Page 23 of Baby and the Beast

“Your family name will go a long way to help with the traditionalists we have. But I also need someone I can trust.”

I need someone I can trust.Cyrus could have easily been sick all over the new truck. Kyle sounded nice. He wanted a partner, not a doormat. Cyrus needed to tell him. Stop him before this went any further.

“I know you need time,” Kyle added looking uncomfortable. “I came here because I was visiting an old Marine buddy and I was taught to always ask permission of the local alpha before I crossed his land.”

Cyrus tried to sort all that out in his head. He was in theMarines? And he had stopped to ask a fellow alpha for permission to cross his territory. That was old-fashioned shifter respect Cyrus didn’t even know existed these days. He should be ecstatically happy. He’d gotten out from his pathetic prison of a life. His alpha was drop dead gorgeous but also seemed kind and honorable, and he would have a role to help rebuild the pack.

But Cyrus waslyingto him, deceiving him. He couldn’t mate him. Maybe…maybe he might still find a role to help with the pack? He would do anything not to be sent back. In fact, he’d run first. The trouble was any other pack would challenge him ifthey scented him. And some packs still hunted wolves like him for sport.

Then he remembered something Grace had once told him after a particularly bad day with Mike. Somewhere up here, maybe in the Carolina mountains, there was a group called Shifter Rescue and they took in shifters with nowhere to go, especially omegas. Maybe he could stay with Kyle just long enough to find out exactly where the rescue place was and then leave.

Then more guilt pricked at him. Kyle had paid money for him. He’d want that back if they didn’t mate, but Cyrus had nothing. He rubbed a hand over his tired eyes trying to decide what to do. Maybe he could get Kyle to pull over at a rest stop or something and then he could get away? But if Kyle shifted and ran after him, he didn’t stand a chance. Apart from the obvious only-two-legs problem, alphas were always bigger and stronger. He tried to take a few slow breaths and calm his racing heart.

“Why don’t you tilt the seat back and get some rest? We can stop somewhere whenever you need to.”

Cyrus couldn’t even return the offer because he couldn’t drive. He was tired. Bone deep tired. He had been expected to be up every day before Mike and his gammas, and he couldn’t go to bed until they crashed which was often in the early hours of the morning. Rest sounded wonderful.

Sometime later, Cyrus woke instantly to the shake of his arm and cringed away before he smelled who it was and memory came flooding back. Kyle didn’t react, just stayed calm while Cyrus gothimself together. He squinted at the small gas station they had pulled into. It was dark.What time was it?Cyrus frowned at the clock on the dash, then glanced at Kyle. Five a.m.? Really? It had been a little after eight in the evening when they had set off.

“I’ve stopped twice for gas and you were dead to the world both times, so I didn’t wake you. We’re about forty minutes from the pack house. I thought you might wanna stop.”

Cyrus shivered. He felt grubby and rumpled, and he was surprised his bladder hadn’t woken him. “Yes, thank you.”

Kyle grinned. “I didn’t know what you had with you without diving into your case. I tend to forget my toothbrush and I know you didn’t have time to get much, so…” He nudged a sack towards him and Cyrus glanced at it in surprise. Kyle had even bought some deodorant. Cyrus smiled in gratitude, then reached back get a change of clothes out of his case.

“I’ll be quick.”

“Take your time. The restroom is in the corner and Don keeps it clean. He makes pretty decent coffee as well, but you need to eat.”

The thought of food made him want to throw up. In fact, maybe more sleep than he was used to had thrown off his system. He couldn’t seem to stop shivering even though he wasn’t cold, and he just felt jittery. Not that he was surprised, he hadn’t eaten much.

Kyle climbed out of the truck and stretched, rubbing his neck to get the kinks out. He looked exhausted.

“I’m sorry. I would offer, but I can’t drive.” He waited for the derision.

“No problem. I can teach you. We’ll get you something safe for the kids.”

It was a good thing Kyle had turned to head inside and didn’t see his reaction to that pronouncement. While his brother’s threats had been what made him get into the car in the firstplace, he knew he had to say something. He just had to hope Kyle didn’t send him back to Mike once he found out. Even if he didn’t say anything, Kyle would know there was something wrong when he didn’t go into heat. Omegas often went into heat when they met their mate, but as a mar-wolf it wouldn’t happen to him. Cyrus hurried through a quick wash and brushed his teeth. Mar-wolves—what a god-awful name. As if he didn’t feel worthless enough already.

Everyone had assumed he was an omega like his mother and surprisingly his dad hadn’t minded. Cyrus imagined it was because he was secretly glad there was someone who could spend so much time with her. Not all female wolves were omegas and their pack had started shrinking like most packs with the low shifter birthrate. But after she lost the pup she was expecting when he had been nine, she’d never been the same. Cyrus had been quite happy to stay at home and look after her. His dad wouldn’t have been able to spare any other wolves to be with her while he was seeing to the pack anyway.

Cyrus had spent most days reading aloud to her when she was awake and silently when she was asleep, and he taught himself what other pups learned in school. He was good at math and had handled the pack accounts for his dad since he’d been fourteen. He’d taught himself an amazing variety of subjects and hadn’t been able to use a single one of them since his dad died.

He’d been seventeen when he’d found out what he was. A visiting alpha-mate had been introduced to him and his mother. She was a pack mother apparently and after they had been introduced, he went to get refreshments for everyone. When he’d come back, his mom was sobbing and the alpha-mate was so embarrassed. She’d assumed his mom knew.

The only wolf outside their family who knew was old Maggie because she sometimes looked after his mom as well.

Cyrus stared in the mirror and spread his hands over his belly. His flat belly. His empty belly. Another full-body shiver ran through him and he held onto the sink, alarmed as the room seemed to sway. Heat then cold ran through him. What the hell? Was he sick? He shook his head to clear it. Wolves didn’t get sick, evenmar-wolveshe thought bitterly.

Omegas thought they always got the short straw, that they were the worst types of wolves, but they were wrong. Mar-wolves had all the characteristics of an omega, but they could never get pregnant.

He should know. He’d had that fact rammed down his throat every day since his dad died. As soon as they got to the pack house, he was going to tell Kyle. He had no choice. No matter what Kyle did to him when he found out.

Baby and the Alpha

Chapter Two

Kyle must be losing his goddamned mind. He’d flown into Jacksonville at the last minute to attend Staff Sergeant Baker’s funeral when he’d heard the old guy had died, then he’d rented a truck to visit another old buddy who lived nearby. He remembered to request permission to be in Alrek Armstrong’s territory. His beta Liam had told him about the Armstrong pack and its good reputation, and after his uncle burning through so many other alphas who would have been counted as friends once upon a time, Kyle needed all the friends he could get. Half of his pack resented him for “deserting” them and the other half resented him for overthrowing his uncle and ruining a good thing. He’d thrown out most of the troublemakers already, but he hardly had a reputation for keeping a pack cohesive and traditional, so he couldn’t blame the rest for being suspicious.

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