Everyone shouted no, and Marian reached out to Killian, who handed her a giant candle. Diana and I exchanged confused glances, and Marian removed a lighter from her pocket.
“I know this isn’t the norm in the wolf community, but I truly believe tonight’s a special one,” Marian’s eyes grew teary. “Tonight’s a special moment, a celebration of an extraordinary life. Light the candle, both of you, and it will reveal the gender of your baby.”
Diana chuckled while we held hands, and Marian clasped her hands and tucked them under her chin.
“Are you ready?” I asked Diana, who nodded, and I held the lighter while she held my hand.
I clicked the lighter, and we held the flame to the candlewick. In seconds the candlewick was lit, and I held my breath, waiting for the flame to change color. It was so crazy because there was hushed anticipation from everyone when we already knew the gender.
“Congratulations,” Marian began to yell, her hands up. “You’re having a baby girl!”
Everyone had spoken simultaneously, along with Marian, and she clapped her hands, and all the butterflies and flames throughout the pack turned pink. I stumbled back, the candle falling from Diana’s hand, but Nazanin quickly caught it, and Killian appeared by my side.
He held my shoulder while the pack cheered and shouted, but I still didn’t understand what was happening. A girl? Was this a prank?
“What?” Diana asked while looking around frantically, and Marian held her hands.
“The entire pack already knew the real gender of the baby,” Marian explained. “The doctor called me when you were at work, and she wasn’t getting through to you, and I told her to call Killian and not Kaleem since we’re your emergency contacts.”
“We planned this together,” Killian added and held his hand out to the pack. “We planned this with both packs. We’re all aware of how strange this is, but strange in Wolfcreek is our way of life.”
Everyone was still howling with joy while I was still too stunned to speak. I stared at the soft glowing pink lights and placed my hand over my heart. I was having a daughter?
“A female firstborn?” I repeated while stepping forward to hold Diana, who’d started crying. “But how?”
“The first female alpha?” Diana mumbled to herself, and someone shouted her words in the crowd.
“The first female alpha!”
It grew into a chant until it was all I could hear.
All alpha firstborns, by law, were to be future alphas unless they grew up to choose otherwise. A female firstborn was unheard of, and she would be born right here, in Wolfcreek.
History was being made, and I wasn’t sure how to react. How would the world respond to a female alpha? What dangers and judgment would my baby girl face?
Mathieu made his way through the crowd to hug and congratulate his daughter, and Diana took my hand into hers. I laid a hand on her belly, all the voices and music around us dulling until I couldn’t hear it anymore.
No, I didn’t need to worry about our girl being accepted as an alpha or for her safety, not with Diana being her mother, not with her having two packs at her beck and call. Our girl would be a force to be reckoned with, born from two alpha bloodlines.
“A girl, Kaleem,” Diana sobbed excitedly, and I wiped her tears. “We’re having a girl.”
“We are,” I pulled her in for a hug. “We’re having a daughter,” I muttered, finally coming to terms that this wasn’t a joke. “How is this possible?”
“The Goddess works in mysterious ways,” Diana held my face with both hands, and I could feel her anxiety. “That was proven when we found each other again.”
This was going to be another trying journey for us. I knew that for a fact, and I could tell Diana knew it too. I fell to my knee and placed my ear to her belly to listen to the quick heartbeat of our girl.
“You’re going to change the world. I know it,” I whispered and looked up at Diana. “Are you ready?” I asked her, and she nodded, smiling through the tears.
“I’m ready for anything, Kaleem,” she answered. “As long as we have each other, we’ll be able to handle anything.”
I was happy to hear that because this was our family, our strange family and I didn’t want any other but the universe was doing as it pleased, and it would continue doing so, making plans and dragging us along for the ride.
*****
THE END