Page 70 of Knot Your Baby

And I hate it.

She’s just a single mom playing house with my pack. This isn’t what I wanted for us. I agreed at first for Zane, hoped he'd see the truth. But he's fallen harder than I expected.

“Do you know his dad’s name?” I ask. She’s a liar, and not a good one, so I’ll know if she is lying to me.

The second she turns those pale green eyes on me, something shifts in my chest. Her rosebud lips part, like she’s surprised I even acknowledged her existence. I suppose we’ve hardly spoken since our conversation on the balcony days ago.

“I’m Stone’s father,” Zane jumps in, chest puffing up. “I was there when—”

“I mean his biological father.” I cut him off with a growl.

“I...I told you. I went to an omega wellness center. Everyone is anonymous.” I notice the way Miller looks at her as she walks back to the pan. She flips the pancake like the professional she is, but why is her hand trembling?

I tap my fingers over the counter. “The alpha who fathered him. He’ll know that there’s a baby out there with his blood.”

She straightens her shoulders, spatula gripped tight. She doesn’t turn to look at me when she says, “He probably couldn’t care less.”

“Of course he will. When he finds out.”

“And how would he find out?” Her voice takes on an edge I haven’t heard before.

“Scents don't lie. Neither does DNA.”

“Stone doesn’t have a scent yet and as the wellness center won’t tell me the names of the alphas I picked, I’ll never know.” She points the spatula at me. “You seem awfully invested inStone’s father for someone who’s barely spoken two civil words to me since I arrived.”

“I’ve spoken to you.”

“You’re examining me,” she retorts.

“I have to. You have to admit you landed on your feet when Zane found you at that fire.”

She rolls her eyes to the ceiling. “God, you’ll be saying I started the fire next.”

Miller shoots me a warning look, but I ignore it.

I laugh. “No, but you have to admit, it was convenient.”

She spins on her heels. Her cheeks flush red as her eyes narrow. “Convenient? You think losing everything I worked for was convenient? Do you think getting an email to say the building is going to be condemned and I no longer have a business is convenient? Do you think the insurance company telling me I was under-insured, and that they may not pay me is something I wanted to happen to me? For what exactly? To be near you?”

“I didn’t know.” I swallow, hating the tears that have laced her eyes. I’m about to apologize when she slams the spatula down.

“And as for my son. Zane is all he needs.” Her voice hitches. “Zane has been there for him, saw him born, fed him, and he’s been there for me.” This time, she jabs a finger in my direction. “Your brother is nine years younger than you and twice the alpha you will ever be.”

The comment catches me off guard. “Sorry. I—” I take a deep breath. “—I was out of line.”

“Too fucking right, you were!” Zane yells.

I grab my coat from the back of my chair, my eyes lingering on Stone for a moment too long. Then they roam to Freya, and something twists in my gut. But I storm out before anyone can stop me, and before this strange feeling in my chest can grow any larger.

I stare at my laptop screen, fingers hovering over the keyboard. “Omega Wellness Centers Los Angeles.” I hit return and the search results flood my screen, because there are so many of them.

Maya’s heels click into my office, a coffee cup balanced in her manicured hand. Her hips sway as she approaches my desk, and I catch a whiff of her omega scent—vanilla and honey. Nothing like strawberries and lime. I’m furious with Freya, yet here I am employing a woman who admitted to doing the same thing.

“Brought you your usual.” She sets the cup down, leaning forward. Her tits spill out of the top of her blouse. “I tried to get you some gougères, but Daniel said he doesn’t go to that bakery anymore.”

I should tell her to stop this now, but my need to find out who Freya is supersedes my need to chastise her once more. “Maya, do you know anything about omega wellness centers?”

Her eyes light up. “Actually, yes. I’ve been talking to one about my next heat.”

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