Expecting You

Omega’s Luck, Book One

Claire Cullen

Copyright © 2020 by Claire Cullen

All Rights Reserved

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Epilogue

Author’s Note

Chapter One

Zac sat in the clinic’s waiting room, jiggling his knee nervously as he watched the clock tick closer and closer to eight a.m.

“Aaron Clark?”

It took Harper elbowing him in the side for Zac to remember that he was Aaron Clark. For today, at least.

“Here, sorry.” He jumped to his feet, waving awkwardly.

The nurse glowered at him and shoved a clipboard into his hands. “Fill that out. I’ll be back.”

He sat down and tried to detach the pen from the clipboard. It took three attempts before he finally managed it, only to promptly drop the pen on the floor.

“I’ve got it.” Harper snatched the pen up before he could. “Give that here.”

He yanked the clipboard from Zac’s hand and started filling it in.

“You’ve got to hold it together,” he murmured in Zac’s ear. “Just a few more hours, then it’ll be done, and you’ll have a life again. A future.” He gave him an encouraging grin. “We’ll celebrate, with pizza.”

Zac, who’d been fasting since the previous evening, glowered at the other omega. “You know I can’t afford pizza. I’d have been living off instant noodles for weeks if it wasn’t for you.”

“My treat,” Harper promised. “To celebrate.”

His friend’s enthusiasm was infectious. Zac leaned against his shoulder and smiled at him. “Pizza sounds great. A life sounds great.”

He’d been crippled by his omega biology for far too long. It had lost him his last three jobs. The families he was a nanny for had tried hard to be understanding. But an unreliable omega, one who could be absent for days, sometimes weeks at a time at short notice, just didn’t cut it.

“Last meal… six p.m.?”

“Seven,” Zac corrected quietly.

“Date last heat ended?”

Zac didn’t need to check a calendar to remember that.

“The ninth.”

“Average duration between heats?”

He groaned. “They know all this. Why are we going through it for the hundredth time?”

“Busywork,” Harper said easily, pressing his leg against Zac’s. The contact calmed him. “To keep people from going stir crazy in the waiting room.”

“The only thing making me crazy right now are these questions.”

“Allergies?” Harper pressed.

“Strawberries, as you well know.”

“Hey! I only forgot that one time...”

“My lips swelled up to twice their size. I looked like my cosmetic surgery had gone horribly wrong.”

Harper snorted with laughter before biting his lip, looking the picture of contrite. “I said I was sorry. It was berry jam. How was I supposed to know there were strawberries in it?”

“The clue is in the name. Berry.” They glared at one another before they both dissolved into giggles.

The nurse stomped back in, looking unimpressed as she held out her hand for the clipboard.

“Follow me. Not you,” she added when Harper stood to join him. “You can collect him in three hours.”

Harper caught his hand, squeezing it tightly. “I’ll be right here the whole time. See you on the other side.”

Zac squeezed back, grateful beyond belief to have such a good friend by his side. Without Harper, none of this would have been possible, and his life would have continued to freefall until he hit rock bottom.

He followed the nurse to a room. She handed him a gown and thrust the clipboard back into his hands. “Finish filling this out. Every question, not just the easy ones.”

She marched off, grumbling under her breath.

“Aren’t you a ray of sunshine,” Zac muttered.

He sat down on the chair next to the intimidating medical bed and tried to remember the details he’d memorized about Harper’s cousin Aaron. It had been Harper’s idea for Zac to use Aaron’s insurance to cover the cost of the implant that he’d never have been able to afford alone. Even the co-pay had taken him months of scrimping and eating noodles to save up.

He couldn’t wait any longer, not with Aaron leaving the country with his alpha boyfriend to go live and teach in Japan. That was the main reason Aaron had agreed to let Zac do this. The chances of them being found out were tiny and, even if they were, Aaron wouldn’t be around to face the repercussions. For Zac, it was worth the risk.

He filled in the last few details on the form, then quickly changed into the crinkly paper gown. Grimacing at his reflection, he was glad there was no one there to see him except the medical staff. Couture fashion this was not. Just as he sat down again, a doctor popped his head through the doorway, stethoscope around his neck.

“Aaron Clark?”

“Yes.”

“Great, you’re all gowned up. I’ll be right with you.”

“Um… Dr. Hains is supposed to be doing my procedure.”

He’d met her at his initial appointment. She’d been nice, as doctors went. Sympathetic but practical.

“She’s out with the flu, as are half the nursing staff. I’m afraid you’ll have to make do with some new faces.”

That explained Nurse Unfriendly from the waiting room.

“Oh. Okay.”

Before he could say any more, the doctor was gone. He returned a few minutes later, scanning a page of notes which he set down on the table next to the bed.

“Sorry for the delay. The computer system is having a few hiccups. We’ve been forced to go old-school with pen and paper. Now, let’s get you on the bed. You’ve got your IV line in… Nope. You haven’t. We’ll get the nurse in to get you all kitted out. Best sleep of your life, I promise.”

Already uneasy, Zac pushed himself up onto the bed and swung his legs around. The nurse bustled in, a tray in her hand, and the doctor turned to her.

“Good, you’re here. Austin doesn’t have his IV line in yet.”

“I’ll get right on that, Doctor,” she said through gritted teeth.

Sensing the room was already tense, Zac didn’t bother to correct the doctor on his fake name. Austin, Aaron—what did it matter? He offered his arm up readily to the nurse, trying to seem like the model patient.

“Any concerns about today’s procedure?” the doctor asked, busying himself setting out equipment and donning gloves.

“No. I don’t think so.”

Zac felt like this wasn’t how things were meant to go before a medical procedure. He’d have liked more explanations of what they were doing. But the more he talked, the more likely it was that he’d slip up and give the game away. Keeping his mouth shut was the lesser of many evils.

“Alright, then. Let’s get this show on the road. Sedation, coming right up. You won’t remember a thing.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Zac watched the doctor hand the nurse a syringe. That was quickly followed by a cold sensation that washed up his arm from where she’d placed the IV line.

He felt a hand pat his knee as a distant, disembodied voice said, “Helping create new life—isn’t that what this job is all about?”

There was just enough time to think ‘huh?’ before the lights went out.

Chapter Two

Beckett’s morning was off to a bad start, and it was only eight a.m. Kyle stood at the door to his home office, tearful, his lower lip wobbling, all but wringing his hands.

“I’m really sorry, Mr. Rayne, but I can’t do this anymore. I have to hand in my notice. I’ll stay until the end of the week, but that’s all I can do.”

Beckett stood up from his desk and crossed to the door.

“If you need more money, we can discuss it.”

Kyle was shaking his head before Beckett had even stopped talking.

“It’s not that. You know it’s not.”

He glanced back across the corridor behind him to where Luca was playing in the middle of the lounge, oblivious to their conversation.

“It’s too hard. I’m so sorry. I can’t watch him go through this, getting sicker and sicker…” Kyle blinked furiously, a few tears escaping as he refused to meet Beckett’s gaze.

“I understand.” Of course he did. He wouldn’t wish this reality on anyone, and he wouldn’t force anyone to live it if they couldn’t handle it. “You don’t need to work out your notice. But if you could spend some time with Luca today, let him draw you a picture to say goodbye, I’m sure he’d appreciate it.”

Kyle had barely been there a month. Beckett had really hoped he’d work out but wasn’t too worried about the fallout from his departure. Luca hadn’t gotten used to having him around. Still, his heart ached for his little boy losing yet another caregiver.

He and Kyle talked through the details of his resignation, Beckett paying out for the week even if Kyle wasn’t working it. Then, while Kyle and Luca were busy drawing, he called William.

“Hey, can you handle tomorrow’s meeting solo? Something’s come up.”

“Shit. Is Luca in the hospital again?”

“No, no. He’s here, at home. But the nanny’s leaving.”

William groaned.

“Already? He’s only been there, what? Two weeks?”

“Almost four.”

“Yeah. Not even a month. Where are you finding these guys? The school of unreliable nannies?”

Beckett couldn’t help but defend Kyle.

“It’s not easy, you know it’s not. All the care Luca needs, all the precautions. Most omegas can’t handle growing attached when they know how sick he is.”

“Well, you need to find someone who can stay the course, for both your sakes.”

“I know. I’ll try that agency Sally recommended. If I’m lucky, I’ll have someone by next week.”

“I can handle this week’s meetings, but we’re consulting with the city council next Thursday. If Lee Prendergast doesn’t see your handsome face, we’ll never convince them to give us the courthouse redesign.”

Their architectural firm had grown in leaps and bounds in the three years since they’d founded it, but it was getting to the point where it was hard to keep on top of all the work coming their way.

“I’ll be there,” he promised.

“I’ll get Trey to ask around his omega music group, see if anyone knows of a nanny at a loose end.”

It was a bad time for it; most families had already made arrangements for the school year, but Beckett could always hope.

After going through their urgent projects with William, he called the agency Sally had suggested. They emailed him the profiles of those nannies who were both available and suitable for the level of care Luca needed. Beckett read through them but could immediately see the problem. They might have had the right certificates, but all three of them were inexperienced. They’d never taken care of a kid with Luca’s needs.

Ignoring the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, he tried the agency that had sent him Kyle. No luck there; they didn’t have anyone who could meet his requirements. As he set down the phone, feeling disheartened and a little at a loss, he heard a giggle from the next room.

Putting his work aside, he crossed the corridor and leaned against the lounge door. He watched as Luca built towers of blocks, only to knock them down with glee seconds later. Kyle was sitting nearby, his eyes suspiciously red-rimmed.

“Hey, Kyle?”

The omega glanced up.

“Go take your lunch. I’ve got him.”

When he was working from home, which was most days, Beckett made sure that Luca’s nanny got a proper break—a chance to leave the house, get some fresh air and some time to themselves. It also meant, even on his busiest days, he got one-to-one time during the best hours of Luca’s day. Evenings could be tough—Luca was often tired, cranky, and hurting.

He sat on the floor next to him.

“Hey, buddy. Can I play too?”

Luca grinned and handed him a block.

“On top!”

“You want me to put it on top? Here?”

“Yep.”

The tower of blocks wobbled precariously.

“Uh-oh.”

“Uh-oh!” Luca echoed, grinning at him before knocking the blocks with his hand and sending them tumbling down.

“Oh, no! What are we gonna do? The tower fell down!”

Luca laughed and grabbed hold of a block. “Again!”

Beckett relished the days when Luca was happy and distracted, the days when he could forget how sick he was. Today was one of those days.

“Want to help me feed the fish?”

Luca nodded eagerly, and Beckett swept him up into his arms. Together they fed the little school of tetras that provided endless hours of fascination on days when neither of them had enough energy to play.

“Not too much,” Beckett warned. “Or they’ll grow too big for their tank, and they’ll have to live in the bath.”

“With my ducky?”

“Yep. They’ll live in the bath with your ducky and all your other bath toys. But there’ll be no room for you, so you’ll have to have your bath in their tank.”

That set off another round of giggles, but he could see Luca was already tiring.

“How about a nap, kiddo? You and me and the starry sky.”

Luca’s mouth turned down at the word ‘nap,’ but the promise of starry skies had him smiling again. Beckett carried him up into the converted attic, closing the door and pulling all the blackout blinds to throw the room into darkness. They lay down on the thick, soft rug on the floor, watching as stars came to life around them.

“Pretty,” Luca mumbled, resting his head against Beckett’s chest.

“Yeah,” he said with a sigh. “They’re perfect.”

Just like his life should have been. Him, Darcy, and Luca, inseparable. Or so he’d believed. How wrong he’d been.

Darcy was long gone, and holding onto Luca had become a never-ending fight. But today, finally, there was a glimpse of hope. Out there in the city, a tiny embryo, the last and only hope for Luca’s survival, was about to be implanted.

“Pick a star and make a wish,” he told Luca.

He made one of his own. Hugging Luca tightly, he wished that little bundle of cells, that potential life, would find itself a home.

Chapter Three

Harper was staring at him. Again.

“How do you feel?”

“Fine.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

He tried to hide his irritation, knowing his friend was just trying to get a reaction.

“No nausea? Cramps? Pelvic pain? The leaflet said most people experience some side effects.”

Zac rolled his eyes and threw his pen at Harper. “What, did you memorize it?”

“Dude, I spent three hours in that waiting room with no Wi-Fi. There was literally nothing else to do except agonize over your health. The least you could do is humor me.”

“Well, I hate to disappoint you, but I seem to have been one of the lucky few. No side effects.”

The fact worried Zac a little. Even though he knew that getting side effects didn’t mean the implant was working any better, feeling so… normal… just seemed wrong.

“Okay, okay. No side effects. We’ll chalk that up to luck. But you’re, what, twenty-five days since your last heat?”

“Twenty-eight.” Four blessedly heat-free weeks.

“Any sign it’s coming on?”

Since Zac’s cycle had gone haywire, he’d rarely gone a week without pre- or post-heat symptoms when not experiencing the heat itself. It had left him constantly exhausted and notoriously unreliable where his job was concerned. But all the telltale symptoms were absent.

“Not a one. I think this might actually be working.”

“It had better. That shit’s expensive. Five thousand just for the implant. Another five to get it placed. And a grand easily for all the checkups before and after.”

Just thinking of the cost made Zac nauseous. As it was, it had taken him almost six months to earn enough to pay the co-pay on Aaron’s insurance, and that was with Harper pitching in to help out.

“I’m thankful your cousin has such a great healthcare plan.”

There was a pause before they both snorted with laughter. Zac’s erratic work schedule meant he didn’t make nearly enough to pay for insurance, but he wasn’t eligible for state help either, since they’d disqualified treatment for heat irregularities a few years before. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, he had ‘borrowed’ Aaron’s identity, and used his insurance to get the implant that was now regulating his cycles. It was fraud, plain and simple, but Zac had been backed into a corner.

“We can all see how tough you’ve had it, duck. Aaron did what any of us would have done, if we could have.”

Zac knew that was true. Having to call in sick for days or weeks at a time meant he’d gone from a stable job to getting a few relief days here and there. He’d lucked out in that Aaron had both taken pity on him and not been too concerned about the legal side of things.

“How is Aaron settling in?” He and his new alpha husband, Gino, had just left the country for Japan, where they’d live and work for the duration of Gino’s tenure at the university there. Who worried about a tiny little thing like healthcare fraud when they wouldn’t be back in the country until long after the statute of limitations ran out?

“He says it’s quite the culture shock, but they’re enjoying playing tourists right now. He’ll be glad to hear you’re doing so well.”

“He’s a lifesaver,” Zac said quietly, sobering at the thought of where he’d be if Harper’s cousin hadn’t come through for him like that. The nine-hundred-dollar co-pay was a tiny price to pay for getting his freedom—his life—back.

“That he is, and we’ll drink a toast to him, when you get a job and we can afford to drink again.” Harper flopped onto the old ratty couch that was the centerpiece of his living room and had been Zac’s bed for the previous few months.

“Speaking of jobs, one of the agencies might have something for me.”

Harper perked up at that. “Details, Z. Sharing is caring.”

“It needs a minimum level-two healthcare cert. And it’s live-in.”

Harper’s face fell, but he rallied well. “Apartment’s too small for all of us anyway. I was getting tired of you crashing on my couch.”

“Honestly, I don’t think they’ll want me. I haven’t exactly been the most reliable nanny this past year. It sounds like they’ve been through a handful of nannies already. This kid must be really sick, Harper.”

“Or he’s a spoiled brat who gets the sniffles now and then. You’ve told me those stories often enough.”

Zac groaned. “Oh, I hope not. I always feel so sorry for those kids. No nanny is ever good enough, so the parents keep chopping and changing. How are they ever going to learn how to cope in the real world when they’re wrapped head to toe in bubble wrap?”

“Well, either they’ll never leave their bubble or they’re in for a rude awakening one day. But if it’s not helicopter parents, are you gonna take the job?”

Zac tugged at a loose thread on the hem of his T-shirt. “Maybe. I have a phone interview this afternoon.”

“So soon?”

“They sound kind of desperate.”

“Sure, but maybe you should ease yourself back into things. Pick up more casual work. Wait for something easier to come along.”

Zac made a face at Harper.

“It’s off-season. Most positions have been filled and not much will come up again until the New Year. I’ve been living off your kindness for far too long. We’re just lucky your roommate’s more interested in his boyfriend’s house than he is being here. I don’t think Colin has even noticed I’ve been living here.”

“Fuck him. You’re my friend. If I say you can stay, you can stay.”

“Sure. Except the landlord is his uncle, not yours. Which one of you is gonna get kicked out if you make trouble?”

“Him, ‘cause he’s an ass,” Harper insisted.

Zac gave him a look, and he capitulated. “Yeah, yeah. Me, because nepotism is alive and well in the twenty-first century.”

“Never forget it,” Zac said softly.

Harper leaned across the gap between their cushions and grabbed his hand. “I’m really glad you went through with it. This is the start of good times, good things. I feel it in my bones.”

Zac pushed him away, laughing. “You also said you felt we were in for a week of sunshine, and it hasn’t stopped raining since the day before yesterday. I think you need to have a word with your bones. They’re giving mixed signals.”

“And we know better than to give mixed signals. Alphas are terrible at reading anything that’s not literally the words ‘come fuck me’ written on an omega’s forehead.”

“We should try that for Halloween this year. Could be fun.”

“Wouldn’t you rather be a sexy nurse and go find yourself a doctor? I bet Dr. Hains is good looking.”

“Dr. Hains is a she, and she wasn’t even there. Her replacement… let’s just say he left a lot to be desired, in every respect.”

“But he got the job done,” Harper said pointedly. “Have to give him that.”

That he had, and now Zac had five blissful, heat-free years ahead of him. And he didn’t have to worry about accidentally spawning some alpha one-night stand’s baby.

Chapter Four

With time running short, Beckett tried another agency he’d used in the past.

“Mr. Rayne, your pool of potential nannies would be greatly increased if they weren’t required to be live-in and extensively health certified.”

“Live-in is the only arrangement that works for me,” Beckett explained patiently to the manager.

“Well, given little Luca’s medical needs, perhaps you should be looking for a nurse and not a nanny.”

“That won’t do.” He didn’t bother giving a reason, knowing she wouldn’t fully understand it. A nurse would see Luca as a patient first and a child second. A nanny—an omega nanny—would always see the child.

“If you’re certain…”

“I’m certain.”

She took a breath and continued, “Then we do have someone who might suit your needs. His availability doesn’t start until next week, and while he has excellent references from all his families, his recent work record leaves something to be desired…”

“Send me his resume,” Beckett said immediately.

He ended the call feeling hopeful, but that hope was quickly dashed when he read through the nanny’s file. He’d lasted less than six months on each of his last four jobs and less than three months on the most recent. What Luca needed wasn’t just expertise, it was consistency. Yet, reading the detailed references from all the families painted a picture of a wonderful nanny. Exactly what he was looking for. He couldn’t figure out how the short-term employment fit in with the glowing references, but one of the families was a couple he knew. So, he did what any concerned father would do and gave them a call.

“Hello?”

“Rafe, hi. It’s Beckett Rayne, Luca’s dad.” Rafe’s daughter, Frankie, had been at playgroup with Luca before he got too sick to attend.

“Beckett, lovely to hear from you. How’s Luca? We miss him at the jungle gym.”

“Luca’s hanging in there. He’s a real little trooper. I actually called because I’m looking for a new nanny for him, someone with medical training. I know with Frankie’s asthma, you’re very careful in your choice of nannies, and I wanted to ask you about a nanny who cared for Frankie previously—Isaac Hughes?”

“Isaac? Oh, you mean Zac. Of course. Frankie loved him, and so did we. What did you want to know?”

“Yeah, you wrote him a fantastic reference, but I couldn’t help noticing that he wasn’t with you all that long. I don’t want to introduce yet another person into Luca’s life if they’re going to be leaving again in a few months.”

“I understand, of course. Zac was fantastic, in every way. But…”

“But,” Beckett prompted.

Rafe lowered his voice. “He was having some medical problems. Of the…” His voice dropped to a mere whisper. “…personal kind, if you know what I mean.”

For omegas, personal almost always meant heat-related.

“He left the position voluntarily. I don’t think he’s worked as a nanny since, except some relief work here and there. If the agency is handing his resume around again, he must have sorted out his, uh, little problem. If it was me, I’d snap him up in a heartbeat.”

“Thanks, Rafe. You’ve been a real help.”

“Sure, Beckett. Don’t be a stranger now. Maybe Luca could come over for a play date?”

“He’d love that, I’m sure. We’ll schedule one soon.”

He didn’t hesitate to call the agency back as soon as he’d finished making small talk with Rafe. They agreed to arrange a phone interview first, and Beckett set up a time to call.

Twenty minutes beforehand, he pulled up his list of interview questions, making a few changes and mentally preparing. He wanted to choose right this time, for Luca’s sake. A minute after the set time, he dialed the number the agency had given him.

“Hello?”

“Hello. Can I speak to Isaac Hughes?”

The first rule of any phone conversation: make sure you’ve dialed the right number.

“Speaking.”

“This is Beckett Rayne. The agency gave me your number. Are you free to talk?”

“Ready when you are.”

“Great.”

He started with some easy questions, pleased with the answers he was getting. Just as he was about to get to the hard stuff, Isaac anticipated what he most wanted to know.

“You’re probably wondering about the gaps in my resume and the short placements.”

“It’s given me pause. Luca has had a lot of turmoil in his short life. He needs some consistency right now. If you can’t provide that, I’d appreciate it if you could be upfront about it.”

There was a short silence before Isaac spoke again.

“I had some health issues, and it’s taken time to get proper treatment for them. But they’ve been sorted out. If you hire me, I won’t let you and Luca down.”

That was as much reassurance as Beckett could expect. He didn’t pry or ask questions, he just moved on to Isaac’s medical certs.

“Do you have any questions for me?” he asked as he meandered to the end of his list.

“Two, actually, but they’re requests rather than questions. Can I have the names of one or two of your previous nannies? Also, I’d like to meet Luca before this goes any further, assuming it will go further.”

Isaac immediately went up a few points in Beckett’s estimation. He understood that a good nanny chose a family as much as the family chose them.

“Of course. I’ll send you the details of our most recent nannies, if they’re okay with that. As for Luca, I would really like the two of you to meet. When would suit you?”

“Tomorrow morning, nine-thirty?”

Beckett had a conference call at nine that he suspected might run long. “Can we make it ten?”

“Sure.”

“Great, I’ll send you the address along with the contact details for the nannies.”

He ended the call, feeling like a weight had lifted off his shoulders. Things were finally falling into place. All he needed now was one more good piece of news to really make his day—that their surrogate’s IVF had been successful. Austin had an appointment with their doctor to confirm implantation that afternoon. With any luck, Beckett would be getting a call right after.

To distract himself while he waited, he checked on Luca. He was napping after a morning of playing with his toy trains. Beckett just stood in the doorway, watching the rise and fall of Luca’s little chest. Every breath was another hope. All he had to do was keep him breathing.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he stepped away, closing the door behind him. It was later than he’d realized, almost an hour after he’d expected to hear the news.

“Hey, Dr. Lawson. How’s Austin?”

There was a long pause, and Beckett’s heart sank.

“Well, he’s not pregnant, I can tell you that much.”

Beckett’s heart clenched tightly in his chest as bitter disappointment swallowed him whole. “The IVF failed.”

There was an even longer pause this time.

“It’s not that simple, I’m afraid. There were some… irregularities… in his blood tests. We’re still trying to determine the cause. Right now, all I can tell you for certain is that Austin isn’t pregnant. However, we’re not sure the implantation procedure actually went ahead.”

Beckett froze, his mind jumping in a dozen directions at once.

“Wait, I don’t… How are you not sure the procedure happened? Austin told me himself that it did. Does this mean you still have the embryo?”

If the procedure hadn’t gone ahead, then the clinic should still have it. Which meant they still had a chance.

“We’re looking into that. As soon as we understand what happened, we’ll let you know.” He coughed awkwardly. “Our legal department may become involved. Just giving you a heads-up.”

“What? Why would…”

But Dr. Lawson had already hung up.

Beckett stared at the phone for a long moment, then stepped back toward Luca’s room, pushing the door open slowly. Luca’s little life, which was already so fragile, had just grown even more so.

Chapter Five

Zac had never been one for pre-interview jitters, but he couldn’t deny that he had them now. His stomach somersaulted again, and he pushed away his slice of toast.

Harper raised an eyebrow at him. “Nervous? I don’t know why. You’re a shoo-in.”

Zac made a face. “We don’t know that. They haven’t even met me yet.”

“But once they do, it’s always the same. They fall in love with the most beloved nanny in this city. None of those families ever wanted to let you go. Hell, the Curleys paid for a relief nanny every time your heat knocked you out of action. You were the one who pulled the plug.”

“Because it wasn’t fair to the kids.” Zac dragged his plate closer and nibbled on the crust of his slice of toast. “Even when I was there, I wasn’t able to keep up with them.”

“Well, anyone would find toddler triplets hard work. Even if those triplets did adore you.”

“They didn’t adore me,” Zac grumbled.

“Kids, animals, old people. You’ve got some kind of Mary Poppins thing going on. Everyone falls under your spell.”

It was sort-of true. Zac rarely met a child he didn’t get along with. He was a people person, through and through.

“And the other nannies didn’t bring up any red flags, did they?”

Zac had contacted each of the three names Beckett had provided, and they’d all said more or less the same thing.

“Not even a yellow flag. Though they did say that Beckett’s a widower.”

Harper made a face at that. Zac knew what he was thinking. A single alpha parent was often, by itself, a reason to be cautious in the nanny business. “But they also said that he’s devoted to two things: his son and his job.”

“How’d his husband die?”

“Omrey’s disease. He didn’t know he had it, and the pregnancy accelerated it. Collapsed and died with no warning shortly after his son was born. Luca has the juvenile type, that’s why he’s so sick.”

“That’s rough,” Harper said. “Losing your mate like that and then knowing it’ll take your kid, too? Sounds like this family could really use you there. I guess I’ll have to come to terms with letting you go. Thai food would help. And cocktails.”

Zac laughed, and his stomach lurched again. With a groan, he pushed back his chair, giving up on his toast.

“I’ve never had butterflies in my stomach before. Is it a bad sign? Maybe I’ve lost my confidence.”

Harper snorted. “You? Never. You’re just out of practice. I give it half an hour before you’re back in the swing of things.”

“Wanna bet?”

He knew Harper would take him up on the challenge. “Sure. I bet you a medium pizza that you’ll walk in there, wow the pants off them, and I’ll be down a roommate by next Monday.”

Zac already owed Harper far more than a pizza.

“Deal.”

They shook on it, Zac laughing as he got to his feet, cleared his plate, and got ready to leave. He brushed the few crumbs off his clothes and turned to Harper.

“How do I look?”

“Like you walked out of a nanny catalog.” He made a shooing motion. “Go forth and charm all the families of the neighborhood.”

Zac rolled his eyes. “See you later?”

“Very late. Got a date tonight.”

“Leo from the gym?” Harper’s most recent obsession.

“Micah from the community college. I’m a sucker for a man in glasses. He can teach me any day.”

* * *

Zac’s destination was a bus ride away. It wasn’t too crowded seeing as it was after rush hour. Live-in nanny jobs were easier in some ways—they cut out the travel time. In other ways, they could be harder, especially when the family wasn’t good at setting firm boundaries. Beckett sounded organized, but he was also the alpha of the household. In Zac’s experience, it was the omega parent who was normally the difficult one. Having an omega nanny around felt like an encroachment on their territory. At least with this family, that wouldn’t be an issue. Zac would still have to be careful to maintain firm boundaries, though.

He got off the bus, double-checked his map, and walked the short distance through the neighborhood. It was a gated community, but the security guard recognized him on sight and waved him through. This wasn’t the first family he’d worked with in the area. The array of houses was an architect’s dream, each one showcasing some individuality. Outside of nannying, Zac had only ever lived in working-class neighborhoods: rows of drab buildings, identically run down. In comparison, a neighborhood like this was paradise.

As he walked up the driveway to the house, he checked his watch. Five minutes early. Early was better than late, so he went ahead and rang the doorbell. He didn’t hear a sound from inside. Anywhere else, it might have meant no one was home. In this neighborhood, it spoke to some impressive soundproofing.

The door opened, and Zac found himself face to face with a tall, dark-haired alpha, a phone pressed to his ear.

“If you email those notes to me this morning, I’ll sketch an amended draft this afternoon. Thanks, J. I’ve got to go.”

He hung up and gave Zac a rueful smile. “Sorry about that. Meeting ran long. It’s Isaac, right?”

“Good morning, Mr. Rayne. Zac is fine. Sorry, I know I’m a little early.”

“Call me Beckett,” the alpha said, waving him inside. “And I never have a problem with early. You found the place okay?”

He held out a hand for Zac’s coat. Zac shrugged it off and handed it over with a smile. Despite his friendliness, Beckett looked worn and a little anxious. The least Zac could do was put him at ease.

“Sure. I’ve worked in the neighborhood before. You have a lovely house. The architect is very talented.”

Beckett grinned at that. “Who have you been talking to? Oh, right. Our previous nannies.” He suddenly turned serious again. “But you’re here, so they haven’t scared you off.”

“Of course not. They all said the same thing; that you were great to work for, and Luca was an adorable boy going through a really tough time.”

He got a nod of acknowledgment at that. “Come on inside. I’ll show you around, and you can meet Luca. He’s busy drawing in the lounge so I can keep an eye on him from my office.”

Zac was aware the previous nanny had already left his position. It wasn’t a great way to start off, since it meant that Beckett would be under pressure to fill the position.

“I’d like to meet Luca first, if that’s okay? I can see the house later.”

Beckett’s phone buzzed, and he glanced at it with a distracted frown before slipping it into his pocket and giving Zac his full attention. “Of course, that makes total sense. It’s this way.”

Zac had a mental checklist that he went through on visiting each new home. Things like cleanliness, signs of strain or that parents weren’t coping. He saw a clean but lived-in house, no piles of mail, trash, or dishes anywhere so far. No dust or dirt gathering. The only strain he could see was on Beckett’s face, and who wouldn’t be under stress juggling a demanding job and a sick kid?

The house had been designed to maximize the light, each room bright and airy. They found Luca kneeling beside a coffee table, humming as he drew a picture with crayons.

Zac readied his best smile as he followed Beckett into the room.

“Luca, there’s someone here to meet you. Do you want to say hi?”

The toddler looked up, glancing at Beckett before his eyes found Zac. He stared at him in silence for a moment, then went back to his coloring.

“No.”

“Uh, buddy? No, what?”

Beckett seemed mystified, giving Zac an apologetic smile.

“This is Isaac, Luca.”

“Just Zac is fine,” he said again, moving around so that he could get a better look at Luca’s face. “It’s nice to meet you, Luca. Those are some nice colors. Can I take a peek at your drawing?”

Luca glanced up again, a frown on his face.

“No.”

He flung the crayon in his hand at Zac. It bounced harmlessly off Zac’s thigh. As he bent down to pick it up, Beckett did the same, the two of them bumping heads.

“Ouch, sorry,” Beckett said, handing the crayon back to his son. “Luca, it’s not nice to throw things at people. Say sorry to Zac.”

That got a predictable answer, with far more heat behind it this time.

“No!”

Beckett looked horrified, and Zac had to work hard to hide his smile. “The subtleties of the word no are lost on everyone but toddlers.”

“He isn’t usually like this,” Beckett said in a rushed whisper, sounding a little desperate. “He’s sweet and shy, and…”

Zac shook his head. “No kid likes to deal with a lot of change. He’s not ready to make friends just now. That’s okay.”

He glanced at his watch. It was a little early for lunch, but about the right time for a snack.

“Hey, Luca. Do you like magic milk? It’s my favorite.”

Luca peeked up from his coloring, his eyes flicking to his dad before coming back to Zac. “No?”

“Well, I’m going to have some. Maybe your dad would like some too.”

He turned back to Beckett. “Which way is the kitchen?”

The alpha showed him, but his phone rang just inside the door, and he stepped away to answer it.

Zac suspected Luca’s behavior was less about his arrival and more about his father being busy a lot. Luca was used to having someone’s undivided attention for most of the day.

Being a nanny meant Zac was comfortable being in other people’s spaces. Moving around the unfamiliar kitchen with ease, he located some glasses and a carton of milk. He filled each glass halfway, then pulled the straws from his bag.

He met Beckett in the corridor, showing him the drinks. “They’re just straws with chocolate syrup in them. The milk turns chocolaty as you drink it. Just like magic. Oldest trick in the book.”

“Worth a try,” Beckett said, though he didn’t look convinced.

The alpha walked him back to the lounge but kept his distance as Zac joined Luca at the coffee table, setting a glass down in front of him. He kept the second glass for himself, sucking up a long drink of milk.

“Yum.”

Luca gave up all pretense of drawing to watch him, then cautiously reached out for his own glass.

“It’s good,” Zac encouraged.

“It’s just milk,” Luca said, eying it dubiously.

“Magic milk,” Zac said. “Just taste it. What’s your favorite flavor?”

He’d already read Luca’s file and knew of everything from his allergy to kiwi fruit, to his love of cheddar cheese.

“Chocolate.”

“Mine too.”

He sucked up more milk, watching Luca take a sip through his straw. The little boy’s eyes lit up. He drank some more, letting go of the straw to peer into the glass again.

“But there’s no chocolate.”

“Not in the glass,” Zac said. “The magic’s in the straw.”

Luca tried to look into the straw.

“I can see it,” he said, his voice hushed.

They drank their milk in companionable silence, and Zac took the opportunity to really look at the little boy. He was pale-cheeked but otherwise had his father’s complexion. Dark hair, big dark eyes, and a solemn expression. Zac wondered how long it would take to make him laugh.

Luca went straight back to coloring as soon as his milk was finished.

“Can I color too?”

There was a pause as Luca sneaked another look at him. Zac knew the answer before he got it, not trying to hide his smile this time.

“No.”

“Maybe next time, hey?” He got to his feet and turned to Beckett, who motioned him out into the hallway.

As he stepped through the door, a little voice piped up. “Thank you for the magic milk.”

“You’re very welcome, Luca.”

In the hallway, he found Beckett watching him, his gaze hopeful.

“That went well.”

“I take it first meetings don’t usually go smoothly?”

“On Kyle’s initial visit, Luca had a full-on tantrum: screaming, kicking the floor. With Terry, it wasn’t much better. I think he likes you.”

Zac was always one for speaking plainly where kids’ manners were concerned.

“I suspect Luca’s behavior since I got here wasn’t much to do with me. And everything to do with you.”

Beckett looked crestfallen. “Ah. I’m in the doghouse again, am I?” His phone buzzed once more, and he grimaced at Zac’s pointed look.

Before he could say anything, Zac took pity on him. “It’s not easy parenting alone, especially with a sick kid and a demanding job. My role is to make your life easier. To maximize your quality time with your son and make sure I give him the best of care in your stead.”

Beckett’s surprise was obvious, and it quickly turned to hope. “That little performance in there hasn’t put you off?”

“It’s too early to tell if it’s a personality clash. And it’s best not to overload Luca. If you’d like me to take the position, I’d suggest starting with mornings only and then on to full days. Once Luca’s comfortable having me around, I’ll move in.”

Beckett considered that. “What kind of a time scale are we looking at?”

“That depends on Luca. I’d suggest a week of half days, another of full, and see where we are then.”

Some alphas pushed back when Zac took control, resisting the idea of an omega telling them what to do. Beckett wasn’t one of them. “Sounds sensible to me. I think I can keep work at bay for that long. As I mentioned before, I’ll need you Mondays to Thursdays, and Saturdays.”

“You work Saturdays?”

“We do some of our face-to-face meetings with clients then. Usually in the mornings.”

“But you’re off Fridays?”

“Oh, no. Luca’s grandmother takes him on Fridays. He goes to her house for the day.”

“Every Friday?”

“Almost. There might be one Friday every three months or so that I’ll need you to cover. I’ll give as much notice as I can.”

“I can work with that. There is one thing I need to ask about.”

“Go ahead,” Beckett said, looking more confident. It suited him better than the anxiety.

“I’ve read Luca’s file, and I noticed that he’s a Type-S. How often does he shift?”

The alpha hadn’t brought it up during the phone interview, which was a little unusual. With parents of a child who could shift, it was usually the first thing they mentioned.

“Not often. It’s very infrequent, because of his illness. The last time was almost six months ago. Is that going to be a problem?”

Beckett’s forehead creased in concern, and there was tension in the set of his shoulders.

Zac smiled, trying to put him at ease again. “Not a problem. I’m Type-S too, still active.”

The ability to shift grew dormant in most Type-S’s as they got older. Or, at least, that was the accepted view. There was another school of thought that said adults were simply better at repressing their natures than kids were. Zac was one of the few who decided never to grow up where his shifter animal was concerned.

“You are? That’s great. I’m sold.”

Admitting to being a nanny who was also an active shifter usually prompted concern, sometimes even fear, among parents. If anything, Beckett looked genuinely happy to hear it.

The alpha held out a hand, and Zac was a little taken aback to realize he had the job. They shook on it, and he wasn’t surprised by Beckett’s firm, warm handshake.

“I’ll start on Monday by joining you and Luca for breakfast.”

“Monday,” Beckett agreed. “Thank you, Zac. You’re a lifesaver.”

Chapter Six

Beckett had planned to stay close by for Zac’s first morning with Luca. But on Sunday evening, he got a call from the clinic to attend a meeting the next day.

“I’m sorry to dash off like this. If it wasn’t so important, I’d be staying right here…”

Zac had arrived early again, bright-eyed and smiling. Between a cranky Luca and worrying about what the clinic was going to say, Beckett had been awake half the night. He knew the tiredness showed.

“We’ll be fine, Beckett. It’s only a few hours, and I have your number and your emergency contacts. I’ll call if we need you.”

Zac headed into the kitchen where Luca was sitting at the table, banging a cup against the tabletop.

“Morning, Luca.”

Beckett grimaced when Zac’s cheerful greeting was met with a glare as Luca knocked the plastic cup harder against the surface.

Zac wasn’t fazed. “Are you hungry? I’m hungry. And I brought you something special for breakfast.”

Beckett took two steps into the room, curious as to what Zac had up his sleeve. The omega stuck his hand into his bag, with Luca watching closely, and pulled out a carton of blueberries.

“To go with our pancakes,” Zac explained, showing them to Luca. “How many pancakes can you eat, Luca?”

“Lots,” Luca piped up, his eyes fixed on the blueberries. Zac had done his homework: they were Luca’s favorite.

Beckett crossed the room and pressed a kiss to Luca’s forehead. “I’ll be back soon, kiddo. Be good for Zac.”

“No!”

Luca’s shout surprised them both, but Zac just smiled.

“Enjoy your breakfast,” Beckett told him.

“We’ll save you some,” Zac promised.

With one last glance at Luca, who was frowning at Zac again, Beckett headed out to the garage.

The first half of his drive to the clinic was taken up with worrying about Zac and Luca. The second half was spent dwelling on what exactly he was going to learn at this meeting. He hoped to hear that the embryo was safe and they were going to try again once Austin was ready. He suspected it wouldn’t be nearly so straightforward.

The meeting room was empty when he was ushered inside. He took a seat and, a few minutes later, the door opened to reveal Sandra, his surrogacy lawyer. She pressed a hand to his shoulder as she joined him at the table.

“Thanks for coming, Sandra.”

“Of course. Meetings like this are exactly what I’m here for. Let’s get to the bottom of what happened.”

Her reassuring tone eased some of his fears, until the door opened again. A steady stream of people piled inside, filling up the rest of the seats around the table. Beckett was pretty good at reading a room, so he knew the moment they sat down that it wasn’t good news. His heart sank as he focused his attention on Dr. Lawson who called the meeting to order.

“I’d like to start by introducing everyone at the table, and then going through a chronological recounting of the events surrounding the implantation day. Any objections?”

The room was silent.

“Then let’s begin.”

Beckett had a tablet and a pen, jotting down a few of the names of people he didn’t know. He underlined the clinic’s lawyer’s name twice. If they’d already got legal involved, then they were worried about consequences, about liability. Beckett didn’t care about any of that. He only wanted to know one thing—should he still have hope?

As Dr. Lawson started going through the events that took place prior to Austin’s procedure, he interrupted.

“Just answer me one question: do you still have the embryo?”

A heavy silence fell across the room.

“No. We do not.”

At Dr. Lawson’s quiet words, Beckett’s world crashed down around him. He felt Sandra’s hand on his arm, heard voices speaking, but it was muffled and indistinct, like they were talking underwater.

When he tuned back in, the doctor was going through the events of that day in monotonous detail. Beckett interjected again.

“I want to know what happened. The short version.”

“What we think happened,” Ms. Andrews, the clinic’s lawyer, was quick to say. “We’re still investigating.”

“Just tell me.”

Dr. Lawson cleared his throat.

“Dr. Hains, who was supposed to be carrying out day procedures on the day in question, was absent due to illness. Dr. Roberts, a locum doctor who hadn’t worked at our clinic previously, covered her shift. There was a problem with the clinic’s IT system. As per protocol, the staff was using paper backups instead of electronic charts. Dr. Roberts was unfamiliar with the clinic’s procedures for confirming patient identities, and it seems a mistake may have been made.”

“Define mistake,” Sandra said, her pen poised over her tablet.

“There were two patients with similar names in adjacent rooms scheduled for different procedures under sedation. Austin was supposed to have your embryo implanted, and the other patient was due to undergo a different procedure. Dr. Roberts appears to have… confused the two.”

Beckett took a moment to digest what he was being told.

“Are you telling me you implanted my embryo into a stranger?”

There was another heavy silence.

“The embryo may have been implanted into another patient, yes,” Dr. Lawson said at length.

“Have you contacted this patient?” Sandra asked, writing notes in neat print that appeared as typed text on her screen a moment later.

“We now believe we’ve identified the patient involved, so we are attempting to do so. There are many layers of complexity involved in a situation such as this one…”

Beckett didn’t care about all that. There was only one question that mattered to him.

“Could it have worked? Could the implantation have been successful?”

“We’re not at liberty to discuss the medical information of private citizens, Mr. Rayne,” Ms. Andrews said primly, as if Beckett should know better than to ask.

Dr. Lawson held up a hand. “I believe I can answer that question without compromising anyone’s privacy, Ms. Andrews. Beckett, we estimate the chances of successful implantation to be approximately fifty percent.”

“Dr. Lawson, I hardly think that’s helpful,” Ms. Andrews said. “The success or failure of the procedure is largely inconsequential.”

Anger flared, and it was all Beckett could do to stay seated, his hands clenching into fists. “Not to me. And not to my son.”

“This is a… delicate situation,” Dr. Lawson suggested.

“This is a disaster of epic proportions,” Sandra corrected. “We need to be kept informed every step of the way. And we need to know how you intend to safeguard Mr. Rayne’s embryo if it has implanted successfully.”

Beckett knew the response to that before Ms. Andrews even opened her mouth, but it still hurt to hear the reality of their situation.

“The embryo ceased to belong to your client the moment it was implanted. If it had been implanted into a willing surrogate in possession of a signed contract, that would give some legal protection, but…”

But it was a stranger. Their body: their choice what happened next.

“At the very least, we expect you to make them fully aware of all the circumstances, including the condition of Mr. Rayne’s son.” Sandra folded her arms and glared around the table.

“Is that fair?” Dr. Lawson asked faintly. Beckett felt a pang of guilt at the question.

“Is any of this fair?” Sandra countered. “Remember, ladies and gentlemen, at the center of this catastrophic series of mistakes is a very sick child and his potential sibling.”

They went back and forth like that for an hour, going through the minutiae of what happened on the day of implantation. Beckett tuned most of it out. The hows and whys didn’t matter to him. What was important was what happened next. Who was this person? Had the embryo implanted successfully? And what would they do if it had?

It was a relief when the meeting ended. Sandra offered a few words of consolation and encouragement and rushed off to another appointment. Dr. Lawson hovered for a moment, looking like he wanted to say something, but the clinic’s lawyer cleared her throat loudly and gave him a pointed glare. With an apologetic grimace, he hurried away.

Beckett walked out to the parking lot in a daze. He got into his car and sat there for a long moment, staring into the distance. His phone rang, and he fished it out of his pocket, answering it when he saw it was William.

“They lost it,” he said in greeting.

William sounded confused.

“What, the contract? Trey told me they signed it this morning.”

“Not the contract, the embryo. I’m just out of a meeting at the clinic.”

“Shit, it didn’t take? I’m so sorry, Beckett.”

A short huff of laughter escaped him at the absurdity of the situation. “No, they lost it.”

“I don’t understand what that means. They… misplaced the embryo? Forgot where they put it?”

If only it were that simple.

“Not exactly. They put it in the wrong person. A complete stranger.”

William was quiet for a long moment. “You’re not kidding, are you?”

“Not in the slightest. Even if they do make contact, and he is pregnant, they say it’s his body, his baby.” Which it was, of course. It wasn’t this stranger’s fault the clinic had royally fucked up.

“What are you going to do?”

What could he do? It was out of his hands.

“I’m going to go home and hug my son.”

* * *

He opened the front door with trepidation. When he spotted a stray cushion on the floor in the hallway, he worried the animosity Luca had shown toward Zac had turned into outright war. He picked it up and stepped into the living room, pausing at the strange sight that greeted him. There were pillows piled up in strategic positions and blankets strung between them and the chairs. Beckett had never seen such an elaborate blanket fort before. He couldn’t help but admire the architecture, even if it was a little uneven.

Even better than the sight of the blanket fort was the sound of giggling from within. He crouched down and peered under, finding Luca and Zac lying on their stomachs. They were thick as thieves, their heads bent together as they read a story.

“Is there room for one more in there?”

“Daddy!”

Luca jumped up and ran toward him, his hand tangling in a blanket as he did. In one fell swoop, he’d pulled the whole thing down on top of them, blankets and pillows collapsing down around them. There was a moment of silence as he hurried over and yanked the blankets away. Beneath them were Luca and Zac, the two of them rolling around and laughing like it was the funniest thing. Beckett went to his knees and hugged his squirming, giggling baby boy.

“I love you,” he murmured, trying to hold tight to that moment of happiness. “I love you.”

Chapter Seven

Zac reached the end of his first week as Luca’s nanny feeling like he’d made good progress. No was still a frequent answer to any and all questions, but no could mean a lot of things, and Zac was getting good at interpreting. From what little he’d seen of Beckett, he could tell the alpha was under a lot of pressure. He did what he could to help, covering both breakfast and lunch and making a start on dinner before he left for the day. No matter how busy he was, Beckett always made time to join them for meals. That was exactly what Luca needed: stability and face-to-face time with his dad.

On Friday morning, he woke early, relaxing when he remembered he had no place to be. That lasted all of five minutes, his stomach suddenly reminding him of its presence. With a groan, he sat up, scrubbing a hand across his face. He wasn’t even due at work today, so why was his stomach acting up again? He sat on the side of the couch, waiting for it to pass, but it only got worse. With a sigh, he heaved himself to his feet and padded for the bathroom. Halfway there, his stomach lurched, and he sprinted the rest of the way, barely making it on time.

He felt a lot better afterward, rinsing his mouth out and brushing his teeth. But when he stepped out of the bathroom, Harper was leaning against the wall.

“Sorry,” Zac said. “All yours.”

“Again?”

“It’s nothing. Just nerves, like I said. I feel fine now.”

Harper eyed him in disbelief but kept quiet.

Zac was sitting in the kitchen, nibbling on a slice of toast, when Harper reappeared, reading from a piece of paper in his hand. He recognized it as the leaflet the nurse had given him when he left the clinic.

“The main side effects of the Omegafree contraceptive implant are pain, stomach cramps, and nausea. Any pain should resolve within one week, any nausea within two.” Harper glanced up, eying him critically. “And you’re…?”

“Almost five weeks,” he admitted quietly.

“Face it, Zac. Something’s not right.”

“Those things talk about averages. The average person isn’t nauseous beyond two weeks. I’m just an outlier, that’s all. No need to panic.”

“I still think you should get checked out, duck.”

Zac rolled his eyes at Harper’s pet name.

“You and I both know I can’t afford the cost of an aftercare checkup. Aaron’s insurance ran out two weeks ago.”

“So, what? You’ll just do nothing and hope it gets better?”

“Exactly.”

“What if something is wrong?”

“It’s just a stomach upset, Harper. I’m fine, see? Eating and drinking as normal.”

“You might want to lay off the coffee,” Harper suggested, snagging his cup, and taking a sip. “That can’t be helping your stomach right now.”

“Sure thing, Mom.”

At his glare, Harper put on his best imitation of Zac’s mother.

“You know I only say these things because I care, Isaac. It’s a mother’s job to worry.”

Zac laughed and shook his head. “We both know my mom wouldn’t be any help where this is concerned. ‘I told you to find a nice alpha and settle down, not stick evil chemicals in your body to pervert nature.’”

“Your mom is such a stick in the mud,” Harper agreed. He drank the rest of Zac’s coffee in two gulps and snagged the second slice of his toast. “I’ve got to run, I’m on the early shift. Take it easy today, hey?”

Zac waved him off, trying to hide his irritation. Harper’s heart was in the right place, and that counted for a lot.

He made more toast, opted for tea instead of coffee, and then cleaned the kitchen. The least he could do until he was ready to move out was keep the place looking tidy. Next week, he’d be looking after Luca for full days and, after that, he’d be moving in full-time with the family.

Luca was a little sweetheart, really. Sure, there were things that set him apart from other kids. He tired easily, for one, and Zac knew he’d have to keep a close eye on that. And he wasn’t a great eater. There’d been a prodigious amount of coaxing at every meal so far just to get enough food into him.

Grabbing a piece of paper and a pen, he sketched out a meal plan and snacks, looking for ways he could incorporate more high-calorie foods. It wasn’t just about the food, though. There was a definite pattern to it—Luca ate more when Beckett was there. Not just sitting at the table, but actually present and engaged rather than busy on his phone. He’d have to put some thought into how to tackle that. In his experience, parents didn’t take direct criticism well, even when it was coming from the right place.

After lunch, he ran errands and bought some groceries, returning mid-afternoon. He sat down on the couch, just to get his breath back, and woke up to the front door closing.

“Huh?”

He pushed upright, muzzy-headed and confused, to find Harper standing in the doorway, watching him with bemusement.

“Evening, sleepyhead. I thought you hated naps.”

“I did. I do.” They always left him feeling like death warmed over, and this was no exception. And then his stomach turned, somersaulting viciously, and he was on his feet and running for the bathroom.

When he stopped retching, Harper was crouched right next to him on the ground, handing him a damp washcloth and a glass of water.

“Oh, duck. What are we going to do with you, huh?”

“Trade me in for a newer model?” he joked.

“Next Friday, ten a.m.”

“Um, what?” He’d been joking about the trade-in.

“It’s your appointment time at the free clinic in the community medical center.”

“Harper…”

“I made it for you this morning, on my way to work. You were lucky, they’d just had a cancellation.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine,” Harper said fiercely. “You’re my best friend, and I know these things.”

He helped Zac up, putting an arm around his waist. “Are you done puking, or do we need to camp out here for a while?”

“I’m done,” Zac promised.

He felt tired and cranky, but at the back of his mind was a persistent, nagging worry. “What if they ask about the implant and how I got it?”

“That’s the beauty of the community clinic. They don’t ask those sorts of questions. They care about your health, not your wallet.”

Harper helped him curl up on the couch, grabbed a blanket, and sat down next to him. Zac huddled against his side, drawing as much comfort as he could from the other omega.

“Zac, I need to tell you something.”

There was a quaver in Harper’s voice that Zac didn’t like one bit.

“You’re not dating the zoologist again, are you?” he teased, hoping to lighten the mood.

“How did you know about that…? No, never mind, that’s not it. It’s Aaron. He called me this morning. Well, late last night for him. He says the clinic’s been trying to contact him. Well, you. At first, he thought it was just about arranging a checkup post-procedure, but he says they’ve been weirdly persistent. He’s listened to a few of the messages they’ve left. At first it was the medical staff, but the later messages are from someone at the clinic’s legal department. They don’t say much, only that it’s urgent that they speak with him.”

Zac’s anxiety spiked. “Do you think they know about the fraud?”

“Aaron can’t see how, but he’s wondering if something’s made them suspicious.”

“What does he want me to do?”

“Do? There’s nothing to do. It’s just like we talked about. We stay quiet, and it’ll all blow over. There’s no paper trail, nothing for anyone to follow, and why would they bother over something so small? Aaron isn’t disputing that the procedure happened, you’ve paid the co-pay, so as far as he’s concerned, everything is done and dusted. By the time he returns to the country, it’ll be long forgotten.”

He relaxed at Harper’s calm assurances.

“Are you sure Aaron’s okay with that?”

“I’m sure. But duck, that’s partly why I made you the appointment. What if it’s not the fraud? What if something went wrong with the procedure, and that’s why they’re contacting you?”

“The leaflet says complications are rare.”

“Rare doesn’t mean they never happen.”

“Sure, but it’s still more likely that we made an error in the paperwork and it’s raised a red flag somewhere, right?”

Harper stroked a hand through his hair. “Yeah, you’re right. But I still want you to get checked out, okay? Promise me.”

“If it’ll make you happy, then I’ll do it.”

Truthfully, Zac was glad Harper had taken the initiative. He was starting to think his friend was right. That something really was wrong. Between that and the possibility that the clinic knew what he’d done, his life had gone from carefree to filled with worry all over again.

Chapter Eight

Beckett joined William for a face-to-face meeting with their newest clients on Saturday morning. He let William do most of the talking, only chiming in when he had something to add. The clients left smiling, excited about the project, though Beckett struggled to muster up much enthusiasm.

“How about we grab another coffee?” William suggested, signaling to the waitress. “You don’t have to be back for Luca yet, do you?”

“No, Zac’s there until two.”

“And how is the new nanny working out?”

“Better than I’d hoped.”

That was an understatement. Zac was great. Timely, polite, involved without being intrusive, and he and Luca seemed to be building a genuine rapport. He could tell Luca was still a little wary, but so many nannies over such a short space of time would make anyone slow to grow attached.

“That’s great. It must be a weight off your mind to know he’s in good hands.”

“It definitely is.”

“But…”

“But nothing.”

“Come on, Beckett. I know you’re pretending to be all calm and unflustered. I’m also sure that if it was me, I’d be ready to rant and shout about the unfairness of it all.”

Beckett knew exactly what he was talking about.

“It is unfair. Life’s unfair. That’s just how it is.”

“I’m glad you can be so philosophical. Me, I’d be spending my evenings in the gym, taking out my frustrations on a punching bag.”

“Luca doesn’t need me to be angry.”

“He doesn’t need you moping and distracted, either. Have you been like that at the dinner table all week? Where is the guy who turns his phone off at mealtimes? I’ve got emails from you over breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And then, when you’re actually here with me to work, you spend the whole meeting looking like you might have left the stove on at home.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” he grumbled.

“I don’t think our clients noticed, but I certainly did. I need you at the top of your game when you’re here, Beckett. And Luca needs to know he’s got his dad’s attention at home. That embryo out there is a theoretical, at best. Luca is a living, breathing child who needs you right now.”

“That baby is his best chance.”

William sighed, and they lapsed into silence as the waitress returned with more coffee, waiting until she left before they spoke again.

“What has the clinic said?”

“Not much. They’re making efforts to contact the other patient, and they’ve now done so in writing. Though if they can’t get him by phone or by email, I’m not sure what good snail mail is going to do.”

“You never know. People can be funny about ignoring the virtual, but when an actual piece of paper lands in their lap, they sit up and take notice.”

“I hope you’re right, but I don’t trust the clinic to actually put proper effort into making this right.”

William sat back in his chair, regarding him thoughtfully. “Okay, then don’t leave it up to them.”

“Meaning what? Kick it up the chain? Complain to the administrator or the health department? All that’ll do is get the whole thing wrapped up in so much red tape that the embryo will be an adult before we ever get to the bottom of it.”

That prompted a smile from William.

“No, I wasn’t thinking about official channels. They don’t have a horse in this race. No one has real stakes in this except you. The rest of them—the clinic, the doctors—they’ve got liability insurance that’ll cover this. All they want to do is mitigate how much harm they cause, so they can get away with paying out less. No, you need someone in this for your sake, someone who isn’t bound by the red tape that’s holding everyone involved hostage right now.”

“I’m guessing you aren’t talking about Sandra?”

“She’s as hobbled as the rest of them. I was thinking more along the lines of a private investigator. Get someone on the case to track down your missing embryo’s recipient, find out if it’s growing inside them, and approach them privately with a deal they can’t refuse.”

“Surrogacy itself is a minefield of red tape. I can’t just bribe someone into…”

“No one said anything about bribery. There are ways and means to get around the restrictions on paying someone for something you need. Are you really going to let something like that stop you from saving your unborn child? From saving Luca’s life?”

They both knew the answer.

“No, but I don’t know the first thing about private detectives. Where would I find one who could handle something like this? It’s a little more specialized than the average cheating spouse.”

William grinned. “You’re in luck—I know a guy. Brendan Fairchild. Used to be a cop, took a bullet to the hip, pensioned out in his early twenties, and turned to private investigating. He’s good, and he’s got the price tag to prove it.”

“Money’s not the issue, you know that. But how well do you know him? I don’t want someone who’s going to approach this like a bull in a china shop. I need it handled with care. Discreetly.”

“Then Brendan’s your guy. Why don’t you meet with him and see for yourself? I promise you won’t be disappointed.”

“When did you ever need a private investigator?” Beckett couldn’t recall an event in William’s life that might have prompted a need for Brendan.

“Right after college, just before we met. Remember I told you my cousin got into some trouble?”

“Mixed up in a cult, right?”

“Right. Brendan was the one who tracked her down and helped us get her home. My aunt still sends him a Christmas card every year. And a fruit cake.”

Beckett blinked at that, catching the double entendre. “Fruit cake, huh?”

His friend laughed. “Yeah, my aunt might be the only one in the family with a sense of humor.”

Beckett knew enough to know there was a dark side to William’s family. His aunt was pretty much the only relative he kept in touch with.

“I’ll give him a call,” he agreed reluctantly.

“Great. Let me send you his number.”

His phone beeped a second later, and Beckett felt the weight of yet another choice he had to make.

He and William parted ways, and he headed home, considering his options. Involving a private investigator seemed like a big step to take, and he was wary of getting false hope. But as he entered the house, he heard a squeal. He followed it to the living room where Zac and Luca were playing, Luca giggling breathlessly.

As soon as he saw his son, the answer was obvious. He couldn’t give up on Luca. Giving Zac a wave, he stepped out of the room and headed for his office to make the call.

* * *

Of all the places Beckett expected to be on a Monday morning, it wasn’t in the office of a private investigator. He didn’t feel comfortable meeting Brendan in public where anyone might overhear, or at his home where Zac was caring for Luca. The nondescript office building set him at ease since it didn’t make any attempt to advertise its purpose.

A smiling receptionist told him to take a seat, and as he waited, he noticed that the building consisted of a series of offices, at least half of which were ‘anonymous’ like his destination. He watched a few people enter and leave, some joining him in the waiting area.

“Mr. Rayne? You can go up now. Second floor, room seventeen.”

“Thanks,” he told her.

He got to his feet, straightening his clothes and heading for the elevator. It wasn’t long before he found himself outside room seventeen, his hand poised to knock. Just before he did, he faltered. Was this the best plan? His thoughts turned to Luca, and the possibility that a child of his was out there somewhere. The clinic couldn’t do much to help him, too bogged down in legalese and protecting their own asses, but maybe Brendan could.

He knocked briskly, hearing an immediate response.

“Come in.”

He opened the door and stepped inside, closing it behind him. The interior looked close to what he’d expected—a desk, a computer, two chairs—but the man on the other side of the desk wasn’t at all what he’d envisioned.

“Aren’t you a little young to be a private investigator?”

The other man laughed and pushed to his feet. “I get that all the time. Brendan Fairchild.” He held out a hand, and Beckett stepped forward to shake it.

“Beckett Rayne. Thanks for seeing me.”

“William called, said I might be hearing from you. Take a seat.”

Beckett sat, eying Brendan again. It wasn’t that the other alpha was young, exactly. There couldn’t have been more than a year or two between them. It was just that, when Beckett pictured a private investigator, he saw a grizzly man in his late forties, burnt out from police work but with the skills to go it alone.

“Think about it this way,” Brendan said with a knowing look. “If you find it hard to believe I’m a private investigator, so will most people. Makes working undercover a breeze. No one ever suspects.”

There wasn’t even the flicker of a smile in the other man’s expression. Was he joking?

“Now, let’s get down to it. What can I help you with?”

Beckett had to make a decision, then and there, whether he was going to trust Brendan with this. There was something about the man. He exuded an aura of quiet confidence, his piercing gaze knowing.

“My son Luca is very sick. He needs stem cells, and maybe a bone marrow transplant if he’s going to survive. My late husband and I conceived him through IVF. We had a number of embryos remaining, two of which were compatible with Luca. I engaged a surrogate to carry them. One round of IVF failed. The second round of IVF occurred five weeks ago.”

He paused, giving Brendan a chance to take it all in. The other man wrote some notes with quick scratches of pen on paper, then turned his attention back to Beckett, his pen poised on the page.

“There was a mix-up at the clinic. They confused Austin, my surrogate, with another patient and went ahead with the procedure. All I know right now is that our last embryo was implanted into a stranger.”

“Has the clinic confirmed a pregnancy resulted from the implantation?” Brendan asked.

“The clinic hasn’t even managed to get in touch with the patient. For all I know, this person isn’t even aware they could be pregnant. The procedure Austin underwent was for a contraceptive implant.”

He hadn’t learned that from the clinic, but from the distraught omega himself. Beckett felt so guilty for what he’d been put through. The mistake might not have been his, but he’d chosen the clinic, he’d trusted them to take care of both his embryo and Austin. He’d paid out the contract then and there, and he knew the clinic would be paying a lot more to compensate Austin for what they’d done. His only consolation was that the procedure Austin underwent was easily reversed. He could get pregnant again in a matter of weeks or months.

“Okay, let’s just roll this back a bit,” Brendan said. “What date did the procedure happen?”

“August eleventh.”

“And the clinic has confirmed that, on that day, Austin attended the clinic to be implanted with your embryo?”

“That’s right.”

“What time?”

“Um… he was to be there for eight o’clock, but the actual procedure didn’t happen until after nine-thirty. There were staffing issues and delays. The scheduled doctor wasn’t there.”

“Okay. And when does the clinic say that the embryo was actually implanted?”

“That same morning. Approximately the same time, just the… wrong… patient.”

“What have they told you about this other patient?”

“Nothing. They can’t breach his privacy. All they’ve said is they’re having difficulty contacting him. They’ve sent a letter.”

Brendan scoffed at that.

“Okay, next question. This is the most important one, so you should think hard before you answer it. What outcome are you looking for here?”

Beckett didn’t need to consider his answer.

“That’s all I’ve been thinking about since they told me what happened. First, I want to know if a pregnancy resulted from the implantation.”

Brendan made a note of that, nodding for Beckett to continue

“If a pregnancy has resulted, I would like the… surrogate… to be made aware of all the circumstances surrounding this. Not just that a mistake was made, but that this child is wanted, and there’s a little boy’s life at stake.”

“You’re hoping the unintentional surrogate will bring the pregnancy to term?”

“Yes, and I’d like to take custody of the child once he’s born. He’s my flesh and blood. My late husband’s child. I was always going to give Luca a sibling from the embryos that were left. Him being sick only affected which embryos we chose.”

“I’m not judging you,” Brendan assured him. “But other people might.”

“It’s easy to stand outside this and make assumptions. It’s another thing entirely to live it.”

“I hear you. Now, you said ‘he.’ Do you know for certain that it’s a boy?”

“Yes, the doctors confirmed that when they screened the embryos.”

“And the clinic didn’t give you any information at all about the recipient? Even unintentionally? Anything, no matter how small or insignificant, might help.”

Beckett recalled the meeting with Dr. Lawson and the others.

“Actually, yeah. They said the two patients had similar names. And they were both scheduled to undergo procedures under sedation. That’s unusual in a clinic like that. Most procedures are done with a local anesthetic, they don’t put you under. Anything serious enough to need sedation happens at the hospital, not the clinic.”

“Austin’s last name?”

“Cleary.”

“And why might a patient have sedation? Why did Austin?”

“Austin has Type-S blood. It makes him a better choice for surrogacy but, as a precaution, they sedate him for all invasive procedures.”

“So the other patient might also be Type-S?”

“Yeah, maybe. Wait, make that probably. When I asked what the chances were that the procedure had been successful, they said fifty percent. It’s twenty-five percent for most people, thirty-five percent if you’re omega or Type-S, but closer to fifty if you’re both.”

Brendan’s pen was flying across the page.

“Okay, so here’s what we know. A Type-S omega patient with a name similar to Austin Cleary, probably in the age range of twenty to thirty-four, underwent a procedure under sedation on August eleventh between the hours of eight a.m. and twelve p.m.”

“Is that enough to go on?”

“I’ve made progress with far less,” Brendan assured him. “There’s enough information to make it easy to discount people. Like anyone who was there that morning but didn’t have sedation. It’ll take some time; I can’t exactly roll up there and ask to take a peek at their files. But there are ways and means to find out what you need to know. We’ll take it step by step. Our first step is to find out who the embryo was implanted into. Once I know that, we’ll talk again.”

He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it over. “Here’s my fee schedule. I’ll need a retainer to get started. All my hours will be documented, itemized, and emailed to you on a weekly basis. I’ll call once a week with an update, unless I make significant progress.”

“What will you do?” Beckett asked. “How will you find him?”

“I’ll talk to people. Sounds like it was a bad day at the clinic. Staff remember those kinds of days. They may not know the specifics, but word gets around. They’ll know something happened.”

“Do you think there’s a chance?”

“Of finding him? Unless he’s gone underground, I will find him. But as for the rest… if there is a pregnancy, then what’s really going to matter is the kind of person your surrogate is. There aren’t too many purely altruistic people in this world. But there are plenty who are motivated by the right incentive.”

“You mean money.”

“Makes the world go round,” Brendan said, getting to his feet and holding out a hand.

They shook on it, and Beckett left Brendan’s office feeling both encouraged and disheartened. Finding this stranger, even confirming that they were pregnant, was no guarantee of a good outcome. His only consolation was that Brendan might be right. If all the surrogate needed was some monetary incentive, he had plenty of money to leverage that.

Chapter Nine

Zac’s triumph at finishing four full days with Luca was eclipsed by trepidation when Friday came around. His nausea hadn’t lessened, but so far it hadn’t interfered with his looking after Luca. But he worried that if it got worse or didn’t go away, it would start to. Once again, he would wind up unemployable.

“Don’t look so nervous. It’s a doctor’s office, not a haunted house,” Harper chided as they walked the few blocks to the clinic. He had insisted on switching his shifts around to accompany him. As much as Zac had protested that he hadn’t needed to, he was grateful for the company.

“I think I’d prefer to visit a haunted house. Let’s do that instead.”

“How about this,” Harper bartered. “You do the appointment, and I’ll treat you to a hot chocolate at Megan’s.”

Megan’s Café had, hands-down, the nicest hot chocolate in the city. Just thinking about it made Zac’s mouth water, despite the nausea.

“Fine, you’ve got a deal,” he grumbled.

The community clinic was busy, as always. Zac had been there a handful of times when his heat had been at its most excruciating, the flu-like fevers and aches unbearable. They’d done what they could, which hadn’t been much since normal heat suppressants just didn’t work on him.

Harper checked him in at the desk, shooing Zac toward a pair of seats in the waiting room. They settled in for a long wait; doctors were few and patients were many. They were guaranteed to be seen; it was just a matter of when.

Zac leaned his head against Harper’s shoulder as the omega pulled out his phone and started reading him bits and pieces from the latest city gossip.

“The mayor was spotted having dinner with an omega who wasn’t his husband. Huh, who’d have thought?”

“Only half the city,” Zac murmured. “Didn’t he proposition you at Club Zero before?”

“Club Nero,” Harper corrected absentmindedly. “I was dating the pilot. He was super-territorial. They almost came to blows.”

“Would you have, if you hadn’t been seeing Mr. Bigshot Pilot?”

Harper gave an exaggerated shudder. “No, that guy is slimy. Thinks he’s god’s gift to omegas.”

“Your pilot wasn’t much better.”

“He actually might have been god’s gift to omegas. The things he could do with—”

“Isaac Hughes?”

He was up.

“Do you want me to come with?” Harper asked.

“I’ll be okay,” he assured him, getting to his feet, and following the nurse inside.

They had a chat about his problem as she filled in his information.

“I’ll just go talk with the doctor, and then I’ll be right with you.”

Zac was left sitting in her office, staring at the myriad of posters on the wall covering everything from pregnancy to dementia.

She bustled back into the room, followed closely by a woman with a stethoscope around her neck.

“Now, Isaac, is it? Nurse Kayleigh has been telling me you’re experiencing a lot of nausea after placement of your contraceptive implant. Is that right?”

“Yes, Doctor.”

“It’s a rare side effect, and usually a sign that the hormone dosage is too high. Surprising, really, since I see from past visits that you’re not very responsive to oral hormones. You may be one of the unlucky few who’s ultra-sensitive to direct hormone therapy. But we’ll do some blood tests to confirm and take it from there. How does that sound?”

“That sounds fine, thank you. Do I need to make another appointment for the results?”

“Luckily, we’ve got one of those new-fangled blood analysis machines right here. Nurse Kayleigh will take a sample, and we’ll have the results in an hour or so. If you want to go for a walk and come back, we can discuss your results then.”

Zac agreed instantly, relieved that he was going to have answers that day. He worried, though, that the only recommendation was going to be removal or replacement of the implant. He couldn’t afford either option. Removing it would bring him back to square one, constantly at the mercy of his rampant heats.

Once the nurse had her sample, he returned to the waiting room, collecting Harper. They went for that hot chocolate, Zac trying not to stress over the results.

“Whatever happens, we’ll work something out,” Harper promised him.

“What did I ever do to deserve a friend like you?”

Harper rolled his eyes. “Don’t go getting mushy on me, duck, not with all those hormones buzzing around in there. We’ll run out of napkins.”

They dallied over their drinks, arriving back at the clinic just before the hour was up. It was busier now, filled with more agitated people, less patience, and no seats in the waiting room. It was a relief when the doctor called him back in. This time, he found himself in her office and not the nurse’s.

“Do you have my results?”

“I do, but they’re not what I expected. I’d like to do a scan to confirm them.” She pointed to a jug of water and a plastic cup sitting on the desk. “I want you to drink as much of that as you can. I’ll be back to you in a while.”

He made a face. “If it helps, I just drank half a gallon of hot chocolate.”

“Drink more,” she said with a smile, getting to her feet.

Zac tried to make a game out of it, watching the clock as he filled the cup and trying to drink another glass every few minutes. Having been through this once or twice before, he knew he’d feel like an unexploded water balloon soon enough.

Just when he was starting to worry, the doctor returned.

“Up on the bed for me. Let’s see what we’re dealing with.”

She tucked tissue in around the waistline of his pants to protect them, then squirted the cold gel onto his stomach.

“What did my blood tests show?” He put his hands over his eyes, trying not to focus on his bladder as she pressed the probe against his lower stomach.

“They did show elevated hormone levels,” she confirmed. “But not the ones you’d expect with an implant.”

“Are you saying the implant didn’t take?”

“That’s a possibility. But the tests suggested something else.”

“Like what…?” he started to ask when he heard a strange noise from the machine.

He lowered his hands and stared at the doctor, watching her face as she examined the screen.

“What is that?”

“That is a fetal heartbeat.”

Zac could barely hear her next words over the pounding of his own heart in his ears.

“It can’t be. I haven’t slept with anyone in over a year.” His torturous heats made being intimate with anyone unbearable.

“Are you sure? It only takes a minute. Less, if your partner’s very enthusiastic.”

“I’m completely sure. I’ve been constantly cycling in and out of hyper-heats. Besides, they did a pregnancy test right before they put in the implant.”

“Which was… almost six weeks ago?”

“Thirty-nine days.”

“Hmm.” She turned her attention back to the screen, angling the probe slightly as she pressed buttons with her free hand. “Well, this fetus is measuring about forty days, give or take a day or two. And there’s no sign of an implant. If they’d placed one, I’d be able to see it.”

She lifted the probe off his stomach, and he breathed a short-lived sigh of relief.

“You were conscious for the procedure?”

“N…no. I’m Type-S. Sedation is mandatory.”

It stopped accidental shifting under stress, which was dangerous for everyone involved.

“And it was your regular doctor, one you knew?”

“No, she was out with the flu. There was another doctor covering.”

“Well, Isaac, I’m sorry to be the bearer of such strange news. All I can tell you is what the results of your tests have shown. There is no sign of any implant and no evidence that you were ever implanted with one. What you do have is a positive pregnancy test and a nearly six-week-old fetus. I would suggest making contact with your clinic at the earliest opportunity for follow-up and clarification.”

“What do you think happened?” Zac was afraid to let his mind consider the possibilities.

“I don’t like to speculate normally, but I can see you’re anxious. Since you’re certain you haven’t been sexually active, and since you don’t ovulate with hyper-heats anyway, the only possibility I can see given your medical history is that a mistake was made. Instead of implanting a contraceptive device, they implanted an embryo. You were in a highly fertile state due to your runaway hormones, so the embryo took easily.”

“I’m carrying someone else’s baby inside me?”

“That’s the only explanation that fits what you’ve told me and what your tests show. Now, if you gave me the name of the clinic you attended, I could get a copy of your notes and—”

Zac shook his head wordlessly. That would open up a whole can of worms he wasn’t prepared for.

“I see. Well, you have options on how to proceed from here.” The doctor didn’t even blink at his refusal. Like Harper said; they didn’t ask awkward questions.

“Do I have to tell them? The clinic? I mean, this baby doesn’t belong to me, right?”

She shook her head.

“Your body, your baby. From the moment the embryo implants, the only person who has a claim on it is you. Until birth, that is. Then it gets more complicated. With surrogacy, the surrogate sometimes signs a contract beforehand which stipulates that the fetus they carry isn’t legally theirs. Unless there’s something you’ve neglected to tell me, in your case, there’s no contract. Your body, your choice.”

“You mean… I don’t have to have the baby if I don’t want to?”

“That’s exactly what I mean. But there are other considerations you need to be made aware of.”

“Like what?”

“If you end the pregnancy, your heats will return to what they were before. With no implant…”

“I’ll be back to never-ending heat cycles and not being able to hold down a job.” He considered that for a moment, “But I can’t have the baby. I can barely support myself, let alone a kid. The kind of nannying I do isn’t the kind you can fit your own child-rearing around. And what if my heats go haywire again?”

The doctor considered that.

“You wouldn’t have to raise the child. Though you should be aware that giving up a child is a very difficult choice for an omega, you should also consider that somewhere out there is a family who very much wants this baby. I’m sure that, in return for your safely delivering it, they—or the clinic involved—would be willing to cover the cost of another implant, plus cover any medical expenses. They usually also pay money to cover things like lost wages. If that’s an option you’re willing to consider, it would be worth exploring.”

Zac groaned, hiding his face in his hands. “I can’t go back to that clinic, I—” He gave the doctor a pleading look.

She patted his hand. “I won’t ask for details, but you should know that there are very few occasions where doctors are required to report anything, no matter the legality. If you told me you’d murdered someone at the clinic, I might have to make a call. But if you owed them money, for example, that’s none of my business.”

Zac laughed despite himself. “No murders. But it’s a little more complicated than owing them money. And it’s not just me who’d get in trouble if it came to light.”

“Then I suspect you have some thinking to do and a decision to make. Try not to take too long in making it. I put a note in your file so if you schedule a follow-up, we’ll squeeze you in as soon as we can.”

“Thanks, Dr. Jacobs.”

“Would you like a picture from the scan? You can’t see much, just a blob, but we have paper in the printer for once.”

“Uh, okay. Thanks.”

After a quick visit to the bathroom, he stumbled out of the doctor’s office minutes later with a leaflet and a small ultrasound photo tucked into his pocket and out of sight. Harper was still standing in the waiting room, leaning against the wall, reading his phone.

“Harper.”

The omega pushed upright with a smile.

“I was beginning to wonder if you’d left without me. You were ages in there. What did they say?”

Zac grabbed him by the arm and hustled him outside. All he wanted to do now was get home.

“They said I’m fine. It’s just side effects. It’ll settle down.”

Harper eyed him dubiously. “You’re sure?”

“It’s my body adjusting to the hormones. They said to come back and see them if it doesn’t settle.”

Lying to Harper wasn’t something he did, ever. But this was too much for him to deal with right now. He wanted to bury his head in the sand or stick his fingers in his ears. Anything if it meant he could ignore the truth.

This was someone’s baby. Someone’s wanted, prayed-for, hoped-for baby. But Zac couldn’t tell anyone the truth without getting people he cared about, people who’d helped him, into trouble. He needed to keep his mouth shut and figure out what to do.

Chapter Ten

Beckett had hoped to give Zac some time to settle into his rooms on Monday morning, but Zac didn’t get to do more than set his bags down and grab some breakfast before they were leaving for Luca’s appointment at the hospital. Zac had offered to accompany them, and Beckett had eagerly taken him up on it. It was hard to juggle caring for Luca while talking to the doctor, and there were things he didn’t want Luca to overhear.

“Are you sure you’re comfortable moving in today? It’s okay if you need a little more time.” It hadn’t escaped Beckett’s notice that Zac hadn’t brought much with him. Just a suitcase and a backpack. Maybe he’d bring more later.

“No, I think Luca’s ready, and I’m sure Harper is happy to have me off his couch.”

“Right. Well, that’s great. For us and your friend.”

Zac tried to hide a smile, turning back to check on Luca, who was playing happily with a teddy bear.

“Uh…” Beckett hesitated, unsure how to word what he wanted to say. “So, about having friends over. We probably should set some ground rules.”

“It’s already in the contract I signed,” Zac said. “No overnight guests, no parties. And I check with you before having someone over in my free time.”

“Yeah, I know what the standard contract says. I always thought those rules were a little strict. I mean, you should still be able to live a normal life. There’s a whole separate entrance to your apartment. If you want to have overnight guests, it won’t bother us.”

He wasn’t expecting Zac to disagree with him. but the omega was full of surprises.

“Actually, studies show it can cause stress and anxiety for young children to be exposed to unfamiliar alpha scents in their own home. Especially a Type-S like Luca. But I would like to have friends over occasionally. If you’re happy with overnights, Harper might stay now and then.”

Beckett didn’t need to ask to know that Harper was an omega. Omegas gravitated toward each other. They rarely got close with betas, and almost never had casual, platonic friendships with alphas.

“I didn’t realize that about other alpha scents. What about my friends and colleagues?”

“That’s different. They’re your friends, connected to you. The whole scent pattern they give off is different from an alpha who’s sexually interested in an omega.” Zac blushed suddenly, as if realizing what he’d said. “Sorry, I just find this kind of stuff fascinating.”

“It is fascinating. There’s so much we don’t know. Anything that’ll make Luca more comfortable, I’m happy to hear it.”

They pulled into the hospital parking lot, and Beckett carried Luca inside. Zac followed with the bag he’d packed for Luca. Beckett hadn’t seen what went into it, but he guessed some snacks, and maybe a book or a toy. He’d warned Zac that their appointments ran long sometimes.

They met the nurse first, and she ran through the normal checks. Then there was the blood draw, which Luca hated but they got through. Beckett had long ago learned how best to distract him during it. Zac watched with curiosity as Beckett made shadow puppets on the wall using his hands and a lamp borrowed from the nurse’s desk. Luca, for his part, clapped and giggled at the entertainment.

There were some scans, and then a wait for all the results to come in before they were ushered into Dr. Khalid’s office. He smiled brightly at them, talking to Luca first before turning to Beckett.

Beckett set Luca on the floor, and the toddler made a beeline for the basket of toys on one side of the room. Zac followed, keeping him distracted while Beckett and the doctor talked. Beckett could tell Zac was listening in. If it was him, that’s what he’d be doing.

It was the same news as it always was. Further deterioration noted, no slowing of disease progression.

“I think we need to consider starting another round of treatment soon. It looks like it’s accelerating. We need to buy Luca more time for your plan to come to fruition. Any word yet on whether that was successful?”

Not wanting to get into the complexities of the situation, Beckett kept it vague. “There’s been some complications. We’re hoping to get them ironed out as soon as possible.”

“Sooner would be better than later. Even a dose of stem cells right now would make a huge difference. We’re talking months to years of stability. And bone marrow…”

Bone marrow was the holy grail. That wouldn’t just buy them time; that would save Luca’s life.

They discussed when to start the next treatment. Beckett was reluctant to rush it. Luca was so fragile already, and the treatments took their toll.

“If we wait longer than a month, we risk him being too weak when the time comes. I suggest we start prepping him next week and begin the week after.”

“If that’s what you think is best,” Beckett agreed. He turned in his chair, watching Luca play with Zac. “I’ll do anything if it means we keep him well.”

“Then do whatever you can to get him those stem cells. The rest is just sandbanks that can’t hold back the tide.”

They returned to the car, Luca falling asleep as they drove home. Beckett sensed that Zac had questions, though the omega was steadfastly holding his silence.

“If there’s anything you want to know, ask. You’re going to be as much Luca’s caregiver in these next few months as I am. And we might be in for a rough time.”

Zac nodded slowly, his mouth turned down.

“What treatment is he starting?”

“Immunotherapy. The first time wasn’t so bad, but he had a rough go of it the second time around. This one could go either way.”

“And it’s slowing the progression of his disease?”

“Every treatment gives him an extra half-year, approximately. But we can only do three or four. For most people, their tolerance gets worse over time. Dr. Khalid mentioned a new pre-treatment protocol which might make it more tolerable. We won’t know if it works until we start, though. And once we start, there’s no stopping, or we waste one of his chances.”

“I’ll do some reading up on it,” Zac promised. “I’ve looked after kids on chemo before, so I know those kinds of treatments can be tough.”

“Thank you, I’d appreciate that.”

They lapsed into silence, and Beckett thought that was it. But Zac surprised him once more.

“The doctor mentioned something about stem cells and bone marrow?”

“He did.” Beckett hesitated before explaining, “The only real treatments for Luca’s condition are stem cells or a bone marrow transplant from an unaffected but close genetic match. It’s proven almost impossible to find one, even amongst our nearest relatives.”

“But it sounded like there was some hope. Is Luca on a transplant list?”

“He’s been on it since he was a few months old. The chances of a suitable match being found are so small that it would be like winning the lottery three times in a row.”

“Then I don’t understand. How…?”

“Luca was born by IVF. Darcy and I had half a dozen more embryos. A sibling for Luca is the only hope of saving him. I know some people don’t think that’s right, but Darcy and I always wanted a big family. If he was here right now, I know he’d agree. I’d rather have two healthy children than one dead one.”

He forced himself to take a deep breath. People found it easy to stand on the sidelines and judge. If they walked a mile in his shoes, they’d know why he made the choices he did.

“That doesn’t sound like an easy decision.” Zac was choosing his words carefully. “But it’s your choice, and I think most parents would make that same one. I would if I was in your shoes.”

There was heaps of compassion and understanding in Zac’s voice.

“Thanks,” Beckett managed, his voice cracking. “It means a lot to hear someone say that.”

It was a relief to get Luca home. Beckett carried him to his bedroom, and Zac hurried ahead of them, pulling back the bedspread so he could lay him down. Together, they got his shoes and outer layer of clothes off so he could sleep comfortably. Zac closed the curtains, dimming the light in the room, while Beckett tucked Luca in and kissed his forehead. They stepped out, and he closed the door.

“He’s always tuckered out after an appointment. He’ll be cranky at dinner and maudlin by bedtime.”

“Maudlin, huh? We’ll manage.” Zac rested a hand on Beckett’s arm. “He’s lucky to have you. Not every parent would fight so hard.”

Beckett knew his smile was worn around the edges.

“I feel like I’ve been fighting since the moment he was born. A constant, uphill battle.”

His phone beeped, and he knew he should answer it, but his mind was as worn as his smile.

“Coffee?”

“I’ll make it,” Zac said. “You look like you could use a nap yourself.”

“A jolt of caffeine, and I’ll be right as rain.”

Zac’s knowing look told him the omega wasn’t buying it. Up close, Beckett thought Zac was looking a little peaky himself.

“Settling in okay?”

“I just got here,” the omega pointed out with a laugh.

“I mean… overall.”

“It’s going well so far.”

Before Beckett could make things more awkward, Zac disappeared into the kitchen. Beckett washed up and joined him there a few minutes later, gratefully accepting the mug of coffee Zac passed across the breakfast counter. The omega took a seat opposite him, cradling a cup of tea.

“Hadn’t pegged you for a tea drinker.”

Zac smiled down at his cup. “Don’t get me wrong, I love coffee. Though my absolute favorite hot drink is chocolate. In truth, I’m a child at heart.”

“Is that why you can still change form?” he teased.

“Once a Type-S, always a Type-S.”

“Not for me,” Beckett pointed out. “Not for lots of people.”

Zac sat up, giving Beckett his full attention.

“Are you saying you could shift as a child, and you can’t now?”

“Sure. I grew out of it, like most people.”

The omega glanced down at his tea, trying to hide a smile. “That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? Did you grow out of it, or were you just told you’d grow out of it, so you believed you should?”

“Well, I haven’t shifted in years, so I’m guessing it’s the latter.”

Zac’s fingers traced the rim of his cup. “Have you tried? I mean really, properly tried?”

Beckett considered the question, trying to remember back to his teenage years. When he recalled shifting, what he remembered most was his parents’ disapproval. He’d kept his shifter form later than most, and they were almost… embarrassed by him. The hot feeling of shame was all too vivid.

“I guess I stopped trying. And by the time I thought to try again, it was too late.”

“Some people think it’s never too late. That’s why Type-S’s have to be sedated for even routine hospital procedures.”

“Hospitals are known for being overcautious. And stress brings out the worst in people.”

“Oh, so that’s how it is, is it? Your shifter side is your worst side?”

Despite his words, Zac’s smile was teasing.

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

“I know. I just feel kids would have an easier time coming to terms with their natures if they had more role models. It frustrates me that they don’t.” Zac winced and aimed an apologetic smile his way. “I’ll get off my soapbox now.”

Beckett shook his head. “No, you’re passionate about what you do. I think that’s great. I don’t want some emotionless nanny-bot looking after my kid. I want someone who’s got heart.”

He reached across the table, almost brushing his hand against Zac’s before he remembered himself. This was a relationship that had to stay professional, for Luca’s sake.

Zac didn’t seem to notice the near mishap, taking another idle sip of his tea.

“So, when do you think Luca will have his little brother or sister?”

Reality crashed down hard.

“I don’t know that he will. Surrogacy is never a guarantee.”

That was an understatement in his case. With the glacial pace the clinic was moving at, he might as well stick up missing posters in the neighborhood. Lost—one embryo. If found, return to Beckett Rayne, worried father.

He almost missed the flicker in Zac’s expression, there and gone in an instant. Whatever it was, the omega pushed to his feet abruptly, giving him a tight smile.

“I’ll get started on dinner while Luca’s down for his nap. I was going to do something easy—Bolognese. That okay with you?”

“Sounds great. We have Parmesan in the fridge. Gives it a little kick.”

“Chili gives it a kick. Cheese just makes it moreish.” Zac grinned at him, and everything was easy between them again.

Chapter Eleven

Harper whistled as he took a look around Zac’s apartment.

“All this space is yours? Hell, duck. I might move in and sleep on your couch.”

Zac laughed. “I don’t think my employer would be too impressed.”

Harper waved that off. “Him? He won’t even notice. You’ve got your own entrance. Besides, what alpha wouldn’t like to imagine living with two single, attractive omegas? The fantasies he’d have.”

“Harper!” Zac smacked his arm lightly, pretending to be scandalized.

“Fine, fine. We won’t go putting ideas in the poor, puritanical alpha’s head. Can’t be a corrupting influence on young minds now, can we?”

“You’re incorrigible.”

“That’s why you love me.”

Zac couldn’t hide a smile. “It is.”

He’d spent the week doing what he did best these days—ignoring the problems piling up in his metaphorical closet. He could barely close the door, but at least he didn’t have to look at them.

“Aaron called again.”

Zac winced and busied himself straightening the throw over the couch.

“Oh? How’s he settling in.”

“Great. He said they’re still getting lost every time they leave their apartment, but they’ve finally managed to eat out and actually order what they wanted.”

“Sounds like they’re making a success of things.”

“The thing is, duck, he said the clinic’s still trying to get a hold of him. They’re being pretty persistent about it. He got a letter. It doesn’t say much, just that there’s been some kind of error, and it’s urgent that they talk to him. He’s guessing it’s a finance thing, except the insurance company’s been silent. Aaron wants to know if you need him to contact the clinic just to see what’s going on?”

Zac struggled to take a breath. “No. Tell him it’s fine, to just ignore them. They have to stop eventually, right?”

“Maybe.” Harper came to stand beside him. “But it sounds to me like this isn’t about the insurance at all. This is about something else. What did the doctor at the community clinic say? And don’t give me that crap about everything being fine. You and I both know it’s not.”

With a shuddering breath, Zac shook his head, unable to hold back the tears.

“They made a mistake.”

Harper put an arm around his shoulders and guided him to sit on the couch.

“What kind of a mistake, duck? Come on, you’re scaring me here. What did those incompetent bastards do?”

It was easier to start with what they hadn’t done.

“Well, they didn’t put in a contraceptive implant.”

Harper’s concerned expression became a frown.

“Okay… that’s not good. No implant. What did they do? Why the nausea? Why didn’t you tell me this last Friday?”

“Because they put in something else. That’s the reason I’m nauseous.”

“Something else? Like a different kind of implant?” Harper flailed around, searching for an explanation.

“Like… like an embryo. They did IVF, only on the wrong person, and now… and now—”

“And now you’re pregnant,” Harper finished. “Oh, hell, Zac. I’m so sorry.”

He let Harper pull him into a hug and cried on his shoulder. It was all a horrible, terrible mess he didn’t know how to fix.

“Well, look on the bright side,” Harper joked. “At least you’ll be heat-free for the next nine months.”

Zac was so startled, he pulled back to stare at Harper incredulously. They looked at one another for a long moment before bursting into laughter. Harper tugged him back into an embrace as the laughter segued into tears once again.

“Well, this is a mess and a half. Only you could walk into a clinic for contraception and leave with a baby.”

“Yeah. Lucky me, huh?”

“You should play the lottery, the way this month is going.” He rubbed a hand up and down Zac’s back as Zac hiccupped, the tears slowing. “Uh, Zac?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t mean to ask bad questions, but how are you so sure it’s IVF and not… something else? There’s more than one way to get pregnant.”

“It’s not my baby.” At least Zac could say that with certainty. “You don’t ovulate with hyper-heats as severe as mine.”

“Oh, good. So this isn’t some egotistical alpha doctor trying to create a race of genetically superior babies?”

There was a pause.

“I sure hope not.” He tried to sound serious, but a giggle escaped.

“All joking aside, what did the community clinic say? What are you going to do?”

“They didn’t say much. They strongly suggested I contact the original clinic to find out what happened. But, for obvious reasons, that’s not possible. Otherwise, they said just to contact them if I made up my mind to… end it.”

“That’s it?” Harper was disgusted. “That’s all the advice they gave you? Contact the place that managed to accidentally impregnate you, or come back to them if you decide to rid yourself of the problem?”

“What else could they say? I wouldn’t tell them what clinic I was treated at, and they couldn’t do more than confirm the pregnancy for me.”

“You should have told me, duck.”

The hurt in Harper's voice stung.

“I wanted to, but I couldn’t.”

He pressed his face to Harper’s shirt, hiding from him, and the world.

“Why not?” Harper asked softly.

“Because… Because telling you would have made it real. I wasn’t ready for it to be real.”

“And you are now? Does that mean you’ve made up your mind?”

Zac had been in turmoil all week over it. It hadn’t helped that he’d learned Luca was born by IVF and how much Beckett wanted—no, needed—a sibling for him through a surrogate. It made him feel selfish for even considering ending the pregnancy.

“No, I haven’t made any decisions. But it’s not as simple as whether I keep the baby or not. It’s not my baby. It’s someone else’s. Imagine how badly they must have wanted it, how they must be feeling now wondering if someone else—some stranger—is wandering around with their baby growing inside them.”

“Are you saying you don’t want to get rid of it?”

“I know it’s my choice, because it’s in my body, but it doesn’t feel right.”

“Fair enough. But if you are going to continue with the pregnancy, what then?” Harper held Zac’s hands in his, his touch comforting.

“That’s just it. I don’t know. It’s not like I can come clean to the clinic without getting both me and Aaron in trouble. And you too, since it’s going to be obvious you knew what was going on. Medical fraud’s no joke.”

Harper hummed thoughtfully.

“What if Aaron pretended to be you, pretending to be him, and told them he was pregnant?”

It took a minute for Zac’s brain to decode that tongue twister.

“And then what? They’ll want to confirm it, they’ll want proof. Besides, he’s in a whole different country. Even if we wanted to pretend to be the same person, we’d never pull it off. The risk of getting caught is too high. Medical fraud carries a prison sentence, you know that. The only reason Aaron agreed to any of this was because he was going to be out of the country until the statute of limitations ran out.”

“Then what, Zac? What’s going to put this right?”

He shrugged and admitted, “I just don’t know. I wish I did.”

Harper sighed and sagged against the couch. “How’s the nausea?”

“The same. The doctor says it should ease off by twelve weeks or so. Unless I’m unlucky.”

“I think we’ve already proven that you have the equivalent of a lifetime of broken mirrors, duck.”

He pulled away, folding his arms.

“Thanks, Harper. That makes me feel much better.”

The other omega cuddled into his side. “Don’t be like that. It’s a shit situation, there’s no denying it. But you’re healthy, and the baby’s healthy. You have a job with a swanky little apartment. Things aren’t all that grim.”

“Sure. Except for the fact that it’s not my baby, my job and this apartment will go up in smoke as soon as I start showing, and once this baby is out of me, I might be right back to hyper-heats and my life slowly circling the drain.”

Harper stilled next to him. “You’re right, duck. Let’s focus on the worst-case scenario. That’ll make you feel better.”

“I don’t think there’s any way to feel better about this situation.”

“Would ice cream help?”

He gave the question due consideration.

“Mint chocolate chip?”

“Of course.”

“With chocolate sauce?”

“And sprinkles.”

“Maybe that would help a little.”

“Then let’s go.”

Harper heaved up off the couch, reaching out a hand. Zac let himself be pulled to his feet and hustled to the door, accepting the coat Harper handed to him.

“We’ll put our thinking caps on, duck. There must be some way to do this that doesn’t end with all three of us in jail. Prison orange really isn’t my color. And you’ve got a baby to think of.”

Zac laughed despite himself.

“At least I have you. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Harper grinned. “You won’t be saying that in eight months’ time when your feet are swollen, and you can’t bend over to tie your own shoes. Then it’ll be all, ‘this whole thing was your idea, Harper. Why did you do this to me?’”

Zac just shook his head and followed Harper out.

* * *

They ate ice cream, wandered around the city, and stopped for pizza and beer on the way home. Well, Harper had beer. Zac grumbled and complained but stuck to soda all the same. He felt a whole lot better for having told someone, even if Harper was just as clueless as him about what he should do next.

When he arrived back at Beckett’s, he decided to get a head start on breakfast the next morning and let himself into the main house so he could make the waffle batter.

It was past Luca’s bedtime, and there was no sign that the little boy was still up, but Zac could hear Beckett’s voice. He passed close to his office on the way to the kitchen. While he wasn’t near enough to make out the words, and wasn’t one to eavesdrop even if he could have, he heard a second person speak. Another alpha, he guessed. Betas couldn’t quite manage that deep intonation that an alpha could. Beckett was clearly upset, though. Zac hoped it wasn’t a problem with the business.

He heard Beckett walk his guest to the front door a few minutes later and decided to fill the kettle. While he finished off the waffle batter, he made tea, carrying it through the house in search of the alpha. He found him in the lounge, sitting on an armchair, his head in his hands.

“I brought you some tea.”

Beckett jolted, lifting his head. His eyes were red-rimmed, but Zac couldn’t tell if it was emotion or exhaustion. It was probably both.

“It’s chamomile. It’s supposed to help you sleep.”

The alpha didn’t speak, so Zac set the cup down on the table in front of him and went to take his own cup to his room.

“Wait, Zac. Stay for a bit? If you don’t mind.”

“Of course I don’t mind. I just wasn’t sure you wanted company.”

He padded back into the room and curled up on the armchair opposite Beckett.

Beckett picked up his tea and took a sip, making a face at the taste. Zac hid a grin. The alpha was a coffee man, through and through.

“Did Luca have fun with his grandmother?”

“Yeah. She took him to a petting zoo. All he could talk about were the piglets.”

They lapsed into silence, Zac leaving space for Beckett to talk if he wanted to. There was obviously something weighing on the alpha’s mind.

“Luca starts pre-treatment on Monday. It’s hard to believe we’re going down this road again. It feels like we only just finished the last round. He never gets time to just be a kid, you know?”

“But it’s not forever,” Zac said softly. “Just until…”

Beckett set his cup down.

“That’s just it. There might not be an until.”

Zac eyed Beckett closely, having a better idea of the reason for his distress.

“It didn’t work out with the surrogate?”

“I don’t know—that’s the problem. Something went wrong, and now I’m left in the dark. It’s the not knowing that’s killing me. There’s having hope and there’s having no hope, and I’m stuck in this limbo.”

It was an apt word to use. Luca's chances of living or dying hung in the balance, and Beckett’s surrogate made all the difference.

The whole idea sent a surge of guilt through Zac for his own predicament. If it was just him who’d face the consequences, he’d hold up his hand and admit to everything. But they’d been cracking down on medical fraud in recent years. He wouldn’t just ruin his own life, but Aaron and Harper’s too. And all they’d done was try to help him.

“I’m sorry,” Beckett said suddenly, leaning forward. “It’s not fair to put this on your shoulders.”

Zac had let the silence grow too long, making things uncomfortable.

“It’s not unfair. I need to know these things. And I can’t imagine how you must be feeling right now. What I do know is that you get through times like these one day at a time. Our focus is Luca. Whatever happens, he’s going to need us.”

“You’re right,” Beckett said hoarsely. “I just wish I could do better by him.”

“You’re doing great. The week I started, you had your phone out every mealtime, and Luca never finished his plate. This week, your phone hasn’t been out once, and he’s polished off every meal. That’s what being a parent is about, Beckett. It’s as much the small stuff as it is the big.”

He got the ghost of a smile from the alpha.

“I’m glad you’re here. I wouldn’t want to be facing the next few weeks and months without you.”

Zac felt a flash of panic and a pang of guilt at that. Would Beckett be singing his praises in a few months’ time when he could no longer hide his condition?

“I’ll do my best for Luca for as long as I can.”

Beckett’s smile was stronger this time. “We’re so lucky we found you. For Luca’s sake, and for mine. The other nannies—things were always awkward between us. It felt like I was constantly being judged and found wanting. But with you, I feel like you want me to succeed. And not just for Luca’s sake.” He shook his head with a wry smile. “I’m sorry. Here I am waffling on, and you probably just want to drink your tea and get to bed.”

“It is getting late.” Zac smiled as he uncurled from the armchair and set his feet on the floor.

Beckett’s eyes narrowed suddenly, sending a flutter of fear through him. Had he spotted something? Did he suspect?

“Cat,” the alpha said with certainty.

“Uh… what?”

“Your shifter animal. It’s from the cat family, isn’t it?”

Zac felt his cheeks color. “How did you guess?”

Beckett grinned in triumph. “You lounge like a cat, even on someone else’s furniture.”

Zac suspected his cheeks were bright red. “Sorry. I like to be comfortable, wherever I am.”

“Don’t apologize,” Beckett insisted. “It’s endearing. Trust me.”

And all of a sudden, they were tiptoeing past a line that Zac always vowed never to cross. He felt a chill sweep his skin and dropped his gaze to his empty cup.

“I should get to bed. Goodnight, Beckett.”

There was a pause and a sigh that sounded just a little regretful. “Goodnight, Zac.”

Chapter Twelve

Beckett had made it awkward between them. He hadn’t meant to, but it had been a long time since he’d had an omega acting so casual and comfortable around him. He’d forgotten how it felt, that bone-deep satisfaction of knowing Zac felt safe enough around him to let down his guard. He knew it was an instinctual, primal thing that society was supposed to have moved past. But he didn’t think you outgrew instinct. Suppressed, yes. Erased, no.

He worried that Zac would withdraw after their late-night encounter, that he’d work on putting more distance between them or use Luca like a shield. That wouldn’t have been fair to Luca, and the blame would lay squarely at Beckett’s feet. But Zac acted like nothing untoward had happened, knuckling down to help get Luca through his pre-treatment.

Zac had Luca’s schedule pinned up on the fridge. Beckett checked it every day, marked in times he’d be out, meetings during which he couldn’t be interrupted, and sometimes made suggestions. He noted that, this week, things had shifted around a lot. Meals were at normal times, but there were twice as many snack times listed. There was a blocked-off, hour-long gap every morning, which was when the nurse would come to the house to give Luca his medication. It was followed by a different game every day.

Beckett, concerned at first since he suspected Luca wouldn’t be in any shape for playing afterward, stuck around after the nurse left on that first day. He walked into the playroom carrying Luca in his arms and found the room had been transformed. There were sheets, blankets, cushions, and pillows piled on the floor. Everywhere he looked, there were little nooks and crannies that a toddler might fall asleep in. There was a definite theme to the room, the walls decorated with blue waves.

“Ahoy, there,” Zac greeted, wearing a captain’s hat and a patch over his eye. “Welcome to the pirate ship Treasure Seeker. I’m Zackie, the first mate.”

Luca giggled, squirming to get out of Beckett’s arms. He accepted the hat Zac set on his head with a squeal of glee and threw himself down onto the cushions.

Zac looked to Beckett, his eyes twinkling as he held out another hat. “Every good pirate ship needs a captain.”

He accepted the hat with a grin, settling it on his head.

“We’ve got treasure to find, Master Luca,” Zac said, sinking down onto the floor next to him. They stretched out on their bellies. “Where will we look first?”

It soon transpired that the nooks and crannies Zac had built were all drawn with colorful precision onto a treasure map. The three of them spent a long time looking at the map and crawling around the room in search of treasure. Each treasure was a snack that they coaxed Luca into eating, and a little toy to add to his bounty. When he was tired, he just lay down where he was, hugging a stuffed toy parrot to his chest as he drifted to sleep.

“You’re amazing,” Beckett whispered to Zac, setting his hat down on a cushion. “He’s not going to remember today as his first day of treatment, he’s going to remember it as the day he became a pirate.”

“What kid wouldn’t want to be a pirate?” Zac asked with a grin. “We’ll keep the theme going for the rest of the week. Tomorrow, a friend of mine is bringing his pet parrot to visit. I thought we could dig for treasure in the sandpit on Wednesday, and play walk the plank on Thursday.”

The afternoon schedule was reading stories and watching a movie. Just the thing for a tired kid. Beckett snuck off and got a few hours’ work done, returning to join them for dinner. He found Luca struggling to stay awake, which wasn’t surprising. Between the two of them, they coaxed a few mouthfuls of food into him, and then Beckett carried him to bed. Zac came with them, turning down the bedspread and helping Beckett get Luca out of his clothes. The monitor was already set up on the nightstand.

They crept out into the hallway and closed over the door.

“I could listen for him tonight, if you want?” Zac offered, leaning close to whisper to him. “I can stay next door, in the guest room.”

“Thank you but, this being his first night and all, I’d prefer to do it myself.”

He’d check on Luca a few times during the night, and the monitor would alert him if Luca woke otherwise.

“Of course. But call me if you need me, no matter the time.”

“Thanks, Zac. You know, I was really expecting today to be a nightmare. First days always are. But it wasn’t. In fact, I think it might have been one of the best days we’ve ever had. And that’s saying something. So, thank you, again. I don’t know what we’d do without you.”

He settled a hand on Zac’s shoulder, feeling the warmth of the omega’s skin beneath his T-shirt. They stared at one another, their eyes bright in the twilight, and then they were leaning in, pressing their lips together. The kiss was sweet and soft, and Beckett didn’t want it to end. But a cold feeling washed over him, and Zac tensed. They pulled apart at the same time, staring at each other with matching expressions of horror.

“I’m so sorry,” Zac burst out in a hushed whisper. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“No, I’m the one who’s sorry. I got carried away in the moment. It’s my fault.”

“No, it’s mine. I shouldn’t have…”

They lapsed into an awkward silence.

“How about we chalk it down to a difficult day, move on, and pretend it never happened?”

Beckett wasn’t about to let an impulse ruin what was the best thing to happen to him and Luca in months.

“I think that would be for the best,” Zac agreed.

The omega bit his lip nervously, which only served to draw Beckett’s attention to his mouth again. He groaned inwardly and forced his gaze away.

“Goodnight, Zac. Thank you again for today.”

“Goodnight, Beckett. You’re very welcome.”

Chapter Thirteen

Zac felt his cheeks burn every time he thought about the kiss he’d shared with Beckett. What a disaster. He was lucky he wasn’t fired. But it was worse than just a kiss: he was on the verge of breaking the first rule of nannying. The one written in capital letters and underlined in red pen. Never fall for your employer. Beckett might have been single, but that didn’t mean no one would get hurt. He blamed the baby hormones. That was the only reason he could think of that had led him to do something so foolish as lock lips with the handsome alpha.

Every time his mind wandered back to the kiss, which was far more often than it should, he flooded with emotion. If it was just embarrassment, he’d have accepted it, but it was more than that. He tried a cold shower and making himself do mundane things like times tables when his mind tried to zero in on the alpha and their kiss. Mostly, he just focused on doing his job. Luca was what mattered in this equation. The little boy needed him, not as his father’s love interest, but as their nanny.

The rest of Luca’s week of preparation for his treatment went smoothly, though his visit with his grandma on Friday wound up being cut short. Beckett had three back-to-back client meetings on Saturday morning, so Zac and Luca spent the morning together. The weather was nice, and Luca’s energy had rebounded, so they spent time out in the garden, enjoying the sunshine.

Zac noticed that Luca seemed very attuned to anything that moved: birds, leaves in the breeze, insects, but it was only after a while that he noticed Luca wasn’t just looking—he was stalking. He watched with bemusement, a little bewildered by Luca’s behavior, until he saw the skin of Luca’s back ripple beneath his T-shirt. Uh-oh.

He jogged across the garden to him.

“Luca, come have some juice.” They needed a distraction, stat.

Luca spun around, his expression eager at the mention of juice, when he stopped and looked down at his arm in puzzlement. Zac saw the telltale ripple again, and Luca let out a startled cry and hugged his arm close to his chest.

Zac was by his side in an instant, taking Luca into his arms.

“It’s okay, baby. You’re okay.”

“My arm hurts.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

He ran his hand lightly over Luca’s arm, which was still pressed against his chest. The muscles were tightly bunched and spasming.

With care, he eased Luca’s arm away from his body and rubbed his hand briskly up and down it, trying to distract from the unpleasant sensations Luca was experiencing. Luca was making soft whimpering noises, one hand clinging to Zac’s shirt. He felt Luca tense further, and then his legs went from under him. Zac caught him before he could hit the ground, lifting Luca into his arms.

“Let’s get you inside now. It’s okay. I’ve got you.”

“Want Daddy.”

“I’m going to call him right now.”

Knowing it would be better to get Luca into the house first, he carried him to his room and pulled out his phone to make the call. He stuck the call on speaker and tossed the phone onto the bed. He’d need both hands to care for Luca.

“Zac? Something wrong?”

Beckett’s slightly breathless voice was there a few moments later.

“We need you to come home. Luca’s having pre-shift spasms. They’re pretty bad.”

“Damn. I’m on my way. Can you tell how close he is to shifting?”

“Probably hours, or even a day away. It’s mostly limb spasms so far. I have some training in children’s massage…”

“Anything you can do to help,” Beckett said. “I’ll be home as soon as I can. Should we try to stop this? I know there are abortive medications.”

“They don’t dole those out to kids for a reason. You could call Dr. Khalid?”

“I’ll do that right now. Talk to you soon.”

He was gone, and Zac busied himself getting what he needed.

“Luca? Where hurts worst, sweetheart?”

The toddler blinked up at him with tearful brown eyes before holding out his arm.

“I’d like to help make you feel better, okay? Can I try?”

He didn’t want Luca’s clothes to get covered in oil, so he put down a towel and undressed him to his underwear.

“I’ve got magic hands, Luca. Want to see?”

The little boy nodded eagerly as Zac started up a gentle massage of the tense muscles of his arm. Starting at Luca’s shoulder, he worked his way slowly down, moving Luca around as he did. At first, Luca squirmed and whimpered, but he quickly settled, his breathing slowing down. He could feel the muscles losing some of their stiffness as he worked. Moving from arm to leg, he started again, with careful concentration. By the time he reached Luca’s feet, the little boy was more asleep than awake. He giggled drowsily when Zac’s fingers gently massaged the sole of his foot.

“Tickles, huh?”

“Uh-huh. Daddy home?”

Before Zac could answer, Beckett spoke from the doorway.

“Daddy’s right here, kiddo.”

He sat down on the side of the bed, leaning down to kiss Luca’s forehead.

“Feeling better?”

Luca nodded. “Zac chased the bad stings away.”

“Did he? Isn’t he the best? You look done in, buddy. Time for a nap, huh?”

Luca yawned in answer, and Beckett grabbed a blanket, settling it over him. He stroked a hand through Luca’s hair until he’d drifted to sleep.

“Life’s never easy for him,” the alpha said softly. “This, he could really do without. He starts treatment in two days.”

“Shifting is a sign of strength. If his ability to change is recovering, that’s a good thing.”

“It just takes so much out of him. He can barely eat enough to keep up with his needs right now. How is he going to manage if he’s shifting form too? Besides, all this pain will be for nothing. He might even lose the ability again before he properly shifts.”

Zac ran a hand down Luca’s back. “His shifter animal is very close to the surface. I’d guess he’ll change by tomorrow afternoon.”

“Well, if he does, we’ll just have to help him through it. Dr. Khalid says they only suppress if there’s an immediate risk to life. The meds are too dangerous.”

Beckett sounded so negative that Zac was reluctant to say much, but he felt it was wrong to let the alpha’s misconceptions go unchallenged.

“Shifting is a net positive for kids. It causes improvements across the board: physically, mentally, psychologically.”

“Tell that to Luca who’s just had his morning ruined.”

“Kids learn by example. Their behavior, their attitudes. In a family of active shifters, kids undergoing treatments like chemo never stop shifting. And they have higher survival rates as a result. Encouraging Luca to change form might help him get through this.”

Beckett faltered. “That can’t be right. Dr. Khalid, all the support groups, they said losing the ability to shift is normal.”

“Common doesn’t mean normal. They might stop shifting because it’s expected of them. Because they’re sick, right? And we tell them sick kids are too weak to shift. Self-fulfilling prophecy.”

Beckett sounded less sure of himself as the conversation dragged on, though there was some heat in his voice when he replied, “I think I should take the word of Luca’s doctor over—”

“Of course,” Zac said soothingly. “His job is to prepare you for what to expect. That doesn’t mean that it’s a good thing. I can send you those studies if you want to have a look at them. I know it’s hard to see it right now, but if Luca is actively shifting before his treatment starts, and we can keep it up throughout, it could really help him get through this.”

Beckett held his gaze.

“Do you really believe that? This isn’t just some naturopathic quack telling you this?”

“I don’t listen to quacks. There are multiple, peer-reviewed papers from well-respected hospitals, universities, and physicians. I did a lit review on it. It was the topic I planned to choose for my dissertation.”

Zac didn’t react to the surprise on Beckett’s face. Very few people expected nannies to pursue further education. A lot of people saw it as a calling. For omegas, it often was. They took care of other people’s kids until it was time to have some of their own.

“I’ll take a look at them,” Beckett promised warmly. “Do you really think it could help?”

“It can. You’re right, though, we’ll have to work in extra calories to counteract the energy the shift takes. But shifting also increases appetite, so it should balance out. He might even gain some weight.”

Beckett looked torn between hopeful and skeptical as he headed to his office to finish up his work for the morning. Zac stayed with Luca, finding the papers in his email, and sending them on. When Luca seemed settled, he took the monitor with him to the kitchen while he prepared lunch.

While he was tossing the salad and checking on the toasted cheese to make sure it didn’t burn, he heard Beckett enter Luca’s room, the two of them having a murmured conversation. Footsteps came his way, and he turned to greet them as Beckett carried a sleepy Luca into the kitchen.

“I made your favorite, Luca. Grilled cheese and cherry tomatoes.”

The little boy loved to pop the tomatoes between his teeth.

“Yummy.”

“Very yummy,” Beckett agreed.

They sat down at the table together, Luca yawning widely but perking up when a glass of juice was set down in front of him.

“I read those papers,” Beckett said softly while Luca was busy sticking stringy pieces of cheese into his mouth. “They were very… encouraging.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

“There is one thing I didn’t quite understand. They spoke a lot about stimulating a child to shift, but none of them explained what that actually meant. How do we do that?”

Zac took a drink of his water before replying.

“It’s no one thing. Encouraging a child to shift is about creating a positive mindset toward shifting and an environment that promotes it. But also showing by example. Kids shift when they’re in close proximity to other people who change form.”

“Does that mean you could…”

“I’d be happy to,” Zac offered. “If you feel comfortable with that. What about you?”

Beckett regarded him with a frown. “What about me? We already talked about this. My shifter animal is dormant.”

Zac hid a smile. “And I think dormancy is psychosomatic. It’s not that you can’t, it’s that you believe you can’t.”

“Works out to the same thing, doesn’t it?” Beckett said tightly.

They were working hard to keep their tones light since little ears were listening in.

“Of course not. If it’s only a belief, then it means you can shift, but you won’t. Sure, my shifting will do something to help Luca, but if you change form with him… that’s a whole other level of encouragement.”

Beckett’s expression went from anger to contemplation to doubt.

“Zac, I really don’t think I can. Believe me, I’d do anything to help Luca, you know I would. But this is not a choice I’m making.”

“Maybe it’s a choice someone else made for you,” Zac suggested softly. “Like your parents.”

Beckett shook his head. “If I could shift, I would. That’s the bottom line.”

“All I’m asking you to do is try.”

“More juice!” Luca piped up suddenly, banging his cup on the table.

“That is not how we ask for juice, is it, young man?” Beckett said, pretending to be stern, though Zac could see the smile on his face.

Luca frowned in thought, his lower lip sticking out in a pout. “More juice, please?”

“Of course, sweetheart,” Zac said. “Thank you for asking so nicely.”

Luca beamed at them, pleased with himself.

When Zac returned to the table, Beckett was staring off into the distance, deep in thought, his half-eaten sandwich forgotten. Maybe Zac had pushed the alpha too hard. He wanted what was best for Luca, they both did, but Beckett was fragile in his own way. Zac needed to keep all their heads above water.

Chapter Fourteen

Late Saturday evening, Beckett set aside what Zac had told him about shifting, deciding to sleep on it. His night was plagued with dreams, and he tossed and turned, restless despite his exhaustion. His parents took center stage in his dreams, their words repeating over and over again in his head.

“Children shift. Young men do not. It’s a childish habit, and you will grow out of it.”

He woke with a groan just after seven, his father’s voice ringing in his ears. His mother had been the shifter and had grown out of it early, just after turning twelve. A fact that was constantly thrown in his face growing up. His father had always regarded the ability to shift with distaste, seeing it as something uncouth, that the lower classes engaged in. Not something his son and heir should display.

Beckett had tried to hide it as soon as he learned how, but it wasn’t always that easy. Sometimes he shifted in his sleep, and there was no way to disguise torn clothes and sheets and the occasional ruined mattress. But as he grew older, it got easier, until he was certain he’d left it behind in childhood, able to meet his father’s scrutinizing gaze with a clear conscience.

He’d been determined that he’d never treat his own son like that, but now he wondered. There was no doubt in his mind that he’d never consciously discouraged Luca from shifting. But what if he’d been doing it unconsciously? There were definitely times when he could have encouraged Luca and hadn’t. Times he’d been more worried about other people and what they might think when they were out in public, or around friends and family. If Zac was right—about any of it, about all of it—then Beckett had a lot to atone for.

Zac had agreed to spend Sunday with them and help Luca through his change.

“I want to try,” Beckett told him over breakfast while the two of them coaxed Luca into eating his oatmeal. “When you and Luca shift, I want to be there. I want to join in if I can, or just keep an eye on things if I can’t.”

The warm smile Zac sent his way eased the worst of the guilt that troubled him.

“You’re a good man, Beckett. And a good father. I was thinking we’d try early this afternoon, right after lunch. Before little people get too tired.”

He turned to Luca.

“What do you say, Luca? Are we going to play animals for real today?”

Beckett was taken aback when Luca’s eyes lit up, and he nodded eagerly.

“Can Daddy play too?”

“Of course he can. We’ll all play together.”

Luca looked to him, his eye shining with hope.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world, kiddo.”

* * *

Zac insisted on shifter-proofing the house before they started, which seemed to mainly consist of closing doors to rooms they wouldn’t want Luca to run into in his animal form. By the end, the playroom, the lounge, the bathroom, and at Beckett’s insistence, the attic, were the only rooms open to them.

Zac prepared drinks and snacks in bowls they could easily access without hands, and then the three of them proceeded to the playroom.

Once they were inside, the omega seemed to lose some of his confidence.

“Uh… I guess I should shift first, to show Luca how it’s done. And then you can be there to encourage him. Unless you want to give it a go yourself?”

Beckett shook his head. “I don’t want to drag this out for Luca. We could be waiting a long time for me to get my ass in gear.”

He winced as he said it, hoping Luca hadn’t heard that. Thankfully, the toddler was much more interested in crawling around the floor on his knees.

“Okay, then.” Zac turned to Luca with a smile. “Ready to play becoming animals?”

Luca bounced on the floor. “Yay! You first.”

“That’s right. Watch closely, huh? You don’t want to miss it.”

Zac glanced at Beckett again, their eyes meeting. “Maybe you could wait right outside the door? Or even just turn your back? I’m quite fond of this outfit.”

Beckett felt himself flush. He’d been staring right at Zac when the omega needed to undress in preparation for changing form.

“Right, sorry.”

He turned and headed toward the door, hesitating at the threshold.

“Is here okay? I don’t want to go too far in case…”

Mainly in case Luca freaked out. He hadn’t exactly watched a lot of people change form, even though he’d done it himself a handful of times.

“There’s fine. Um, I should probably get Luca undressed too. Just being this close to me during the change might be enough to trigger him to shift.”

“Of course.” Besides, what kid didn’t like escaping from the confines of their clothing?

“Ready to get changed?” Zac asked Luca. “We don’t want to make a mess of our clothes, do we?”

“No,” Luca offered innocently, when they both knew he liked nothing better than to jump in puddles, play in the mud, and smear whatever was at hand over his Sunday best. “Daddy play too?”

“Soon, kiddo. It’s Zac’s turn first.”

He heard a giggle a minute later, and the sound of Luca zipping around— sans clothing, at a guess—and Zac trying to unsuccessfully smother a laugh at his antics.

“Sit down for a minute, Luca. I’m ready to play. Watch now.”

All went quiet for a moment before Beckett thought of something.

“Wait, Zac,” he said urgently. “I never asked what kind of animal you—”

He heard a gasp from Luca and the murmured words, “Pretty kitty,” and spun around to find a leopard in the middle of the playroom.

Luca was transfixed, and Beckett wasn’t much better.

The toddler pushed to his feet and weaved across the room, making a beeline for Zac.

“Luca, hold on, don’t—”

He careened right into the leopard, grabbing a tight hold of his fur. Beckett’s heart was in his mouth as he hurried over, ready to whisk Luca out of reach. But all Zac did was make a low purring sound, nudging at Luca with his nose.

Luca giggled, petting Zac’s side clumsily. “Soft kitty.”

Beckett crouched down next to him. “Be gentle with Zac, Luca.”

He let go and turned, squealing with excitement. “My turn?”

Struggling to let go of his reservations, he tried to smile at Luca. “Sure thing, buddy. Whenever you’re ready.”

“Daddy play too?”

“I—I’ll try, kiddo. You go first so Daddy can make sure you’re okay.” It seemed sensible to have at least one functioning human adult around.

He took Luca’s hand and led him away from Zac, giving him the space he needed to make the change. Luca screwed up his face in concentration, closed his eyes, bared his teeth, and let out a tiny roar. A moment later, he peeked his eyes open, looked down at himself, then stared up at Beckett sadly.

“It didn’t work.”

Beckett had to struggle hard not to laugh at Luca’s adorable antics.

“That’s okay. Let’s try again. I’ll help. You know what’ll make this easier? If we go on our hands and knees, like this.”

He demonstrated, and Luca mimicked him, wobbling a little but keeping his balance. Beckett tried to remember back to when he was a child, to how it had felt.

“Close your eyes, kiddo. Search inside for your animal. He’s in there somewhere.”

He recalled doing that when he was lonely, sad, or frustrated. He’d search inside his mind to where his lion lurked and set it loose. Luca was a bit too young to understand the specifics of what he was trying to do. The more it sounded like a game, the easier it would be.

“He’s probably playing hide and seek with you. It’s been a while since you two played together.”

Luca kept sneaking looks at him and closing his eyes when he caught Beckett watching him. He needed more help than just words.

“I’ve got another idea. Can I try something?”

He glanced at Zac, who was crouched on all fours, watching them both but giving them space. Beckett eased Luca down onto the rug he was crouched on, laying him on his side.

“Stay there for a second, okay?”

Scent was a big part of shifting. He remembered the few times that he had, to his parents’ horror, shifted in public. Most times it was emotions that caught him off guard, but once or twice it had been the scent of another shifter.

He went to Zac, holding out a hand. “May I?”

Zac caught on quickly, rubbing against his hand with his cheek, transferring his scent. Beckett returned to Luca, settling a hand on his back, and rubbing firm circles. As their skin warmed, Zac’s scent rose up. He saw Luca’s little nose twitch, then there was the slightest spasm, and Luca opened his mouth and let out a tiny roar. That was all the warning he had before Luca’s form changed. The shift was rapid and dramatic, and Beckett backed away to give him space, grinning when that tiny roar grew in volume just a little, and he was faced with a bewildered lion cub.

Luca tried to bound toward him, but his legs were shaky, not quite under his control yet, and he collapsed onto the floor. Beckett reached for him at the same time as Zac approached.

The cub stared up at him balefully, as if this was all his fault. Beckett found he was smiling, beaming ear to ear.

“You did it, Luca. My clever boy.”

He helped him up, making sure he could support himself before letting go. Zac nudged Luca, and the cub playfully swiped at him. A second later, the two were tussling on the ground. Beckett was alarmed at first before he realized they were just playing, Luca growing bolder and more confident by the minute. The little lion turned to him, bounded over and snagged his shirt sleeve between his teeth. It took a minute of persistent tugging for Beckett to get the message.

“Alright, alright. I said I’d play, and I will. Or try to, at least.”

Zac rubbed against his side, warming his skin as goosebumps covered him. He wasn’t sure he could do this. Maybe he wasn’t strong enough or brave enough to face the animal he’d turned his back on all those years ago.

Luca took off chasing Zac’s tail, batting at it with his paws and squealing when Zac tugged his tail in turn. It reminded Beckett just why he was doing this. If Luca could be brave enough, could be strong enough, then he could too.

He stood and shed his clothes, folding them neatly and setting them next to Zac and Luca’s. Being naked in front of a leopard felt a lot different than being naked in front of their nanny—even though, technically, the two were one and the same.

Just as he’d told Luca to, he went to his hands and knees, closing his eyes and searching into the dark. Would his lion still be there? Would he understand? Forgive?

The darkness inside seemed endless and empty. He was ready to give up, ready to admit to himself that this was the foolish wish of a boy who had grown up long ago, when Luca’s cub mewled. Inside Beckett, something stirred. He searched for it, called to it. Luca needed him, needed them.

That presence in the shadows of his mind cautiously drew nearer. Beckett didn’t know how to convince him to come out of hiding. But he didn’t need to. He felt the brush of fur against his bare back, and a soft purr stroked his skin as the scent of omega filled his nose. And suddenly, his lion was sprinting, fast and furious. The change hit him like a sledgehammer, knocking him onto his side with a groan. He saw Zac pick up Luca by the scruff of his neck and carry him out of reach, setting him down and bracketing him with his front paws. And then the change consumed him, stole every crumb of his attention as sensations he hadn’t felt in years overwhelmed him.

He returned to his senses slowly, feeling something pulling at him. No, not something. Someone. Luca was tugging at his mane while Zac tried to nudge him away. It took Beckett a moment to get his bearings, pushing up onto four paws as he looked around the room. His eyes caught in the mirror on the wall. His lion had grown a lot since the last time he’d shifted.

Bending his head, he scented Luca, then straightened and met Zac’s eyes. The omega was calm and watchful, his attention mostly on Luca. Beckett moved away, checked the edge of the room, the door, the hallway, exploring their confines to satisfy his uneasy lion self. Once he was happy that all was as it should be, he returned to the playroom. Luca bounded for him the moment he appeared, running around him, then racing back to Zac. He looked so happy and carefree, so full of energy, and Beckett’s heart sang. He met Zac’s eyes and chuffed out a thank you, knowing he’d be understood. There’d be time for words later. For now, they’d play. And when Luca tired, they’d bring him up to the attic and let him sleep beneath the stars.

Chapter Fifteen

Zac woke to a giggle in his ear, feeling the sun on his bare skin. There was a warm weight across his lower back and a steady pressure against his hip.

“Huh?”

He lifted his head and peered around, trying to figure out the hows and whys. He was lying on his stomach, on the floor, his face turned to the side. Luca was crouched next to him, stark naked and beaming.

“Hi, Zackie.”

“Hey, sweetheart. Did I fall asleep?”

He went to sit up, realizing the problem as he did. The weight on his back was Beckett’s arm, the alpha’s hand pressed against his hip. And Luca wasn’t the only one who’d misplaced his clothes—neither he nor Beckett had a stitch on them.

It all came back to him in a rush: shifting, Luca changing, and Beckett joining them, the alpha’s lion fierce to behold but oh so gentle with his cub.

The weight on his back disappeared as Beckett sat up with a yawn and stretched. The light played across the muscles of his chest, and Zac was momentarily distracted watching him before reality kicked into gear. He was naked and lying on the floor with his employer and his charge.

“Uh…”

He cast his eyes around for anything—a blanket, a towel—but there was only the rug that all three of them were lying on. That all three of them had clearly slept on, together, in a puppy pile of sorts.

“Morning,” Beckett said, looking around the room in bemusement. “That worked well, I guess.”

The alpha looked down at himself, his eyebrows shooting up into his hairline. Then he glanced at Luca, who seemed completely content, babbling softly as he sat between them. His eyes fell on Zac last, and Zac drew his knees up in a futile attempt to protect his modesty.

“A few kinks to work out for next time, I guess.”

Beckett snorted a second later, as if realizing what he’d said.

A nervous laugh escaped Zac, but he swallowed it when Beckett’s eyes met his again.

“Are you okay?” The alpha was suddenly worried, looking him up and down in concern.

“Fine,” Zac hurried to say. “But how about you? Your first shift in… how long?”

Yep, the best way to get through this was for both of them to pretend that there was nothing at all awkward about waking up naked together.

“Uh… almost fifteen years, I guess. My lion’s changed a lot in all that time.”

“You looked stunning,” Zac assured him. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a shifter as big as you. Well, I saw a bear once, at a distance.” That said, he hadn’t met too many adult shifters at all. Most, like Beckett, grew out of it.

The alpha seemed faintly pleased with his praise. “You two stay here. I’ll be back in a minute.” He got to his feet and strode to the stairs.

Zac tried not to stare, but it was hard to keep his eyes away from the casual confidence that Beckett exuded. The lion was the man, and the man the lion.

“How do you feel, Luca? Are you hurting anywhere?”

Shifting for the first time after an illness or a long break was hard on the body sometimes. He wouldn’t have known it with how easy Beckett was moving, but that didn’t mean Luca wasn’t feeling the effects.

“No.” Luca bit his lip, the answer not quite ringing true.

“How about, after breakfast, you have a nice warm bath with lots of bubbles? Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

“With my duckies?”

“Sure. As many bath toys as you like.”

“Okay.”

Luca smiled and threw himself at Zac, who caught the little boy in a hug.

“You did so well yesterday, Luca. Playing animals can be hard sometimes.”

“Can we play again?”

“Of course we can.”

Luca stretched up on his tiptoes to whisper in Zac’s ear. “Can Daddy play too?”

“Daddy would love to play animals again, kiddo,” Beckett said, bounding up the stairs.

He’d taken the time to dress. Well, he’d thrown on a pair of sweatpants. Zac wasn’t disappointed. Okay, maybe a little.

Luca yawned loudly and squirmed his way to sitting on Zac’s knee. Beckett crouched next to them.

“I, uh, didn’t want to go rooting in your room, Zac, so I brought you some of my clothes. I hope that’s okay.”

“That’s fine,” Zac said quickly.

Clothes were clothes, and they were infinitely better than walking around naked in front of Beckett or awkwardly clutching at a blanket to shield himself from view.

“Come on, kiddo. Let’s get you dressed,” Beckett said, setting the bundle of clothes down next to Zac.

He lifted Luca off Zac’s knee and moved so his back was to Zac, giving him some privacy while he dressed. Zac was grateful for it as he slipped the sweatpants up his legs and over his hips. They were too long on him and almost falling off at the waist, even when he tied them as tightly as he could. The shirt hit him at mid-thigh, but he wasn’t bothered by that, too busy rolling up the legs of the pants so he wouldn’t trip over them.

“Breakfast?” he suggested as Beckett finished helping Luca into his clothes.

“Bacon!” Luca cried, jumping up and down as Beckett struggled to get his T-shirt on over his head.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Beckett said, glancing at Zac.

“Turkey bacon?” he countered. “And eggs? A high protein meal is good after shifting.”

“Sounds great.” Beckett glanced up at the window and the sunlight beaming down on them. “I get the feeling it’s later than it feels. I should find my phone and…”

“Go,” Zac told him. “I’ll check for damages and handle breakfast.”

Beckett blinked. “Damages?”

“A lion, a leopard, and a cub just had the run of half this house for almost a day. I doubt the house, and the furniture, were any more prepared for it than we were. There’s bound to be a few breakages.” He hesitated, worry gnawing at him. “Sorry, I should have warned you.”

“No, you’re right. I should have worked that one out for myself. You weren’t closing off rooms just to keep little cubs out of mischief.” Beckett grinned at him, and Zac’s worry faded away.

“Even big cubs can wreak havoc. We don’t always know our own strength when we change forms.”

Zac shifted often enough to know his leopard’s abilities. But for Luca and Beckett, this was new territory. It took time to adjust to the shifter mindset.

They split up, Zac heading for the kitchen with Luca while Beckett went to find his phone and ensure he hadn’t missed anything important for work. Halfway to the kitchen, their journey delayed by checking each room as they went, Zac’s stomach woke up. Nausea roared to life, and he barely had time to set Luca down in the playroom with his coloring book before he had to sprint to the bathroom. He made it by the skin of his teeth, emptying the contents of his stomach into the toilet bowl—which, thankfully, wasn’t a lot.

He stayed there, waiting for the waves of nausea to settle, forcibly reminded of the predicament he currently found himself in. The fun of yesterday had made it easy to forget, and he tried to bring that feeling to the forefront of his mind.

“Zac?” There was a knock at the bathroom door, which was slightly ajar. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll be out in a minute,” he promised. “Luca’s in the playroom, can you—”

Another bout of retching stole his voice and his energy. When he finally managed to drag himself to his feet, wash his face, and rinse his mouth, he felt like a dishcloth that had been wrung out one time too many.

There was another quiet knock on the door, and he opened it to reveal Beckett, the alpha holding out a glass of water. Zac accepted it with a murmur of thanks, taking a sip. He was surprised to find it tasted sweet.

“Rehydration salts,” the alpha explained. “You’re probably already dehydrated from shifting. If you’re sick, you should head to bed.”

“I’m not sick,” Zac assured him quickly, cursing inwardly as he wondered how to explain morning sickness without admitting that he was pregnant.

“Oh. Is it a reaction to shifting? I seem to remember it feeling like a hangover sometimes. Long before I knew what a hangover was.”

“Something like that,” Zac said, seizing on the excuse without actually outright lying.

“Alright, then. I’ll handle breakfast. You should sit down for a bit.”

“But Luca…”

“Luca is in the living room, in the middle of a blanket cocoon, watching cartoons. Would you like to join him?”

“I can make breakfast.”

“I’m sure you can, but as I said, I’ve got this.”

“You have work.”

“Nothing that I can’t handle later. Come on.”

Beckett walked him to the living room, and Zac joined Luca on the couch.

“Zac’s not feeling too good, Luca. So you need to look after him, okay?”

The little boy nodded, taking his duty seriously.

“Bear will make you feel better,” he said, passing the teddy over.

“Thank you, sweetheart.” Zac cuddled the bear to his stomach.

Beckett slipped out but returned a minute later with another blanket, which he laid over Zac’s knees. Zac tried to protest, but the alpha only raised an eyebrow at him and left again.

In the end, he just sat there, feeling faintly foolish but also seriously tired. Beside him, Luca was yawning loudly every minute or two. They could both do with a nap.

The smell of cooking filtered through a few minutes later, and he heard Luca’s stomach rumble, the little boy peering hopefully at the door. They almost always ate at the kitchen table, but Zac guessed this morning would be an exception.

Ten minutes later, Beckett arrived carrying a tray in each hand. He set them down on the coffee table and moved around to join them on the couch.

“I wasn’t sure what your stomach could handle, so I made some toast and some of that tea you like. Maybe some jam on the bread? It’ll get your blood sugar up.”

Zac wasn’t used to anyone except Harper taking such good care of him.

“I’m okay, really,” he promised the alpha. “Luca’s the one who needs to eat.”

“I suspect that won’t be a problem,” Beckett said wryly.

Zac glanced over to find that Luca had snatched a piece of bacon from the tray and was chewing happily on it. He giggled despite himself, meeting Beckett’s eyes, which were dancing with mirth.

He gratefully accepted a piece of toast lightly scraped with jam and a cup of sweet tea. Beside him, Beckett ate with quick bites and drank mouthfuls of coffee in between ensuring Luca ate more than just bacon.

“So…” the alpha said.

“So?” Zac prompted. He hoped there wouldn’t be more questions about his nausea. He didn’t want to have to lie, but he wasn’t ready to face the consequences of the truth, like losing this job.

“I feel like I owe you an apology.”

When Zac tried to open his mouth, to insist that he didn’t, the alpha pressed a finger to his lips. The gesture was impulsive and intimate and, for a moment, both of them froze, staring at each other in silence.

Beckett let his hand fall. “But what I really want to say is thank you. Yesterday was just great. I’ve never felt closer to Luca. Look at him… he’s thriving right now.”

In fact, he’d liberated yet another piece of bacon when they weren’t looking, beaming cheekily over at them.

“I didn’t really do anything,” Zac told him. “That was all Luca. He’s fantastic, aren’t you, kiddo?”

“He is,” Beckett agreed with a fond smile, running a hand through Luca’s hair. “But since you’ve been here, things have been so much better. In small ways and in big. And the small matter just as much, if not more.”

Zac was so happy to hear it, but guilty at the same time. He felt like he was letting them down. He could hide his situation for a while, but not forever. And Beckett had been so clear that he wanted Luca to have someone long-term, someone he could really bond with. Zac was sure he was that person, there was just the small matter of the little problem he was incubating inside him. A problem that was only growing bigger by the day.

Chapter Sixteen

Luca’s first treatment went far easier than Beckett had expected. He wasn’t sure what had made the difference. Was it because of the pre-treatment? The fact that Luca was that bit older and stronger? The timely return of his ability to shift? Or maybe it was Zac’s presence? The omega was the blessing they needed to get through such a difficult time. He had a knack for coaxing Luca to eat or take a nap, and seemed to know just what to do to soothe him when Luca was close to meltdown.

Beckett scaled his work back as best he could; Luca needed his dad around right now. He kept up a brave front with Luca and Zac, despite how much he worried about the fate of their lost embryo. Zac, even though he knew none of the particulars, seemed aware that Beckett needed a distraction from his own thoughts. Beckett found himself drawn into their games and fun more and more as the week went on. It felt good to laugh again, to see Luca smiling and playing, acting like the carefree child he should be. And maybe it was all an illusion, about to come crashing down on them, but Beckett didn’t care. If ever there was a time to live in the moment, this was it.

Now and then, his thoughts drifted back to that morning after they’d shifted, waking up with Luca and Zac. Sure, there’d been some discomfort and embarrassment at the situation, but when Beckett pushed past that, he found himself lingering on Zac’s scent, on how beautiful the omega had looked that morning, all sleepy and bathed in sunlight.

Shaking his head to bring himself back to the present, he focused on the task at hand. Brendan would be there any minute to give him an update. He wasn’t expecting much. Their last meeting had proved that the world worked at a snail’s pace where situations like this were concerned.

He heard the doorbell and got to his feet, but Zac beat him to it. Making his way to the front hall, he waved Brendan in.

“Hi, Brendan. Thanks, Zac.”

Brendan followed him back to his office.

“Luca’s nurse?” the alpha asked.

“Nanny,” Beckett corrected absentmindedly. “Grab a seat. Do you want some coffee?”

“Sure, that’d be great.”

While Beckett busied himself pouring drinks, Brendan set a folder on the desk and started leafing through it.

“I didn’t want to tell you this over the phone, but I’ve made some progress.”

Beckett jerked upright at that, almost spilling coffee over his hand.

“Progress? What kind of progress?”

He carried the cups back over, handing one to Brendan and taking his seat.

“I believe I’ve found the omega that the clinic thinks was accidentally implanted with your embryo.”

Beckett sat back in his seat and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Great. That was… quicker than I was expecting. What can you tell me?”

“It turns out this omega, Aaron, has moved to Japan with his alpha husband.”

“Japan.” Beckett said flatly. “Is that why the clinic was talking about him being so difficult to contact?”

“If their experience was anything like mine, then it’s not the physical distance that’s the problem. I found a phone number and called. Aaron answered. I was careful, didn’t give any details, just that it was in regard to the events at the clinic on the date in question. He hung up on me. I called back, no answer.”

“You could go there, right? Track him down, talk to him in person?”

Surely a visitor on their doorstep would be harder to ignore than a phone call.

“That was my next step, until yesterday afternoon. Something’s been bothering me about this whole thing. If it had been me, and I’d had a medical procedure and, afterward, multiple attempts were made to contact me… Well, I’d be worried someone had screwed up somewhere, and I’d hear them out. Why be so evasive unless you have something to hide?”

Beckett could understand Brendan’s reasoning, but was confused about where he was going with it. “I’m not sure what you’re getting at.”

“Neither was I, at first. So I did some more digging, just trying to put together a timeline and look for inconsistencies. And I found one. A big one. It was on his husband’s social media. Aaron’s is locked down tight, but the alpha is some sort of teaching fellow at a university, taking part in a long-term research exchange. He posted all about their move to Japan, including these.”

Brendan showed Beckett a tablet, flicking through a series of pictures.

“These were taken the day they arrived in Japan.”

“Okay, what am I looking at?” Beckett struggled to keep from focusing on the omega’s face. Was this the man carrying his child, the one who potentially held the power of life and death over Luca?

“It’s in the metadata of the photo: the date and time it was taken. That’s this, here.”

The picture was replaced by a text box of information.

“I don’t see—” But then he did.

“They arrived in Japan on the tenth. The day before the IVF procedure.”

Beckett sagged in disappointment, feeling the beginnings of anger curling inside him.

“You’ve made a mistake. You tracked the wrong person.”

“That’s what I thought, at first, so I checked my information through another source. This is definitely the patient the clinic identified as the recipient of your embryo.”

“Then the clinic is wrong. What’s one more mistake to add to this dumpster fire?”

He felt bitterly disappointed, as if Brendan had offered him hope, then pulled the rug out from under him.

“That’s possible, but unlikely. As far as the clinic is concerned, the paper trail says that they’ve got the right person, in the right place, at the right time. Plus, he and your surrogate have similar names, Aaron and Austin, just like the clinic claimed, and they’re close in age.”

“But you’ve just told me it can’t be Aaron. He wasn’t even in the country that day.”

“Sure, it’s not him. But why hasn’t he just told the clinic that? Answered the phone and said, ‘Sorry, you’ve got the wrong guy?’ Why is he dodging their calls instead?”

Brendan was clearly hinting at something.

“He’s the right person on paper,” the investigator emphasized. “His name, his medical insurance. It just wasn’t him.”

“You’re saying someone else was checked into the clinic under his name?”

“Exactly. Medical fraud is growing more common every year. Especially for omegas, since their coverage is getting increasingly restrictive, and many of them don’t work jobs that offer insurance.”

Beckett wondered for a moment about Zac. He usually added their nanny onto his insurance in a limited way. It covered emergencies and accidents in the home as well as very basic healthcare, but he knew that wasn’t the norm. What did he and the other nannies do when they got sick or had other problems only omegas dealt with?

“Does that mean we’ve reached a dead end? If this omega stole someone else’s identity, what are the chances we’ll ever track them down?”

“Maybe not stolen so much as borrowed.”

“What?”

“Why else would Aaron be avoiding the clinic’s calls? He’s protecting them.”

“You think he knows the omega who attended the clinic under his name?”

“That’d be my guess. No other reason I can think of why he’d be so damn evasive. There’s also the matter of the co-pay for the procedure. It was paid in full on the day.”

And why would Aaron pay for a procedure he’d never had, unless it was to make it look above board?

“What does that mean for us?”

Brendan closed the folder and sat back in his chair.

“It means two things: we’re close to tracking down who actually got your embryo, and we have leverage if we need it.”

Beckett ignored the second part and focused on the first.

“But if we don’t know anything about them, and Aaron isn’t talking, how are we going to find them?”

“Would you commit fraud for just anyone? This is someone he knows, a relative or a friend. Track down his social circle, narrow it down to omegas, and we find our accidental surrogate.”

“You said something about leverage?”

“It’s not my favorite method to encourage cooperation, but I wouldn’t be doing my job right if I didn’t mention it. Medical fraud carries prison time. The quickest way to solve this would be to use the fraud as leverage to get Aaron, and anyone else involved, to cooperate. It does lose you any goodwill you might start out with, given your situation.”

Beckett considered and almost instantly dismissed the idea.

“No, I don’t want to do that. It isn’t fair. This wasn’t their mistake, and I don’t want to scare the people involved in this.”

Scared people did stupid things. Beckett didn’t want his baby to be a casualty of that. He wanted these people to want to help him.

“If we need leverage, I’d prefer to offer money, not threats.”

“I understand.” Brendan packed away his folder. “I recommend holding off on offering money except as a last resort. It might lead to attempts at extortion by someone involved, especially if they realize how desperate you are. You need to be prepared for that eventuality.”

Beckett didn’t want to believe that anyone, especially an omega, would hold an unborn baby hostage knowing there were two lives in the balance.

“I get it,” he told Brendan. “Do what you think is best, but keep the fraud out of it for now.”

“I’ll let you know when I have news.”

Beckett walked him to the door, and they passed Zac and Luca in the playroom, the latter running around with a makeshift cape trailing behind him. They paused to watch them for a moment.

“There’s reason to be hopeful, Beckett. We’re a whole lot closer to finding your embryo than we were last week.”

“I hope you’re right.”

Chapter Seventeen

For the week after they’d shifted, Zac had to remind himself over and over about the first rule of nannying. The most important one. The one that said you should never fall for your employer. He did his best to create distance between them—throwing himself into his work, being careful to minimize their time alone, and only talking about things that related to Luca and caring for him.

Zac had been warned by Beckett to expect the worst after Luca’s first treatment. But they were both surprised when he seemed to tolerate it well. There was no denying it affected him—he was far sleepier than normal, with a tendency to drift off in the middle of whatever he was doing. Zac encouraged lots of naps and lots of snacks, keeping Luca’s favorites at hand to combat the loss of appetite.

Beckett seemed to be holding up well but, toward the middle of the week, he had a visitor. Zac didn’t know who the alpha was or what he said to Beckett, but there was an undeniable dark cloud hanging over him for the rest of the week. Beckett did his best to hide it when he was around Luca, but now and then, Zac caught a look of near-despair on his face. It made him worry, not just for the alpha, but for Luca too. He couldn’t imagine what would put that expression on Beckett’s face except for something to do with Luca. He didn’t want to pry, so he did what he did best—held it together. He looked after Luca, cooked meals, and did his best to facilitate quality dad time between Luca and Beckett. It wasn’t his place to ask. If it was something he needed to know, Beckett would tell him.

His resolve lasted until late Saturday evening. His morning sickness had morphed into morning and evening sickness, much to his disgust. Harper had come to the rescue with a specially blended ginger tea the day before. Zac wasn’t a fan of ginger, but even he had to admit the tea was soothing for his stomach. But the taste was a little bitter without something to sweeten it, so he headed to the main house to borrow some sugar.

He padded into the kitchen, slowing to a stop when he spotted Beckett sitting in darkness at the breakfast counter, his shoulders slumped. The alpha didn’t look like he wanted company, so Zac decided it was best to leave him alone. But guilt tugged at him, reminding him that while technically Luca was his only responsibility, Luca’s well-being and happiness depended on Beckett’s. The alpha didn’t seem to have that many people he could talk to.

Steeling himself, he walked into the room, murmuring a greeting as he switched on the soft lighting under the wall cabinets. Beckett didn’t move, but Zac could feel the alpha’s gaze following him as he moved around the room.

“Tea?” he offered, turning around to look at Beckett. He was a little taken aback at the dark rings under the alpha’s eyes. “It might help you sleep.”

“Sure, thanks.”

Zac made himself ginger tea and gave Beckett chamomile, hoping the alpha wouldn’t ask why. He slid Beckett’s cup onto the counter next to him and took a seat opposite, letting the mug warm his hands.

“Is the sky falling down?”

Beckett looked startled at his question. “What?”

“Just… you look like something terrible has happened. Would it help to talk?”

“Talking isn’t going to fix this. I’m not even sure it is fixable. I know I shouldn’t wallow, not when Luca needs me so much right now, but this was his best chance, his last chance, and…”

Zac’s heart sank.

“The surrogacy didn’t work?”

He felt an uncomfortable twinge inside him as he asked the question. It wasn’t right for him to pry, not about this. He knew all too well the emotions involved, and he wasn’t even…

Beckett laughed, the sound bitter and grating.

“If the consequences weren’t so tragic, it would almost be funny. I don’t know if the surrogacy worked. I haven’t the first clue if, somewhere out there, someone’s pregnant with my child.”

That twinge became a somersault, and Zac felt his heart thump in his chest.

“I’m not sure I follow. How can you not know?”

“The clinic made a mistake. ‘A series of errors,’ that’s what they’re calling it. They put the embryo, my embryo—my child—into a stranger instead of Austin, our surrogate.”

Zac couldn’t speak, couldn’t convince his mouth to open, couldn’t do anything but sit and stare at his tea.

“What’s worse is that we can’t even find this person to explain. To know if it worked, to help them understand what it means, to ask them to…” Beckett leaned forward, his head in his hands. “It’s one thing to sign up for nine months of carrying someone else’s child, it’s another to be landed in it with no warning. Every time I feel like I’m going through hell, I remind myself that they’re going through it too. They didn’t ask for this, any more than we did.”

“I—I’m so sorry.”

Zac finally found his voice but could do nothing more than offer meaningless platitudes. His heart was racing in his chest, he felt breathless and lightheaded, and the somersaults in his stomach were a full-blow cyclone.

“I—um—I should get to bed. Goodnight, Beckett. Try—try to get some sleep, hey?”

He all but ran from the room, abandoning his tea in his haste to get away. He was two steps into his apartment when his stomach revolted, and he sprinted for the bathroom. As he knelt there, retching, tears in his eyes, Beckett’s words kept going around and around in his head. It could be a coincidence, couldn’t it? Maybe mistakes like this happened all the time? Maybe clinics passed embryos around like candy and hey, surprise, he got one.

He sat on the cold bathroom tiles for a long time, unable to move past his first instinct—denial. Maybe none of this was happening. It might all be a strangely realistic dream that he just had to wake up from. And what was the best way to wake up from a dream like this? Sleep. It had to be.

Groaning, he dragged himself up off the floor, cleaned up, and staggered into bed. He lay there for a long time, staring up at the ceiling, wishing for sleep to come. When it did, it was filled with fragments of dreams and nightmares, conversations running over and over in his restless mind. When he finally blinked his eyes open to see sunlight across his ceiling, he heaved a sigh of relief. And then reality hit. He turned his head into his pillow and sobbed.

A while later, his phone rang. He reached a hand out to knock it off but, seconds later, it rang again. Sighing, he dragged it across the bed toward him. Harper. If there was anyone he wanted to talk to right then, it was him.

“What time do you call this, duck? I’m starving.”

“Um…”

“It’s Sunday, Zac. We’re supposed to go out for breakfast, remember?”

“Sorry, Harper.” He was hoarse from crying, wrung out and exhausted.

The omega went from irritated to concerned in the space of a second. “What’s wrong? Is it the morning sickness?”

“Just… had a bad night, that’s all.”

There was a brief silence before Harper spoke again. “I’ll bring breakfast by. Won’t be long.”

Zac rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling again, then threw back the covers. At almost nine weeks along, his stomach was still mostly flat. That would change, maybe sooner rather than later, and there’d be no hiding the truth. But it was so much more complicated than a simple accidental pregnancy. It wasn’t fair. For most people, an unplanned pregnancy was an ‘oops baby’ sort of situation. Too much sex, too little care taken to stop it from happening. Omegas, being more fertile than most, had the consequences drilled into their heads from the time they were children. So how was it fair that Zac had been careful, done all the right things, and still ended up ‘in the family way’ without an alpha by his side?

His phone rang again.

“Here now, duck. Want to let me in?”

“Be there in a sec.”

He climbed out of bed, threw on a shirt so he wouldn’t scandalize the neighbors, and headed out to the door. He caught sight of himself in the mirror, which had him doubling back to the bathroom to wash the dried tear tracks from his cheeks. He didn’t need to look any more pathetic than he felt.

Harper was waiting by the door, glancing over his shoulder at one of Beckett’s neighbors. The old woman was pretending to water her flowers, but her eyes kept straying their way.

“She thinks I’m here to steal her lawn ornaments,” Harper joked, handing Zac a cardboard carton holding three cups. He clasped a heavy bag tightly in his other hand as he followed Zac up.

Zac went straight for the small living room and its comfortable couch, curling up as Harper sat next to him.

“I got you ginger tea,” Harper said, indicating one cup. “And hot chocolate. It sounded like a hot chocolate morning on the phone, but the baby might disagree.”

Zac felt tears spring to his eyes at the word ‘baby.’ He knew he should tell Harper what he’d learned, what he was starting to believe might be true. But before, this had all been abstract. Sure, there was a baby growing inside him, but an ultrasound picture of a grainy blob and a bit of nausea wasn’t much by way of proof. Being faced with the fact that the baby might actually be Beckett’s, be the lifeline they needed for Luca... It made everything real in the harshest of ways.

“I… I think I might be in trouble, Harper.”

His friend took that admission in his stride.

“What kind of trouble? The kind where you owe someone money or where we need to get you a stint in rehab? Or the kind where you’re stuck in this shit situation and, understandably, you’re panicking?”

Zac swallowed a laugh. “That last one, mostly. But…”

“But what?”

“Remember how I told you that Luca needs a transplant?”

“Sure. You said they were trying for a sibling for him, through a surrogate.”

“Beckett says they implanted the embryo into the wrong person and now they don’t know where it is.”

Harper rolled his eyes. “Very funny, duck. It’s not April first, is it?” He made a show of checking his calendar.

“Harper…”

“No. No, you are not carrying Beckett’s baby. That would be insane. This isn’t that small a city. There’s got to be lots of clinics, lots of procedures just like that happening every day. It’s probably just that their surrogate got cold feet.”

“That’s not what Beckett said.”

“You mean that’s not what you heard. You’re in full-on panic mode, Zac. You’re seeing connections where there aren’t any.”

He dearly wanted that to be true. And it was easy to believe it with Harper so adamant.

“Maybe you’re right.”

“I am right, duck. I’m sure of it. I feel it in my bones.”

“I still don’t know what I’m going to do.”

“I’ve had some ideas about that.” Harper opened the bag he’d brought with him, a delicious smell wafting out. “But let’s eat while we talk. My blood sugar’s falling off a cliff. I can’t take too many more dramatic reveals today.”

He grinned at Zac, handing him a pastry. Now that the panic had ebbed a little, Zac found he was ravenous.

“Cinnamon swirl, your favorite. Let’s hope the baby agrees.”

“Let’s hope,” Zac echoed, taking it eagerly and biting down. The explosion of creamy sweetness across his tongue was heaven.

“Now, where was I?” Harper munched his way through a vanilla custard slice. “Oh, yeah. You’re pretty set on having the baby, right?”

“Right.” He couldn’t imagine getting rid of something so wanted.

“Then I propose you work for as long as you can. Beckett seems like a solid guy; I can’t see him getting rid of you just because you’re pregnant. You can work right up to your due date and have the kid. Once he’s born, Aaron contacts the clinic, tells them about the baby, and surrenders it to them. They’ll reunite it with whoever it belongs to, and you go back to your life. There’ll be no connection between you and the baby. All Aaron needs to do is make a phone call. I can do the actual handover on his—your—behalf.”

That… that actually sounded like it might work.

“It needs some fine-tuning,” Harper admitted. “Ideally, we need Aaron on board, but if not, we could work around him.”

“Work around him?”

“I’ll pretend to be him on the phone.”

“You don’t think he’ll help us?”

“I think, when he learns the truth, he’s going to freak out a little. Thankfully, he has a few months to come around.”

It all sounded so easy. Zac knew it wouldn’t be. He still had to carry a baby for nine months, hold down his job, then hand the baby over and forget all of it ever happened. He let his hand rest against his stomach, wondering if he was doing the right thing. But then, what could be more right than giving this baby back to where it belonged? He was just its guardian for nine months, the person accidentally charged with shepherding it into the world. He could do that, couldn’t he?

Chapter Eighteen

William was already waiting at the table when Beckett arrived.

“Am I late?” he asked, glancing at his watch.

“No, just me being early, as usual,” William said, tucking his phone away.

Beckett took a seat and barely glanced at the menu. They’d been there often enough that he knew what he liked.

“How’s the Archus project looking?”

“I’ve almost finished the first draft. It was a struggle.”

Beckett was surprised to hear William admit it. He’d been so enthusiastic about it during the initial planning stages.

“What’s the problem?”

“Lacking inspiration, I guess.”

Beckett could sympathize. Some alphas’ creativity ebbed and waned, especially if they were single for long stretches. As far as he knew, William hadn’t dated in almost three years. His last breakup had been rough.

“You ever think about getting out and meeting someone?”

“Work is my life, you know that. I don’t have time for dating.”

“Well, how about casting your net a little wider? There are other options if you’re looking for inspiration.”

William raised an eyebrow. “Never thought I’d hear you recommending an escort service.”

“And you still haven’t. I wasn’t thinking about companionship in that way. I was thinking about a muse. There are agencies for that these days. All aboveboard.”

“Sounds like people peddling nonsense to me.”

“Maybe. Some people swear by it, though.”

Beckett signaled to the waiter, who came and took their order. Once he’d gone, William very deliberately changed the topic of conversation.

“How’s Luca?”

“He had a rough night last night, temperature of one-oh-one.”

“You were up with him?”

“I took the first shift; Zac took the second. Breakfast was a nightmare. Luca threw more food than he ate.”

“Thank god for the nanny, huh?”

William grinned at him, and Beckett tried to smile back.

“Yeah.”

“Uh-oh. Trouble brewing? I thought you said Zac was a keeper.”

Beckett groaned, shaking his head. “He is. He should be. I’m the one fucking this up.”

“How’s that?”

“I kissed him.”

William’s eyes went wide. “You kissed the nanny?”

“Not so loud,” he grit out, glancing around. There were people a little too close for comfort, and gossip like that would spread like wildfire.

William lowered his voice. “Did he kiss you back?”

“That’s not the point, William. And it wasn’t just a kiss.” He glanced away, more angry with himself than anything.

“You’d better tell me.”

“The night Luca shifted, we sort of slept together. Just, you know, actual sleep. All three of us, conked out on the floor. We woke up cuddled together the next morning, stark naked, with Luca babbling away beside us.”

Beckett could see William was trying very hard not to smile.

“It isn’t funny.”

“I think it’s hilarious. And you would too if there wasn’t something more going on. So, tell me.”

“There’s nothing to tell. Zac’s awesome. He’s great for Luca, he’s great for me. It’s easy to talk to him, he has a sense of humor when it’s most wanted, and he always seems to know when I need a listening ear. But I’ve started leaning too heavily on him.” The night when he’d told him about the surrogate being a case in point. Zac had all but fled from the room.

“Is that really a terrible thing?”

“Of course it is. It’s a bad road to start down, and a selfish one at that. I should be thinking about Luca and his needs, not my own.”

He strummed his fingers across the tabletop, aware of William’s close scrutiny.

“You’ve got feelings for Zac. More than just ‘how awesome is our nanny’ feelings. Am I wrong?”

“He… he is exactly my type, William. I haven’t felt like this about anyone since Darcy.”

“Is that really so wrong? You’re single. He’s single too, right?”

“Right. I mean, as far as I know.” He was sure that, if there was an alpha boyfriend, he would have come up in conversation by now.

“Then what’s the problem?”

For someone who was so determinedly straitlaced most of the time, William could be stubbornly obtuse about the strangest things.

“The problem is Luca. He needs Zac. That’s what I should be focusing on. If I pursue this thing with Zac, and it backfires, he’s the one who suffers most.”

“Then go careful. Sound Zac out, see if you and he feel the same way about each other. If you don’t, you both agree that it’s water under the bridge. No harm, no foul. And if you do, go for it.”

“It’s too high a risk.”

If things fell apart—in a month, six months, a year—where would that leave him and Luca?

“You’re the happiest I’ve seen you in years, Beckett. A healthy, happy child needs a happy, well-rounded parent. Not a workaholic. You could do with a little light in your life.”

“Speak for yourself, Mr. I’m-celibate-forever-after-one-bad-experience. You’re one to talk.”

“You and I are very different people. I’m not relationship material. Whereas you…”

“Need to think more about my son and less about the nanny.”

“Beckett…”

He knew if they kept talking about it, it would only end in an argument.

“Come on, tell me about the Archus project. How’d you handle the window placement in the end?”

* * *

Beckett had just pulled into the driveway when Brendan called.

“I’ve got some news. Good, I hope.”

“What is it?”

“I may have tracked down the omega involved. Aaron has an omega cousin. When I showed his picture to the receptionist at the clinic, she recognized him.”

“Okay. That is good. That’s great, actually. What now?”

“Now, I’ll make the approach. Softly-softly, just like you wanted. Catch more flies with honey, right?”

“What will you do, exactly?”

What happened next was going to be key. It would set the tone of this whole arrangement, assuming there would be one.

“What I do best. Ask questions.”

“You’ll be careful, won’t you? I don’t want to spook him into making a rash decision.”

“I’ll make sure he knows that he’s not in any trouble. Trust me, Beckett, I can handle this.”

“I know that. Sorry, I’m just…”

“I get it. This means a hell of a lot to you. I’ll do the best I can. When I have news, I’ll call.”

“Thanks, Brendan. I’m glad William pointed me in your direction. If it was up to the clinic…”

After getting no response to the first letter, they’d sent a second. They hadn’t yet figured out that Aaron wasn’t even the person they were looking for. And Beckett had no intention of enlightening them. If they were too stupid to know they were being defrauded, then why would he help them? Better he handled this himself and kept them out of it.

“Those guys seem great at dropping balls. Let’s not give them any more to hold, hey?”

Beckett laughed. “Let’s not. Thanks, Brendan. Talk to you soon.”

He got out of the car and headed inside, pausing when he noticed a note stuck to the interior door. He peeled it off and read it, smiling to himself. ‘Watch out! Lions and leopards about.’ Luca had shifted again, and Zac had joined him.

Things had been awkward between him and Zac since the night he’d told him about the missing embryo. What he’d said to William was true—he had been leaning too heavily on the nanny for support. It was unfair of him to do that. He’d been doing his best to back off and give Zac space, and it seemed the omega had been doing the same. But they still lived together, took care of Luca together, and shared meals. They’d just dialed back on the late-night chats over tea. He missed them. That, to him, was a sign he’d gotten too familiar with Zac. The omega was his employee, not his boyfriend. It wasn’t fair to either of them to confuse the two.

He opened the porch door cautiously, peering about. Once he was sure there were no cubs or leopards in the hall, he quickly stepped inside and closed the door.

“Hello?”

There was no answer to his call.

He made his way through the house. Most of the doors were closed, but he felt a breeze and guessed at where Luca and Zac were. When he reached the door to the back garden, he found it open, but when he looked outside, he didn’t see anyone. He stepped out, glanced around with a frown, and was about to head back inside when he heard a rustling in the bushes.

Realizing he’d walked into the middle of a game of hide and seek, he decided to take part.

“Ready or not, here I come.”

He turned on his heel and prowled through the garden. A streak of yellow flashed past right in the corner of his vision, but when he turned, there was nothing to see.

With a chuckle, he continued circling.

“I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with L hiding behind the willow tree.”

It was harder for Zac, given the size of his leopard, to keep out of sight. As soon as Beckett named his hiding place, he jumped out with a huff, winding his way around Beckett’s legs.

“But where could Luca be hiding? I can’t see him anywhere.”

There was a suspicious patch of yellow behind the raspberry bush, but he pretended not to see it.

“He must be around here somewhere.”

Knowing Luca’s patience would run out soon, he walked right by the raspberry bush, still acting as if he couldn’t see him. Just as he stepped past, Luca jumped out with a tiny growl, latching onto Beckett’s legs.

“Ahh, you’ve caught me.” Beckett sank to his knees as Luca raced around him, pawing at him excitedly. “Where were you hiding, huh?”

Zac joined them, nuzzling Beckett’s hand and Luca’s head. Luca rolled into his back, and Beckett stroked his tummy as he wriggled around, batting at him with his paws. Soon he lay still, panting and out of breath. Zac butted his head against Beckett’s knee, then turned and went indoors. Beckett stayed where he was, stroking Luca’s fur as the sun slowly dipped lower in the sky.

The omega returned a few minutes later, his hair mussed, barefoot and wearing jeans and a T-shirt. He was the definition of casual, but Beckett’s breath still caught at the sight of him.

“Dinner’s warming in the oven,” Zac told him. “It should be ready in twenty minutes or so.”

They stayed there looking at each other awkwardly before Beckett spoke.

“I’m sorry about the other evening. I shouldn’t have unloaded all my problems on you like that. It won’t happen again.”

Zac looked aghast. “You’re sorry? I’m the one who ran off when you were trying to talk to me. Some nanny I am.”

“Your job is to look after Luca, not be my emotional crutch.”

“This is as much about you as it is about Luca. You needed to talk, and I should have…” The omega trailed off, looking frustrated with himself. “It wasn’t you or what you were telling me. It… it’s hard to explain.”

“You don’t owe me an explanation. But we’re okay, you and I?”

“We’re okay,” Zac agreed with a soft smile, his eyes drifting to Luca, who was more asleep than awake. “We should coax him back to human form. I have no doubt his lion would love lasagna, but we might spend all night cleaning cheese and tomato sauce out of his fur.”

Beckett laughed at the image, lifting Luca into his arms. “I don’t mind. I’ll take bath duty tonight. You deserve a few hours to yourself. Relax, go out, watch a movie. You’ve gone above and beyond these past few weeks. I really appreciate it.”

“It’s my job,” Zac said, biting his lower lip. “And I want to do it. You know how omegas are. We like to be needed. Wanted.”

Desired. The word popped into Beckett’s head, and he inwardly groaned.

“You are wanted,” he promised, knowing his low, rough voice said far more than he meant it to.

Zac flushed and glanced away. “I should go check on dinner.”

“We’ll be in soon,” Beckett promised, watching the omega hurry inside.

He looked down at Luca, whose eyes were just barely open, his paw batting idly at Beckett’s shoulder.

“You are the best son anyone could ask for,” he told him. “Brave and strong. I love coming home to you, every day. Your papa loved you too, more than anything. He would have given the world to be here right now, to play with you, to cuddle you. I’ll have to cuddle you enough for the both of us. And… and maybe Zac can help.”

Luca purred softly at the mention of Zac’s name.

“You like him too, huh, kiddo?”

Beckett’s resolve to keep Zac at arm’s length was already crumbling. With him, his family felt complete in a way it hadn’t for a very long time. But he had no idea if Zac felt the same.

Chapter Nineteen

Zac was doing the dishes after dinner, humming along to music playing on the radio. Beckett had suggested leaving the dishes until morning, but with the alpha giving his cub a bath, Zac had time on his hands. And who didn’t like to wake up to a clean kitchen first thing in the morning?

His phone rang as he dried the last plate.

“Hey, Harper. I thought you were out with Vincent this evening. Did he pick up another shift?”

“Never mind that,” Harper croaked. “I’ve just had a PI at my door asking questions.”

“A PI?”

“A private investigator,” Harper whispered harshly. “Asking about my relationship with Aaron, and about the clinic.”

“Shit. What did he want? What did you tell him?”

“I don’t know what he wanted. I didn’t wait around to find out, just closed the door in his face. How did he find me, Zac? What does he know?”

Harper’s words were rushed, his panic evident.

“Take a deep breath,” Zac encouraged him. “Grab a glass of water and sit down. I’ll be right over.”

His mind was going a mile a minute while he let Beckett know he was heading out for a few hours and grabbed his coat.

Harper was a good deal calmer by the time he arrived. They sat opposite each other at the small kitchen table with cups of tea in front of them.

“Here.” Harper slid a small card across the table. “He pushed this under the door.”

Zac scanned the card. “Brendan Fairchild.”

“I googled him. He’s legit. Mostly does a lot of missing persons, cheating spouses, that kind of thing. And a bit of bounty hunting on the side. Used to be a cop, too.”

“Fuck.”

“My feelings exactly. Do you think the clinic sent him?”

That was the question. Did clinics use private investigators?

“Wouldn’t they use bigger firms? Not guys like this out on their own?”

“Your guess is as good as mine, duck. What are we gonna do?”

Zac stared down at his tea, deep in thought.

“Nothing,” he said eventually. “We do nothing.”

“How does that help?” Harper asked, bewildered.

“Well, what could this guy know? There’s nothing in writing. You organized the whole thing over the phone with Aaron. The only way this PI can learn anything is if we tell him. Let’s just keep our mouths shut. If they’re hiring private investigators like him and not siccing a whole army of lawyers on us, then they can’t be too bothered about it. They’ll lose interest soon enough.”

Harper nodded slowly. “I guess… I guess you’re right. I just panicked when he turned up at the door like that. I thought Vincent had changed his mind about that extra shift.”

Zac scoffed softly. “Have you ever known Vincent to turn down work?”

“Good point.”

“I’m really sorry, Harper. I should never have let you put yourself in the middle of this.”

Harper raised an eyebrow at him. “Come off it, Zac. No rewriting history. This whole thing was my idea, remember? I wanted to help make things better for you. Instead… I am sorry, you know. Really sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Zac insisted, his voice catching in his throat. “The chances of this happening have to be, what, a billion to one?”

“You’d have a better chance of winning the lottery.”

“That’s what I should have done with the co-pay. Bought lottery tickets.”

“Not impressed with the blessed gift of life that fate has seen fit to bestow on you?”

“Oh god, you sound like my mother.”

Harper snorted. “I do, don’t I? When she finds out…”

Zac groaned. “No. Let’s just not think about it. There’s no need to add fuel to this dumpster fire.”

He checked his watch and reluctantly heaved himself to his feet. “Time to call it a night.”

“Thanks for coming, Zac. I feel like a bit of a fool, panicking over a guy asking questions.”

“Not your fault. If he’d turned up at my door, I don’t know what I’d have done. We just have to keep it together and keep quiet. This will blow over.”

Except it wouldn’t. The evidence of what had happened was growing inside him. It would only get bigger and more noticeable as the weeks went on. He just had to hope they’d stopped looking by then.

“You know they probably think it’s me and not you, right?” Harper said suddenly. “Makes more sense, doesn’t it? That Aaron loaned his cousin his insurance information, rather than someone he barely knows?”

That would be a good assumption for anyone to make. Because they’d be watching Harper and not him. Harper, who wasn’t pregnant.

“Then they’ll soon realize they’re barking up the wrong tree.”

“Exactly. We stick to the plan, then. You play secret surrogate and, when the time is right, we surrender the baby.”

“Right. We stick to the plan.”

Harper still insisted that Zac was wrong about being Beckett’s accidental surrogate. But no matter how hard Zac tried, he couldn’t convince himself that he’d misunderstood the alpha’s situation. And if he was the surrogate, and this baby was the little miracle Beckett had been hoping for, then Zac was in the middle of a much worse mess than he thought.

He headed outside, pausing at the door to the street to zip up his coat. As he went to walk on, someone stepped out of the shadows.

“Hello, Isaac.”

Zac blinked in bewilderment at the familiar alpha standing in front of him. He’d seen him before, at Beckett’s house.

“Uh… Hello…?”

“Brendan Fairchild. I’m a private investigator. I think you and I need to have a talk, don’t we?”

* * *

Zac felt sick to his stomach as he took a seat across from Brendan in the small diner. It was late, and the place was mostly empty.

“Coffee,” Brendan said to the waitress, glancing at Zac.

He shook his head. “Nothing for me.”

“He’ll have tea,” the alpha said, handing back the menu. He waited until they were alone before speaking again.

“Care to tell what kind of game you’re playing?”

“G-game? I don’t understand.”

“Well, let me tell you what I know. Almost three months ago, on the eleventh of August, you checked into a clinic on Gracebank Street under the name Aaron Clark. While there, you were implanted with an embryo belonging to my client, Beckett Rayne. Four weeks later, you subsequently took a position in Beckett’s house as his nanny. Have I missed anything so far?”

The waitress returned with their drinks, and Zac was grateful for the reprieve. But as soon as she was gone, Brendan continued talking.

“To me, Isaac, this looks like one of two things—a series of incredibly unlikely coincidences, or an attempt to shake down my client.”

Zac knew his eyes must have been as wide as saucers.

“What?”

“If it’s the latter, there’ll be a money trail, and I will find it. You’d have to have paid off someone at the clinic, probably the doctor or nurse involved in the procedure. Do you know how much jail time a conspiracy like this will get you?”

Anger and fear welled up inside him, tears spilling down his face.

“What, you think this was my plan? All I wanted was my life back. They promised me five heat-free years with an implant, but that stupid doctor can’t tell one omega from another. Instead, I’ve got a baby that I never asked for. And I’m going to lose my job again, and be homeless, and I can’t even afford to get another implant. You think I wanted this?”

He sniffed and grabbed a napkin, scrubbing at his face.

“We were going to surrender the baby back to the clinic when he was born, so he could go where he belonged.”

“We?” Brendan asked.

Zac avoided his gaze.

“You and your friend Harper, I’m guessing. I thought he was the one I was looking for. But the receptionist at the clinic remembered him sitting in the waiting room for hours. It wasn’t hard to figure out who he was there with.”

“It’s not his fault, or Aaron’s. They were just trying to help me. They shouldn’t get in trouble for that. I’ll take responsibility for it. For all of it.” He felt numb at the realization that what he’d feared most had come true.

“No one’s in any trouble, Zac. I don’t work for the clinic. I work for Beckett.”

Zac wasn’t sure he could believe the alpha.

“Does he know?”

“Not yet. I wanted to be sure what we were dealing with.”

“And now you know everything.”

“Almost. The part I don’t get is how you ended up as Beckett’s nanny.”

Brendan still looked suspicious. Zac didn’t blame him; it was an awfully big coincidence.

“I didn’t even know I was pregnant then. I needed a job; he needed a nanny. The timing was right. We were a good fit. It really wasn’t deliberate.”

“Oh, I believe you.” Brendan smiled kindly at him. “With your friend being so reluctant to talk, and you literally living in my client’s house, I had to apply a little pressure to get to the truth. I’m sorry if I’ve frightened you. How long have you known?”

“That it’s Beckett’s baby?”

Brendan nodded.

“Um… about a week. Harper didn’t believe me. He said I must have heard wrong. I guess I really wanted that to be true.”

“Denial is a powerful emotion,” Brendan agreed, taking a sip of his coffee. “But it often feels better when the truth comes out.”

“Does that mean you’re going to tell Beckett?”

“I have no choice. He’s my client, I work for him.” Brendan paused and added, “I can give you until tomorrow evening, so you have the chance to tell him yourself. That’s the best I can do, I’m afraid. And hey, no running off, no disappearing. I can and will track you down.”

“Will he hate me?”

“Hate you? For being put in an impossible position by other people’s negligence? He doesn’t seem like that kind of person. But you’d know him better than me, now, wouldn’t you?”

* * *

Brendan dropped him back at Beckett’s house.

“Here’s my card. If there’s any trouble, anything at all, you call me. Talk to Beckett, give him a chance to get his head around everything. He’s a good man.”

He was, but this was a strange situation, and Zac didn’t know what would happen when the truth came out. Would he be out of a job, out of the house, would Beckett want him around Luca? He’d want the baby safe, of course, so he wouldn’t leave Zac destitute in the streets. That wasn’t the same thing as caring about what happened to Zac or understanding the circumstances that had gotten them there. Maybe, if Zac hadn’t been pretending to be someone else, he’d have asked more questions at the clinic. If he had, the mistake could never have happened. Maybe, in truth, this was all his fault.

Ready to give the day up as a lost cause, he got ready for bed. At the last minute, he remembered he’d promised Luca blueberry overnight oats for breakfast. Trudging to the kitchen, he started pulling out the ingredients.

“Burning the midnight oil again?”

He startled at the alpha’s voice, almost dropping the carton of yogurt.

“I didn’t hear you come in,” Beckett said softly, crossing the kitchen to stand in front of him.

“I forgot to get breakfast ready. I promised Luca.”

“You have him spoiled,” the alpha teased, taking the yogurt from him. He frowned when he got a better look at Zac’s face.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“I… There’s something I need to tell you.”

Beckett’s face fell. “Oh. You’re leaving.” The alpha stared down at the yogurt. “This is my fault, isn’t it? I let things get out of hand, get too personal between us. I’ve made you uncomfortable in your own home…”

Zac reached out, resting a hand on Beckett’s arm. “It’s not that. It’s not that at all. It’s me. I’m… I’m pregnant.”

Chapter Twenty

Of all the things Beckett was expecting to hear Zac say, it wasn’t that.

“Oh, I see. I…” He cast around for something else to say, something to do, settling for turning to place the yogurt on the counter. “I, um, didn’t realize you were seeing anyone.”

He wasn’t jealous. Because that would be stupid and unfair and such a pigheadedly alpha emotion for him to feel right then. He had no right to be feeling it.

“I’m not seeing anyone.” Zac seemed frozen in place, his gaze fixed on the yogurt as he spoke. “It’s stupid, really. I must be the only omega who’s ever walked into a clinic for contraception and walked out with a baby. I mean, nine months free from heats is nothing to scoff at, but the morning sickness is awful.”

Beckett canted his head to the side, trying to parse through the omega’s words, his joke falling flat.

“Zac?”

“All I did was borrow someone’s name for a day, just so I could get my life back. That’s all. I wasn’t hurting anybody.” He turned to Beckett, his eyes beseeching. “It was a terrible mistake, but it wasn’t me who made it.”

Beckett took a step toward him. “Are you saying you’re pregnant with my baby?”

Zac’s gaze slid away from him, his cheeks flushed.

“I think so. I mean, I’m pretty sure. I didn’t have insurance, but a friend let me use theirs. Not legal, not really, but my heats were destroying my life. I couldn’t work, I could barely make enough money to feed myself. Harper was the only reason I still had a roof over my head…”

A sob escaped the omega, and Beckett closed the distance between them, settling his hands on Zac’s shoulders. “Let’s just slow this down, okay?”

Zac lapsed into silence, staring at him through tears.

“You got pregnant at the clinic on Gracebank Street?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“The eleventh of August, at eight a.m. Dr. Roberts. It was supposed to be Dr. Hains, but she was out with the flu.”

“And you are pregnant? You’ve taken a test?”

Beckett was afraid to get his hopes up. There were so many ways this could have gone wrong.

“Oh, yeah.” Zac stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out a folded picture, handing it over. “It was early when they scanned me, forty days. You can’t see much.”

Beckett grasped the picture tightly, his eyes blurring with tears. “You… You didn’t terminate?”

Zac shook his head, fresh tears trailing down his cheeks. “It crossed my mind, but… I knew someone wanted this baby. They wouldn’t have gone to so much trouble otherwise. And if I did, I’d have ended up back in the same position I started, with my life collapsing around me.”

Beckett forced his attention away from the ultrasound and back to Zac.

“About my friends,” the omega said. “They were just trying to help me. They shouldn’t get into trouble for that. Can’t… can’t we work something out?”

Beckett felt like he’d missed a trick. “Trouble? Who said anything about trouble?”

“We broke laws. It’s fraud, what I did. But I’m the one who did it. Not them. If anyone has to face the consequences, it should be me.”

Zac shuddered under his touch, and Beckett let go of his shoulders, opened his arms, and engulfed the tearful omega in a hug.

“You are not going to be in any trouble, believe me. The clinic made a huge mistake. One that pales in comparison to what you did.”

He pulled back, cupping Zac’s face gently in his hands.

“I am so sorry, Zac. I can’t imagine what you’ve been going through. None of this is fair to you. And I know it’s asking a lot to expect you to bring this baby to term. I promise you, here and now, that there will be no repercussions if you don’t. You didn’t sign up to be a human incubator. Your body, your choice.”

It hurt to say it, but it needed to be said. Zac had more than enough taken from him by other people’s bad decisions. Beckett wouldn’t force this on him, no matter the cost.

“But I want to. Don’t you see? Even before I knew it was yours, I wanted to do the right thing by this baby. When I realized what it would mean to you and Luca… it just made the decision easier.”

A weight lifted off Beckett’s shoulders, and he took what felt like his first deep breath in months.

“You do? You’re sure?”

Zac laughed, even as tears slid down his cheeks. “It’s the only thing I am sure about right now. These last few weeks have been a nightmare. I was so afraid I’d lose my job and end up in an omega shelter and—”

“You don’t have to worry about any of that,” Beckett promised him. “I’ll make sure you have what you need. And as for the clinic, we have plenty of leverage against them, and I have a lawyer who knows how to use it to our best advantage.”

That seemed to soothe some of Zac’s fears, as the omega took a shuddering breath and calmed a little. Beckett thought if he went a step further, gave Zac some security, it would take away some of the stress that the accidental pregnancy had brought about.

“We can have my lawyer draft up a contract as well. It’ll ensure that everything’s aboveboard. I can make sure you have enough money to be comfortable, during and after the pregnancy.”

Zac blinked at him, sniffling. “I don’t need your money to have this baby. I’m doing this for you and Luca, for this little life inside me that’s so wanted it almost hurts. I won’t get rid of it, I promise. You don’t have to… pay me off.”

Beckett took a mental step back, realizing he was getting ahead of himself.

“That’s not what I’m trying to do. I just don’t want you to feel under pressure, whether that’s monetary or otherwise. Whatever you need during this pregnancy, I can arrange it. Maybe an apartment?”

“Why would I need an apartment? I live here,” Zac pointed out. “How can I look after Luca if I’m somewhere else?”

“I thought maybe you might not want to.” Being their surrogate seemed like enough of an ask without adding nannying on top of it. “I can pay you the same salary. You won’t lose out.”

“But what about Luca? He needs me. I can help him.”

“You are helping him. You’re doing something amazing that’s going to save his life.”

“But you don’t want me to be his nanny anymore now that I’m pregnant? You don’t want people to see me, right? Your pregnant nanny? Because there’ll be comments, gossip. It’ll make you look bad.”

Zac was crying all over again, and that was Beckett’s fault.

“No, that’s not it at all. If you still want to nanny for Luca, I am more than happy for you to continue. As long as you’re sure it’s not too much.”

Zac deflated, his anger draining away. “Oh.”

“I think I’m putting my foot in it. Both feet, right in my mouth, in fact.”

“At least I can blame my hormones,” Zac said, his cheeks flushing a deeper red.

“Let’s take a giant step back. So. You’re pregnant.”

“With your baby.”

“And now we both know. No decisions need to be made right away, about anything. The most important thing for today is that it’s out in the open. How about we sleep on it and talk again tomorrow?”

Only a few hours previously, he’d been wondering about how to broach his feelings with Zac. About breaking that all too prominent rule about not falling for the nanny. And now things had gotten impossibly complicated. His feelings were the least of his worries, and he couldn’t afford to entertain them, not now. The last thing Zac needed was the pressure of a romantic relationship on top of being his accidental surrogate and Luca’s nanny. It was one ask too many.

“That sounds like a sensible plan,” Zac said quietly. He paused, looking like he wanted to say more, but shook his head instead. “Goodnight, Beckett.”

“Night, Zac. Sweet dreams.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Zac woke with a groan, realizing as he prised his eyes open that everything had changed. The truth was out.

He sat up and spied his phone, deciding the first thing he needed to do was call Harper. The omega had spent enough time worrying about him.

“Morning, duck. Sorry about my state of panic last night.”

Harper sounded contrite and a little embarrassed.

“Don’t be sorry. I’m the one who’s sorry. But it’s all okay, Harper. I talked to the PI. He doesn’t work for the clinic; he works for Beckett. I was right before. It’s Beckett’s baby.”

A short silence followed.

“Did you eat cheese before bed again? Because those are some weird dreams.”

“Not a dream, Harper. Beckett and I talked. It’s true. The clinic made a mistake with his embryo. They put it in me instead of Austin, his surrogate.”

“Wait, Austin?” Harper groaned. “He was in the waiting room that day. We even chatted for a few minutes before they called him in.”

“Yeah. The poor guy got my implant.”

“Don’t feel too sorry for him. You got the short end of the stick. His only lasts five years. Yours hangs around for eighteen-plus.”

“Harper!” Zac laughed despite himself.

“So what is Beckett saying? Does he know about the whole… you being Aaron thing?”

“He doesn’t care about that. I think he’s just relieved the baby’s okay. But he was acting weird. First he offered me money, then an apartment. He didn’t want me to be Luca’s nanny, and then he did. I’m not sure he knows what he wants.”

“And you, duck? What do you want? Because the last time we had a good heart-to-heart about your handsome alpha employer, you were pretty smitten with him.”

“That was before I figured out I was carrying his baby.”

“A kid usually seals the whole romance deal. Just saying.”

“Yeah, well. I feel like it’s put a pregnancy-bump-sized distance between us. I wasn’t exactly boyfriend material when I was the nanny. There’s no way he’s going to want that now that I’m a walking incubator.”

It came out more bitter than he’d intended.

“What planet are you living on? He’s an alpha, and you’re an omega pregnant with his baby. The only reason he offered you an apartment was because he knows he won’t be able to keep his hands off you. Alphas are suckers for baby bumps.”

Zac suspected that wasn’t Beckett’s problem.

“Maybe, or maybe he doesn’t want me too close. It’s one thing being a child’s nanny, it’s another to give birth to them. Maybe he’s worried I’ll get too attached?”

Truth be told, he was worried about that, too. How did it work once the baby was born? Or when Luca started school? Would there come a day when Beckett didn’t need a full-time nanny anymore? Or what if he married again, and his new husband didn’t want a nanny around the house?

He said as much to Harper.

“You’re getting way too ahead of yourself, duck. Take a deep breath, wiggle your toes, and focus on now. On today. And speaking of today, I’ve got an early shift. Talk to you later, okay?”

“Yeah. Thanks, Harper.”

He showered, shaved, and dressed, checking on a still-sleeping Luca before he padded into the kitchen. Beckett was already up, drinking coffee at the breakfast counter.

“Good morning.” He greeted Zac with a bright smile, and some of the tension between them eased.

“Hi.”

“I wanted to say sorry, about last night. I was just… overwhelmed. How are you feeling? How’s the morning sickness?”

“It’s not so bad,” he assured the alpha, touched by his concern.

“I ordered some ginger tea. Darcy used to swear by the stuff when he was pregnant with Luca.” Beckett paused, wincing. “Is that weird? I’m sorry if it’s weird.”

The alpha was nervous, which wasn’t like him.

“It’s not weird. You’re very thoughtful, thank you.”

He got the overnight oats from the fridge and started doling them out into bowls. He was just ladling out the last portion when he realized he’d forgotten something.

“Brendan.”

“What?”

“Your PI. You, um, you should call him.” Zac had meant to mention their meeting to the alpha last night, but it had slipped his mind what with everything else.

“Already did, first thing this morning. He told me about your chat. I am wondering, though… were you going to tell me if he hadn’t found you?”

“I… I think so, eventually. I was still in denial about it all.”

Beckett nodded slowly. “That’s understandable. Anyway, I’ve been thinking about our next steps.” He tapped the counter idly. “I guess the first thing to do is make sure that you and the baby are healthy. Would that be okay with you?”

Zac hesitated, turning to face the alpha. “You mean, go back to the clinic?”

He was reluctant, and not just because he suspected he might be persona non grata there once they figured out what he’d done. The clinic was where things had gone so wrong. What if they made another mistake?

“Oh, hell no. No one in my family is stepping foot across the threshold of that clinic again. I’ve got the name of an obstetrician who comes highly recommended. Rafe, Frankie’s father, gave me her name. Or if you have a doctor you’d prefer to see, that’s fine. I’ll cover any costs.”

Zac felt himself flush. “The only doctor I’ve seen was at the free community clinic. I’m sure they’d see me again, but…”

“We probably need someone a little more specialized. You’re more than welcome to do your own research, find someone you’re happy with.”

He was so pleased that Beckett offered that. It was nice to be given a choice.

“If Rafe recommended them, I’m sure they’re great.”

“Then I’ll go ahead and make an appointment for you, if that’s alright? I’ve already talked to my health insurance about extending your coverage on my policy.”

“You have?”

“Called them right after I spoke with Brendan. They’re sorting it. I’ll forward the details.”

“Thanks. And yes, that’s fine about the appointment.”

Beckett nodded, reaching for his coffee before thinking better of it. “Would it be okay if I came with you? It’s fine if you’d rather go alone or if you don’t want me in the room with you. Maybe you’d like to bring a friend instead?”

Zac knew Harper would accompany him, but he could also see the longing in Beckett’s eyes. After all the stress and worry, he deserved to see firsthand that his baby was okay.

“You should come. I don’t mind.”

“If you’re sure. I don’t want you to feel like I’m pushing in. If you need space, just say so.”

Zac wasn’t sure what he needed, but it wasn’t space. It already felt like a chasm had opened up between them.

“I’m good right now. I’d like things to keep going as they have been. I mean, why should they change?”

He could think of a dozen reasons, just off the top of his head. No matter how hard he tried to deny it, this changed everything.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Beckett dropped Luca off at his grandmother’s house, then drove back home. Zac was ready and waiting when he got there, looking nervous as he climbed into the passenger seat.

“I’ve heard Dr. Smith is lovely,” he assured the omega.

“I’m not worried,” Zac said, but his words didn’t quite ring true.

“It’s okay if you are. I feel like I’ve drunk three cups of coffee this morning.”

“Are you sure you didn’t? Sometimes I think you forget you’ve already had two.”

Beckett aimed a mock glare his way that the omega pretended not to see. Things were still weird between them, a tension he couldn’t quite figure out how to ease.

“Left here,” Zac said quietly, and Beckett took the turn. “There’s Harper.”

The omega was standing in front of the apartment building that Zac had apparently called home before moving in with him and Luca.

Harper climbed into the back seat with a cheery, “Good morning.”

“Nice to see you again, Harper.”

“You too.”

“Are you sure you can spare the time?” Zac asked, twisting around in his seat.

“For you, always. I swapped shifts with Dessie. He loves getting off early on Fridays.”

“We appreciate it, all the same,” Beckett said.

“Well, I’ve always wanted to play chaperone,” the omega quipped. “Never thought I’d get the chance. People don’t trust omegas not to make any situation a threesome.”

Beckett almost choked. Beside him, Zac went rigid with tension.

“Harper!” he hissed.

Beckett’s tongue came loose, and he barked out a laugh. “Your boyfriends’ parents must love you.”

“I’ll have you know I can be very charming. Zac’s mother adores me.”

Beckett glanced in the rearview mirror, catching Harper’s narrowed gaze.

“I wonder what she’ll make of you?” the omega added.

“Harper,” Zac said again, though it was pure exasperation this time.

Beckett knew he should leave well enough alone, but he had to ask. “Have you two… dated?”

He caught the roll of Harper’s eyes. “Every alpha’s wet dream, isn’t it?”

Zac groaned and buried his face in his hands. “Can I go back to bed and start the day over?”

“Not enough time,” Beckett told him apologetically. “We’ll have to salvage what we can. Just close friends, I take it?”

Omega relationships could be complicated sometimes. Darcy hadn’t been that kind of omega; he never really got on with others like himself. Zac and Harper, though… he could picture them growing up together, thick as thieves.

“That going to be a problem?” Harper asked pointedly.

“Never. If ever there was a time for Zac to have a good friend at hand, I imagine this would be it. You’re welcome at the house anytime, Harper.”

That seemed to be enough to mollify the protective omega. He sat back in his seat with a satisfied hum.

The clinic parking lot wasn’t busy, so it didn’t take long to find a spot. Zac was looking a little gray by the time they reached the doors, and Beckett wasn’t surprised when the omega suddenly sprinted for the nearest bathroom, Harper on his heels. He watched after them, then decided to make himself useful, checking the omega in at the desk before heading for the nearest vending machine.

When Zac came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, supported by Harper with an arm around his waist, Beckett had a bottle of water, a cup of tea, and some crackers.

“The nurse said these will settle your stomach right down,” he said, holding out the crackers. “We’re just over here.”

He led them to the waiting room. They sat together, and the only other couple in the room smiled over at them.

“They think we’re a threesome,” Harper whispered loudly.

“Harper!” Zac complained, half-laughing, half-exasperated.

Beckett handed over the tea and the crackers, setting the bottle of water on the table next to them.

“Do you need anything else?” he asked, pulling out a few napkins and a chocolate bar from his pockets.

Zac stared at them and giggled. “I think you’ve covered every eventuality. Thanks.”

Beckett tried to hide a smile, feeling his face flush. “I might have gone a little overboard. Sorry.”

Harper reached past Zac and yanked the chocolate from his hand. “You can never go wrong with chocolate.”

Zac looked like he couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry over his friend’s antics. Even so, he was relaxed and distracted, which was exactly what Beckett was aiming for.

When the nurse came to call Zac in, all three of them stood.

“Just the expectant father, for now. Alright, Isaac?”

Zac managed a shaky nod, giving both him and Harper a smile. “See you soon.”

Beckett watched Zac walk down the corridor, hoping the omega would be okay.

“You’re smitten with him, aren’t you?”

He had almost forgotten Harper was there.

“What?”

“I know that look. I’ve seen it on alphas’ faces more times than I can count. Though not usually aimed at me, admittedly.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m concerned, of course. Who wouldn’t be, given our situation?”

“That’s not concern. I know concern. It’s more than that. Why are you denying it?”

“I’m not denying anything,” he said hotly, struggling to keep his voice down. “I just think you’re seeing things that aren’t there.”

“He feels the same way, you know. But he’s got these rules, about being a nanny. Because they have to. If you get the wrong reputation in his line of work, you don’t get work. The wives and the omegas always know.”

“I’ve got rules too,” Beckett said, his mind racing with what Harper was telling him. “I don’t want to hurt him. I want to do what’s best for everyone.”

“You know what’ll hurt him? Making decisions about what’s best for him without ever asking him what he wants. He’s carrying your baby, for heaven’s sake. He’s terrified and alone, and even though it was the worst thing for him, he decided to go through with the pregnancy. Because someone wanted that baby, someone who, as far as he knew at the time, was a total stranger. That’s just the kind of person he is.”

“And I will be forever grateful for that.”

“Just talk to him,” Harper said. “It’s not that hard. Use your words, let him use his, see where you both stand. The next few months are going to be incredibly tough. How are you going to handle that if you’re both trying to keep each other at arm’s length?”

Harper was right, of course. They needed to have it out, one way or another. If they didn’t, the gulf between them would only grow.

* * *

“Mr. Rayne?”

Beckett was deep in thought when the nurse called his name.

“Zac is about to have his ultrasound. He thought you’d like to be there.”

He glanced at Harper, but the omega shook his head. “You go. When he wants me, he’ll ask for me.”

The nurse led him down a short corridor and into a room. Zac was already up on the exam table, his stomach exposed, the doctor about to start the scan.

“Hello, Mr. Rayne. I’m Dr. Smith.” She smiled politely at him.

“Beckett is fine.”

“Beckett, then. Zac has been filling me in on the unusual circumstances surrounding his pregnancy.”

There was a hint of disapproval in the doctor’s expression, but he couldn’t be sure it was aimed at him.

“Yes, it’s been tough. For Zac more than anyone.”

“I’d like Zac to speak to our social worker and our prenatal counselor.”

“Whatever he’s comfortable with. He’s the one in the driver’s seat.”

He aimed a smile Zac’s way as he said it, but the omega was staring down at his stomach.

“Let’s take a look, shall we?” Dr. Smith said.

Zac nodded eagerly, but when the doctor bent her head over the ultrasound machine, he shared a look with Beckett, his eyebrows raised. Beckett wondered what had been said before he came into the room.

Unsure where to stand, he hovered by the door as the doctor pressed the ultrasound probe to Zac’s stomach. The omega waved him over, and Beckett moved to his side, surprised when Zac grabbed his hand and held on tightly.

“Alright there?” Beckett asked quietly, patting his hand gently.

He got a nervous smile in response.

Dr. Smith’s attention was mostly on the screen, her forehead furrowed in concentration. The only noise was the sound of the machine, staticky clicks that were loud in the quiet of the room. Zac’s grip on his hand grew tighter, and Beckett’s nervousness ratcheted up. Was something wrong?

But then they heard it—a rapid, rhythmic sound.

“Is that…?” Zac started to ask.

“The heartbeat, yes.” She turned the screen around so they could see.

“Baby looks very happy in there. You can see the head here, and there’s a little hand…”

“He’s waving at us,” Zac said, his voice hushed.

“That’s the heart,” she continued, pointing to a tiny patch that shifted oddly. “We’ll be able to get a better look at that during your anomaly scan, around twenty weeks.”

“But he looks okay?” Zac pressed. “He’s healthy?”

“He seems fine. Let me take some measurements.”

She tugged the screen back around, and Zac almost sighed in disappointment before his eyes turned to Beckett.

“That’s our baby. Your baby, I mean.” He looked embarrassed by his slip of the tongue.

“Our baby,” Beckett said softly, patting Zac’s hand again. “You’re doing great.”

“I’m not doing anything. Just lying here.”

“According to your very precise dates,” Dr. Smith interrupted, “You should be twelve weeks and three days. Baby is measuring twelve to thirteen weeks, exactly as he should be.”

A weight lifted off Beckett’s shoulders, and he could see some tension leave Zac as well.

“Could… could my friend Harper see? He’s out in the waiting room.”

Zac’s gaze flicked between him and the doctor. Beckett wasn’t sure who he was asking.

“I’ll go get him, if that’s okay with you, Dr. Smith?”

She nodded. “Be quick. I do have other patients to see today.”

A few minutes later, Harper had taken Beckett’s place at Zac’s side. The two of them were whispering furiously, their heads together as they pored over the ultrasound photo the doctor had printed for Zac. Harper helped Zac clean up and dress, as Dr. Smith asked to see him again in a week’s time.

“It normally wouldn’t be so frequent, but these are unusual circumstances. I hope that won’t be a problem?”

She was looking at Beckett as she said it, but it was Zac who answered, looking faintly annoyed.

“It won’t be a problem, Dr. Smith.”

“Good. Beckett, perhaps you and I could speak alone for a few minutes?”

He followed her to her office, suspecting this wasn’t going to be an easy conversation.

“Sit,” the doctor said, gesturing to a chair as she sat behind her desk.

Once he was sitting opposite her, she folded her arms and scrutinized him. “I am not happy with this situation, Mr. Rayne.”

They were back to last names again. He felt the urge to go on the defensive but dampened it down. Being hostile right now wouldn’t do anyone any good.

“That makes three of us. I’d honestly be surprised if you were.”

“Is it true? That your clinic made a mistake and accidentally impregnated the wrong person?”

“I wish it weren’t, but that seems to be what happened.”

“You realize that Isaac is in a very vulnerable position? I don’t yet see the need to involve outside authorities, but that may change once he’s seen our counselor and social worker.”

“You should do what you feel is best for your patient. When it comes to Zac’s pregnancy, I’m only an observer.”

It was hard to admit that his role was relegated to one where he could only sit on his hands, watching, waiting, and hoping for a good outcome.

“That’s exactly it.” She paused before adding, “That said, this situation can’t be easy on you, either. I understand you have a son with Omrey’s disease.”

“Luca, yes.”

“This baby, Luca’s sibling, might save his life?”

“That was the hope.” It was never anything more than a hope.

“And do you want another child, Mr. Rayne? You’re already a single parent, a bereaved spouse, and working full time, as I understand it. Raising another child alone…”

“I’ve raised Luca alone. Well, not alone. I’ve had his grandmother and his nannies.”

“And you think that’s enough support to raise two children?”

“People make do with far less. Having two parents isn’t the be-all and end-all.”

“It’s not,” she agreed. “But what you’re doing, the ethical implications…”

“The day my husband died, the last conversation we had together, he told me that he wanted to try again right away to get pregnant. That he wanted Luca to have a sibling, to always have a friend, someone to rely on. He was an only child, you see. And my parents raised me and my sister like we were strangers who happened to live in the same house. Darcy didn’t want that for Luca. He wanted him to grow up in a big, happy home. I didn’t create a baby to save my son—the embryos were already there. I just chose carefully, that’s all. Because it would have been cruel to bring a sibling into the world for Luca, only for them to watch him die. I wanted one whose very existence could help Luca live.”

He looked away, struggling to rein in his emotions.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Rayne, I didn’t mean to imply...”

“But you did, and that’s okay. I’m not your patient, Zac is. I understand this situation must have red flags all over it. This isn’t how I wanted any of this to go. When Luca was born, I had a husband, a son, and a career. My life was complete, in every way. Losing Darcy broke me. And fighting for Luca is the only thing I know how to do.”

“Naturally, a parent wants to save their child.”

“But I don’t want others to suffer for it. If this is too much for Zac to handle, if this is hurting him, he shouldn’t have to sacrifice himself for someone else’s mistake.”

The doctor sat back in her chair, nodding at Beckett’s words.

“That’s part and parcel of why I’d like him to see our counselor.”

“I have no objection to that, or anything else you feel is important.”

“Some distance might help. I understand Zac is Luca’s nanny. That he has been in the position since before you discovered the mishap at the clinic?”

She looked skeptical, and Beckett couldn’t blame her. As coincidences went, it was a hard one to swallow.

“Yes. I’ve offered him an apartment, to support him for as long as he needs. He knows that option is open.”

“But he hasn’t taken it?”

“Not yet. He loves Luca. They get along like a house on fire.”

“He’s a natural at child-rearing. Many omegas are. Which will make it extremely difficult for him to part with any child he gives birth to. Did you know that, despite being only a quarter of the fertile population, omegas account for almost half of unplanned pregnancies?”

“I didn’t know that,” Beckett admitted, unsure where she was going with it.

“Yet, of all babies given up for adoption, children born to omegas account for less than a third.”

“I had no idea.”

“The birth bond is just that strong. Regardless of genetics, any baby Zac gives birth to is his child by law. You should be prepared for the eventuality that he won’t want to give up his rights.”

“I’d never force him to do that,” Beckett assured her. “We’d come to some arrangement, if it came to that.”

“I just want to ensure that you’re going into this with your eyes open.”

“Consider them opened.”

It was a relief to leave the doctor’s office. He found Zac and Harper in the waiting room, heads bent together over Zac’s phone.

“Ready to hit the road?”

Zac lifted his head, smiling up at him. The smile fell from his face when he caught sight of Beckett’s expression.

“Sure. They’ve emailed photos and a video from the scan. I’ve sent them to you.”

Beckett itched to take out his phone and look at them there and then, but didn’t let himself. “That’s great, thanks. Come on, we should get you home.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Zac felt foolish and a little lost. He thought the ultrasound would bring him and Beckett closer together. Instead, it seemed to have put even more distance between them. Every time he looked at the ultrasound pictures, at the video on his phone of the little baby waving at him, excitement and happiness filled him. He wanted Beckett to share that excitement with him. Instead, the alpha seemed uncomfortable even having him around. Luca was starting to notice, too. He hadn’t said anything, but he was acting out more, and mealtimes were back to being a struggle in more ways than one.

One night, after Luca had gone to bed and Zac was puttering around in the kitchen, Beckett came in and leaned against the countertop.

“I’ve been thinking again about what we talked about before. About getting you an apartment.”

Zac had been right. Beckett did want distance. A whole lot of distance.

“You… want me to leave?”

“It might be better.”

“What about Luca?”

“I can call the agency again, find someone else.”

A few tears escaped and slipped down his cheeks. Zac set down the glass he was drying and quickly wiped them away with his sleeve.

“You don’t want me here. You don’t want me in your life.”

Beckett was making that very plain, and it hurt more than it should have.

“Dr. Smith thinks you need your own space.”

Anger flared inside him, hot and sharp.

“What does she know about it? She doesn’t know you, and she barely knows me. Who is she to get to dictate what we do with our lives?”

Beckett seemed taken aback by his anger, shrinking back toward the door.

“She’s your doctor. She wants what’s best for you.”

“How can she know what’s best for me if she never asked me what I wanted? This isn’t fair. Don’t I get a say? Don’t I get some choice over my life?”

“Of course you do,” Beckett rushed to say. “Whatever you need…”

“But I need you, and you just keep pushing me away. And now you’re kicking me out of your house, our of yours and Luca’s life…”

He burst into tears, sobs that tore from his throat.

“No, hey, Zac. Come here.”

He tried to pull away, but Beckett’s arms enveloped him. He was helpless to resist the warmth and comfort the alpha offered.

“That’s not it at all,” Beckett murmured. “You will always be welcome in mine and Luca’s life.”

“You’ve barely looked at me since the ultrasound.” His voice was muffled, between the tears and the fact that his face was pressed to Beckett’s chest.

“I’ve been trying to give you space. Dr. Smith seemed to think you needed it.”

“It makes me feel like I’m in this alone. And that scares me because I can’t do it alone.” He pulled away, struggling to hold himself together. “Are you worried I’ll get attached? That I won’t want to let the baby go when the time comes?”

That fear had been kicking around in his head since his doctor’s visit. Dr. Smith had told him how hard it would be, how strong an omega’s connection was with their unborn child. Even if it wasn’t theirs. That ordinarily, potential omega surrogates underwent extensive counseling, and most of them never got approval for just this reason. Only the least maternal, the least attached, were suitable. The rest just couldn’t bear to part with the children they brought into the world.

Beckett cupped his chin, nudging his head up. “Who says you have to let the baby go? What rule, what law?”

“But he’s not mine. Not really. I’m just carrying him for you and Luca, as a favor.”

“This goes above and beyond a favor, Zac. It’s… I think we need to start over. Let’s leave aside everything Dr. Smith said. I’m sure she meant well, but the situation isn’t as black and white as she seems to think it is. Surrogacy is normally seen as a legal transaction, but that’s not what this is, is it?”

“No,” Zac agreed, his voice small. He let Beckett lead him to the table, watching as the alpha made tea and set a cup down in front of him.

“The way I see it, there are a few sides to this. There’s you and me, there’s Luca, and there’s the baby. Right now, I want to put aside Luca and the baby and focus on you and me.”

Zac felt his heart skip a beat at the alpha’s words and chided himself for being foolish. That wasn’t what Beckett meant. He probably just wanted to reaffirm their boundaries as employer and employee.

“Before you told me about the pregnancy, I’d been talking to William about you. And it seems like you might have been talking to Harper about me.”

Oh, no. He felt his face flush, closing his eyes as embarrassment surged through him.

“Harper likes to say things he shouldn’t. I’m really sorry if he—”

“No need to apologize. He was trying to give me a wake-up call, but I got a little side-tracked by Dr. Smith. That woman is quite scary in her own right.”

“I’m not sure I liked her,” Zac admitted. It felt like she had very firm opinions. While she might have meant well, she’d made things worse between him and Beckett. That was the last thing he’d needed.

“I can understand why. She’s very… forthright. And perhaps a little inflexible. If you’d like to try another doctor, we can find one who suits you better.” Beckett tapped his fingers on the table nervously.

“I think I’d like that.” He needed someone who was on his side, someone who actually listened.

Putting that aside, Zac turned his attention to the matter at hand.

“What did Harper say to you?”

He hoped it was nothing too terrible, but Harper could be tactless sometimes and outrageous at others.

“Mostly, he told me to get my head out of my ass.”

“Oh.” It could have been worse.

“Funny thing is, William said almost the same thing when I told him I thought I was falling for you. He said the only one standing in the way of my happiness was me.”

Zac’s brain did the equivalent of a record scratch, repeating Beckett’s words over and over. “Falling for me?”

Beckett reached across the table and clasped his hand. “Head over heels. From the moment we kissed.”

“We shouldn’t have done that.”

“I don’t regret it.”

He glanced up in surprise, meeting Beckett’s dark eyes. “No?”

“No. But I would never want you to feel uncomfortable, and I’m sorry if you were. If I’m barking up the wrong tree, if I’m making things worse…”

Zac rushed to answer, afraid the alpha would draw the wrong conclusions from his shocked silence.

“No. You’re not. Not at all. It’s just… it’s a big risk. Especially now, when there’s so much at stake. Would you want to run the risk of us falling out if things don’t work out between us?”

“I think we can be adult enough not to let that happen. And I also believe it’s worth the risk. You’re worth the risk, Zac. But we don’t have to make up our minds right away. Let’s take some time to talk and think, and see where we are.”

Zac knew it couldn’t be as easy as the alpha was suggesting.

“But what about all the gossip and rumors if people learn we’re dating, or that I’m pregnant?” People dearly loved to gossip, and a pregnant nanny working for a single father was their favorite kind of fodder.

“I’ve never been one to listen to gossip and rumors. But I understand that it’s not so simple for you. We can be discreet; we can come up with any cover story you’d like. Whatever it takes to make you feel comfortable about this.”

Zac nodded slowly. Beckett was offering him everything he could want and, if the circumstances were different, he’d jump at the chance. But they were what they were. He had a lot of thinking to do.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Beckett dropped Luca off with his grandmother, filling her in on developments. She was happy to keep Luca overnight, giving him and Zac two days to try to straighten things out between them.

When he arrived back at the house, Zac was sitting out in the garden. He grabbed some drinks from the fridge and went out to join him.

“Sparkling fruit juice?” he offered. “I think it’s the most adult drink we have in the house right now.”

Zac accepted the can with murmured thanks. He seemed a little restless, shuffling his feet, stretching now and then.

“Feeling okay?” Beckett asked.

“Fine,” the omega said. “Well, nauseous, but that’s par for the course these days.”

Beckett suspected he wasn’t getting the whole truth, but didn’t press. Zac would talk when he was ready.

“I’ve been thinking about what I said yesterday. About finding you a new doctor.”

Zac groaned. “I don’t know if I can face another one.” He glanced at Beckett. “But I also don’t want to go back to Dr. Smith.”

“Well, I had an idea about that. Dr. Smith has a colleague, Dr. Lowe. He’s an omega. Rafe says the omegas in Frankie’s toddler group rave about him. What do you think?”

Zac tugged at some blades of grass, one hand tucked under his chin. “You wouldn’t mind?”

“Why would I mind? All I want is for you to have a doctor you feel comfortable with. Alpha, beta, omega, it doesn’t matter to me.”

Beckett knew not everyone thought like that. No matter how many strides omegas or betas made, people still put alphas on a pedestal.

“If you’re sure, I’d like to try.”

“Great. I can make an appointment for next week.” He winced when he realized how that might come across. “Or I can send you the number, and you can make an appointment for when it suits you.”

“Suits us,” Zac said, stretching again as he turned to Beckett. “You will come with me, won’t you?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Zac rolled his neck and shrugged his shoulders, and Beckett couldn’t help asking, “Are you sure you’re okay? You look like you’re uncomfortable in your own skin.”

The omega blushed. “I kind of am. I haven’t shifted in a while. I usually don’t wait so long between changes, but it’s been hectic. Don’t you feel it? You haven’t shifted again since that first time, have you?”

Beckett hadn’t. He’d thought about it a lot, dreamed about it even, but he hadn’t quite known when or how to actually…

“I’m out of practice, I guess.”

“No time like the present,” Zac said brightly, though he looked a little strained around the eyes.

Beckett’s instinct was to say no. They had stuff to talk about, everything was a complete and utter mess between them, and—

Zac made a low sound of pain, dropping his chin to his chest.

“Why not?” Beckett conceded. “It’d be nice to have some company again.”

The omega brightened immediately. “Really? Great.” He bounded to his feet. “I’ll go proof the house.”

Beckett laughed and got to his feet to follow. “I’ll help.”

They solved the awkwardness of stripping to shift by doing so in different rooms. Beckett’s lion came to him easier this time around, but he spent a while staring at his animal form in the hall mirror. His eyes were especially fascinating. He’d spent three decades staring at his own reflection, and to see himself look so different was hard to get used to.

He heard a chuffing sound from behind him and found Zac’s leopard watching him. Not just watching him, laughing at him.

Beckett turned, crouched, and pounced. Zac raced away, right for the back door. Beckett chased him out into the garden and froze. There was no sign of the leopard. Scenting the air, he prowled through the garden, surprised to find it empty. Where was he hiding?

There weren’t a lot of places in the garden that could hide a leopard and, within seconds, Beckett had discounted all of them. He circled around the apple tree, puzzled and bewildered, until he heard a rustle above him. He looked up and found Zac balanced on a branch, staring down at him.

If Beckett had been younger, still just a cub, he’d have climbed that tree in a heartbeat. But he suspected the branches wouldn’t hold the weight of a full-grown lion. So instead of trying to catch Zac, he settled down on the grass and waited. It didn’t take long before he heard Zac land on the ground nearby. He expected the omega to settle down next to him. Instead, Zac took off back toward the house. Beckett didn’t even think; instinct had him giving chase. This whole shifting thing was a lot of fun.

* * *

It was dark when he woke, a faint hint of moonlight coming through the attic window. There was a warm pressure against his chest, and he peered down to find a very human and very naked Zac cuddled against him. Huh.

Once again, they’d fallen asleep in their animal forms and shifted back while they were unconscious. They’d also clearly gotten close. He eased away from Zac, and the omega rolled onto his front, moonlight bathing his back. Beckett had the near-irresistible urge to stroke a hand across his skin. So he did.

At his touch, Zac arched his back like a cat, sighing softly.

“Beckett?”

“Hey.”

Zac groaned. “Are we naked again?”

Beckett stroked his hand back up Zac’s spine and laughed softly. “It seems so.”

“We never had our talk, did we?”

He let his fingers curl around the omega’s shoulder. Suddenly, there was clarity. All the confusion fell away.

“What do you need to hear, Zac? What can I say to convince you to give you and me a chance? Because that, right now, is all I want. You and me.”

There was a soft intake of breath, and then Zac rolled onto his back, meeting Beckett’s eyes.

“I want it too. Need it. I’ve been alone for so long. Everything got too much, and I couldn’t even stand to have someone in the same room as me when I went into heat. But now you’re here, and you’re everything I could want. And you want me back.”

“I want you,” Beckett agreed. “Right here and now.”

He realized as he said it that it was true. Everything about the omega called to him, pulled at him. Almost as if…

“You’re in heat.”

Zac looked at him like he’d lost his mind.

“Of course I’m not. I’m pregnant, remember? Heat-free for the foreseeable.”

“Not completely. Omegas get mini-heats during pregnancy, remember? A few hours, sometimes even a day.”

Zac went quiet, closing his eyes and stroking a hand down his chest and across his stomach. His eyes flew open, and he stared up at Beckett.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”

Zac bit down on his lower lip.

“You have no idea how badly I want you right now.”

Beckett glanced down at himself, aware that his body was already showing interest in the proceedings. “Oh, I think I might have some idea.”

“But we shouldn’t,” Zac continued, his eyes widening as he followed Beckett’s gaze.

“Because…”

“So many reasons, none of which I can think of right now. But they’re good ones. Really good.”

Beckett laughed softly. “Of that, I have no doubt. If you’d rather just wait it out…”

Zac looked conflicted, his eyes dragging down Beckett’s body.

“You don’t know what it was like, being in heat for so long, so strongly. I couldn’t even stand the touch of another person, let alone anything more. But god, I wanted it. So, so badly.” He glanced up again, meeting Beckett’s eyes. “I want it now, with you.”

Beckett stretched out on his side, and Zac mimicked him.

“I’ll leave it in your hands,” he said softly. “I can give you what you want, what you need, or I can wrap you up in blankets and take care of you at a distance until you’re over it. Whichever you’d prefer.”

“You won’t mind if I don’t want to share this with you?”

“I’ve been taking care of my own needs for a while now. And sure, your heat scent might be driving me crazy, but I don’t want this unless you want it.”

Zac grinned and stretched. “Driving alphas wild, huh? That’s all I want to hear.”

Beckett felt a surge of possessiveness, reaching out to splay his hand across Zac’s chest.

“Not alphas. Me, just me.”

Zac licked his lips, a hint of nervousness mixed with naked desire. “Just you. All for you.”

“Good,” Beckett rumbled, his hand over Zac’s heart. He could feel the fast rhythm beneath his palm.

The omega pressed a hand over his. “Yes, I… I want to share my heat with you.”

Excitement raced through him, and Zac sighed with relief now that he’d made the decision.

“You’re sure? You can change your mind at any time.”

“I won’t. I want this.”

“But all those reasons…”

“Maybe they don’t matter all that much. Not… not right now. I want to remember how good a heat can feel. Can you show me?”

Beckett pressed a chaste kiss to Zac’s lips. “I can, and I will.”

They stayed like that, on their sides and facing each other, as Beckett let his hand drift along Zac’s body. Across his shoulder, down his arm, onto his hip, his thigh, and pausing at the curve of his knee. He did it again and again, giving Zac a chance to get used to his touch, his scent, to not be overwhelmed by the weight of his need.

He caressed Zac’s hip, fingers teasing the crease of his thigh.

“Care to make a wager?”

Zac rewarded him with a lazy smile.

“What’s the bet?”

“I can make you come three times before dawn.”

The omega lifted his head and stared up at the night sky. It was just starting to lighten, hinting that the sun was on its way.

“Twice, maybe. Three is a lot. I don’t think you’ll manage it.” He bit his lip. “What happens if I lose?”

Beckett laughed, the sound low and rough. “I’ll try for four.”

Zac flushed, a soft moan escaping his lips.

“And if you lose?”

“I’ll let you decide.”

Shivering, but not from cold, Zac stretched and smiled at him. “Better get to it, then. Sun’s coming up.”

Beckett took that as permission, sliding closer, pressing his body flush to Zac’s. He captured the omega’s lips in a kiss, tangling his fingers in Zac’s hair as he kissed him breathless. They parted for air, but Beckett didn’t give him much chance to recover, stealing his mouth again, nudging his tongue past those soft lips. Zac parted for him, sighing into the kiss as Beckett’s tongue teased his. He took advantage of the distraction to push Zac onto his back on the floor, straddling him as he deepened the kiss.

When he pulled away abruptly, Zac made an unhappy sound and chased him. That sound became a moan as Beckett kissed his way down Zac’s neck and onto his chest. His fingers found Zac’s nipples, the pads of his fingers stroking them to hardness before tweaking them gently. Zac was sensitive there, shivering and moaning at the lightest of touches. He kissed his way down Zac’s sternum and right to his navel, dragging his tongue across his skin as Zac gasped and squirmed.

“Beckett,” Zac called suddenly, breathless.

“Zac?”

“I don’t want you to lose this bet.”

He chuckled darkly, his hands pressing down on Zac’s hips. “I have no intention of losing.”

Ducking down lower, he felt Zac go very, very still. The omega knew what was coming.

Beckett nuzzled gently at the root of his half-hard cock, letting the warmth of his breath trail across the sensitive skin. He licked a stripe from root to tip, rewarded with a shout from Zac as the omega’s hands scrabbled at the rug beneath them, searching for some way to ground himself. But Beckett didn’t want him tethered to the ground; he wanted him to fly.

Opening his mouth, he teased the head of Zac’s cock with his tongue and eased him past his lips. The omega was struggling to hold himself together, babbling something incoherent as Beckett sealed his lips around him and sucked hard. That was all it took to send Zac over the edge, his back arching, his hips bucking as he came. Beckett held him steady, swallowing hard as the omega rode the wave of his orgasm. Zac slowly sank back to the floor, staring up at Beckett, tears in his eyes.

“Alright there?” Beckett didn’t know if he should be concerned or not.

“It was so good,” Zac murmured, one trembling hand stroking the curve of Beckett’s shoulder. “I’d forgotten.”

“Oh, there is so much more to remind you about.”

Beckett bent down and kissed him, letting the omega taste himself on his lips. Zac wrapped his arms around him, and Beckett leaned into the embrace. Then he urged Zac upright, gently setting him on his knees on the rug. They kissed again, Beckett resting his hands on Zac’s lower back before letting them wander down and over the curves of his ass. Zac made a pleased sound and pushed into his touch, nipping at Beckett’s bottom lip gently before soothing the nip with a swipe of his tongue.

Beckett settled a hand in the small of Zac’s back, rubbing slow circles as he took the omega apart with kisses. With Zac thoroughly distracted and moaning against him, he slipped a hand down between his cheeks, making a pleased sound when he found Zac wet. He eased a finger inside him, and Zac keened, breaking the kiss to press his face to Beckett’s neck.

He eased his hand away and patted Zac’s hip, pressing one last kiss to the curve of his jaw before moving away and circling around behind him. Zac stayed where he was, on his knees, bathed in moonlight. He looked beautiful, almost ethereal to Beckett’s eyes.

When Beckett’s hand found his shoulder, urging him forward, he folded beautifully onto his hands and knees.

“Fold your arms,” Beckett urged. “Tuck your head in.”

The position was best for both of them; it would heighten every sensation.

Zac moved with barely a murmur, seeming relaxed and content to let Beckett do the thinking.

“I can take it slow,” he offered. “Ease you into it.”

The omega made a sound of protest. “Want to feel you. Really feel you.” He wiggled his hips for emphasis, and Beckett huffed out a laugh.

“Bossy, aren’t you?”

Zac made a non-committal sound. “You’re one to talk.”

Laughing, he settled his hand on Zac’s hips again, urging the omega’s legs a bit wider. Despite Zac’s assertions, the omega hadn’t done this in a while. Beckett wouldn’t rush into it and risk hurting him. He eased forward, just pressing lightly against him, giving Zac the chance to catch his breath. Zac pushed back against him eagerly, and only Beckett’s hand on his hips stopping things from going further.

“When I say you’re ready and not a moment before.”

Zac groaned, wiggling in his grip. “I’m ready, I am. Please, Beckett.”

“Hold still,” he insisted.

With a huff, Zac complied, his hips stilling, his body vibrating with need. Beckett eased forward, taking his time as he pushed inside. A moan escaped Zac’s lips, his breath stuttering as Beckett filled him in one long, slow stroke.

“That’s it. Just breathe.”

They stayed like that, Beckett stroking his hand up and down Zac’s back until the omega had settled, his breathing deep and even. Then Beckett pulled out and thrust back in, enjoying the tight heat of Zac’s body and how one simple stroke stole his breath all over again.

The omega seemed pliant and easy, so Beckett let go of his tight control and quickly found his rhythm. His hands steadied Zac as he took him with fast, deep thrusts of his hips. He could feel his orgasm building, but it wasn’t his he was interested in right then. Letting go of his grip on Zac’s hip, he eased his hand around between the omega’s legs, stroking him in time with his thrusts. Zac came with a hoarse cry, arching his back and pushing into Beckett, breaking their rhythm. Beckett slid his hand under Zac’s stomach, anchoring him as he slowed his thrusts and gave the omega a chance to catch his breath.

“That’s two,” he murmured in Zac’s ear, hearing a strangled huff of laughter from the omega. From his omega.

When Zac pushed his hips back, meeting his next slow, languid thrust, Beckett knew he was ready for more. He quickened his pace again, his thrusts forceful as his body met Zac’s.

“Fuck, you’re so tight,” he rumbled, letting go of Zac’s hips and leaning forward. He put his hands on the floor next to Zac’s, his chest pressed to Zac’s back, the omega pinned in place by the weight of his body. He kissed the nape of Zac’s neck, hearing a gasp that had nothing to do with the thrust of his cock into the omega.

He was close now, his thrusts losing their rhythm before catching it again. The wave of his orgasm rose to meet him, and he bit down gently on Zac’s neck. The omega cried out and arched against him, his body tightening in waves around him. That was enough to send Beckett over the edge, and he came with a hoarse, guttural cry. Wave after wave of pleasure slammed through him, a release like he hadn’t felt in years. Beneath him, Zac orgasmed again, panting for breath.

When Zac’s knees went out from under him, Beckett caught him and eased him down onto the floor as he pulled out. He lay down next to him, tugging him close and pressing a kiss to his cheek.

“That was… that was amazing, Zac. Thank you.”

The omega squirmed around until he was pressed against Beckett’s chest.

“I think I lost our bet,” he murmured.

Beckett glanced up, spying the still-dark sky above them, and chuckled.

“Uh-huh. What a bet to lose though, hey?”

Zac sighed as Beckett inched his hand down his stomach teasingly. “I don’t think I can do four just yet.”

Beckett kissed him again, catching his lips this time. “We’ll save it for later,” he murmured.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Zac woke with a sense of bone-deep contentment, stretching slowly as a yawn escaped. His body ached, but in the best way, and he blinked his eyes open, ready to greet the day.

Uh-oh.

He wasn’t in his own bed, and he wasn’t alone. As he sat up, he found Beckett asleep right next to him, the sheet pulled to the side revealing the alpha’s unclothed body. Zac glanced down at himself, realizing he was similarly naked.

“Oh, no.”

His whispered words were enough to wake Beckett, who let out a low murmur and sat up. Zac panicked, moving to scramble off the bed, his feet tangling in the blankets. What had he done?

“Zac?”

Beckett caught hold of him before he could fall headfirst onto the floor. He struggled in the alpha’s grip, seized by a sudden, frightening anxiety.

“Hey, hey, hey.” The alpha gentled his touch and tried to catch his eye. “Zac, it’s okay. It’s all fine. You were sleeping, you’re in my room.”

Zac’s chest was rising and falling too fast. “I… I don’t…”

“Zac, look at me.” He met Beckett’s eyes, calming when he saw nothing but confused concern. “That’s it. You’re alright. Just breathe, okay? Nice, slow breaths.”

Beckett led by example, and Zac tried to mimic him, relieved when the tightness in his chest eased.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s happening.”

He felt inexplicably tearful and found himself engulfed in a hug.

“Do you remember last night?” the alpha asked, his tone hesitant.

Last night? What had happened last… oh. He felt his cheeks flush and pressed his face tighter to Beckett’s chest.

“We… we…”

“You invited me to share your heat. We had some fantastic sex, if I do say so myself, and I brought you back to my room to sleep it off. How do you feel?”

Now that the panic had worn off, the events of the night before were clear in his mind.

“Silly,” he admitted. “I didn’t know where I was when I woke up.”

“Sure,” Beckett said easily. “You’ve never had reason to be in my room before. But it’s fine, just relax. It’s still early yet.”

The alpha moved back against the headboard, bringing Zac with him. It was easy just to stay there in his arms, pressed against his chest, feeling the steady thump of Beckett’s heart against him.

“Your heat still smells strong,” Beckett said softly. “I don’t think you’re quite through it yet. That’s probably what set off your panic when you woke.” Heat tended to bring every emotion that bit closer to the surface.

As the ache in Zac’s body made all the more sense now, he took the time to recall the events of the night before. It had been good, being with Beckett. He had that alpha confidence, that surety, knowing exactly what Zac had needed, wanted. What he still wanted.

He could feel the alpha pressed against him, already hard. Zac shuffled around, rewarded with a low groan from Beckett at the friction. His short heat was fading fast, and it seemed only right to want to take advantage.

“How do you feel about the omega being on top?” he murmured, lifting his head to meet Beckett’s eyes.

The alpha’s gaze was dark and full of passion.

“All the better to see you,” he rumbled, easing down lower on the bed.

It had been a while since Zac had done this, and he was out of practice. But he knew Beckett would be patient. He was exactly the kind of alpha that Zac had always fallen head over heels for.

Straddling Beckett’s hips, he took the alpha in hand, humming as he felt the length and girth of his cock. No wonder last night had been so good. Every part of the alpha was impressive. He stroked him lazily, ensuring he knew every inch of what he’d asked for, then he pushed up on his knees and moved forward. Beckett’s hands bracketed his hips, helping him into position, and the two of them held eye contact as Zac slowly sank down onto Beckett’s cock.

Still stretched from the night before, and wet from his heat, he felt only a deep ache within him as Beckett pressed inside. He saw the alpha’s eyes widen, heard the moan he couldn’t quite hold back, and gave himself over to it. It felt as good to give pleasure as it did to receive it. Nicer even, with the right person. And Beckett was the right person, of that he had no doubt.

When Beckett was fully sheathed inside him, he took a moment to catch his breath, his eyes still watching the alpha’s.

“Some alphas don’t like it this way.” He traced idle patterns across Beckett’s chest with his finger. “They want all the control.”

Beckett laughed and hitched his hips a little, making Zac gasp.

“Some alphas don’t understand the meaning of the word, or what it means to surrender it.”

Zac flushed, heat suffusing his whole body at the alpha’s words. He bit down on his lower lip.

“Would you surrender to me?”

“Body and soul,” Beckett promised, dragging his eyes down Zac’s form. “You are so beautiful. I could watch you like this forever.” He lifted his hips again, stealing another gasp from Zac. “But I think we have more pressing concerns.”

Zac laughed and leaned forward, bracing his hands against Beckett’s chest. He lifted his hips, pushing off Beckett, then sinking back down. It felt wonderful, and a long, loud moan slipped from his mouth. He was glad there was no one else around to hear him.

“That’s it,” Beckett murmured. “Beautiful.”

It took a few tries to get the hang of it again, to find the right pace. But soon he had the alpha panting beneath him, lifting his hips to meet Zac’s every time he pushed downward. Having Beckett inside him felt so real; tight and hot and full. Each time he sank onto the alpha again, Beckett’s cock nudged that sweet spot inside him, sending pleasurable sparks across his skin. Zac chased the feeling, moving faster, pushing harder, watching Beckett’s eyes every moment.

“I’m not sure how long I can keep this up,” he admitted, feeling the burn in his thighs and the ache in his back. His body was tiring already. Practice made perfect, and he was very out of practice.

“I’m close, Zac. Let me help.”

Beckett let go of Zac’s hip to encircle his cock, just holding his hand there and letting Zac’s own movement provide the friction. Between the alpha’s cock inside him and his hand around him, it was all too much.

“Beckett!”

He let go with a cry, coming hard as the alpha thrust up into him and came. The two of them clutched tight to each other as they rode the wave of white-hot pleasure that spilled over them. Every touch seemed magnified, every sensation heightened. Zac gave in and just let himself feel it all, reveling in the alpha’s presence. Everything went fuzzy and indistinct, and he came around pressed to Beckett’s chest, the alpha murmuring soothing nonsense to him as he stroked his hand down Zac’s back.

“You with me?”

“More or less,” Zac whispered, sighing softly. “Mostly less. Feel like I could float away.”

“Then hold tight to me,” Beckett said. The words rumbled through his chest, the hint of a lion behind them. “I’ll be your anchor. I won’t ever let you go.”

Those were the words Zac had always wanted to hear. That he was someone’s, not just for a night or a week or a few months, but forever. He clung tight to Beckett, wanting nothing more.

Chapter Twenty-Six

They were halfway through Luca’s treatment cycle when it happened. He’d been doing so well that Beckett had been lulled into a false sense of security. But one Tuesday, after struggling through breakfast, and lunch being a battle of wills, Zac turned up at the door to his office with the thermometer in his hand just after three p.m.

“One-oh-two.”

Beckett grabbed his phone.

“Give him some medicine, I’ll call Dr. Khalid.”

The doctor agreed to make a house call, and Beckett rescheduled his last meeting of the day, joining Zac in Luca’s bedroom.

Luca was lying on his bed with flushed cheeks and glassy eyes, whining softly.

“Hey there, kiddo. I should have known something was up. Spaghetti’s always your favorite.”

He sat down on the side of the bed and brushed Luca’s hair off his forehead, resting his palm there. He could feel the heat radiating from Luca’s skin.

“I gave him some medicine. He should start to cool down soon.”

Zac had already stripped Luca’s outer layers and moved back the blankets.

Luca reached his hands up, and Beckett lifted him into his arms, settling him against his chest.

“I’m sorry, Luca. I know how much you hate being sick. You were so good to take your medicine for Zac. We’ll have you feeling better in no time.”

Luca whined again, his little hand grasping Beckett’s shirt tightly.

“Dr. Khalid’s coming to see you. He’s going to help get you better.”

He said it more for Zac’s benefit than for Luca’s.

“How about a nice, cool cloth for your neck?” Zac suggested. “That might feel good, huh?”

The omega slipped from the room, returning a few minutes later with a damp washcloth and a glass of purple liquid. He handed over the cloth and set the glass down on the bedside table.

“It’s one of those rehydration drinks. He hasn’t had anything since lunch. I’m guessing it hurts to swallow? He wouldn’t let me take a peek.”

Luca was no stranger to throat infections. He’d had them almost weekly with his last treatment. Beckett had hoped they were going to escape them this time.

“Here we go, kiddo. This might feel a bit cold.” He settled the cloth on the back of Luca’s neck. The little boy squirmed and sighed, rubbing his face against Beckett’s shoulder.

“That feels nice, doesn’t it? Zac made you a special drink. Will you try some? It’s purple.”

“I brought you a straw, too,” Zac said. “It’s got ladybugs on it.”

That was enough to pique Luca’s interest. He lifted his head, regarding them both a little suspiciously. But he readily accepted the straw and sucked up some of the drink. He made a happy sound when the sweet taste hit his tongue but whined when he swallowed. Beckett stroked his cheek, hoping to distract him from the pain.

“Good job, Luca,” Zac murmured, catching the damp cloth before it could fall. He folded it and dabbed it lightly over Luca’s forehead and neck. “Does this feel nice? We’ll get you all cooled down in no time.”

Between the two of them, they managed to coax Luca into drinking half the glass before he fell into a light doze in Beckett’s arms.

When the doorbell rang, Zac hurried out to answer it, returning with Dr. Khalid and one of the nurses.

“Let’s see what we’re dealing with.”

They had a tough time getting Luca to cooperate, since he mostly wanted to sleep and cling to Beckett. But when all was said and done, they had him tucked under a light sheet on his bed, sleeping almost peacefully.

“You’re right,” Dr. Khalid told them. “It’s tonsillitis. We’ll start him on antibiotics as a precaution while we wait for the strep test. If his fever goes above one-oh-two, you’ll need to bring him into the emergency room. Give him the fever reducers every six hours, check his temperature every two hours, and encourage plenty of fluids. I suspect you’ll be in for a rough night. If his fever hasn’t broken by morning, he’ll need to be admitted.”

It was nothing Beckett hadn’t heard before, but he’d always wished that each time was the last time.

He saw Dr. Khalid out and returned to find Zac sitting on the side of Luca’s bed, watching him sleep.

“I’ve got this,” he told the omega. “You should go get some rest.”

“We’ve got this,” Zac corrected. “This is what I’m here for.”

Beckett was ready to argue, but he could see the determined glint in Zac’s eyes.

“Then we’ll alternate. We haven’t eaten, so I’ll order takeout. We’ll split the night between us. We can take turns sleeping in here with him.”

The evening passed slowly, and it was just after nine when he managed to convince Zac to go get a few hours of sleep, promising to wake the omega before one a.m. Even then, Zac was back by twelve-thirty, sleep-mussed but anxious.

“How’s his temperature?”

“One-oh-two again. I’ve given him more medicine. Let’s hope it kicks in soon.”

Zac shooed him off to bed, but Beckett struggled to settle. After two hours of tossing and turning, he padded back to Luca’s room. Zac was sitting on the floor, his back against the wall and his knees drawn up, watching Luca sleep.

“How’s his temp doing?”

“Still one-oh-two. I’m checking it hourly now.”

Beckett sat down on the floor next to Zac. “He’s sleeping, at least.”

After a pause, Zac let his head rest against Beckett’s shoulder. “He seems peaceful. I sponged him down with a damp towel again. He didn’t like that.”

“I’m sure he didn’t. Listen, if you want to get a bit more shut-eye…”

“No, I’m up.”

“And you feel okay? The baby…?”

“The baby’s fine,” Zac murmured. He took Beckett’s hand and pressed it against his stomach.

Beckett knew it was a little too early to feel kicks just yet.

“Can you feel anything?” he asked Zac.

“Little flutters, now and then. Dr. Lowe says omegas can feel a baby’s movements as early as fifteen weeks. We’re what… almost twenty now?”

“Nineteen weeks and six days, according to the app on my phone.”

He felt comfortable with his hand cupped over Zac’s bump, and Zac seemed equally as relaxed next to him.

“We’ll have to start talking to Luca about the baby soon, get him ready for his little brother’s arrival.”

“There are books,” Zac suggested. “We could start reading them to him at bedtime. It’ll help him get his head around it at his own pace.”

Beckett liked that idea, slipping the concept of a baby brother into Luca’s subconscious.

“Maybe we could add a few books about eating all your vegetables while we’re at it.”

Zac laughed softly. “Worth a try, I guess.” He yawned then, his eyes tired.

Beckett gently urged Zac to lay his head down on his lap. He ran his fingers through Zac’s hair, caressing him, feeling the tension slowly drift away. His breathing deepened as he fell asleep, but Beckett kept petting him, kept stroking his hand through Zac’s hair. He was almost drifting off himself when his eyes caught the clock. It was time to check Luca’s temperature again. Easing out from under Zac and replacing his lap with a cushion, he padded across the room. Luca barely noticed when he slipped the thermometer into his ear. It beeped softly, and he checked it, smiling to himself.

“Beckett?” Zac called, and he turned to see him pushing up off the cushion and peering around the room. “How is he?”

“Ninety-nine. The fever’s broken. Let’s hope it stays down.”

With a sigh of relief, Zac relaxed back onto the cushion. “Good. He’ll sleep easier now.”

“And so will we,” Beckett said softly.

He spent another minute watching Luca, making sure the sheet wasn’t tucked too tightly around him, before returning to Zac. The omega was fast asleep again, curled up tightly. Beckett slipped his hands under him and lifted him easily, cradling him against his chest. He knew he should have carried the omega back to his own room, but Beckett’s was closer. He set the omega down on his bed and covered him with a blanket.

“Sweet dreams.”

Zac turned his head, his eyes barely open as he smiled.

“Only if I dream of you.”

Beckett bent down and kissed him on the cheek, but Zac shifted, their lips meeting. Before he could pull back, Zac had slid a hand behind his head and deepened the kiss. Even more asleep than awake, his kisses were something special.

* * *

Zac found he and Beckett were on high alert for the better part of a week while Luca recovered from his tonsillitis. He was listless most days, slept a lot, and getting him to eat was a nightmare. Zac made soups and milkshakes, tried ice cream and oatmeal, used every trick up his sleeve to coax Luca into getting the nutrients he needed. But gradually, his appetite improved and so too did his energy. Though he wasn’t anywhere near as energetic as other kids his age, he was back to his normal self or as close to it as Zac suspected he was going to get while still undergoing his treatment.

Beckett dropped Luca off to his grandmother’s house the following Friday, Zac staying in the car for the handover. He caught a glimpse of a woman with blonde curly hair, who broke out into a smile and hugged Luca as the little boy raced to meet her.

The alpha returned to the car a few minutes later, getting behind the wheel once more.

“Ready to go? Our appointment’s at ten, we might be cutting it a little close.” Beckett pulled off from the curb. Traffic had been heavier than expected that morning due to the wet weather.

“I’m ready,” Zac said. “A little nervous, maybe.”

Beckett did a double-take, and Zac felt silly for speaking his mind.

“Nervous? There’s nothing to be nervous about. Everything’s going to be fine.”

“But it’s called an anomaly scan. They’re looking for stuff that’s wrong. ”

Zac had been given a handful of scans since that first one, all just long enough to confirm that everything looked okay. This one was different.

“Not because they think they’re going to find anything. It’s just the right time to do it. When they can get a good look at the baby before things get crowded in there.”

Beckett seemed unfazed by the whole thing, even a little excited.

“I can’t wait to see our baby again. And to be there with you.”

Zac’s first scan had been a weird experience for both of them. They hadn’t known where they stood with each other, and they’d had the weight of Dr. Smith’s judgment. There was none of that with Dr. Lowe, and Zac wanted this shared experience to be one they treasured. Right then, it looked like his nervousness was set to ruin that.

“What if something is wrong?”

Beckett reached over and patted his hand, his attention on the road ahead. “Nothing is going to be wrong. And if it is, we will handle it together.”

“So I’m worrying over nothing?”

“I’m not saying that. You’re having perfectly normal concerns, especially for a first-time parent. Darcy didn’t sleep for days before his anomaly scan with Luca.”

Zac had to swallow hard at that. He always had mixed feelings when Darcy’s name came up in conversation. It was strange to be so intertwined with someone he’d never met. He’d seen pictures of him, of course. They were some around the house, and he found himself staring at them sometimes, wondering what the omega would say if he could talk to Zac. Good things, Zac hoped. He was doing his best for Beckett and Luca, and he liked to think Darcy would be able to appreciate that and see past what, on the surface, probably looked like Zac was trying to steal away his family.

He didn’t realize how long he’d been lost in his own thoughts until Beckett said awkwardly, “If it would be easier for you, I won’t mention Darcy when you’re around.”

“No,” Zac insisted. “You should talk about him. He was your husband, he’s the father of your children. Of this baby, growing inside me. It isn’t fair to paint him out of the picture he helped create.”

“You look uncomfortable when I say his name,” Beckett pointed out.

“I wish I’d gotten the chance to meet him. It feels so strange to be so deeply enmeshed in someone’s life but never to have set eyes on them. Does that sound silly?”

“No,” Beckett said hoarsely. “Does it sound strange for me to say that I wish you could meet him? I mean, I know, logically, that if he was still around, we’d never have met you. But still…”

They arrived at the clinic, and Beckett found them a parking space. They walked inside hand in hand, Zac trying not to cling to the alpha when all he wanted to do was busy his face in Beckett’s chest until someone told him it was all okay.

It wasn’t long at all before he was lying on an exam table, his abdomen exposed, tissue paper tucked in neatly around the waist of his pants.

Doctor Lowe smiled at them as he started the scan. “Now, let’s see how we’re getting on, shall we? You’ll be able to watch the whole thing from that screen there while I work.” He pointed to the screen mounted on the wall as he pressed the probe to Zac’s skin.

The tight knot in Zac’s stomach eased when he caught sight of their baby.

“And there, of course, is the head. You can just see the outline of his face and… yep, he’s sucking his thumb. He must have known today was the big day.”

Zac glanced at Beckett, whose eyes were trained on the screen, wide with amazement. He turned to Zac, his smile blinding.

“Looking good, huh?”

Zac nodded eagerly, turning back to watch. Dr. Lowe took his time, checking things step by step, and explaining anything they asked about and some things they didn’t.

“Ahem. Definitely a boy, as you can see.”

Zac had to hide a smile at the almost proud glint in Beckett’s eye.

“So, everything looks exactly as it should,” Dr. Lowe told them, lifting the probe from Zac’s abdomen. “We’ll send you the video and the individual pictures I took. The focus now is just on keeping this healthy pregnancy ticking over. We’ll see you again in two weeks, okay?”

“That great, Dr. Lowe,” Beckett said. “Thank you.” Zac echoed his thanks, struggling to take his eyes from the frozen image of their baby up on the screen.

“I’ll give you a few minutes alone to clean up. Come out whenever you’re ready. This room isn’t booked again until midday. Make your appointment at the desk on your way out.”

With another smile, Dr. Lowe gathered up his things and headed off.

Zac relaxed back on the exam table, taking a moment just to breathe.

Beckett leaned against the edge of the table, taking Zac’s hand in both of his.

“Are you doing okay? You’re very quiet.”

Zac managed a wobbly smile as a few tears slipped free.

“I’m good,” he promised, seeing the concern on Beckett’s face. “Just overwhelmed. Our baby is healthy, and I couldn’t ask for more.”

“That’s right,” Beckett said. “Our baby.”

His thumb stroked back and forth across Zac’s knuckles as he laid his other hand on Zac’s stomach.

“Darcy’s baby too,” Zac said, very softly.

“Always and forever,” Beckett agreed just as softly. “But Darcy isn’t here, and you are. This, what we have together, is about you and me, and the baby, and Luca. The four of us. Darcy will always be a part of our past. But you and this baby are our future. And I’m so happy you’re here to share it with me.”

“You don’t wish Austin was here instead of me?”

Beckett frowned at that. “Of course I do. Because Austin was ready and prepared to take on this challenge. You had it forced on you, with no say in the matter. I’m not sad about how it’s turned out, but I’m not going to pretend I’m happy with how it happened.”

Zac couldn’t help his mouth turning down, struggling not to feel the sting of a rejection that he knew wasn’t real.

“But Zac, think of it this way,” Beckett continued gently. “If you hadn’t been pregnant, I’d still have made a move. I’ve been mad about you since long before the truth came out. And I do believe the end result would have been the same.”

He interlocked their fingers, raising their joined hands. “We were meant to be together. Fate is doing her best to make that clear.”

Zac smiled then laughed and threw his arms around Beckett in a hug. “How is it you always know how to say just what I need to hear?”

Beckett hugged him back tightly, murmuring in his ear. “Call it alpha intuition. Or being a talented sweet talker.”

“Or maybe,” Zac mused, “a bit of both.” Either way, Beckett’s words had done what was needed, banishing the worry and tangled feelings and leaving nothing but excitement and anticipation in their wake.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Luca struggled more and more as his treatment dragged on. He didn’t get sick again, but everyday life was just that bit harder for the toddler. His sleep was haphazard, his appetite not much better, and his crankiness was a constant instead of just a bad day. They had lots of cuddles and tons of naps, which was good, because Zac himself was inexplicably tired most of the time.

He and Luca were curled up on the couch under a blanket and reading a story when Beckett arrived home.

“There’s my two favorite boys.”

“Daddy!”

Zac stretched and sat up, easing Luca to sit on the couch next to him. “Can you take over cuddle duty? There are a few more pages of ‘Lucy’s Umbrellas’ to read. I need to get dinner in the oven.”

“I can do that,” Beckett offered.

“If I don’t get up, my body will weld itself to the couch permanently. Besides, Harper’s coming for dinner, and I promised him homemade garlic bread.”

“If you’re sure you’re not too tired,” Beckett said, helping him up off the couch. “We can always order in.”

“Nonsense. I’m not too tired to put a dish of lasagna in the oven.”

Beckett scooped Luca up into his arms, to the little boy’s delight. “Hey, kiddo. I’ve missed you.” He picked up the book and sat down, still holding tight to Luca. “Where were you…?”

“The blue umbrella!” Luca said squirming happily in Beckett’s arms.

“Dinner at six,” Zac said softly, padding out into the corridor.

It didn’t take long to get everything into the oven, and then all he had to do was set the table. As he reached up to take down some plates, he felt a twinge of pain in his abdomen.

“Ouch.”

He stopped what he was doing for a minute and the pain eased. Maybe he’d pulled a muscle?

The doorbell rang as he finished the table.

“I’ve got it,” Beckett called before Zac could move.

He went to the oven instead. The lasagna was ready and smelled divine. Grabbing a cloth, he bent down to take it out. As he straightened up, the pain hit again, worse than before. He lost his grip on the dish, and it fell, smashing onto the floor. Zac stumbled back a step and grabbed onto the countertop with one hand, the other pressed to his stomach as the pain tore through him.

“Zac?”

He heard calls and running footsteps, Harper following Beckett into the room.

“Zac, what’s—”

“Hell, duck. What happened?”

Leaning heavily against the kitchen counter, he struggled to breathe through the pain.

“It hurts,” he gritted out through clenched teeth. “I think something’s wrong.”

He’d never felt pain like it before—a tearing sensation that lanced through to his back. Not a contraction, not a cramp. Something much, much worse.

Beckett’s arms went around and under him, lifting him off his feet. He curled up, trying to ease that terrible pain.

“Beckett, the baby…”

“It’s okay. We’re going to the car and straight to the hospital.”

“But Luca…”

Harper spoke, the familiarity of his voice cutting through Zac’s panic.

“I’ll stay with him, don’t worry.”

“Thanks, Harper.” Beckett carried him to the door with quick strides. “I’ll call as soon as there’s news.”

Zac found himself in the passenger seat of Beckett’s car a minute later, clinging tightly to the door when the pain just wouldn’t let up.

“You need to breathe, Zac,” Beckett said, as the engine sprung to life around them.

He caught Zac’s other hand, placing it on his chest. “Breathe with me, okay? Nice, deep breaths.”

Zac felt the rise of Beckett’s chest beneath his hand and tried to mimic it. It was hard to think through the pain. Worse than the pain was the fear. Something was terribly wrong, of that he was sure. But the baby was too young and too small.

“Hold on, little one,” he pleaded.

The journey to the hospital seemed to take forever. Beckett called ahead, let them know they were coming, and they were met outside the emergency room by a nurse and an orderly. Beckett scooped him up and sat him in the waiting wheelchair. Zac was almost doubled over trying to deal with the pain.

“What’s his name? What happened?” the nurse asked as they walked.

“Isaac Hughes, Zac. He’s a patient of Dr. Lowe. He’s twenty-five weeks pregnant via IVF with a history of hypercyclic heat syndrome. He has pain in his abdomen, it’s severe, and it hasn’t let up since it started twenty minutes ago.”

Was it only twenty minutes? It felt like a lifetime.

“Did it start suddenly or gradually?”

There was a pause.

“Zac?”

“Sudden.” He felt breathless as he forced the words out. “I felt a twinge. And then a few minutes later, it came back, but much, much worse.”

“Where exactly is the pain?”

“The lower part of my stomach and my… my lower back. It won’t stop.”

The wheelchair slowed and stopped moving.

“Let’s get him up onto the bed.”

Hands lifted him, easing him down as he tried to curl tighter, hoping for some relief from the pain. He heard the buzz of conversation somewhere nearby as something cold was stuck on his finger and something else wrapped around his upper arm.

“We just need to check your vitals, Zac. Try to relax.”

He felt a hand brush through his hair and knew it was Beckett.

“Sir, we’ll have to ask you to wait outside.”

“No!” Zac tried to roll over to grab hold of the alpha, but the pain was so bad he hunched back down.

“I’ll be right outside, Zac. They’re going to help you; we have to let them work.”

Tears of pain and frustration escaped as he huddled in on himself, frightened and miserable.

“Zac, I’m Dr. Shelley. I’m the on-call obstetrician. We’re going to get you into a gown and do a quick scan to see what’s going on, okay? But first, we’re going to put an IV in and give you something for the pain.”

“I don’t want anything that’ll hurt the baby,” he insisted tearfully.

“We’re going to give you a small dose of a safe analgesic, so you can relax a bit, and we can get your blood pressure down. It’s sky-high right now.”

Zac knew that was bad for the baby too. A mask was pressed over his face.

“Just some oxygen. Take nice, slow breaths.”

He felt a pinch in his hand, and then a cold sensation before the pain slowly muted from a screaming pitch to more of a dull roar.

“Zac, do you think you can uncurl a little and lie on your back for me?”

He was on his side, practically in a fetal position. Gentle hands helped move him. Those same practiced hands returned with scissors and made quick work of his clothes.

“I hope they weren’t your favorite,” the nurse joked softly, keeping him covered with a blanket as she worked. Then a gown was slipped over his head, and she helped tug it down under the blanket.

“That’s it, Zac. You’re doing great.”

“Where’s Beckett?”

“Your partner? He’s right outside. Let’s let Dr. Shelley work to find out what’s going on.”

Dr. Shelley took a seat next to him, the familiar probe of the ultrasound pressing against his abdomen as the nurse took away his cut clothes.

“Doctor, we’ve got a small hemorrhage. About ten mils.”

Zac jolted at that. He was bleeding?

“Any blood loss before tonight, Zac?”

“No, none. Is that… is that…”

“It’s alright, just relax.” The nurse pressed a hand to his shoulder. “Deep breaths now.”

“I see it,” the doctor said. “Partial separation at the anterior wall. Relatively minor.”

“What does that mean? What’s happening?” Zac looked from the nurse to the doctor, wanting answers. “Is the baby okay?”

The doctor swung the screen around so he could see. “Baby’s fine. Kicking away and wondering what all the fuss is about.”

Zac almost cried with relief as he saw the little head, an arm lying against it.

“But… the pain.”

“Let’s call your alpha back in, and I’ll explain what’s happened.”

Beckett stepped inside, making a beeline for him.

“Zac, I’m here. Are you okay?” He turned to the nurses. “Is he okay?”

“He’s going to be fine,” the doctor assured him. “And so far, the baby is fine too. But there has been a complication.”

Beckett squeezed his hand, and Zac relaxed back on the bed, knowing the alpha would ask what they needed to know.

“What kind of complication?”

“It’s called a placental abruption. It’s when the placenta prematurely detaches from the uterine wall. It can cause pain and bleeding, and can be dangerous for both omega and child.”

She patted Zac’s hand. “In this case, you’ve been lucky. It’s just a small separation, minimal blood loss, and both yours and baby’s vitals are stabilizing. We’ll admit you, keep you under observation and on bed rest, and see how we get on. Baby’s a little too young to be welcomed into the world just yet.”

They took blood, started him on some fluids, and left him and Beckett alone in the cubicle.

Beckett held Zac’s hand between both of his. “How’s the pain?”

“Not so bad. They gave me some medicine. The good stuff, I think.” Realizing what he’d said, and how it might sound, he tried to sit up. “They said it won’t hurt the baby.”

“Hush, lie down. I’m not worried. I can’t stand to see you in pain. I was so scared.” He helped Zac lie back, brushing the hair from his forehead. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

“You should head home; Luca needs you.”

“Harper’s looking after Luca. There’s nowhere I need to be right now except by your side.”

“But you’ve got work. It sounds like I might be here for a while.”

“William can handle things for the next few days.”

“But there’s still Luca…”

“Zac,” Beckett chided gently. “Stop fussing and rest. You leave everything else to me. I’ll stay until they bring you upstairs to a room. Then I’ll go home and let Harper head off. Luca’s going to his grandmother’s tomorrow as normal, and I’ll see if she can keep him overnight. He loves sleepovers at her house.”

Zac was glad Beckett had everything in hand but realized that, in all the time he’d been Luca’s nanny, he’d missed something important.

“Luca’s grandmother isn’t your mother, is she?”

Beckett’s smile faltered. “No. No, she’s Darcy’s mother.”

“Is that why she never comes to the house?”

The alpha stroked his forehead again. “Too many bad memories. We moved in a few months before Luca was born, and she spent a lot of time with us before and after the birth.”

“So, your mother…”

Beckett sighed. “My parents divide their year between their home in the Maldives and their place on the west coast. They visit once a year for two days, stay in a hotel, and see us once for a meal in a restaurant of their choosing. So far, they’ve always forgotten Luca’s birthday. Loving and attentive they are not. I’m very glad Luca has Sarah. Not just to have a grandparent, but because he’ll always have a connection to Darcy.”

“Does Sarah know about me?” What must she think of him? The brazen omega who moved into her son’s house, who was carrying her son’s child. To her, it must have looked like he was trying his hardest to replace Darcy.

“She knows—well, everything. We don’t talk about it a lot, but I keep her informed. For Luca’s sake.”

“I’m glad he has her. And that you have her, too.” He swallowed the bitter hope that she wouldn’t think too badly of him for what had happened. Even though he knew it wasn’t his fault, he could imagine how it must look from where she stood.

“So am I. How’s the pain now? Do you need anything?”

Beckett gently redirected the conversation back around to Zac.

“I’m fine.” His assurances fell a little short when he winced as another dart of pain stabbed through his stomach.

“I’ll get the nurse.”

“No. Stay, please. Having you here is better than any drug.”

“Ah, the alpha effect. I thought that was a myth.”

“Not a myth. A very strong placebo effect. I intend to take full advantage.”

He eased onto his side and drew Beckett’s hand closer, hugging it to his chest.

“If it comes to it, I want you to save the baby.”

Beckett’s smile fell from his face.

“That’s not going to happen. You heard the doctor, you’re both going to be fine.”

“I know. But we never talked about it. If something else happens, if it comes down to me or him, I want you to choose him.”

Beckett stroked a hand through his hair, leaning closer. “I can’t make that choice. I won’t. It will not come to that.”

“But—”

“No, Zac.” Beckett pressed a finger to his lips. “Hush a minute. You’re getting way ahead of yourself. You’re okay, and the baby’s okay. I need you to focus on that, alright? Please.”

He followed his plea with a kiss, lightly pressing his lips to Zac’s. The urgency Zac felt slowly eased, leaving him sleepy and his worry muted.

“Close your eyes,” Beckett urged. “Rest a while.”

With a soft sigh, he did.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Beckett settled Zac into his own bed, deciding that the omega’s bedroom in the apartment was a little too far for comfort.

“I’ll sleep in the guest room. My room has the en suite, so I thought you’d be more comfortable.”

“Don’t be silly,” Zac said. “I’m not kicking you out of your own bed.”

“It’s not like I’m on the couch. And even if I was, that couch is very comfortable.”

“You could just stay here, with me.”

They stared at one another for a moment. “I could, but you need your rest.” He tucked the blankets around him.

Zac huffed, untucked the blankets, and folded his arms, leveling Beckett with a glare.

“I’m not an incubator.”

Beckett sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. “No, you’re not.”

“Then don’t treat me like one.”

“I won’t.”

Four days in the hospital had tried Zac’s patience, and they were all happy to have him home.

“I can sleep in my own bed if you don’t want to share,” the omega said quietly.

“I want you close. Not locked away in another part of the house. And I’d love to share a bed with you.”

“Just no sex marathons?”

Beckett grinned despite himself. “Maybe next week. Doc said to take it easy for a bit.”

“Next week, then. I’ll stick it in my diary. Is Luca…?”

“Still with Sarah. I’ll collect him this afternoon.” Beckett laid a hand on Zac’s knee. “How about a bath?”

Zac sighed. “Sounds heavenly. Especially if I have company.”

He stared up at Beckett from under his eyelashes, and Beckett huffed out a laugh.

“Lucky for you, the bath is big enough for two.”

“Well, that’s me and the baby sorted,” he teased. “Where will you wash?”

Still laughing, Beckett stepped into the bathroom, starting the water running.

“Bath cream?” he called. “I’ve got vanilla or pomegranate.”

“That’s not very alpha of you.”

“I didn’t buy them for me. Harper said they were the scents you liked.”

“You were talking to Harper about what I liked in the bath?” Zac sounded bemused and maybe a little worried.

“Not exactly. I tried to get you one of those diffusers, you know, for essential oils. He helpfully pointed out that you’re quite sensitive to smells and would probably move out if I had lavender wafting through the house every day.”

There was silence in response, and he was about to go back out and check on Zac when the omega appeared in the doorway.

“He’s right, too. Lavender makes me sneeze.” He padded over to the bath and sniffed each of the bottles. “This one.” He held out the pomegranate. “Smells good enough to eat.”

“Speaking of eating, let me know when you’re hungry. There’s stuff in the fridge to heat up.”

“Maybe after my bath.”

It didn’t take long to get the water to the right temperature, not too hot, with the scent of pomegranate filling the room.

“Need a hand?” Beckett offered, moving to help Zac undress.

“I can manage…” Zac started to say, but he didn’t protest when Beckett slipped a hand under his T-shirt and lifted it up and over his head.

Zac surveyed his arms, clearly unimpressed. “I look like a human pincushion.” There were bruises scattered up and down his forearms. “I think those nurses might be vampires.”

Beckett laughed softly. “Maybe. You’ll heal. Give it a week or two, and there’ll be nothing to see.”

He slid his hands down to Zac’s hips, gripping them lightly. The swell of his stomach was unmistakable.

“How’s the little one doing today?”

“Quiet so far. He usually starts kicking when he thinks I’m sleeping.”

“Not even born yet and already he’s keeping you up.”

There was a soft smile on Zac’s face. “I don’t mind. Every kick makes me a little less worried.”

Beckett folded him into a hug. “You’re doing just fine. The doctor said everything looks okay, and as long as we’re careful, it should stay that way.”

“He didn’t say careful. He said, ‘don’t take risks and don’t overexert yourself.’ That’s not the same thing.”

“Isn’t it?”

Zac threw him an exasperated look. “He’s not saying don’t do normal things, he’s saying don’t do things that I wouldn’t normally do. Like I shouldn’t take up weightlifting or cross-country running or, I don’t know, eating crazily spicy food?”

“You’re right about that last one. The baby might decide he’d rather try his culinary chances out in the world if you start inflicting jalapenos on him.”

Zac opened his mouth to retort, but Beckett distracted him with a kiss.

“Water’s getting cold,” he murmured as he pulled away, untying the string on Zac’s pajama pants.

He helped Zac out of them and into the bath, shedding his own clothes and climbing in with him. The bath was made to comfortably fit two, side by side, but Beckett eased Zac forward so he could slip in behind him, bringing Zac back to rest against his chest.

“This okay?”

“It’s nice,” Zac said, turning his head to rest his cheek against Beckett’s chest.

“Not too hot? Too cold?”

“Just right, Goldilocks.”

The omega shifted restlessly against him.

“Four days in a hospital bed. I thought they’d never let me out.”

“They were just being careful.”

“I know, but I missed you and Luca.”

Luca’s treatment meant he couldn’t visit Zac in the hospital. It wasn’t worth the risk of him picking something up.

“We missed you too. But you’re home now. You can relax and rest and…”

“And what? You’ve got something on your mind, I can tell. Out with it.”

“I was talking to the agency about a relief nanny.”

Zac sat up at that, twisting around so he could see Beckett’s face. “A relief nanny? We don’t need one.”

“But maybe we do. How can you take it easy when you’re looking after Luca?”

Zac groaned and flopped back against him. “You weren’t listening. Dr. Lowe said a week of rest, including the time I spent in hospital, then I can be up and about as normal.”

“But this happened when you were doing normal stuff. Shouldn’t we take extra precautions?”

“Dr. Lowe didn’t think so. He said it was a fluke, just something that happened, and it could have happened to anyone.”

“But—”

“I’m not an incubator, and I won’t act like one. We’re a family, right? I mean, we’re trying to be.”

“We are,” Beckett agreed, settling his arms around Zac’s waist, and trying to dial down his anxiety. “I worry, that’s all.”

Zac’s hands covered his. “I get that, I do. But wrapping me in cotton isn’t the way to deal with it. I promise I’ll be careful; I won’t take chances or push myself. But you have to promise to trust me, to let me have the things I need to keep me sane.”

“Like what?” Beckett asked, stroking a hand across Zac’s stomach.

“Like you.”

“Me?”

“You. Your touch, your scent, your…” Zac growled in frustration suddenly. “Are you sure the sex marathon has to wait? All I’ve wanted for days is what I couldn’t have, and now you’re right here.”

“Shh.” Beckett bent his head and pressed a kiss to Zac’s shoulder. “I am right here. Close your eyes.”

Zac did, shuffling around restlessly.

“Settle,” Beckett told him, pressing the palms of his hands to Zac’s hips.

The omega whined softly but did as he was asked.

“Tell me what has you so hot and bothered.”

Zac huffed. “Hormones, I guess. Every time I catch your scent, it’s like I’m itching under my skin, my body’s swelling and stretching and searching for you.”

“Well, you’ve got me. Consider me your captive audience. Whatever you need, I’ll give you.”

He let his fingers trail down Zac’s hip and onto his thigh, teasing the sensitive skin.

“I want you inside me.”

“Nu-uh. Sex marathon is next week, remember? It’s in the schedule.” The doctor had been very clear about overexertion.

“You could touch me.”

“I am touching you. Most of my body is pressed against yours right now. Doesn’t that feel good?”

He kissed the back of Zac’s neck, prompting a low moan and a shiver.

“It’s not enough,” Zac murmured. “I need more.”

Beckett knew exactly what he needed, his fingers dancing across the skin of Zac’s inner thigh.

“Just relax,” he told him. “Nice slow breaths, eyes closed, focus on my voice.”

When his hand encircled Zac’s semi-hard cock, the omega let out a strangled moan.

“Shh, that’s right. Let me take care of you.”

He touched Zac with careful hands, one pressing lightly down on his hip while the other teased his cock with long, languid strokes.

Zac shuddered hard, tossing his head back and forth.

“I wish you were inside me right now.”

“Soon, I promise. This is for you, all for you. Just feel it, let yourself go.”

Zac was fully hard now, little breathy moans escaping with each exhalation, his hips trying to move but held still by Beckett’s hand.

“You’re so beautiful for me, so good. I can’t wait for next week, to have you in our bed, to take you apart.”

“Our bed?” Zac asked, gasping and squirming as Beckett stroked him from root to tip.

“Our bed. Yours and mine. Our home, our family. I want you to be mine, Zac. Please say you’ll be mine.”

The omega came with a cry, tensing in Beckett’s hold before he relaxed, inch by inch, settling back against him. Beckett wrapped his arms around him, tucking him close.

Zac turned his head just enough that he could press a kiss to Beckett’s shoulder. “I’m yours,” he promised him. “I’m yours.”

That was all Beckett wanted. There was no more he could ask.

“I love you.”

That got him a muted sob, but when he craned his neck to see Zac’s face, the omega was smiling. “Love you too.”

The mumbled words betrayed Zac’s tiredness, and Beckett turned to the practical. He soaped up a sponge and washed Zac’s skin before massaging shampoo into his hair and rinsing out the suds. Then he wrapped Zac in a towel and carried him to bed, setting him down and going back into the bathroom. He was just toweling his hair dry when he heard Zac curse. Worried, he stepped back into the bedroom, finding Zac propped up on one elbow and staring worriedly at his phone.

“Zac?”

“It’s my mom. She knows about the baby. She’s coming to visit.”

Beckett tried not to look as daunted by that as he felt. How bad could it be?

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Over the next two days, Zac tried his best to convey the awfulness of what was about to descend on them, but Beckett seemed to have a particularly strong case of alpha blindness.

“It’ll be fine, Zac. Sure, there’ll be a few awkward minutes where we try to explain everything, but I’m certain once she understands…”

“You don’t understand. You’ve never met my mom.”

“She can’t be that bad.”

Zac resisted the urge to bang his head against a wall.

“You’ll run a mile in the opposite direction. Hell, you might even cross state lines to get away from her. I know I have.”

“Now you’re being ridiculous. You need to rest and stop stressing.”

Before Zac could protest once again that Beckett wasn’t hearing him, the alpha said the words that made everything better. “Tell me what I can do to help right now.”

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to focus on the practical.

“Make sure there’s food. Tea, especially. And if she asks, we’re sleeping in separate bedrooms.”

“Done and done. What else?”

“When all this is over, forgive me?”

Beckett looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “There isn’t going to be anything to forgive. It’s your mom, Zac. One woman. It’s not like the whole of your extended family is about to land in on us and cause chaos.”

Zac made a face. “She doesn’t need any help to cause chaos.”

“Well, maybe we should put her off until you’ve had the chance to—”

But Zac knew he’d never get any rest with this hanging over him.

“No. Let’s just get it over with. Seeing my mom is like taking a band-aid off. It’s best just to rip it away and deal with the sting.”

* * *

No matter what Zac said, right up until his mother arrived, Beckett remained resolutely under the impression that this was going to be no more than an awkward conversation. Zac knew better and alerted Harper, who promised to drop everything and come to their aid.

He got the message that his mother was in town one morning and that she’d be over after lunch. Luckily, Sarah was already taking Luca for the afternoon, so he didn’t have to worry about the toddler getting caught in the middle. There was only Beckett to fret about.

“Are you sure you don’t have work you need to be doing? A meeting you should get to?”

Beckett didn’t look up from the tablet he was reading. “Nope, no meetings. I’m up to date with work.”

“Maybe you should go shopping. We’re almost out of milk.”

“I bought milk yesterday.”

“Not chocolate milk. I’ve been having these crazy cravings…”

Beckett set down his tablet and gave Zac his full attention. “We have a whole carton of chocolate milk in the back of the fridge.”

“Oh. That’s good,” he said weakly.

“Can you try to relax? For my sake. Your mom cannot be that bad.”

Before Zac could reply, the doorbell went. If that was her, she was early.

“I’ll go see who it is,” Beckett said, pressing a hand to Zac’s knee. “You rest.”

He didn’t need to rest. He needed his mother far, far away and not on their doorstep. Taking out his phone, he wrote a quick text to Harper, waiting until he heard his mother’s voice at the door before pressing send. And then he pushed to his feet, tugging nervously at his clothes as he waited.

“…lovely house. A little ‘a la mode’ for my tastes. Do you own or do you rent?”

Her distaste at the word rent was obvious.

“Own. I designed it myself. I’m an architect.”

“You are? How… professional.”

She appeared in the doorway, looking all around the room before her gaze finally settled on Zac.

“I thought someone as professional as an architect would do the right thing, the decent thing, and marry the omega they got pregnant.”

Zac winced, seeing the wide-eyed look on Beckett’s face.

“Hi, Mom.”

“It’s Mother, Isaac. You know how I hate to be reduced to a three-letter word.”

“Sorry, Mother.”

She looked him up and down critically. “Well, you’ve been watching what you eat. Good. Some omegas lose the run of themselves when they’re pregnant, and what alpha husband is going to find that attractive?”

“Mother—” There less than a minute, and she was already showcasing her worst attributes.

“Why don’t we show you around?” Beckett said. “There’s lots to see.”

“I’m sure there is. And while you play tour guide, perhaps you can explain why there’s no ring on my son’s finger, hmm?”

Zac didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Beckett, to his credit, continued as if she hadn’t spoken, walking to the door.

“Well, Zac is still supposed to be resting, doctor’s orders, so we’ll come back and join him for tea after.”

She followed him out of the room, their voices fading into the distance.

Zac sank back down on the couch, fisting his hands in his hair. When this was over—the visit, the pregnancy—Beckett was going to take the baby and run. He texted Harper again, begging the omega to hurry.

It was an agonizingly long twenty minutes before Beckett and his mom returned. He heard her voice long before he saw her.

“Now, my Kevin, he knows how an alpha is supposed to comport themselves. As soon as he knew Martin was the one for him, he got down on one knee and made an honest man out of him. They were married a whole year before Martin was expecting their eldest.”

Beckett led her back into the room, sharing a look of despair with Zac. He looked close to the end of his tether.

“I’ll make tea,” the alpha offered, straining to keep his voice even.

The doorbell rang, and Zac got to his feet.

“I’ll get it,” Beckett said, waving him back down.

“That’ll be Harper,” he told him.

His mother’s head whipped around from where she was examining the curtains.

“Harper? What have I told you about taking care with the company you keep, Isaac? You…”

He tuned her out, nodding now and then to make it seem like he was listening when all he was really doing was frantically trying to work out how to salvage the situation.

“Mrs. Hughes. How lovely to see you.” Harper was all smiles, a small bouquet of flowers in one hand as he embraced Zac’s mother and kissed her cheek. “You’re looking radiant as always.”

“And you, dear. How was your wedding? You were engaged to a pilot, wasn’t it? I don’t recall his name.”

Her eyes flicked uncertainly from Zac to Harper. She was never quite sure of her footing around him. Harper was a little too sharp-tongued and quick-minded. Not to mention unfailingly charming toward her.

“Oh, we broke things off. I’m seeing a zoologist now.”

She made a show of staring at his hands, looking for a ring. “Zoologist? But pilot is such a prestigious career for an alpha.”

“Sure, but he spent most of his week flying off to exotic places, and I’m not the stay at home and keep house kind of person. Much too social for that. Zac, though… if anyone knows how to keep house, it’s him.”

Beckett returned with the tea, setting the tray down on the coffee table and deliberately taking a seat right next to Zac.

“Tea, Mrs. Hughes?”

“Please.” She was staring at them, at how they were sitting, at their proximity. Zac saw her mouth open, readying himself for another tirade.

“You must be so excited to be a grandmother,” Harper interjected.

“I’m already a grandmother, twice over. Kevin has two sons. Martin is a devoted husband.”

“Well, third time’s the charm, isn’t it? I’m sure Zac will be delighted to have you around to help. He’s been having such a tough time, between the morning sickness and being in hospital after his scare last week. You’re such a wonderful mother to come see him in his time of need.”

Zac tried hard not to laugh. The only reason his mother was there was because a distant relative had the misfortune to work at the hospital and spotted him leaving the maternity wing.

“Did you see the nursery? Beckett’s been working on it whenever he has a minute to spare. And there’s a guest room right next door.”

Zac could feel Beckett growing tenser and tenser next to him, probably wondering if Harper had lost his mind. But Zac knew exactly what the other omega was doing—saving them. He did his best to play along.

“Yes, it’s so good of you to come all this way to check on me, Mother. We’ll really need the help once the baby’s born. You could stay for a few weeks, make dinners, keep an eye on Luca.”

“Luca?”

“My son that I had with my late husband,” Beckett said hesitantly. He gave Zac a sideways glance, aware that he and Harper were up to something.

“Yes, that’s how Beckett and I met, actually. I’m Luca’s nanny.”

His mother went pale. “Nanny?” She turned to look at Beckett. “You got the nanny pregnant?”

Behind her, Harper choked on a mouthful of tea, turning away as he struggled to hide his laughter.

Zac froze, realizing that he might actually have to explain the truth of their crazy situation. He really didn’t want to have to sit through another of his mother’s tirades about the evils of putting chemicals and toxins in his body instead of finding himself a nice alpha to settle down with.

“People find love in the strangest places,” Beckett said, putting an arm around Zac’s shoulders. “We were so lucky that Zac came into our lives when he did. And now our little family is almost complete.”

His mother’s face was getting paler and paler.

“Isn’t this what you wanted for me, Mother? I’ve got my alpha, a son, and a baby on the way. And now you’re here to help us out just when we need it most.” He leaned into Beckett, hamming it up. “What are family for?”

His mother opened and closed her mouth, but no sound escaped.

“I’ll send you my due date,” Zac added. “We could start a message group. Maybe Martin will join in?”

Mentioning Martin was the final straw, and she finally found her voice. “Oh, look at the time. Is it really that late? I should be going.”

Zac stood when she did, Beckett following his lead.

“It was so lovely to see you, Mom. And I’m so glad you got to meet Beckett. He’s wonderful, isn’t he?”

“Lovely to meet you, Mrs. Hughes. I hope we’ll be seeing lots of each other.”

She looked between them before her gaze focused uneasily on Zac’s pregnant stomach. “I expect wedding bells will be in the near future?”

Neither of them answered.

“Why don’t I walk you out?” Harper offered. “Here, don’t forget your flowers.”

He hustled her out the door before she could utter another word, and Zac sank back onto the couch with a groan. A few seconds later, they heard the front door close and Harper’s footsteps heading back their way.

“What was that?” Beckett asked. “What just happened?”

Zac scrubbed a hand across his face, exhausted beyond belief at the brief encounter. “That was my mom.”

Harper stood in the doorway. “Yeah. Put any sort of responsibility on her shoulders and she bails like clockwork.”

Beckett looked between them. “Should I take it she won’t be babysitting? Or staying over after the birth to help out?”

“Nope,” Zac said.

“No chance,” Harper echoed.

“Thank fuck for that.”

Zac blinked in surprise. He wasn’t sure he’d ever heard the alpha curse before.

Beckett sat back down next to him, and Zac patted his knee. “When I tell her the due date in a week or so, she’ll let me know that her new husband has booked some all-expenses paid, non-refundable cruise to god knows where that just happens to be exactly that same week.”

“What a pity,” Harper said with a grin.

“I’ve learned not to count on her,” Zac added quietly.

Beckett’s hand found his, squeezing gently.

“Who needs a grandma when you have the best uncle a kid could hope for?” Harper declared, sinking into an armchair.

Beckett still looked a little shell-shocked, so Zac tried to distract him.

“What about your parents? Will they come see the baby?”

“They’ll meet him at their next visit, I guess. They won’t go out of their way to see us.”

“Parents, huh?” Harper said. “You just can’t count on them.”

Zac was watching Beckett, wondering what was going through the alpha’s head.

Beckett caught his worried look. “I’m not running.”

“Do you want to?”

“Next time, we’ll just tell her we’re out for the day. Every day. Permanently.”

Zac laughed and sagged against him. “The funny thing is, for all that she talks up Kevin and Martin and their perfect relationship… they haven’t spoken to her in over a year. She said some terrible things about Martin, things that really upset him, and Kevin wouldn’t stand for it. He wanted her to apologize, but she refused, so he cut contact. I don’t think she’s even seen her youngest grandchild.”

“That’s kind of sad,” Beckett said.

Harper didn’t think so.

“She made her own bed, and she can damn well lie in it. Just because she holds opinions about omegas from the dark ages doesn’t mean anyone needs to entertain them.”

“Hear, hear.” Beckett slipped an arm around Zac’s waist, and he cuddled into the embrace. “Are you staying for dinner, Harper? Luca is eating at Sarah’s, so we were going to order in. Your choice. Consider it a thank you for coming to our rescue.”

Harper grinned at them. “My pleasure. There’s nothing I like better than to wrangle Zac’s mother when she starts poking her nose in. I’ll eat whatever Zac wants.”

With two pairs of eyes on him, Zac considered his stomach. “The baby wants ice cream.”

“How about a compromise? Thai food for dinner, ice cream for dessert.”

“Sounds good to me.” He yawned widely, struggling to keep his eyes open. “Maybe a nap first?”

“Great idea.”

Beckett stood up, and Zac found himself coaxed into stretching out along the couch, a blanket laid over him.

“Sleep,” the alpha said, brushing a hand across his forehead. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“Do you promise?”

“I promise. And Zac?”

“Yeah?”

“About what your mom said…”

He pushed himself up on one elbow, seeking Beckett’s eyes. “Don’t let her get in your head.”

“I won’t, I haven’t. You and me, we’re on our own timetable, following our own path. We don’t need a ring to prove that we’re meant to be together.”

“No,” Zac agreed hoarsely, trying not to let his disappointment show.

“I’ll go order dinner.”

The alpha left the room, and Zac settled back down. He felt inexplicably close to tears, all his emotions right at the surface.

Harper moved closer, perching on the arm of the chair next to him.

“He asked me your ring size a few weeks ago. And whether you were more a white gold or platinum person,” he murmured quietly, stroking a hand through Zac’s hair. “Naturally, I told him all about your teenage obsession with mood rings.”

“Harper!”

“All I’m saying is, don’t fret, duck. I couldn’t have imagined a better man for you to marry. He’s perfect for you. Get some rest now. We’ve seen off the dragon, and your prince awaits.”

Chapter Thirty

Beckett knew waiting for the perfect moment to propose was a fool’s errand. There would always be something: a cranky toddler, a rain shower, the shrill sound of his phone ringing. He chose a Sunday morning, the day they were taking Luca on a proper outing now that he’d finally completed his treatment. They decided on the zoo, and not even the dark clouds gathered in the sky could make Zac change his mind.

“There’s a ton of indoor enclosures and exhibits and play areas,” Zac told him as they got their tickets and headed inside. “If it rains, we’ll do those. If it doesn’t, we have the run of the place. Besides, all Luca’s talked about for weeks is elephants. They’ve got two calves in the herd. He’ll love them.”

“We might never convince him to come home,” Beckett said with a laugh as the little boy ran off ahead of them, bubbling with excitement.

Beckett had a bag slung over his shoulder with a picnic lunch for the three of them, and he’d picked out the perfect place in the zoo to have it and pop the question. And a backup location under cover in case it rained.

“Luca, wait!” Zac called, and they hurried after him.

Despite the clouds, it didn’t rain, and they got to see the elephants and a bunch of other animals. Beckett locked eyes with a lion, feeling an odd connection to his kindred animal. When he mentioned it to Zac, the omega didn’t seem surprised.

“Why wouldn’t you? There’s been a lion inside you since before you were born. He’s a part of you.”

Luca searched fruitlessly for lion cubs, disappointed when they didn’t find any. To help fix that, they detoured to the gift shop. While Zac kept Luca distracted looking at shiny postcards, Beckett found and bought a cuddly lion cub toy. It was soft and the perfect size for Luca to cart around. Outside, he crouched down on the ground and gave it to Luca. “A new friend for you, huh?”

Luca hugged the stuffed toy tightly, beaming up at him and Zac. “He’s just like me, Daddy!”

“I don’t know about you two,” Zac said, checking his watch, “but I’m starving. I think it’s time for lunch.”

“I know just the place,” Beckett said, leading them past the red panda enclosure.

There was a small, enclosed area nearby with a handful of picnic tables, ivy growing along all the walls, and peacocks strutting about proudly. It was almost empty, and there was a small play area with a set of swings and a slide in one corner to keep restless children busy. They managed to coax Luca into eating half a sandwich before he raced off to play. There was another little boy there with his grandparents, and he and Luca took turns on the slide.

Beckett sat next to Zac, enjoying the warm sun and the happy atmosphere.

Zac leaned his head against Beckett’s shoulder. “Luca’s doing so well. It’s hard to believe he’s as sick as he is.”

The treatment had bought them some much-needed time, and the chance for Luca to just be a kid for once.

“He’s doing great,” Beckett said. “I haven’t seen him this well in such a long time. And it’s not just the treatment. I think a part of it is down to you.”

Zac shook his head, snorting in disbelief. “The miracle of modern medicine did this. I just did what any parent would.”

Beckett’s smile widened when he heard Zac refer to himself as a parent, not a nanny.

“Yes, you did. You’re a wonderful dad. And a wonderful mate.”

He pulled the ring from his pocket, got up from his seat, and went down on one knee.

“I love you, Zac, and I want you to marry me. Will you be mine, forever and ever?”

Emotions flickered across Zac’s face: surprise, pleasure, happiness. He closed his hand over Beckett’s. “Yes. Of course. I—”

There was a panicked screech from the other side of the garden. Beckett spun around, pushing to his feet, and searching for Luca. The swing was empty, the slide too—but right next to it, there was a lion cub staring up at the small boy Luca had been playing with it.

“Oh, no.”

The little boy’s grandmother—the one who’d screeched—grabbed the boy and shouted at Luca.

“No, get away!”

Beckett raced toward them with Zac on his heels, but Luca, frightened by the shouting, took off in the opposite direction, out of the garden and into the zoo beyond.

“Follow him,” Zac shouted. “Don’t let him out of your sight. I’ll tell the zookeepers.”

Beckett left the garden and spotted Luca racing along the path.

“Luca, kiddo, come back.”

He guessed Luca couldn’t hear him in his panic to get away. And the cub was moving fast. Afraid of losing sight of him, he sped up. As they rounded a corner, he heard screams and turned to see Luca scrambling under some bushes and squeezing under a gap in the fence. It trapped him between the path and an enclosure. Beckett, afraid to look and see what enclosure it was, focused on his son.

“Luca, kiddo. It’s okay, I’m right here.”

People started to crowd around, wondering what all the fuss was about. Luca looked even more panicked at all the noisy people, trying to find somewhere to run to, to hide.

“It’s okay, buddy,” Beckett said, getting as close to him as he could but still separated from him by the fence.

Just then, a whistle sounded, and he turned to see two of the zoo staff race around the corner, followed by Zac.

“Folks, this area is now out of bounds. If you can all follow the path back toward the penguins, please.”

One of the staff started herding the crowd away while the other crouched next to Beckett.

“Can you talk him out of there?” the man asked, getting a good look at Luca’s hiding place.

“I think so, now that there aren’t so many people.” He turned his attention back to Luca. “It’s alright, kiddo. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere. I’m sorry you got a fright back there, but it’s all okay now. It’s safe to come out. We’ve still got lots to see today. There’s a leopard here that looks just like Zac. Will you come on out?”

Zac joined him, crouching awkwardly on the ground, and adding his voice to the mix. Between the two of them, they coaxed Luca back under the small gap in the fence. Beckett lifted the cub into his arms and hugged him tightly.

The zookeeper apologized. “We have the place shifter-proof to stop just this kind of thing from happening. I’ll have maintenance fix this fence. You guys might want to get along to the indoor cub center. It’s only two minutes’ walk that way, and it’s just for shifter kids.”

“Thanks,” Zac said brightly. “We’ll do that.”

They wandered back to the garden to collect their things. There was no sign of the boy and his grandparents, which was a relief. Beckett scooped up the engagement ring that he’d dropped in all the panic.

“Are you still sure about marrying into this chaos?”

Zac all but snatched the ring from his hands. “No take-backs,” he joked.

They hugged, Luca held securely between them, mewling softly.

“Another day in the life of a shifter family, huh?” He found he wasn’t disappointed, just relieved that Luca was okay.

“Engagements should be memorable,” Zac said with a laugh, stroking his hand through Luca’s fur.

They followed the signs to the cub center and joined the lively group already there. It took a little while to convince Luca to stop hovering beside them and go play with the others, but once he did, he had the best of times. Beckett and Zac cuddled together and watched him, their hands intertwined. When Zac placed Beckett’s hand on his stomach, he felt an unmistakable kick.

“Someone’s wondering what all the excitement was about.”

“He’ll be a part of it all soon enough.”

He closed his eyes and focused on his hand and Zac’s stomach, feeling another kick press against his palm.

“I love you, Zac. Especially on the crazy days.”

Chapter Thirty-One

Zac had always pictured giving birth as something that happened in a hurry. Everyone rushing about, no time for thinking. But it wasn’t like that at all.

Harper perched on the windowsill of his hospital room as Zac paced back and forth.

“How long has it been?”

“Eleven minutes.”

“Ugh, this is taking forever.”

His and Luca’s doctor had insisted he come into the hospital at the first sign of labor starting. It had led to two wasted trips with Braxton Hicks before his third time. Even as Dr. Lowe had examined him, he’d still felt sure he was about to be sent home again. But it turned out to be true: third time really was the charm.

Zac wanted Beckett by his side, but he knew the alpha was doing what was most important right then: getting Luca settled into his room over in the pediatric ward. As soon as the baby was born, the cord blood would be processed and given to Luca. With any luck, the stem cells would have an impact on his condition, delaying his need for further treatments.

“Talk to me,” he said suddenly, realizing that no contraction was forthcoming just yet, and he was going to lose his mind counting down the seconds.

“About what, duck?”

Harper kicked his legs and glanced out the window.

“Something, anything. How’s the zoologist?”

“I kicked him to the curb. He only liked me for my shifter animal.”

“I’m sure that’s not true.”

Harper sighed and jumped off the windowsill. “Actually, he said he couldn’t see a future with me. I wasn’t mature enough. That my still having a shifter animal at all was proof of that.”

“Charming guy.”

“Tell me about it.”

“So, what now? Anyone new caught your eye?”

A contraction hit, making him wince, and Harper wrapped an arm around his shoulder, supporting him as they walked back and forth across the room.

“I’m actually thinking I need a break. Some time to focus on me for a while. I can’t be a waiter forever. Well, I could, but I don’t want to be.”

Trying to get Harper to talk about the future was like pulling teeth at the best of times. Having him speak so freely was a window of opportunity Zac wasn’t going to miss, no matter the circumstances.

“What would you like to do?”

“Win the lottery? Marry a wealthy old alpha who dies and leaves me his fortune? Or hey, catch some alpha’s eye and become his muse. I’ve always felt I was inspirational.”

Zac laughed, his breath catching as the pain peaked. “Be serious, Harper.”

“I am serious. Watching you settle down is making me think about things. You know, soon enough, with two kids and a husband to look after, you won’t have time for me.”

Despite all of Harper’s joking and bluster, there was real fear in his voice.

Zac turned to him, catching him by the shoulders. “I will always have time for you. You’re my best friend. Nothing, not even a dozen kids and half a dozen husbands, would change that.”

“But something has to change, duck. We’re finally growing up.”

“Not you and me. We’re like Peter Pan. Forever young.”

Harper nodded and tried to smile. “I just don’t want to be one of those omegas. The washed-out ones who missed their chance to really settle down. I mean, I’m never gonna be someone who loves my career, and I’m not nanny material like you. I don’t fit the mold for the ideal omega house husband. People like to have fun with me, but… they don’t want to keep me around.”

Zac pulled him into a hug. “What’s brought all this on?”

Harper wasn’t one to be maudlin, even on his worst days.

“I don’t know. Just… I’m watching you and all the amazing things you’re doing. Then I look at me and see… nothing.”

“Not nothing,” he said, holding him close. “Your time will come, Harper. Sooner than you think.”

Harper pulled away, trying a smile on for size. “I hope you’re right.”

“I am. I feel it in my bones.”

They both laughed, but Zac’s laugh became a hiss as another contraction started up.

“That’s ten minutes, duck. We’re on the road.”

“And going nowhere fast,” he muttered, trying not to sound too sour about it.

“Beckett will be here soon. That’ll make you feel better.”

“Beckett’s already here,” the alpha said as he opened the door. “Sorry I was gone so long. How are we doing?”

“I’m having an existential crisis,” Harper said. “I can’t quite decide what to do with my life... Oh, you mean your fiancé. Well, he’s having a baby.”

“Thanks for the update,” Beckett said dryly.

Zac patted Harper on the shoulder and let Beckett lead him to the bed. They sat side by side, the alpha’s arm around him.

“How’s Luca?”

“He’s grumpy. Sarah’s with him now. He cheered up when he saw her.”

“It’s a pity they can’t put us in adjoining rooms.”

“They said maybe after the baby’s born and the procedure’s finished. Right now, Luca needs to be in isolation, and you don’t need the stress of a clingy toddler.” Beckett kissed his cheek when he caught Zac’s worried look. “Sarah’s got him in a bear hug. He’ll be fine.”

“Looks like we’re in for a long day,” Harper said. “Anyone for charades?”

* * *

It was the longest day, and an even longer night. But finally, sometime after three a.m., Dr. Lowe kicked Harper from the room and announced it was time. The lights had been lowered, it was quiet and calm, and there was a cool night breeze from the window.

“On your next contraction, Zac, I want you to push.”

“I’m scared,” Zac admitted, grabbing Beckett’s hand and squeezing tightly.

“Perfectly normal,” the doctor said. “Your body knows exactly what to do.”

Zac had wanted to give birth at home but had read up enough to know that the hospital was where he needed to be, for everyone’s sake. Still, they’d compromised by going low-key; a quiet, darkened room, one medic, Beckett, and as much peace and calm as could be found.

Beckett held a straw to his lips, and Zac gratefully sucked up the cool, sweet liquid. He barely had time to catch his breath before the contraction hit, and then the hard work began.

And it was hard work. Every muscle in his body felt the effort, straining and pushing with all his might. He felt the tension in Beckett and knew the alpha would have done this for him in a heartbeat, if he could have. But birth was the work of omegas, not alphas.

“You’re doing great,” Beckett said, pressing a cool compress to the back of his neck.

“That’s it, Zac,” the doctor coaxed. “Almost there. I can see the head.”

So relieved to hear it, he almost laughed.

“At least he’s coming head first.”

Beckett kissed his temple. “I know. Luca was breech, right up until the day before Darcy gave birth.”

It should have been strange to hear Darcy’s name right then, but it wasn’t. It felt right. This was Darcy’s baby, after all. Darcy’s child that Zac had given life to, would give breath to.

“I’m glad I get to do this for him. And for you.”

“If he could, he’d tell you he was grateful beyond words for everything you’ve done. And I don’t just mean bringing this baby into the world.”

“Well, don’t thank me yet,” Zac said, gritting his teeth as the strongest contraction yet overtook him.

He pushed and pushed with all his might, panting when the doctor told him to and leaning heavily against Beckett as the pain reached a crescendo and died away. And then the doctor was holding up a baby, wrinkled and wailing, his face scrunched up unhappily. A nurse hurried into the room, and then another, one of them checking the baby over while the second got everything ready to collect the cord blood.

“That’s it, Zac. You did so well. Relax now, it’s almost over.”

He couldn’t take his eyes off the baby once the cord was cut, following every movement of the nurse until his son was placed on his chest, tucked up against him.

“Hi, baby. Hi.”

Their little one had stopped crying, his eyes open as he lay there. The people around them spoke in hushed tones, the lights dimmed further, and everything grew quiet. Then it was just him, Beckett, and the baby.

“He’s beautiful,” Beckett murmured, catching the infant’s tiny hand in his.

“He’s so small.” Tiny and fragile. Zac wanted to wrap him up in cotton and never let go.

Beckett kissed his cheek. “How do you feel?”

“Exhausted, but so, so happy.”

It was probably the hormones talking, but he wasn’t sure he’d ever felt such contentment as he did in that moment. The rightness of the universe could not be understated.

“Beckett,” a quiet voice called from the doorway. “It’s time.”

The alpha hesitated, but Zac grabbed his hand and squeezed tightly. “Go. Luca needs you. We’ll be fine.”

“I’ll ask Harper to come sit with you.” He kissed Zac again. “I’m so proud of you.”

And then he was gone, and Zac slipped into a light doze. He woke to the door opening, looking up blearily, expecting to see Harper. But it wasn’t the omega—it was Luca’s grandmother, Sarah. They’d met only once, briefly, when she’d dropped Luca off one evening. But here she was, Darcy’s mother, grandmother to the baby in his arms. His breath caught in his throat wondering what she’d do, what she’d say.

“I’m sorry, you’re resting. I’ll leave you to get some sleep.” She stepped back toward the door.

“No, don’t go. Please.”

“I don’t want to intrude. I wanted to meet you properly before, but with everything going on, and Beckett so protective of you…”

Her eyes darted from his face to the baby bundled against his chest.

“Would you like to see your grandson?”

“May I?” She took hesitant steps toward him, closing the distance between them. “How was the birth?”

“Hard work.”

“It always is. You look like a fighter, though.”

Of anything he’d expected from a conversation with her, it wasn’t this. In stark contrast to his own mother, she was warm and quiet.

Zac gently eased the blanket back so she could see the baby’s face better.

“Oh,” she said softly. “I see some of Beckett in him.” Her eyes turned sad even as she smiled. “And a lot of Darcy. I’d know that nose anywhere.”

“I’m sorry—” Zac tried to say.

She shook her head as tears filled her eyes. “You have no idea how happy you’ve made me, Zac. Losing Darcy was so hard, but then having to watch Luca struggle more and more, watching Beckett slowly lose heart…” She paused and swallowed, brushing a tear from her cheek. “Since you came into their lives, things have changed for the better. They smile again. Luca laughs so much now. He’s like a completely different child.”

She took his hand, holding it between both of hers. “I am so proud of you and all you’ve done for them, for me. And grateful, more grateful than I can ever express. I’m sure you have parents of your own, family of your own, but I want you to know that I am always here for you. My grandchildren are the light of my life, and you have sheltered that light and given them a home.”

Patting his hand, she let go. “Look at me, blubbering on when you look so tired.”

Zac was near tears, realizing that for all his fears, he might have just found the closest thing to the mother figure he’d always wanted.

“Would you like to hold him?”

Her answer just proved that his instincts were right.

“He looks comfortable right where he is. Later, when you’ve had time to bond, I would adore some baby cuddles.”

The door opened and a sleep-mussed Harper stuck his head inside. “What did I miss?”

With a quiet laugh, Zac waved him in.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Beckett divided the rest of the night between Luca and Zac’s bedsides, with Sarah doing the same. At about eight a.m., he settled down in a chair beside Zac’s bed and dozed off. He woke with a jolt sometime later. Zac was sitting up wide awake next to him, a tray of breakfast beside him.

“Morning.”

“Hi,” Zac said softly. “Are you with us?”

The baby was cuddled in the crook of his arm.

“Present, more or less. Here, let me take him while you eat.”

He lifted the baby into his arms, careful not to disturb his slumber.

“I am hungry,” Zac admitted. “Though I don’t think anything will ever taste as nice as the toast they brought me just after dawn. What is it about toasted bread when you’re really hungry?”

“The age-old question. Speaking of questions, where’s Harper?” The omega had been in the room when Beckett had sat down and was conspicuous in his absence.

“He went home to shower and change. He’ll be back later. When will we hear about Luca?”

Dr. Khalid had promised to update them once the post-procedure test results were in.

“Sometime this morning. He said he’d get the lab to put a rush on it, but it still takes time.”

Whether the procedure worked, and how well it had worked, would be proven by the blood tests. Beckett was glad it was only a matter of hours. He couldn’t imagine waiting weeks or months to know if it had been successful.

“Do you want to go check on Luca?” Zac suggested.

Beckett looked at his phone and shook his head. “Sarah texted ten minutes ago. He’s fast asleep. She’ll stay until lunchtime.”

That would give Harper time to come back, and the omega could keep Zac company while Beckett sat with Luca.

“Then I guess we should think about deciding on a name?”

Beckett glanced down at the sleeping baby. “Good plan. Should we go through our shortlist, or have you picked one out?”

They’d narrowed it down to four possibilities, but they had wanted to see the little guy first, to be sure the name suited him. Beckett thought one, in particular, worked best, but he wanted to hear Zac’s opinion before interjecting his own.

“I thought Henry,” the omega said slowly. “I know it’s the most common name of all the ones on our list but…”

“He looks like a Henry,” Beckett agreed. “I thought the same.”

“Darcy for his middle name, of course.”

“Of course.”

“You know Sarah came to visit last night.”

He winced. “I know, she told me. It wasn’t what we’d planned. She was going to wait until you were home from the hospital.”

“No,” Zac assured him. “It’s fine. We should have done this ages ago. I don’t know why we didn’t.”

At his pointed look, Beckett confessed, “That was mostly my fault. I didn’t want to put you under pressure, and she felt awkward about the whole situation. Or I thought she did. We had a long chat last night. I was keeping her informed about everything, but I guess we never properly talked about it all. She thought it was because I didn’t want her involved, and I thought it was because it was too painful for her, what with her avoiding the house and all that. Turns out she was afraid of pushing in.”

He stared down at the baby in his arms, cursing his own stubbornness.

“Our kids should have a grandparent,” Zac said softly. “God knows they won’t get much of one from my mom.”

“Or my parents,” Beckett agreed. Loving, attentive grandparents they weren’t.

“Then I think we should open our hearts, and our home, to Sarah. Our family can grow a little more, can’t it?”

Beckett knew the smile on his face stretched from ear to ear. “Yeah, it can.”

A knock on the door put an end to their conversation, and Beckett’s heart stuttered when Dr. Khalid stepped into the room.

“I have Luca’s test results,” he announced. “If this isn’t a bad time?”

“This is the perfect time,” Beckett assured him, gesturing him into a chair.

“It’s good news. In fact, it’s better news than I’d hoped.”

Beckett almost wasn’t ready to believe it. He looked to Zac, who reached over and took his hand.

“The treatment worked?”

“As you know, there were three possible outcomes. No effect, which would mean no change in Luca’s condition. Minimal effect, which would give Luca one or two treatment-free years. Or a moderate effect, which would push back the need for further treatment some four or five years. In rare cases, the treatment triggers the condition to go into remission.” Doctor Khalid beamed at them. “I’m very pleased to tell you that what we’re seeing is the latter. Luca’s condition has gone into full remission.”

Beckett let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding, feeling tears in his eyes.

“How? You said that was next to impossible to achieve.”

“We think it was the timing. Luca’s recent treatment put his body into the most receptive condition, giving the stem cells the chance to work to maximum effect. We’re hoping to create a new protocol using Luca’s case, in the hopes of replicating the effect in other patients.”

“What does this mean for Luca?” Zac asked.

“I am hopeful this means he’ll have a full recovery with no need for further treatment. There is a possibility of recurrence when he’s older, and we will store the remaining stem cells for that. And there may, of course, be the option of a bone marrow transplant. But right now, all the evidence tells us he won’t need it. It’s a remarkable result. He’s a very lucky little boy.”

“Yes,” Beckett agreed hoarsely, tears running down his cheeks as he looked down at the baby in his arms. Their little miracle in more ways than one. “He is. Thank you, Dr. Khalid, for everything.”

“Can we see him?” Zac asked. “Is it safe?”

“Perfectly safe. We’ll keep him under observation until tomorrow, but that’s purely a precaution.” He stepped toward the door. “And congratulations, by the way. Many blessings to you and your growing family.”

Beckett sat in his chair, staring down at Henry, his eyes blurred with tears. He felt Zac’s arms wrap around him, the omega hugging him tightly.

“You did it,” Zac murmured as Beckett got an arm around him and hugged him back.

“We did it,” he countered. “We fought, and we battled, and we didn’t give up.”

“And now you don’t have to fight anymore. We’ve won. It’s time to rest. To enjoy what we have, and the future we fought for.”

Beckett held tight to Zac and Henry, words failing him at the enormity of the relief he felt. He’d carried the fear of losing Luca almost from the moment he’d been born. To have it suddenly lifted… it was like he could breathe again for the first time.

A while later, he pushed Zac in a wheelchair through the hospital corridors. Zac carried Henry in his arms, and they had a balloon for Luca tied to the arm of the chair, and a new stuffed toy.

When they pushed open the door to Luca’s room, the little boy almost bounded off the bed.

“Daddy! Zac!”

Beckett caught him in his arms, hugging him tightly and kissing his forehead.

“Hey, kiddo. How do you feel?”

“Hungry!”

He laughed and met Sarah’s eyes. “No wonder. Dr. Khalid gave us the good news. You’re all better, kiddo. No more being sick, no more treatments, not for a very long time. Maybe never.”

Sarah’s eyes widened hopefully, and Beckett nodded. “A better outcome than we’d dreamed.”

She smiled and clapped a hand to her mouth, her eyes filled with tears. Beckett pressed a hand to her shoulder and turned to Zac.

“Luca, would you like to meet your little brother?”

Luca’s eyes, which had been fixed on the balloon, searched out the baby in Zac’s lap.

Beckett carried him closer so he could get a better look.

“My brother?” he asked.

“Uh-huh. Your little brother, just like we talked about. He gave you a present already, the medicine that made you all better. But he also brought you this cool balloon and a new bear to cuddle.”

Luca squirmed to be put down, leaning against Zac’s knee as he stared at the baby.

“Dada,” he said softly, tugging at Zac’s dressing gown. “What’s he called?”

Beckett froze, realizing Luca wasn’t talking to him, but to Zac. Zac’s eyes were bright with unshed tears.

“His name is Henry. Henry Darcy Rayne.”

Beside them, Sarah made a little sound that wasn’t quite a cry. Beckett put an arm around her, watching as Luca took in his little brother.

“He’s small.”

“So were you once,” Zac said softly. “He’ll be big like you one day.”

“And we can play together?”

“Every day.”

“Then that’s okay,” Luca pronounced. “He can share my toys. Even my duckies.”

Beckett grinned, his heart ready to burst with happiness. Yes, the fight had been long, but it had been worth it.

Epilogue

Zac had always wanted a summer wedding, but he’d never quite pictured it like this. The small, walled garden was the perfect venue. Intimate, picturesque, full of pretty flowers and things to look at. But he only had eyes for Beckett standing opposite him. The alpha looked handsome in his suit, the blue tie complementing his dark brown eyes.

Harper stood at Zac’s elbow, brushing imaginary lint off his shoulders.

“Stop fussing,” Zac murmured.

“The best man never stops,” Harper retorted.

Luca wandered up the aisle carrying the rings, distracted by a butterfly that flew overhead. There was soft laughter as Sarah gently redirected him, and he handed over the rings to William with a shy smile. Frankie was next, scattering flowers all around. She seemed particularly good at throwing them onto people’s shoes. Harper tried to smother his laughter as Zac elbowed him.

“She has perfect aim,” the omega murmured in his ear. “If she isn’t playing little league baseball, she should be.”

Zac had to look down and try hard to keep from laughing.

“Think serious thoughts,” Harper muttered, which only made the urge to laugh stronger.

“Your mother,” the omega followed up with.

Zac’s heart seized. “What? Where?”

“Nowhere, but you’re not laughing now, are you? Ouch.”

Harper rubbed his arm where Zac had punched him, grinning ruefully. “Sorry.” He made a face. “We’d better put on our serious hats. Mr. Best Man Alpha over there has got his Terminator face on again.”

It was a surprise to no one that William and Harper didn’t get along. Thankfully, they only had to be around one another for a single day since he and Beckett hadn’t bothered with a rehearsal. The day would go how it went. They didn’t need perfect. It would be their day, regardless.

The officiant finally began the ceremony, and Zac relaxed when he realized all he had to do now was focus on Beckett. That had never been a hardship for him.

The words all blurred together until the vows, and with neither of them being great public speakers, they made them easy. Just a few simple, heartfelt lines about how they loved each other and wanted to share their lives. His mother would have hated it. But as he and Beckett turned to face each other, he caught sight of Sarah dabbing at her eyes with a tissue.

He and Beckett exchanged rings, and then it was time for the kiss. The alpha’s hand cupped his cheek, their gazes met, and then they were kissing like there was no one in the world but the two of them.

“Ahem.”

The officiant coughed politely, and they broke apart. Zac felt himself flush but was distracted by the small crowd clapping and cheering. They turned to walk back down the short aisle, making eye contact with the guests as they did. Zac caught sight of Brendan in the back row and grinned at the alpha, delighted to see him. He had, after all, played an instrumental part in his and Beckett’s relationship.

They didn’t have far to go. The reception was all set up across a bridge on the other side of the garden. The guests had tea and cake while the photographs were taken. The group shots were first, then some with the alpha grooms together. Zac found some shade to stand in, itching to unbutton his shirt a little.

“Alright there, duck?” Harper asked, rocking Henry as the little boy fussed.

“Sure. Just a little warm.”

“You do look flushed. Why don’t I get you something to drink?”

“I’m fine,” he said, catching Harper’s arm before he could wander off. “I’m pre-heat, that’s all.”

“Just in time for your honeymoon,” Harper joked, grinning knowingly at him.

Zac flushed a little deeper, avoiding Harper’s eyes.

The omega frowned a little, leaning closer to whisper, “So when are you getting your implant?”

He glanced up, looked around to make sure no one could overhear, and whispered his reply. “I’m not, not yet. You were sort of right about the honeymoon. Beckett and I were talking about it. We were thinking just one more… maybe two.”

Harper’s eyebrows all but shot up into his hairline. “Seriously, duck?”

“Why not?”

Harper considered for a moment then shrugged. “Why not?” he echoed. “You guys make awesome parents.”

The photographer called Zac back over so he could take a few shots of just him and Beckett. Zac went eagerly into Beckett’s arms, looking up into the alpha’s eyes.

“Happy?” Beckett asked him.

“Happier than I ever thought possible,” he admitted.

“Me too.”

The photographer took what felt like hundreds of photos before suggesting, “One with you and the children, perhaps?”

Sarah brought Luca, who came running to join them. Beckett swooped him up into his arms. Harper passed Henry to Zac and bounced away to stand next to William. The alpha looked immediately uncomfortable, and Zac had to work hard not to laugh.

He turned his attention to the task at hand, standing close to Beckett and Luca, and rocking Henry in his arms.

“Eyes on me, smiles everyone. Yes, just like that. Perfect.”

It was perfect. Everything Zac had dreamed of.

Author’s Note

Thanks for reading Expecting You, the first book in the Omega’s Luck series. I really hope you enjoyed reading Beckett, Zac, and Luca’s story! If you have a moment to spare, reviews are always appreciated.

If you’d like to hear about new releases in this or other series, you can sign up to my mailing list here or visit clairecullenbooks.com.

* * *

Cover Designed by Cormar Covers

Copyright © 2020 by Claire Cullen

All Rights Reserved

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincident.

The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials.