Now was one of the times that he wished that he hadn’t been a dick to everyone he’d met because if he had real friends, then he could reach out to them for help. He thought about Tate and Lara but dropped the idea immediately.
Because Brogan was now an Omega, Tate would side with Cade as the change in Brogan’s gender made him unable to take care of himself, and Lara - well she was still angry with him for having changed.
He liked Jackson, or he had liked Jackson, but he didn’t want to fuck him, had no desire to, but he craved Cade in a way he hadn’t wanted to admit before.
Sometime before the sun came up, he made a decision, but sleep had barely claimed him when his father was shaking him awake.
“I managed to get you the appointment with the doctor yesterday for this morning, and it looks like perfect timing since it coincides with what your new Alpha wants.”
“Maybe we - I don’t…” Brogan stuttered.
“Doesn’t matter, Brogan,” Richard told him matter of factly, “You made your choice the moment you called me. Cade is the past. You have a very wealthy Alpha wanting you. Without the whelp, so we’re going to remove the one thing standing between me and - you and a great Alpha and I’m not going to let you fuck this up. If you try to run from me, I’ll hunt you down and get rid of the pup myself now let’s get going.”
Brogan caught the slip - between me - and it let Brogan know that this was no accident, his meeting Jackson. This was planned between the two men and he was left on his own on purpose. This was a getting to know you moment and since Jackson made an offer to claim Brogan, he must have passed Jackson’s test.
On the drive to the doctor’s office, Richard talked to him as though he was on a Sunday drive to enjoy the scenery and not on his way to kill Brogan’s baby. It was futile to argue, so Brogan just let the older man talk and he just grunted in the appropriate places until Richard talked about football.
“Carolina’s first game is against Orlando and thanks to you I’mma win a butt load of money, so thanks for that son.”
“No problem dad,” Brogan snarked. “I allowed myself to be almost raped so that you could win big with your bookie.”
“No need for the sarcasm Brogan, just remember if you had been the Alpha, I thought you were then we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
There was no winning this argument, so he bit back his reply and continued to listen to his father’s one sided dialogue until they reached the clinic.
The outside of the clinic was deceptive.
It looked like an English cottage, the garden was adorned roses and native flowers that could withstand the South Carolina climate, completed the look. The beauty on the outside covered up the ugliness on the inside.
Brogan sat in the car and stared at the building even after Richard slammed the car door closed and walked inside.
It would be easy to leave but where did running get him before? Sitting in front of a clinic to kill his baby.
Slowly he got out of the car and walked inside to take a seat next to his father to wait for the nurse to call his name. He didn’t have long to wait and soon he was in an examination room wearing a paper gown and waiting for a doctor.
Just like everything in this place the doctor wasn’t what Brogan was expecting either. In walked a tall blond good looking Alpha. To see an Alpha performing this surgery on Omegas was a total shock. From what Brogan’s research most doctors in this field were Betas because they were not influenced by the need to protect the Omega.
“Hi Brogan,” the doctor greeted, “I’m doctor O’Neill and I see that you and your Alpha are here to terminate your pregnancy, is that what you want?”
Swallowing hard Brogan glanced towards his father’s hard face and thought about defying him, but where would he go when he did? Cade would have him long enough for him to give birth, but that doesn’t mean that he would keep Brogan as well.
If he decided to keep the baby there was the strong probability that it would be born an Omega as well and God knows that he didn’t want an Omega child of his growing up in his father’s home, so he nodded and barely whispered, “Yes, it’s what I want.”
The doctor pursed his lips and read from his charts, “Alpha do you mind giving Brogan and I a few minutes alone?”
“Brogan doesn’t mind if I stay here, right Brogan?” Richard asked with fake affection.
“I mind,” the doctor corrected. “This is something I do with all of my patients, so if you want this to happen, then I suggest that you give us the time alone.”
Pursing his lips, Richard gave Brogan a look that said don’t fuck this up, before turning and leaving the room.
“So Brogan tell me why you want to do this, abort you baby. Your Alpha isn’t making you do this is he?”
Shaking his head, Brogan whispered, “No. I mean no he isn’t making me do this.”
“Brogan if you don’t tell the truth I can’t help you,” Dr. Pinkett encouraged him.
“I was turned against my will and almost raped by someone else wanting to claim me, and I don’t want to bring a child in a world that’s so fucked up, so this was my idea.”
“Okay then, do you want him in here? Because he doesn’t have to be if you don’t want.”
“I don’t want him here.”
Once Brogan advised the doctor that he didn’t want his father in the room, everything seemed to happen at breakneck speed. Nurses seemed to come out of nowhere, making him lay down and placing his feet in stirrups and then the doctor is examining him in his new Omega opening that Brogan wouldn’t let Cade touch.
It seemed obscene that the hymen would be broken not by the birth of his baby, but by its death.
Before the procedure began, Brogan also asked to doctor to perform another one, a hysterectomy.
“No.”
“Why not Brogan begged, “you’re doing this, why not make it so I can’t do this again?”
“Because you’re young and you’re emotional and those emotions are leading you to make bad decisions. This is a decision that will repair your current situation and I believe that you have a right to do that, but a hysterectomy is permanent. If you can get your Alpha to sign for the procedure, then I will perform it but not before.”
It seemed that Dr. O’Neill was just like the other Alphas after all. Accepting his fate, Brogan lay back and let the examination begin. He’d read somewhere that being on heat suppressants could cause sterilization, he’d have to research that further once he’s healed from his surgery.
After the examination there was an epidural and then the life that he and Cade created was torn from his body with a saline solution and all he could do was cry for the loss of his last connection to Cade.
Chapter 18
It’s been weeks and there was still no sign of Brogan.
Cade had been working closely with Amanda Wheeler hoping that she would soon have news of his missing mate, but nothing so far. When he first went missing Brogan was given the benefit of the doubt, that he was scared from what happened with Jaden, but when the minutes turned into hours and the hours into days and the days to weeks, he could no longer deny that fact that Brogan had run away.
Again.
This time there was no hiding from everyone that Brogan was missing, especially with Jaden attempting to spin his part in Brogan’s disappearance to keep his million-dollar contracts. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t spin away the fact that he had tried to hurt an Omega and he lost the contracts any way.
Cade would be happy with the quarterback’s reversal of fortune if it meant he had Brogan back.
Using every opportunity presented to him, Cade pleaded for Brogan to return to him. Whenever a news outlet asked for an interview he consented. He had to let Brogan know that he wanted him to come home and not just because of the baby. He also wanted Brogan to come on his own because if he didn’t, he would be punished by Amanda and the Omega Center for running.
As often as he made his plea, Brogan
still hadn’t returned home, but he knew it was because his stubborn mate didn’t believe that he wouldn’t be punished, but Cade kept trying.
His father and his friends, new and old gathered around to help him through the hard times especially with the press. Benji, Paige and Liam helped save Brogan’s reputation from the slut that Jaden was trying to paint him as was the biggest help.
Richard Ford had been Cade’s biggest lead and he’d paid a top-notch Private Investigator to follow the man but all he seemed to do was work and go home. After a couple of weeks, he eased up on following Richard and began watching the siblings Nicole and Jason, but their lives were just as boring and stagnant as their fathers.
As the weeks passed Cade began to get used to the ache in his chest that had settled there since the moment, he learned that Brogan was gone. The worse part was two weeks after Brogan disappeared and he felt as though a part of his soul was being torn from him and it made that ache in his chest hurt even more.
“Hi, Benji,” Cade greeted when the Omega dropped off his mail.
“Hey Cade,” Benji greeted, “You have an unscheduled visitor this morning.”
He knew without asking that it was Amanda Wheeler. She was the only person bold enough to walk into his office without an appointment and expect to have audience with him. It was her boldness and the fact that he knew that she might have information on his mate, so she was allowed into his office each time she showed up.
“Before you ask, no I don’t have anything new,” she said by way of greeting, “but I do have a new idea. Brogan’s pregnant right?”
“You were the one who gave me the wonderful news remember? How is his pregnancy going to help?”
“Well he’s going to need prenatal care and help delivering the baby, so I’m reaching out to all ob-gyn within the tristate area.
“Do you think that will work,” Cade asked afraid to get his hopes up after weeks of failed ideas.
“I do,” she said sternly. “You can’t give up Cade.”
“I’m not giving up,” he explained. “it’s just that we’ve tried everything, and nothing has worked so I do not want to get excited but I’m scared that this will turn out to be another dead end. And besides, you take his leaving as a personal affront to you, a puzzle that you need to solve, but I’ve lost my mate and my child, and I want my family back.”
“And you’ll get them. If he doesn’t come on his own, then Brogan will spend some time in the Center, but if you want him after that, you’ll have him back.”
After her usual check-in Amanda left to see if she had any hits from the doctor’s offices in the area and once, she was gone, Simon stepped inside his office. He probably had been hovering in the doorway waiting for her to leave.
“So what’s her plan this time?” Simon asked.
“Yeah, and whatever it is do you think it’ll work?” Tate asked as he followed Simon inside the office.
He should have known that the blond wasn’t far behind Simon. The two seemed to have bonded as Simon was working in the art department directly under Tate. If he wasn’t worried about Brogan, he’d be a little jealous of their newfound friendship because they were very similar. Since joining the company, Cade had heard story after story about Tate’s love for barely legal Omegas and he knew about Simon’s love for Omegas of any age. However, despite his reputation as a douchebag, the man loved Brogan like a brother and was just as worried as Cade.
After constantly seeing the worry on Tate’s face, Cade decided that when he found his wayward mate, he would make sure that he was adequately punished for making his friend suffer.
“Soon guys, we’ll find him soon, but right now I need your asses out of my office because I have an appointment with a potential client, and I don’t want the two of you scaring him away.”
Cade laughed at his friend’s expressions while he kicked them out. His client wasn’t due for twenty minutes, but he needed the time to pull himself together before the man arrived. No one wanted to place their company’s future in the hands of a blubbering Alpha. If he couldn’t control his emotions, then how the hell was he going to be able to control the account.
Twenty minutes later, with a handshake and a fake smile, Cade stepped aside and let Jackson Bennett into his office.
“Mr. Bennett,” Cade greeted the older Alpha.
“Jackson,” Jackson corrected coolly. “Mr. Bennett’s my dad and I never want to be confused with that bastard.”
“Okay, Jackson it is,” Cade agreed as he sat down. “I must admit Jackson, you’re not our usual clientele and judging by my research word of mouth is working very well for you. What made you chose Sports Related to promote your company?”
“Yeah, being featured in a national magazine does give you free advertising, but I also want to control the image of my company and I need guys like you to help me do that. You guys are young and hungry, and your promotions are outside of the box, something Lindsay is not. I think that he has grown complacent and his people are unimaginative and that’s not what I want.”
Shaking his head in agreement, Cade began his pitch, but toward the end he felt that he’d lost Jackson’s interest because the man was staring at the photo of Brogan he kept on his desk. When he did look away from the picture Cade felt as though he was being judged and found lacking.
“I like your ideas,” Jackson finally told him, “but you must understand that you’re not the only company who’s interested in my business. I want to weigh my options, and discuss with my business partner, Alex, but I must tell you I love your originality and creativity.”
“Thanks,” Cade smiled hoping that the creativity was enough to win them a new client. Bennett- Brown Industries would be a coup for them and take the company from the niche market they had pigeonholed themselves into.
Before leaving the office Jackson, nodded towards Brogan’s’ photo and asked, “Isn’t that the Omega who’s been in the news recently? The one gone missing.”
“Yes,” Cade answered through clenched teeth, hoping that would end the questions, but when had Cade ever been so lucky?
“He’s been gone all of this time, and according to the news possibly to mate with another Alpha and you still have his picture on your desk?”
The accusation made Cade see red, but he needed to keep his cool. How dare this man accuse Brogan of anything when he didn’t know him? Anyone with half a brain could see that Jaden was lying and the fact that he hit an Omega should tell anyone other than the Cro-Magnon set what kind of Alpha Jaden was; even his Beta girlfriend didn’t believe his lies and broke up with him.
“My mate was traumatized by his association with someone whom he thought was a friend and is scared. I know that when he feels that he is safe that he will come home. I understand your concern that this will affect your business being associated with our company, but I assure you my private life will not affect the quality of my work.”
Cade told Jackson that and his work hadn’t suffered because he’d needed something to focus on while Brogan was missing. Despite the great work he was producing some companies decided not to do business and left when their contracts ended.
Bennett-Brown Industries would put them on the map despite the companies who left plus if he signed them. The design firm would be the biggest company they had ever worked with, the first non-sports affiliated company, and would send the message that they were reliable all while bringing more business their way.
After the lengthy meeting with Jackson, Cade fought the urge to call Amanda to see if there had been any hits with the doctors, but he didn’t want to seem pushy, so he waited. He told himself that he would wait until tomorrow before he called so to prevent making a call, he walked down to Simon’ office and invited himself to dinner.
That was his intentions, but before he reached his friend’s office, he received a text from Jackson Bennett telling him that he’d won the contract but more importantly, where he could find Brogan.
Chapter 19
Too tired to try to sugar coat his response, Brogan simply told him, “That I didn’t want you in the room. I told him that I was a big boy and could make the decision by myself.”
“Stupid…” Richard started before hanging tactics. “Brogan you’re an Omega now and I know you don’t want to believe that this changes things, but it does, and I just don’t want anyone taking advantage of you and that why I insisted on being in the room with you during the procedure.”
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