Page 1 of Such a Feisty Omega

Chapter One

Andreas

“Okay, Reed. Daddy has to go to work, but Lilianne is here to take care of you. Be a good boy and we’ll have a special breakfast before preschool tomorrow.”

“Pancakes!” His crow of joy made it so hard for me to leave. That little face with his big grin, and the knowledge I was the only daddy in his life often had me torn between love and worry.

Our sitter was wonderful, and since it was mostly evenings and late into the night that she was there, the college student often stayed over. She would entertain my son and put him to bed then study, usually. She swore evenings away from her beloved but large and noisy family kept her from flunking out of school.

And I needed to work. First because if I didn’t, one day I’d run out of money, and Reed and I liked sleeping indoors and eating regularly. And second because the time I’d spent sitting at home had done neither of us any good.

“Andreas?” Lilianne looked up from where she was setting up the trains that my son loved to play with. “Tomorrow, I have a date.” Her cheeks flushed, and her gaze darted down to the miniature engine she held.

“That’s great. I hope you have a wonderful time. Just be careful.” My mind started flipping through the possible replacements. Of course, as an owner of Cuffed, nobody was having me punch in and out, but if I didn’t do the assignments I’d taken on, someone else would have to. “Anyone in particular free to take your place?”

“Roger.” She reached into the tote and pulled out a handful of miniature trees. “Reed? Are you going to help plant the forest?”

“Bye, Daddy.” Reed wrapped his arms around my leg and gave me a squeeze then ran to the coffee table and dropped to his knees.

“Bye, Reed. Umm, Lilianne, anyone else available?”

“No, just Roger.” She handed my son a tree and jerked her chin toward the door, her eyes widening.

I nodded and grabbed my keys and wallet before scooting out the door and closing it quietly behind me. My son was glad to hang out with Lilianne, and we’d have pancakes in the morning, but there was only a small window of distraction time when he let me leave without tears. And his sitter was good reminding me about that.

Unfortunately, during the short drive to the club, I was dreading the next night when I’d have to tolerate Roger. The omega was very good with Reed, and the other dads who used him didn’t seem to have any issues at all, but as the only single dad on his roster, he targeted me for flirting. It wasn’t anything terrible, just cute expressions and body language, the occasional hint that he might be willing to go out on a date or more.

I’d decided not to use him anymore, but with just one day’s notice, I could probably deal with it. In trying to be nice and not hurt his feelings, I had made my position clear. Avoidance was cowardice. There were not that many great sitters to be had, and if Roger could not understand that I was not interested in him, then I’d have to make tomorrow the last night he worked for us. Which would be a shame since Reed liked him a lot.

I parked in my space at the club, still very lost in thought about omegas and flirting and raising a child alone… There was an awful lot to deal with every day. I’d never seen myself as a single dad, so sure my ex and I had a good relationship. Andhe was so excited about the baby. He had no fewer than three showers: work, our families, and his friend group. There had never been a nicer nursery than the one he put together with all the gifts we received.

He never had any of the sickness I heard about from so many omegas, just seemed to sail through early pregnancy glowing with pride at what “he” was doing. All our friends commented on how carrying a child suited him, and he preened under all the attention. I was very glad he felt so good, would never have wanted him to suffer, and foolishly allowed him to go to healer appointments without me on a couple of occasions. It was all going well and just a matter of form, or so he said.

But, as I stood in the hallway outside the operating room where our child was about to be brought into the world far too early, he’d been warned about some issues and put on bed rest. He just chose to ignore that medical advice because it would have cut into his good times.

How did I never know he was so selfish?

Sighing, I locked the truck and headed into the club through the back door, ready to spend an evening thinking about something other than the mistakes of my past. I would be staying single and focusing on my work and my son from now on.

Omegas couldn’t be trusted.

Chapter Two

Julian

“We’ll take good care of her. See you tomorrow.” I hung up the phone with the last family on my list and blew out a long breath. It had to be hard for parents who couldn’t visit as much as they wanted, usually because of other children at home. They relied on our timely reports to let them know how their baby was doing and for answers to the question they all had: when can the baby come home?

Some days were rough, but today, all our tiny patients had good reports. No negative changes in their statuses. No respiratory distresses. No surgeries. We got a new baby, Gracie, today but other than being tiny, she was a spunky one and would only need some time to grow and flourish before being sent home. Her daddy was recovering from the birth, but he and her alpha papa were eager to hold her already.

“Is that it for you?” Peaches asked me. We called her that because she always wore peach-colored scrubs and also because it was her given name. Maybe she wore those scrubs because of her name? Probably so. Ugh, my brain was fried on the last few minutes of a double shift after one of the other NICU nurses called in sick. Some people went on into work with some degree of illness, but, in the NICU, a common, mild respiratory illness could end a baby’s life.

“It is. I’ve checked off all the lists, but do you need help with any of yours?” I really wanted to help, especially if it benefitted the babies, but I also desperately wanted to go home. But that

meant being alone and, over the last year or so, my beloved privacy was beginning to sway toward lonely.

My wolf, in particular, wasn’t pleased about the endless nights I slept alone. He longed for his mate as did I, but his was more of a desperation.

Maybe mine had evolved to that as well.

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