Page 23 of Bred By the Barge

“Mama!”

Tired eyes lift from the floor. Life flows back into the beta woman as she recognizes her daughter.

“Pearl! Oh my gods, I can’t believe you’re alive! Is Gem…” Her words dry up as she uses a crutch to hobble to the table in the center of the room.

“Gem is safe. Healthy. Getting stronger every day,” my brave omega replies with a slight tremor in her voice.

Her mother plops into a chair and sobs in relief but reveals epic control when she wipes away her tears after only a few moments and meets my eyes with a stern gaze.

“Is this your alpha? What’s his name?”

I understand where my female got her grit as the woman stares me down without flinching, despite her obvious lack of leverage.

“His name is Tide, and he’s mine, mama. He’s the captain of this ship, my forever mate, and the father of your grandchildren, including the one already growing inside me, so don’t glare at him.”

I shift my gaze down to my tiny treasure and stare in mute gratitude as she fulfills a wish hidden deep within my heart.

She protects, loves, and nurtures me as only an omega can.

The child within me sobs in relief while my alpha soul howls in delight.

Her mother speaks, but with my senses so tuned in to my mate, I don’t hear her words.

“Is that true? Is my dad here, too?” Pearl asks as she fillets me alive with her wide eyes.

I swallow and nod but walk away from the refurbished shipping container without speaking, unable to form the words she hopes to hear. When I stop in front of a faded lime green pod a quarter of the size of her mother’s, she fills her lungs and holds her breath.

I open the viewing slot and reveal the sterile room within. Her father lies on a padded table. A clear hose disappears into the crook of his arm. His pale lips and shallow breaths aren’t promising, but Turbine, the old woman wearing white from head to toe and sitting in the chair by his bedside, has saved men closer to the brink of death. Her worn hands work her mortar and pestle as she hums an ancient tune under her breath. Tinctures and jars line the table behind her.

She looks up and aims weathered eyes at my omega before meeting my gaze.

“Let me go to him,” Pearl begs as she pounds her fists against my chest.

Turbine shakes her head. Pearl misinterprets the signal and breaks down.

I pin the side of her head against my sternum and purr until the fight seeps from her. She wraps her arms around me and cries.

“He’s in quarantine. You can’t go in there until we’re sure he isn’t sick.”

“I spent every day of my life with him until a week ago. I need—”

“No,” I snarl.

She struggles for freedom, but I wrap my arms around her and give her a safe place to rage.

“He can’t die alone! I’ll hate you forever if you don’t let me hold his hand.”

I shake my head and purr through the lump in my throat.

“Do you even have a heart? How can you be so cruel?” my omega cries.

Taemin, my second in command, hops from the roof of one shipping container to the next, stopping upwind and far enough away to not trigger my alpha possessiveness.

“You got The Barge all wrong, female.” Pearl jerks and turns watery eyes up to him. Anger tinges my rumble, but Taemin continues. “When I said he ain’t never left survivors, I meant he protects his people with an iron fist. He chased down pirates and killed ‘em all so word wouldn’t spread about our oasis, and when we took on a couple of their prisoners, not knowin’ they were sick, he implemented a quarantine period for all newcomers. We’ll never lose our younglings to an outbreak again, so don’t hate him. He’s protecting you and that babe in your belly.”

Pearl blinks up at him until I snarl. My fury fades when she meets my gaze.

“The playground… how many… no, I don’t want to know. Oh hells, I’m sorry, Tide.”

---