Page 14 of His Prodigal Alpha

My father had died before my fourth birthday, so I’d never really gotten a chance to know him. I had fading memories of him being an affectionate man, and I knew that he had adored me. It wasn’t until after he’d died that Mom had moved us down to her cousin’s pack in New Mexico. There, she’d remarried another beta, and I’d soon learned that being an omega meant I needed to make myself useful to the pack any way I could, because I wasn’t going to be able to help grow it like the betas could. As if a person’s value was tied to their fertility. It was archaic and gross, but it was how a lot of the old-school packs operated. Not that it was actually about being able to have kids — it was about power and control, and the pack-minded betas enjoyed having both.

I’d always wondered if things might have been different if Dad had lived…but he hadn’t, and I’d missed out on feeling a father’s love during my formative years.

While I was determined that my son would always feel valued and loved regardless of his designation, I had hoped that he’d also know the love of his other parent, too.

It didn’t seem like that was in the cards, though. I felt guilty about that, like I was already failing him…and he wasn’t even born yet.

Those thoughts brought a lump to mythroat, so I motioned towards the door. “Anyway,” I croaked out, not bothering to spit an ‘I told you so’ in Ollie’s direction, “I’m going to go.”

I ignored Ollie’s repeated calling of my name as I bustled out of the door and into the crisp afternoon air. I wished I’d had the forethought to pick my coat back off the hanger before I’d stormed out, but I wasn’t about to head back inside the house for it.

It was only a half mile walk down to the clinic and I could handle the cold for that long. Besides, it distracted me from the more emotional thoughts I’d been having only moments earlier.

“Damon,” Brandt’s deep voice followed me. Having made it to the beginning of the path which would lead me down through the small orchard of apple trees and to the clinic, I turned to watch the tall, dark-haired man close the distance between us in long-legged strides. He held my coat out towards me as he approached.

“Catching your death isn’t encouraged,” he said drolly. “Especially not in your condition.”

“Jesus, not you, too,” I grumbled, snatching my coat from his outstretched hands.

Brandt arched a bushy eyebrow while I angrily struggled into it. “I am a doctor. If you’re going to listen to anyone about such things, it should really be me.” He smirked and the sunlight glinted off the few streaks of silver in his hair.

From what I had gathered, he was the oldest of the Weldman siblings, but considering the guy was a dragon, I couldn’t begin to guess how old he was. His accent had a European lilt to it, which seemed to make him more distinguished than his younger brothers. But, at that moment, the smugness made him seem almost adolescent.

“You’re not still practicing medicine from the Middle Ages, are you?” I snarked as I began my way back down the pretty tree-lined path. “Because, while I highly doubt I’ll manage to catch a cold in the ten minutes it will take me to walk from here to my car, leeches and shit aren’t going to fix it anyway.”

He was silent for a moment before he asked, “Does this mood of yours have anything to do with the new alpha?”

“Wow, you havesuchan analytical mind. What gave it away?”

Brandt snorted at my sarcasm, but he had the grace to apologize. “Sorry,” he fell into stride with me, “that was a silly thing to say. Of course you’re unhappy with this alpha’s reappearance. Especially when his reaction to your pregnancy was—”

“I was there,” I reminded him, still a bit snippy. Then I sighed. “Let’s just change the subject, hmm? How’s moving to Smalltown, USA working out for you?”

He shrugged. “When you’ve lived as long as I have, you experience everything in various iterations multiple times over. This is not my first small town experience, in America or otherwise.”

“I got that from the accent, big guy. How come your brothers don’t sound like movie villains from the nineteen-eighties?”

Brandt snorted again and shook his head. “They’re significantly younger than I am. Our clan moved here when they were still in their formative years.”

“Ah,” I inclined my head in understanding, “so you kept the accent from the Old Country,” I enjoyed the wry twist of his lips at my subtle teasing, “and they grew up American.”

“That about sums it up, yes.”

“Well, that makes about as much sense as anything else.”

Companionable silence fell between us for a few minutes aswe walked. Then, as the cottage came into view, Brandt asked, “Are you going to give him a chance? Your alpha?”

Gods, give me strength.

I shook my head. “He made his feelings perfectly clear. And, y’know, I’m totally fine with being rejected myself, but I’m not giving him another opportunity to reject our son.”

“If I might play Devil’s Advocate…”

It took all my willpower not to grit my teeth and scream.Brandt’s technically a very old man,I reminded myself,he grew up at a time where people setting their own personal boundaries was unheard of.

Nevertheless, Brandt was well adapted to modern society. He really should have known better. Especially when his next words were, “He’s one of two known alphas in the country, Day. Potentially in the world. Maybe give him a chance to process the news that you just dropped in his lap before condemning him?”

“What about me getting a chance to process, huh?” I spun on my heel to demand, giving in to my burst of temper. “I’mthe one going through all of this, not him. He can walk away! But not me!”

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