Page 117 of His Reluctant Omega

Avery smiled inwardly, glad his cellmates had his back… yet he didn’t want them fighting his battles and potentially getting harmed.

“Oh, I might not have friendsin this cell,” Tulla warned. “But be sure I have plenty of them in this prison.”

“Shocking,”Medjul cried sarcastically. “The crazy drug dealer has a bunch of friends in prison. You don’t say.”

“I’m tired. It’s been a harrowing day. Can y’all shut the fuck up now? I need my beauty sleep,” Tulla spat.

The four of them eyed one another—Medjul, Tab, Ash, and Avery—and Avery sensed a bond of brotherhood forming between the omegas. Giving Tulla another glance, he realized he just might need that bond to save his life.

18

“It’s been weeks, Tensen. You’ve got to have some news for us,” Wilder said into the receiver. “Avery’s looking for details every time I visit, and I have nothing to share.” Limited visitation hours and a plate-glass window between them had made sharing harder still, less when he saw the fear in Avery’s eyes. If only he could draw his mate into his arms and offer a bit of comfort. He knew it wouldn’t mean much in the grand scheme, but he was sure he needed the soothing of a touch as much as Avery did.

“As I told you before, there’s not much I can share until we get to the trial.” He paused. “There is something that came to mind last night.”

“What’s that?”

“You shared Avery’s heat… so there’s a chance hecouldbe pregnant. Right?”

As if that thought hadn’t been circling in my head for weeks.It was the one thing he and Avery hadn’t spoken of in those brief visitations. He knew Avery didn’t want a child, nor had he… yet somewhere deep down, he almost hoped for one. It was stupid, given the situation the omega was in. “Your point?”

“We might…” Tensen cleared his throat. “This direction we’re headed, there’s no way we can know how it might end. There’s no precedent. There have been omegas caught sneaking out, but no one for the length of time Avery had. We have no idea what’s coming, and there’s no loophole in any of the laws. I’ve searched and come up empty. I’ve got nothing that gives me a strong winning feeling.”

“And?” What did that have to do with Avery’s potential pregnancy?

“You could sue the province for custody.Ifhe’s pregnant.”

Wilder was silent, not sure exactly what he’d just heard.

“Wilder?”

“Yeah,” he replied.

“Did you hear me?”

Wilder took a deep, cleansing breath. “What you’re saying is that you don’t think Avery has a chance, so I might as well take our potential baby and run for the hills?”

“What I’m saying is Avery’s case doesn’t look good… and if there’s a child, you would want custody of it versus the babe going up for adoption, right?”

“I don’t want to think about this right now. Our focus needs to be on Avery.”

“My focus is on him, Wilder, but there have to be backup plans for our backup plans. If we lose his case, we’re going to appeal. And appeal and appeal, until we can’t appeal anymore. That could take years. Years where your child could be raised by someone else if you don’t step in.”

Wilder’s gut clenched, tears burning the backs of his eyes.

“Additionally, there’s a slim chance we get him out for the duration of said pregnancy. You could argue that your child’s health is in danger there, and we could petition the courts for him to be released to your care because of the child.”

“Avery already said he doesn’t want to be treated as property. I doubt he’d be happy about us doing it with a child.”Our child.Warmth spread in his chest, and he had to fight back the feeling. “We need to focus our attention on getting Avery freed.”

“We have to have contingencies in place to protect a potential child.”

Wilder nodded, unable to speak. He knew Tensen was right. “Fine. Draft something up, just in case, but we don’t use it unless absolutely necessary.”

“You’re doing the right thing,” Tensen murmured.

“Then why doesn’t it feel right?” Wilder asked. The thought of raising their child alone… without Avery? No. Hecouldn’tenvision that.

“We’ll speak soon. Avery has court soon, and you’re welcome to the prep meetings. I’ll have one of our assistants email you the dates and times, okay?”

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