Page 58 of Where the Current Takes Him
His father scoffed. “You think these things only happen when they’re planned? Do you not care about your mother’s wellbeing?”
“That’s not…” The words faded on Beau’s lips. This was gaslighting, he knew it was. But what if there was some truth to it? His mother had always been accepting of Beau, from his status as an Omega to his sexual orientation. For all he knew, his mother might want grandchildren, even if they were scaled.
Beau shook his head, like he could rattle the thoughts loose. “I’ll think about it.”
“You better think fast, Beaumont,” his father warned. “I hear the Paeil doctors start lowering the suppressant dosage the moment they get their hands on your prescription. I would hate to see your reputation ruined.” Without a second glance, Ashford stalked off to his office, leaving Beau alone in the vast hallway.
He stayed there for a few moments, his mind spinning. He pressed an absent hand to his flat stomach. He tried to imagine it swollen and round, heavy with Loriun’s child. There was next to nothing about male pregnancy in the human education system. Most human entertainment and resources depicted standard males and females—the men and women that existed before the Mer came.
The Mer themselves still had little knowledge on human male pregnancy. It had only been twenty years since the first humans set foot on the Paeil Islands. Though Omegas were regularly transferred, both in Florida and around the world, the trickle of volunteers remained thin.
As far as he knew, no human Omega had died in childbirth, but that didn’t make the idea any less terrifying. A half-human child crushing his organs, splitting his abs, stealing all his nutrients… Beau shuddered. For once, obeying his father’s wishes didn’t sound like such a bad idea.
His feet carried him toward the art gallery, housed beside his old room. As he approached, his footsteps slowed. The gallery door remained shut tight, but the door to his old room had been flung wide open.
A slight flush of embarrassment rose in Beau’s face. He’d probably left the room a total disaster. And what if Loriun had opened up his drawers and found the myriad of questionably shaped dildos? But when he peeked into the room, the Mer was nowhere to be found. The room looked the same as heremembered—right side overtaken with his bartending supplies and left side cluttered with clothes and bedding.
“Loriun?” he called, looking back down the hallway. He moved to check the gallery, but it, too, was empty. He raised his voice. “Loriun?”
There was no answer. Beau frowned.Did he already go back to the boat?A headache was beginning to pulse in his temples.He navigated the marble maze of hallways to the grand front door. The drive resembled a hotel’s dropoff point, and a familiar driver awaited him.
“Hello again, Beau,” the Mer Omega said, grinning.
“Hey…”
“Zae,” the Mer supplied.
“Zae,” Beau repeated. “Um. Have you seen an Alpha with bright red hair?”
“Mr. Kolhn? Yeah, he came out a little bit ago and had your car take him back to the dock. That’s why I’m here.”
Why did he leave me…?
“Did he seem… upset?”
Zae laughed. “He looked pissed.” At the stricken look on Beau’s face, his laughter abruptly cut off. “Oh. I assumed Mr. Montgomery did something, but if you two had a fight—”
“No, no.” Beau shook his head. “It’s nothing, I’m sure. Miscommunication.”
“Right.” Zae didn’t look convinced. “Well, I’ll drive you back to the dock if you’re ready.”
Beau took a deep breath, then nodded. “Let’s go.”
He half-expected to see his mate standing by the boat with Jaime and Vuos, but only two figures were visible.
Beau hopped out, calling a hasty thank you to Zae.
“Jaime, Vuos!”
The pair turned and waved.
“So how’d it go?” Jaime asked. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, fine,” he said. “Did you see Loriun?”
Jaime glanced at his Alpha. “We did. He came back down here and said he’d go on ahead of us. Said there was something he had to do.”
Beau’s heart sank. What happened? Did Loriun freak out about the whole kids conversation, too? He was feeling somewhat nauseous, like there wasn’t enough air.
