felt anything malicious at all. His soul was truly one of a kind, producing the sort of energy that inspired flowers to bow toward him instead of the sun. Such purity could hardly be produced by a menace. What remained of our lives was shavings at this point. The medical facility in which I had been held rarely bothered me these days. My focus was captivated by progression—the heated, aggressive, hopeful marching into the future where I knew our pack would multiply and thrive. It was in our nature to do so. We couldn’t fail. Already, we had a pup in the works. Jada would undoubtedly birth a gorgeous child full of hope and life. She visited often, made us tea, forced me to rest when I was hobbling on tired legs from building houses and turning soil. Isaiah watched with a playful and quiet grin that told me she often treated him this way as well. His mate was wonderful. And she loved him. I felt it. Joy could be found in those two. Yet joy wasn’t what I felt whenever I sat on my simple bed in my simple room inside my simple home. Furnishings had yet to arrive. Elias had promised to paint the place, yet fell short, choosing to spend most of his time volunteering at the mixed-age school on the Beaufort Creek property. It wasn’t a problem by any stretch of the imagination. Yet it also wasn’t a solution to our current stagnancy. And I was fresh out of solutions. Which must have been the reason why the Beaufort Creek alpha called me to our neutral meeting ground, set on the line separating our properties. With Jada’s pup brewing, warm feelings had been stirred between our packs. I believed we were feeling sentimental. Blake must have been missing his parents. It wasn’t so long ago that he’d lost his mother. Grief struck my heart like a lightning bolt splitting a tree trunk. I swept my hand over my sternum three times, one for every panicked surprise that made me want to bolt from the room. It wasn’t a terrible room. Nothing was wrong with this room at all. Once the loose-leaf tea had been prepared, I took the pot and cups to the table. Truly, there was nothing remotely awful about the rustic aesthetic. The cabin was beautifully built with columns guarding the front door that were carved with runes and animal faces. Sun-bleached wood fresh from being trimmed hosted portraits of pack members, artwork done by the mixed-age school children, and jars holding various protection items like amulets, bones, and rocks. A kitchenette sat behind me next to a wood-burning stove, and a few modern furnishings made up the space in front of the fireplace. There was a table, a bookshelf with games, radios for communicating with either one of the packs, and a