Page 28 of Baby and the Beast

Cyrus didn’t know what to say.

“Amanda—one of the she-wolves—helps me with them, but with me being absent for three days she hasn’t had a night off. Aiva’s teething.”

But Kyle hadn’t had much more sleep. Cyrus shivered and focused on the alpha who leaned back against the wall. Somehow Cyrus had slept the day away as well. Fitting he supposed as this would be his last one in the pack. He ought to get ready for being returned to Mike, but even with all the threats of what his life would be like, nothing hurt like the lies he had told Kyle.Nothing.

“I’m not going to send you back unless you want to go.” Kyle looked pointedly at the mark on Cyrus’s neck. “Fuck, I don’t even know if I could send you back.”

Cyrus stared in shock.He could stay?Then he processed Kyle’s words. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to send him back, just that he wasn’t sure he could force them apart. He’d heard it was possible for true mates to get sick if they weren’t together. Hell, as a mar-wolf he hadn’t even expected to find a mate. He looked down at the floor. “But—” he managed to stop the words. Pointing out he wasn’t an omega wouldn’t be the cleverest thing to do right that moment.

“Are you sure?”

Cyrus knew what he was asking. “Clara was the third birth mother who confirmed it, and I’ve never”’—he flushed, the scarlet burning his cheeks—“had a heat before.” For a moment he wished the shame that burned his skin would set him on fire for real. It would be quick. Kyle frowned.

“I thought you’d fooled me, but that was real? Your heat?” he didn’t wait for an answer. “Stupid question. Your heat triggered mine. It had to be.”

“Yours?” Cyrus looked at him in astonishment. Alphas got heats?

Kyle sighed. “Tell me the truth. Did you know what Mike was going to say beforehand?”

A tear trickled down Cyrus’s cheek and angry, ashamed, he brushed it away. “No.” He took a breath. “But once he had, all the way here I could have told you he lied, and I didn’t.”

Kyle fixed his startling blue eyes on Cyrus. “Why?”

“Escape,” he admitted. “The chance of a life. The chance for me…”Not to be ashamed.But he couldn’t say it. “I hoped to have the courage to tell you before we mated. All the way here I told myself I would.” He swallowed. “I just didn’t know what to do about the money. You’re an alpha. You have no idea what it’s liketo be powerless.” He swallowed. “I can work. I can help in the kitchen, with the pups.” He would do anything.

Kyle narrowed his eyes. “Is that what you did for your father?”

Cyrus raised his eyebrows in surprise. He hadn’t expected that question. He shook his head. “No. I looked after my mother for a long time because she couldn’t be left on her own. She would wander off and she once tried to tell someone in a grocery store that werewolves were real. She was sick for a long time, but I used to handle the pack accounts and salaries as well.”

Kyle cocked his head to one side as if considering him. “Were you any good?”

Resentment flared through Cyrus. He’d been very good, but the second Mike had taken over he’d been relegated to the kitchen. “Yes. I can’t practice legally, but I can save you a lot of money with preparation. There are a lot of laws you can use if you know about them. Taxwise,” he added.

Kyle inhaled. “Then you might have just gotten your wages for a year in one go, but I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the business. It may take us some time to figure out this mess as well. Maybe with you not being an omega the same mating rules with alphas won’t affect us,” he added, and Cyrus could hear the hope in his voice. Not that he blamed him. No alpha would want to be saddled with a mate who couldn’t give him pups, especially with the current birth rate problem. He tried to ignore the way his heart squeezed painfully. He should be ecstatic Kyle wasn’t throwing him out.

“I’ll fetch your suitcase from downstairs and there’s a bathroom next door to the room you were in. When you’re ready, come and eat. You must be starving.” And with that he was gone. Cyrus stared at the empty space he had left for quite a few moments. Kyle seemed to accept that he hadn’t planned to deceive him and he should be thankful—fuck, he should be on bended knee in gratitude—but there would always be the part ofhim that would remember what Kyle had been like in the car. When he had been going to be his mate. When every dream that he could ever wish for, and a lot that he never had, would have come to life.

How was it possible to feel so strongly about this man? He knew that fated mates weren’t something that only happened to omegas. But fate was such a fickle bitch, and his greatest torment, because the one thing that Kyle needed in a dangerous world where packs were shrinking and threatened was pups.

And no matter how much Cyrus’s stupid heart had fallen for the gruff alpha, it was the one thing he couldn’t give him.

Cyrus hurried through a shower in case his alpha was waiting for him, even though he could have happily stood under it for an hour. Glorious hot water, the ability to wash and dry his long, thick hair—which he had refused to cut off—and shave with something that wasn’t likely to cut him to ribbons was such a luxury. He came out of the bathroom to see his suitcase on the bed, and quickly pulled his clothes out. He dressed in his only other pair of jeans, a tee, and his favorite blue sweater that still managed to look okay after nine years. Knowing he couldn’t put it off any longer, he went to find Kyle. No, hisalpha. There would be no more “Kyle.” He had to stop calling him that.

He found him in the smaller kitchen, one he guessed was just for the alpha to use. There was a highchair in the corner and one of the chairs had a booster seat fastened to it. Kyle was just stirring something that smelled wonderful in a pan. He looked up as Cyrus came in and nodded to the table. There was a basket of bread, butter, silverware, and napkins. Cyrus slid into one of the chairs and a moment later Kyle put a huge bowl of beef stew in front of him. He ladled out his own and sat down opposite Cyrus. “Eat,” he ordered noticing Cyrus hadn’t so much as picked up a fork. “This is Marnie’s, so you’re not allowed to dislike it.”

Cyrus obediently picked up his fork, not entirely sure if Kyle was joking or not. He hummed approvingly at the taste though and happily ate every bite.

“Would you like a drink?”

Cyrus glanced down to his half empty glass of water. “I have one, thank you.”

Kyle shook his head. “No, I meant a glass of wine. I know it takes a lot of alcohol to affect us, but I like the taste and it helps me wind down.” He took a glass from the cupboard and uncorked an already half-empty bottle, looking enquiringly at Cyrus.

“I’ve never had any wine,” Cyrus replied honestly feeling a little like he was still asleep and dreaming. Clearing up after Mike and his cronies constantly was enough to put him off the smell of beer.

Kyle poured him a little red into a glass and passed it over. “Take a sip.”

Cyrus did and quite liked the smooth taste. He smiled shyly and let Kyle pour him some more.

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