Sirius was a little worried and, if he were honest, very frustrated. After the first full moon he'd spent with the pack he had been looking forward to more. The one in December had fallen at the end of the month though and, after so many festivities through December, Sirius had done little more than cuddle up, not helped by the fact that Greyback had had to spend a lot of time asserting his dominance to the new wolves. The young male breeder, Matthew, had been a bit of a pain and had seemed to be displaying a bit which seemed to get Moony's hackles up but Greyback was too distracted to pay attention so it had mostly fallen on Sirius to calm the anxious wolf.
The pack had seemed to gel together quickly after that night though and Sirius had hoped that he could get some action in January, already starting to forget what that knot had felt like inside him. Unfortunately it wasn't to be. Sirius wasn't sure if it was just because of Matthew's displaying the month before but Remus seemed to be on a mission that night, constantly taking Greyback's attention and keeping the alpha very busy indeed to the point that Sirius literally hadn't been able to get a nose in all night and had ended up skulking back to the castle some time in the early hours of the morning, figuring he may as well get a decent night's sleep as opposed to sitting around on his own among the other werewolves and generally looking a little pathetic.
Greyback must have realised that Sirius would be feeling left out so, a couple of days later, when Remus was busy teaching lessons to the students all day, Greyback spent the time giving Sirius plenty of attention to make up for things, trying him up to a footstool and literally using him all afternoon. It had been glorious and, when Greyback had been too tired to fuck him any more, he had helped Sirius to get up and the pair of them had had a shower together. Greyback had continued to be attentive, taking plenty of time to clean off the cum that had dried to his chest, even going so far as to massage his aching muscles. They were both too tired to get it up again and had been more than content to exchange lazy kisses before drying off and cuddling up on the sofa. Despite thoroughly cleaning each other, and the house elves cleaning the rooms, Sirius was still sure that Remus could smell what they had been up to when he came back and kept nuzzling up to Greyback in an effort to get some attention for himself. Greyback was too out of it though and simply growled warningly at the younger wolf, essentially telling him to settle down.
The next day there was apparently still something in the air and Remus all but pounced on Sirius in the morning taking his time to explore Sirius's body before going down on him, giving Sirius a long, drawn out blow job, keeping Sirius on the edge for what felt like forever, his mind turning to absolute mush. He was vaguely aware of Greyback returning and him growling something about how lovely it was to see his Cub's tail wagging like that as he happily went down on their Puppy before mounting the younger wolf and Sirius wondered when exactly Remus had lost his trousers. It seemed to him as if the other member of their triad was acting a little strangely, for Remus anyway, and he spoke to Greyback about it one day only for the alpha to dismiss it.
"It's probably just leftover energy from the wolf moon. All wolves tend to get more energetic on the first moon of the year, as I'm sure you saw. There's a reason why the Native Americans call it the Wolf Moon. It also shouldn't be too surprising that it affected Remus more than most, what with him having suppressed that side of things so much for, essentially all his life. I'm sure he'll have calmed down by the next full moon."
Remus still seemed quite randy for a couple of days but then it seemed to stop quite suddenly and Greyback and Sirius were both a little relieved having both been worked over quite thoroughly by the younger werewolf in that time. Remus seemed a little tired and more content to just snuggle at nights and Sirius wondered, a little selfishly, if this might mean that he would be able to spend some quality time with Greyback on the next full moon. When the February full moon came, however, Sirius still couldn't get a nose in only for an entirely different reason.
As soon as they changed Greyback began sniffing all around Moony. Once he'd made a complete circuit of the younger wolf he growled low in his throat and practically shoved Moony into a little alcove under a tree and stood guard in front of him all night not letting anyone come within three feet of him. The other werewolves seemed to be as confused as Sirius was, with the exception of Eric and Deliah who paid the behaviour no notice, encouraging all the other wolves to carry on as normal. Sirius remained close by though, or at least as close as Greyback would let him, not wanting to go anywhere on the off chance that there was actually something wrong with Remus. He almost wished that Link was around although he had yet to see the healer on any of the full moons and assumed that meant that he was off somewhere in another part of the colony.
Sirius must have fallen asleep at some stage although it wasn't a particularly restful one, and it only took the first rays of sunshine coming up over the horizon to wake Sirius with a yawn. Sirius wasn't the only one who didn't really sleep. Greyback had been sat alert all night as well and Sirius woke up in time to watch Moony changing, his feet beginning to stick out of the hole. Greyback changed to and instantly turned to check on the other werewolf and Sirius was hot on his tail.
"Are you alright Cub?" he asked.
"A little stiff," Remus said with a groan as he stretched out. "Apparently I'm getting too old to sleep in confined spaces."
Greyback's face fell. "I'm sorry but it felt like the safest spot to hide you and my instincts wouldn't let me do anything else."
"Why was that?" Sirius asked.
Greyback frowned and looked worried. "Remus, I'm sorry. There is no easy way to tell you this but I think you're pregnant."
Sirius gaped at the man and then turned to look at Remus, fully expecting his mate to hit the metaphorical roof, or possibly break down in tears. Remus was doing neither however; he looked shocked but otherwise unaffected.
"Are you sure?" Remus asked. "How can you tell?"
"I could smell a change in your body chemistry," Greyback explained. "It's no guarantee that's for sure and I've no idea how far along you are if its true but my wolf was very sure of that fact which is why I had to hide you away like that. Werewolf babies are rare which is why we tend to be so territorial of them, especially in the early stages when things are a bit more delicate. Some can get a bit more protective when things are near the end, or the babies are young, which is why Link and Jennifer have been absent these last few months as she looks after little baby Monet. Even Deliah and Eric aren't allowed near."
"He is very cute as a baby," Remus mused, "and I'm a little curious what he looks like as a tiny cub."
Both Sirius and Greyback looked at Remus a little curiously although Sirius could understand if Remus's views on child bearing had been softening slightly as of late. The arrival of another male bearer who was not only comfortable with his status but practically flaunted it would definitely have caused Remus to look at his own status a little differently. Add to that the arrival of a newborn baby in the pack who was ridiculously cute and Sirius could well see why Remus might not be taking the news that he was pregnant as badly as they had thought. It was a good sign at least, especially if he was pregnant. Sirius was all for giving Remus the choice and letting him make the decision when it came to his body but, after realising what he missed out on with Harry, thanks to James's selfishness in keeping his pregnancy from him, Sirius wasn't sure how well he'd handle it if Remus wanted an abortion.
"You might find out what a baby werewolf looks like in a few months," Greyback said with a rueful smile, "but we should probably get Link to check you over to be sure, before we make any decisions."
Remus agreed and the three of them made their way to Link's clinic to wait for the healer, figuring it wouldn't be long before word of Greyback's strange behaviour got to the man and he made his way round to see what the matter was.
It was strange for Sirius to be sat in the examination room with Remus while Link performed his scans but he hadn't exactly had much choice in the matter. As soon as Link had gotten his wand out in Remus's presence Greyback had practically gone for the man's jugular and had to take himself outside. Sirius had tried to go with him to help calm him down, feeling that Remus would be perfectly safe in the hands of their residents healer but Greyback didn't give him that option, pushing his own wand into Sirius's hand as he pushed the man himself back into the room and ordering him to lock the door. Link had thankfully been completely unphased by the display and had said that it was quite normal behaviour.
"Werewolves tend to fall into two categories when it comes to pregnant partners: completely disinterested or obsessively protective," the healer chuckled. "I'm honestly grateful that I was able to perform all of Jennifer's checks myself as I wouldn't let anyone else near her at the beginning. Thankfully Deliah, Eric and Ruby all understood and were patient with me."
"So you think Remus is definitely pregnant then?" Sirius whispered, somewhat worriedly.
"That's what the scans will tell us," Link smiled, making no other comment while he set about working.
When he was done he made sure to put his wand away before telling Sirius to open the door. Greyback was in like a shot, fussing over Remus and making sure he was perfectly fine before breathing a sigh of relief and turning to Link, maintaining close contact with the other werewolf at all times; holding one hand while the other was wrapped around Remus's shoulders so that Remus was pulled tightly into his side. Sirius was a little worried that Remus might feel a little suffocated by all the attention, having never been one for physical displays before, but he seemed to be lapping it up. Perhaps it was the pregnancy hormones kicking in already, or the fact that he was a little more secure with things here in the colony, but either way it was a little enlightening to him and made Sirius feel a little superfluous while he stood there.
At the start of their relationship it had been on him a lot of the time to try to pull Remus out of his shell, to make sure that he was a part of the relationship, as he often tended to sit himself on the sidelines of things. As such Sirius had basically been in the center of things and that had suited him perfectly. Things had been changing though, slowly at first but a lot more rapidly in the last couple of months, and Sirius was starting to feel a little adrift. With Remus now happy to initiate sex and cuddling, Sirius was finding himself pushed to the edge a bit and he was starting to wonder if he even had a place in things any more.
"Well I can confirm your instincts are correct, Alpha," Link announced, "although I am loath to announce that Remus is pregnant purely because he is only a few weeks along and the first three months can be immensely tenuous."
"What does that mean?" Remus asked, sounding a little worried as Greyback's face also fell.
"Even in a normal pregnancy things can happen in the very early stages and it is not unheard of for embryos to get lost for seemingly no reason," Link explained. "Add to that the unknown state of your reproductive organs and I'm afraid there is a much higher risk."
Remus nodded, looking a little tearful, and Greyback quickly turned to look at him.
"You plan on keeping it then?" he asked, sounding a little surprised.
Remus nodded. "I know I've been against carrying children in the past but being here has shown me what a blessing they can be and I think that it would be a shame to squander this gift."
Greyback beamed and pulled Remus tightly into him as he kissed him soundly. "I am glad to hear that Cub. I know it is always ultimately your decision but it would have killed me to have to give up a baby."
"I'm glad to hear it as well," Link admitted. "With the damage that has already happened to your body I would want to hazard a guess as to what damage an abortion would do on top of that."
"Does that mean he's more at risk of a miscarriage?" Greyback asked worriedly, unconsciously tucking Remus into his side as if to protect him.
"Unknown," Link admitted with a sigh. "I detected two embryos now," that news made Greyback smile again and he squeezed Remus once more, "but I'd like to check Remus again after the next full moon to see if there are any changes and it might be a good idea to hold off on making any announcements for a while, at least until things are a little more confirmed."
"Ok," Greyback breathed, nodding to himself as if he were going through some invisible checklist. "So does that mean that Remus needs to stay on bed rest until the baby is born?"
"No!" Link exclaimed, "in fact that might actually be the worst thing you can do. A healthy lifestyle is the best thing, which includes a good amount of exercise and healthy eating as well a lack of stress where possible, although I get that that may be easier said than done given everything."
"I'll do what I can," Greyback said seriously, "as I'm sure Remus will as well."
Remus nodded. "Yes. I will do my best to follow any instructions you give me. I find that now that having a baby is an actual reality I want to do everything to keep it."
Sirius said nothing. He was happy for Greyback, he really was. After hearing that the alpha had previously lost his cub he had hoped that there would be some way that he could get another, although he secretly wished there was a way for him to be the one to bear the child. When Remus had resolutely refused to have children, however, that hope had been dashed which Sirius had always considered a massive shame since he always thought that Greyback would make a wonderful father, if the way he led the pack and treated the younger wolves was anything to go by. Now it seemed as if a family was really an option though, if the way Remus was acting was anything to go by, and Sirius was quite looking forward to watching this pregnancy, in the way he hadn't been able to when James was pregnant with Harry. Standing off to the side, however, he only hoped that there would be a place for him in the family group.