The Omega Professor's Secret Baby

by Cora Crawford

  Their eye contact was like a slap to the face and exactly what Wilson needed. His body was suddenly working again. Without a second thought, Wilson was weaving his way through the crowd of people. He was almost positive that he didn’t breathe until he made it out of the room.

  But he didn’t stop there. Wilson wasn’t going to wait around to give Mac the chance to talk to him. All he wanted to do was go back to his apartment. It was a mistake coming to the party. In fact, it was the last one in a long line of mistakes. And that was the last mistake he was going to make. Wilson was finished with alphas once and for all. Every time one entered his life, he ended up getting hurt.

  Wilson thought for a moment that he was actually free. He had almost made it to his car when he felt a hand grab his arm. Wilson instantly recognized the touch as Mac’s. When would he be free from this alpha?

  “Wilson,” Mac said breathlessly. “Please stop and talk to me. It’s not what it looks like.”

  Wilson stared at the alpha in front of him and debated how he should answer the man. He wasn’t blind. Wilson saw what he saw. There was no denying it. Mac was a big man, and if someone was on him against his will, he could easily shove them away.

  “It doesn’t matter what I saw,” he answered. And that was the truth. It really didn’t matter that Wilson had seen Mac kissing another man. He already knew Mac would never settle down with him, so why tell him about the baby at all? The alpha had plenty of other things on his mind. There was no room in his head to even begin to think about a baby, and Wilson didn’t want to waste either of their times.

  “Yes, it does. I don’t want to kiss-”

  Wilson held up his hand to cut Mac off. He didn’t even want him to finish his sentence. “Mac, you have nothing to apologize for. You’re in college. This is the time to live it up and date whoever you want. We aren’t anything and we never were,” Wilson said.

  His words seemed to shock Mac. “I don’t care what you say, Wilson. We have something and that’s important.”

  The alpha stopped talking, but he looked like he had plenty more words waiting to come out. Wilson stood there silently, waiting for Mac to finish so he could go home.

  “I-I’m falling in love with you, Wilson,” Mac admitted.

  The words made Wilson’s heart skip a beat. If life was easy, then Wilson would fall into Mac’s arms right there and then. But it wasn’t. It wasn’t possible to follow one’s heart all the time. That was something Mac still needed to learn. Wilson would never admit the truth to the other man--it would only make things more difficult.

  So he lied.

  “I’m sorry, Mac, but I don’t feel the same way. It’s not fair to you. I could never accept you as a mate.”

  Without saying another word or sparing another moment, Wilson got into his car and drove off, fighting back tears--and the urge to turn around and get back to the man he loved.

  Chapter 12

  Mac stood there, frozen, as he watched Wilson drive away. He couldn’t believe what Wilson had said to him. He’d never expected those words to come out of the omega’s mouth.

  Was this all a dream? A nightmare?

  “I’m sorry, Mac, but I don’t feel the same way. It’s not fair to you. I could never accept you as a mate.”

  Those words had caused Mac terrible pain. He had never experienced rejection before. The fact that the one man he had ever actually wanted had rejected him both crushed and infuriated him. Wilson wasn’t even going to give him a chance. It wasn’t fair. Wilson was the omega for him--the one omega Mac had any interest in being with.

  And he had rejected Mac to his face and left.

  He felt demolished. Reduced to nothing at all. He sat down hard on the curb and buried his head in his hands.

  He desperately wanted to blame Paul. Maybe if he hadn’t kissed Mac, this would never have happened. But that wasn’t true. It wasn’t anyone’s fault but Mac’s, and deep down, he knew it. It was possible that if he had treated their situation differently, they wouldn’t have ended up at that point to begin with.

  Mac didn’t understand what was wrong with him. He was used to not caring about anyone he slept with. He tried to be that way with Wilson, too, but it hadn’t worked. The alpha felt things for Wilson that he had never felt for another person in his life. It had been confusing, but he should’ve been honest--with both Wilson and Paul.

  As hard as it was to accept, Mac needed to know that Wilson and him were never going to happen. He couldn’t travel back in time and change things, no matter how much he wanted to. The only thing he could do his keep going forward and forget about the omega.

  Mac picked himself up off the curb and started to walk towards his own car. He felt mentally and physically exhausted. The only thing he could do tonight was go home and sleep.

  The rest, he could deal with in the morning.

  The next morning wasn’t any easier, even though Mac had hoped it would be. He had to force himself to get out of bed and do what needed to be done. There was no way he was going to be happy without Wilson.

  It seemed as if there was nothing he could do other than live his life exactly as his father wanted. There was no use in losing everything to live the life Mac wanted to live. There was no point if Wilson wasn’t in the picture.

  Mac called his father and his sister, requesting a family dinner that night. He had an announcement to make.

  That night, Mac almost chickened out. He seriously regretted planning a family dinner. He didn’t want to see anyone. He didn’t want to make his announcement, either, but he had no other choice.

  Mac stared at himself in the mirror as he straightened his tie. This was it. He couldn’t back out now.

  The alpha tried to tame his nerves as he made his way to his father’s house, but it wasn’t exactly working. He felt like he was going to puke, and it took active struggling to keep himself from getting sick all over his car.

  When he walked into the house, he noticed that everyone was there before him once again. Even Paul was in attendance. Mac had thought about inviting the omega himself, but he knew his father wouldn’t miss an opportunity to push the two of them together. The four of them made small talk while they were waiting to sit down for dinner. Mac thought about blurting out his news as soon as he walked through the door. He just wanted to get it over with. But he held himself back, deciding that he was going to wait to make his announcement over actual dinner.

  The time came long before he was ready. In the blink of an eye, all four of them were sitting at the table just as they had been a week ago.

  And how they would be every week after.

  Before anyone could start eating, Mac stood up. “I have an announcement to make,” he said. When everyone was looking at him with expectant eyes, he continued. “I have decided that Paul is the omega for me, and that we should be officially mated after the semester is over.”

  Before Mac could sit back down, his father leapt to his feet and wrapped his son in a hug. “I’m so proud of you, Mac. I’m sure the two of you will be very happy for years to come!”

  Mac forced himself to grunt out an awkward, “Thank you.”

  He was half expecting Paul to get up and kiss him again, but the omega stayed at the table, grinning from ear to ear. It wasn’t a happy grin, though. It was the grin of a man who’d won a prize. That was all Mac was to him--a prize.

  Mac noticed Ashley was the only one who didn’t seem thrilled. In fact, she was openly wearing her confusion. Mac wished she wouldn’t look at him like that. It wasn’t helpful at all.

  When dinner was over, Paul approached Mac with a smirk on his face.

  “I guess my kiss finally made you see the truth,” Paul said.

  “Guess so,” Mac murmured before he walked past the man and went up to his sister. She still didn’t seem excited by the news like everyone else.

  Mac opened his mouth to say something, but he never got the chance. Ashley immediately began talking. “I don’t want to talk about it h
ere,” she said. “Meet me at our place after tomorrow’s classes.”

  The next day, Mac met Ashley at the diner as he had promised. When he got there, she was already at a table waiting for him.

  How did everyone manage to get places before he did?

  He slid into the booth across from her. “Hey.”

  She looked up from her phone. Mac was surprised when she didn’t smile. “Hi.”

  “So… what exactly do you want to know?”

  The question may have been slightly straight-forward, but Mac knew why Ashley wanted to meet with him. There was something she was trying to figure out, and he was going to have to provide the answers. There was no lying to her.

  “I know you don’t love Paul,” she said.

  Mac nodded. “You’re completely right. I don’t love Paul.”

  Ashley stared at him for a while without saying anything. His sister always had a way of seeing straight through him. Today was no exception.

  “If you don’t love him, then why are you with him?” she demanded.

  Mac sighed. He didn’t want to lie or withhold the truth from his sister any longer. The only problem was that the truth didn’t just affect him. He couldn’t say too much or Wilson would end up getting in trouble.

  “I’m in love with someone else,” he admitted.

  Ashley’s eyebrows rose at his confession. “You do? Who is it?”

  Mac knew things were about to get complicated. No matter how much Ashley wanted to know or how much Mac wanted to tell her, she couldn’t know the whole truth.

  “You don’t know him,” he said. It wasn’t a complete lie. Ashley didn’t have Wilson for a professor and she had probably never met him. “But it doesn’t matter who he is. I can’t have him.”

  Mac expected Ashley to automatically demand to know why Mac couldn’t have the man he wanted, but she didn’t.

  “Are you kidding me?”

  Mac was slightly taken aback. “Excuse me?”

  “If you love him and want him so bad, then why don’t you fight for him? I’ve never known you to be one to just lie down and take it.”

  Ashley paused, but she didn’t stop there.

  “I know you’re just trying to make Dad happy, and that’s ridiculous,” she went on. “This is your life, not his. You know that ultimately he’ll love you no matter what. So go and fight for what’s gonna make you happy.”

  Mac didn’t reply to his sister. Her words were swimming around in his head. His thoughts were congested and he needed time to sort through them all.

  Ashley stood up. “I know you have a lot to think about, so I’ll leave you to it. Keep me updated.”

  Mac didn’t stay to eat. He left shortly after his sister did.

  She was right. He did have a lot to think about.

  Chapter 13

  When Wilson had rejected Mac and driven away, there was a moment when he was convinced that he was crazy. He wanted Mac and Mac wanted him. But he reminded himself over and over again that Mac’s playboy status had been confirmed right in front of his eyes. How could he tell Mac about the baby after that?

  It didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.

  Wilson cried during his short drive home. He sat in his car for a moment after he parked his car, wiping his tears from his face. He told himself he was going to go inside his apartment and he wasn’t going to cry again. This was how things were, and he needed to accept that. Crying wasn’t going to change anything.

  During that weekend, Wilson had a lot to think about. It seemed that tough decisions made over the weekend were becoming his new norm. When Wilson started at Briarwood University, he had promised himself that he wouldn’t let another alpha affect his career. Things were more difficult than that now. How could Wilson possibly stay at the University now that he was pregnant?

  If Wilson stayed, it would become obvious that he was pregnant before long. Mac would most likely hear the news. Even if no one else knew the baby was Mac’s, he would know. The alpha wasn’t stupid.

  Wilson feared that if Mac ever found out the omega was pregnant was his baby, he would risk his whole future. Mac may have thought the life that his father had planned for him wasn’t the one that he wanted, but it was a good life. A much better life than if he would give up everything for Wilson and the baby.

  Mac couldn’t ever know the truth. That meant as much as Wilson didn’t want to change schools again, he had to. Wilson would be fine at another school. It wouldn’t damage his future. Just his pride. Mac’s future was the one that was at stake--and Wilson knew he had to leave so Mac could live the life he deserved.

  Wilson was also stressed over the fact that he was going to have to leave Briarwood. Where would he go now? He was going to have to cancel his lease. He didn’t even want to stay in the same area as Mac. It was too risky. There was always the possibility that they were going to run into each other somewhere.

  The thought of trying to find another teaching position right now while so many life-changing things were happening was riddling Wilson with anxiety. There was so much he had to figure out on his own.

  Where would he live?

  Where would he work?

  How was he going to take care of this baby by himself?

  He knew he had to talk to someone or he was going to go crazy from all the worrying. Christine came to mind right away, but Wilson hadn’t talked to his sister in a long time. She was a few years older than him, and they hadn’t been that close when they were growing up. As life changed and Wilson began to get wrapped up with alphas, they virtually lost touch all together. It made him sad, considering their parents were gone and they were all they had left.

  Well, that wasn’t exactly true. His sister had a family of her own now. She had met her husband when she went off to college. They got married shortly after graduation, and now they had three wonderful kids together. That was another reason they had lost touch. They were in completely different places in their lives. They didn’t relate to each other much anymore.

  Wilson supposed that was all changing now. He was about to have a child of his own. He was going to need a lot of help and advice, and the only person he could see himself getting it from was his sister. Without a second thought, Wison picked up the phone and called the contact he hadn’t talked to in far too long.

  With every ring of the phone, Wilson’s heart skipped a beat. If he said he wasn’t nervous, he would be lying. There was a possibility that his sister wouldn’t bother to pick up the phone once she saw his name on the screen. It was also possible that she would pick up the phone, but she wouldn’t have anything kind to say.

  “Wilson?” she answered.

  “Chirstine.” Wilson was surprised when he could hear soft crying coming through the speaker. “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “I’m just so happy that you called. You’ve been on my mind,” she admitted.

  The words tugged on his heartstrings. He hadn’t realized how much he had missed his sister until this moment. “I’m sorry for not calling.”

  “Me too,” she sighed. “I’ve thought about it so many times, I’m not sure why I didn’t.”

  “It’s okay,” he said. “I called today because I have big news to tell you.”

  “What is it?”

  “I’m pregnant.”

  There was silence for a moment before his sister erupted into cheers. “That is so exciting! Congratulations! Is the father that sexy alpha you were living with?

  This was the moment when Wilson started crying himself. He hadn’t realized how much his sister truly didn’t know about his life. “No,” he choked out. “I broke up with him because he didn’t want any kids. It’s someone I met at my new University. He doesn’t know and he can’t know.”

  “What are you going to do?” she asked.

  This was a question that Wilson didn’t know how to answer. He didn’t know what he was going to do. He had never felt so lost before.

  “I honestly have no idea,” he admitted. “I ha
ve to find a new job and move again.”

  Christine was silent this time. Wilson didn’t blame her. This was a lot of information to find out at the same time. When she did speak again, she completely surprised Wilson with her answer.

  “Well, why don’t you come and stay with me for a while?”

  “Are you sure?” he asked, shocked.

  Her answer was immediate. “Of course.”

  For the next hour, Wilson and his sister discussed all the details of him coming to live with her. By the time the call ended, Wilson felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He was going to hand in his immediate resignation on Monday, and then he would move to his sisters’. For the first time since he had found out that he was pregnant, Wilson had a little direction. He knew what he was going to do. His sister would be a huge help in welcoming his child into the world.

  On Monday, before classes started, Wilson made his way to the Dean’s office. He knocked on the door and waited for a response.

  “Come in,” the Dean prompted.

  Wilson opened the door and walked into the office with a deep sigh. The Dean smirked as soon as he saw the omega come into the room.

  “Well, what brings you to my office this morning? Late night?” the Dean asked suggestively.

  Wilson shook his head. “That’s not why I’m here. I just came to give you this.”

  As soon as Wilson dropped his resignation letter on the Dean’s desk, the other man snatched it up and began reading it. His eyes quickly scanned the document as Wilson watched nervously.

  Finally, when the man was finished, he looked up at Wilson. “Well, I guess that’s it. I have nothing else to say.”

  Neither did Wilson. He quickly excused himself from the office, desperate to get away from the awkward tension that was present. As soon as the door shut behind him, he let out a sigh of relief. This would all be over soon.