Page 13 of His Prodigal Alpha

My throat went dry, and I lifted Rory, pushing her blindly towards Jazz, my eyes not leaving the very obvious bump beneath Damon’s clinging gray woolen sweater. “On second thought,” I heard my own strained voice say, like I was having an out-of-body experience, “I think you’d better take her.”

Chapter Five - Damon

So, there’s a scene in one of my favorite movie-musicals where the two protagonists are thrust together by their respective social circles after not having expected to see each other again.

Now, I’m not saying I really fit the reference entirely, given that I knew what I was walking into, but the stunned expression on Rex’s face as we reconnected reminded me of that moment in the movie.

I just hoped that he wouldn’t do what the guy in the movie did and act all cool and aloof, breaking his one-time fling’s heart in front of their gawking audience.

Not that Rex could break my heart.

For one thing, I hadn’t been in love with him after that quick romp in the bar’s bathroom. For another, I had no plans to pursue a relationship with him, no matter what Ollie kept on saying.

But I was anxious about his reaction to my condition, and for what it might mean for the kid inside me. His kid.Ourkid.

“Sorry, that took a little longer than I…” Beck’s voice trailed off as he descended the stairs with Duke held securely against his shoulder. “Well. Shit.”

As if he was being woken from a trance, Rex gave himself a little shake and swiveled his head around to glower at the other alpha. “You don’t think you could have led with ‘alphas can knock omegas up’ by any chance?”

For his part, Beck had the grace to look sheepish and apologetic. He cuddled his son a bit closer to him, as though using the tyke as a shield. “I was trying to deliver the information tactfully.”

“Well, I’d say that ship has sailed,” I cut back in, and all attention moved back to me again. Rex’s blue eyes refocused on my belly.

“I’m gonna assume that’s mine,” he drawled, then finally directed his gaze up to my face.

Under the scrutiny of our audience, I snorted. “I haven’t been knotted by any other alphas, so…yeah.”

“Jesus Christ,” pinching the bridge of his nose, the father of my unborn child winced. “Fuck.”

I did my best not to flinch and reminded myself that my reaction to realizing what the changes to my body meant had also been less than ideal. Holding my head high, I affected a nonchalant smile and threw a slightly too-casual thumb over my shoulder. “Pretty much. So, now that that’s out of the way, I’m going to head home.”

In the safety of my little apartment, I would be able to cry into a pint of ice cream without anyone knowing about it. Thank God I’d already moved in! Nowthatis what I would call fateful timing.

“Day…” Ollie tried to reach for me, his concern palpable. I shrugged him off as I made my way past him. He tried a different tactic. “How are you even planning on getting home?”

“My car’s at the clinic,” I reminded him. “But, even then, this town is freaking tiny. It wouldn’t take me that long to walk back to the apartment.”

“In the freezing cold at six months pregnant? I don’t think so.” He folded his arms across his chest and arched his eyebrows haughtily.

“Lucky I don’t have to, then, huh?”

“Well…I don’t like the idea of you walking back to the clinic on your own, either. What if you hit a patch of ice and slip?”

Pursing my lips, I tried to remind myself that Ollie had taken me into his home and let me stay there for the better part of a week. He meant well, as meddlesome as he was being. “I’m not an invalid,” I gritted out from between my teeth. “I’m pregnant. I’ll be fine.”

“Can we please stop saying ‘pregnant’?” Rex looked a little green around the gills when Ollie and I turned to look back at him. He was gripping the armrests of his chair tightly, his grip white-knuckled.

I supposed shock could do that to a man.

Ollie just scoffed at him. “You’ll get used to it,” he sniffed dismissively, before looking me over in concern again. “Are you really okay?”

“I’m fine.” I wasn’t. “I promise.” I crossed my fingers behind my back.

For all my macho, independent omega, ‘I can do this on my own’ bullshit, some part of me had hoped that Rex would take one look at my rounded belly and declare that he’d alwayswanted kids and that he’d be the best mate and father ever.

Thatpart of me had clearly spent far too many years sneaking romance novels and watching musicals.

Now I felt rejected in a worse way than I had when Rex had pulled out of me, done up his jeans and run away with his non-existent tail between his legs. Worse still, I felt as though my baby had been rejected by his other father and that was what had the tears threatening to start.

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