Taking The Omega's Heat

by Athena Blaez

  Wyatt chewed on his lower lip while he considered Gage’s offer. “That’s very generous, but—”

  “I won’t take over your business, Wyatt. I won’t absorb it into the pack holdings. That’s your thing.”

  “You promise?”

  Gage made the cross over his heart. “Promise. And I can make sure Aaron keeps you up-to-date and runs all decisions by you.”

  “An Alpha taking direction from an omega?” Wyatt blew out a short breath to get his hair out of his eyes. “That’s a first for me.”

  “Well, he’s my troubleshooter. Aaron fixes problems for the pack. The issue with your shop is a problem. He’ll fix it, and when you get back on your feet after the baby, you’ll find that your shop is still yours. Wyatt…say yes. Please.”

  Wyatt was quiet while he dropped deep into thought. Fear that after everything, Wyatt would not want to be mates with him gripped him.

  “No one’s ever wanted me before,” Wyatt said.

  Gage tilted Wyatt’s face up to meet his gaze. “I want you. I love you.”

  More silence as Wyatt searched Gage’s face. Gage didn’t know what he was looking for but he had nothing to hide. Wyatt drew his bottom lip between his teeth to worry at it. With his thumb, Gage gently pulled it out and placed a kiss on his lips. “Please stay with me.”

  Wyatt’s breath sounded like a sob and Gage pulled back in concern.

  Tear-filled eyes regarded him. “Okay. Yes. Yes, I’ll stay. Not because I want your money, Gage, you have to believe that. But because I love you, too.”

  Gage’s heart soared when he heard the words. He drew Wyatt into a fierce hug until Wyatt’s hands beat on his shoulders. “Can’t breathe…” Wyatt whispered.

  “Right. Sorry. Sorry. I’m just…thank you.”

  Cupping Wyatt’s face, Gage dotted his cheeks and forehead with kisses until their mouths met. What started as something innocent flared within Gage with every subsequent brush of his mouth against Wyatt’s.

  Wyatt’s fingers closed around the cloth of Gage’s shirt. When their mouths parted, Wyatt released a shaky breath. “I guess now is not a good time to want sex.”

  “Why would you say that?” Gage pulled back so he could smooth a hand over Wyatt’s stomach. That was a sight that would never get old for him. To see Wyatt with his baby brought a moment of awe and poignancy to how Gage viewed his duties to the pack.

  He’d always felt the responsibility for the pack and only rarely shirked his duties. And that only happened when he felt what was asked of him involved things that didn’t matter for the health of the pack. Or if it were something Aaron was better suited to handle.

  Now? Knowing he had assured the continued operation of the pack when he produced an heir? An heir that he had chosen to raise?

  Shit just got real for Gage and he kissed Wyatt’s stomach in reverent silence.

  “Ugh.” Wyatt pushed at Gage’s head. “Why do you do that?”

  “Because,” Gage said solemnly. He refused to be dissuaded from loving Wyatt’s tummy and the baby inside. “This is the most beautiful thing to me. Just like you are.”

  “Remind Aaron to make an appointment to get your eyes checked. I am not, nor have I ever been beautiful.”

  “I disagree. When I first saw you, I thought you were so sexy.”

  “You don’t even remember when you first saw me.”

  Gage poked out his lower lip. “I do, too. You were outside Noah’s apartment. There were grocery bags around your feet.”

  “And?” Wyatt crossed his arms.

  “What ‘and’? Isn’t that enough?”

  “I suppose. There wasn’t much more to see, I guess. But look at me now. I’m a beached whale.”

  “Nope. I still don’t agree. I’m the Alpha so I’m always right. And to me, you’re not just so sexy, you’re amazingly sexy.”

  Wyatt scoffed with a snort. “Well, I wouldn’t dare tell an Alpha he’s wrong.”

  “Good plan. Alphas don’t take it well when they’re told their wrong.” Gage ducked to place his ear over the baby. He was rewarded with a small kick. “They say when someone’s pregnant they glow.”

  “I’m glowing?”

  “I can find you in the dark.”

  “That’s not really comforting.”

  Gage kissed the baby again before scooting up to stretch out next to Wyatt. “Still up for some sexy action?”

  To Gage’s surprise, Wyatt snuggled close to him. “Maybe after a nap, when I’m feeling less beached and more awake. I think falling asleep on you sends the wrong message.”

  If that meant Wyatt would continue to fall asleep on him all the time, Gage was more than okay with it.

  13

  Wyatt

  Wyatt didn’t expect the reception he received once word got out he was staying there and that he was pregnant with the pack’s Alpha. A constant stream of visitors wanted to meet him, from those pack members who had heard their Alpha would finally have an heir and wanted to rubberneck, to the elders of Gage’s pack who felt the need to pry into every nook and cranny of his personal life.

  The pack elders asked about his lineage, his parentage, his intentions once the baby was born...

  All under Gage’s watchful eye.

  And when Gage wasn’t there, Aaron was close to support Wyatt and call off interviews when he grew tired, which Wyatt appreciated.

  “I know it seems like overkill,” Aaron said after one interview. He paused and looked at the ceiling thoughtfully. “Actually, it seems to be more nosiness than anything.”

  “Yeah, that was the sense I got,” Wyatt admitted.

  “It really is to protect all of us, including you. You’re part of the family now.”

  “That’s what I can’t get my head around. Being part of this big, extended family. I think we did this whole family and mating thing a little backwards.”

  “Well, it is a bit unconventional,” Aaron agreed as he slid a chair next to the bed. “But our Alpha has proven to be an unconventional handful. Your work is cut out for you trying to keep him in line.”

  Wyatt snorted. He and Gage were taking his bed rest as an opportunity to get to know one another. The more they talked, the more Gage shared about why he fought the edicts of the elders for so long.

  It was less about Gage being a wild Alpha who shirked his responsibility and more about Gage not feeling like he had any control in what happened in his own life. Something Wyatt identified with, especially now that he was bedridden and was monitored so closely.

  Noah’s mother-henning was one thing. It was just Noah. Wyatt could handle that easily.

  With Gage’s pack, it was almost twenty wolves who were constantly in his space. He rarely had any time to himself unless he was napping, which was happening with more frequency as his belly grew, or when Gage was there.

  “It will certainly be a challenge.”

  Aaron checked his watch. “Will you be alright on your own for a bit?”

  Wyatt leapt at the promise of some honest alone time. “Yes, please, yes.”

  “There are some final preparations to attend to.” Aaron rose to his feet. “And you need your rest before the moot tonight.”

  “Wait, what? A moot?”

  “Well, less a moot and more a coming-out party.”

  Wyatt frowned, confused. “Come again?”

  Aaron glanced at Wyatt. “He didn’t tell you.”

  “Gage? You expect Gage to tell me anything? He just assumes I know stuff. I really depend on you to keep me in the loop; otherwise, I wouldn’t have a clue what was going on.”

  Aaron nodded thoughtfully. “I feel your pain there. Going on the apparently correct assumption he has not, there is a party in your honor tonight. That’s when he’ll make the formal announcement to the pack that you are his mate, something many of us thought we’d never see, and that the baby is his heir.”

  Wow. This was really happening. Wyatt started to feel a little overwhelmed. “Yeah…Okay.”
<
br />   “Are you alright with this?”

  “Not sure I have another choice.” Wyatt drew in a deep breath. He nodded in resolution that he could get through this. “Yes. I’ll be alright.”

  “Excellent, Peter will be up later to help you get dressed. Get a nap. These things can last long into the night.”

  Wonderful.

  Wyatt’s feet hurt and they hadn’t even entered the ballroom. He rocked from side to side to help ease the strain on his back and legs.

  “Stop moving around,” Gage said.

  “I need to move.” He made a face at Gage but stopped moving.

  Gage finished fiddling with Wyatt’s bow tie and smoothed his hands down the lapels of the tailored tuxedo. “It looks good on you.”

  Looking down, the row of onyx buttons broke up the stark white of the shirt. “I feel like an Orca.”

  “You look fine.” Gage leaned in to kiss Wyatt’s nose. “Nervous?”

  “A little. And my feet hurt.”

  “You’ve already met the pack as they traipsed in and out of the room to introduce themselves these past few weeks.”

  “Was that your idea?”

  Gage ignored him and continued. “So, technically, you’re not meeting any strangers.”

  “Technically, I’m ready to be done with this so I can go crawl back in bed.”

  “And Aaron says I get cranky before these things.”

  “I’m not cranky.” Wyatt blew out a breath and shook his arms out. He was tense from his neck to his ass and it made him irritable and uncomfortable.

  More uncomfortable than usual.

  “I’m just ready to be done with this.”

  “Which part?” Gage asked.

  “The party. This pregnancy. I’m never doing this again.”

  “Ever?” Gage was laughing. He was laughing and Wyatt punched him in the arm.

  “Don’t make fun of me if you want to sleep in the same bed with me.”

  Okay, so maybe he was a little cranky. Wyatt paused to find his center before irritation had him removing heads, starting with Gage’s. “Right. Happy face. How long am I supposed to be here at this thing before I’m allowed to disappear?”

  “Through the announcement is preferable,” Aaron said from behind them.

  Gage turned when Aaron tapped his shoulder to make sure Gage’s tie was straight. A critical glance over Wyatt met with his approval before he pushed by them to open the doors.

  All in the ballroom fell quiet as Gage crooked his arm for Wyatt to lead him in.

  “Gage Hanford Weston, Alpha,” Aaron said in a commanding voice. “And mate officialis, Wyatt James Morgan.”

  A hush fell over the gathered crowd to give Wyatt and Gage their full attention. Wyatt shifted uncomfortably beneath the scrutiny as all eyes were on them. The quiet was eerie and the more it went on, the more Wyatt wanted to crawl under the nearest table…if he could actually fit.

  Gage stood there, a perfect example of projected control and power. If there had been any doubt the sometimes clueless, mostly sensitive to Wyatt’s needs, man could be the Alpha of any pack, that was gone in the face of the confidence and feral strength he exuded.

  Wyatt found that very hot. Watching Gage made him want to tell the party to go to hell, drag his mate—his mate—back to the room, and have sex. He needed Gage to take him and claim him all over again.

  The intensity of his need was so sharp, he felt it in his abdomen. It cramped to the point of discomfort. He had to breathe through it until it subsided.

  The spell finally broke when Gage motioned for Wyatt to go with him to the buffet table and the hum of conversation started to rise again. Wyatt smoothed a hand over his stomach and walked with Gage. “What was that about? I thought there would be an announcement or something.”

  “There was,” Gage said, draping his arm over Wyatt’s shoulders. The warmth was comforting as another spike lanced through him. “Aaron made it. Are you okay? You look a little paler than usual.”

  “Just the heat,” Wyatt said irritably. “So why were we just standing there?”

  “Giving them time to accept and understand that I was staking my claim. And by you standing there, you were staking yours, too.”

  Wyatt smoothed a hand across his forehead. He was sweating. Why was it so hot? He needed to get his jacket off. “You rural packs are very different from the city wolves. We stay to ourselves most of the time.”

  Another lance speared through him and he almost doubled over. Wyatt leaned heavily against Gage to stay upright.

  “You’re not alright, Wyatt,” Gage said. He wrapped a supporting arm around Wyatt and guided him to a chair.

  The moment Wyatt sat down, he knew that was a mistake. Another pang shot through him. “Oh shit,” he said quietly. Glancing up to see the worry on Gage’s face, Wyatt offered a weak smile. “I think I’m in labor.”

  “What?” Gage dropped to his knees in front of Wyatt. “Do you have to do that now? Here?”

  “Well, it’s not like I can control it, Gage,” Wyatt said testily.

  Aaron pushed through the gathering crowd around the pair. He barked commands to back up and give them room, which Wyatt appreciated. It was getting hard to breathe. “Do we need to find Dr. Madison?”

  Gage smoothed the hair from Wyatt’s eyes, peering at him with concern. “Yes.”

  Aaron pulled his phone and stepped away from the group. After a brief exchange, he was back. “She’ll meet you at your room, Wyatt,” Aaron said. “Can you make it on your own?”

  “I think so.”

  With Gage’s help, Wyatt was able to stand and start waddling toward the door. “Why is this happening now?”

  “Didn’t you just say you were ready to be done with this?” Gage asked, holding on to Wyatt’s hand.

  “Yeah, but I didn’t mean—” The pain was getting more intense. “I don’t think I’m going to make it.”

  Wyatt’s head pounded like it was stuffed full of cotton. His body ached and his abdomen felt funny. It hurt and felt lighter all at the same time.

  He ran a hand down his body and discovered no baby bump.

  That got his attention and he jerked upright. The baby!

  There was a sharp tug at his lower stomach and he pressed a hand on it. “Ow.”

  Gage appeared immediately at his side. He held a steadying grip to Wyatt’s shoulder and helped him lay back again. “Easy, Wyatt. You’ve been through quite a bit.”

  “How’s the baby, Gage?”

  “He’s doing just fine.” The bed dipped as Gage settled next to him. “Doc Madison was able to deliver via C-section and he’s healthy and hardy. And loud. Got some lungs on him.”

  That’s right. He went into labor and the doctor had to deliver the baby by C-section. There hadn’t been a lot of time for explanations before he was anesthetized.

  Wyatt chuckled weakly. “Like his father.”

  Instead of being insulted, Gage’s chest puffed out in pride. “He is. But he’s like both of his fathers. I bet he has your eyes.”

  “We won’t know until they’re open.” Wyatt smacked around his dry tongue. Gage handed him a water bottle with a straw. He sucked greedily to quench his incredible thirst until it was empty. “I told you he was a boy.”

  Gage took the drained bottle and set it to the side. “How did you know?”

  “Well, it was a fifty-fifty chance.”

  “Seriously?” Gage rocked back with a laugh. “That’s it?”

  Wyatt’s energy was low and he felt so drained. He groped out for Gage’s hand. Their fingers twined together. It gave Wyatt a great sense of calm and comfort to have Gage there. “I don’t know. It was just something I knew. I can’t explain it. I was certain he was a boy.”

  “I’m not going to jinx your super power. Did you want to see him?”

  “Are you crazy? I carried him for 2 months.”

  Gage appeared confused.

  “Yes, Gage,” Wyatt said patiently, “I would very muc
h like to see the son I carried around for sixty days.”

  “Oh, right.” Gage kissed the back of Wyatt’s hands and opened the bedroom door.

  He scarcely got out of the way when Aaron barreled in, waving a phone. “Wyatt! I’m so pleased you’re awake. I wanted to get pictures but that harridan of a doctor wouldn’t let any of us stay in the room. But he’s a beautiful boy. I knew you two would make pretty babies.”

  “Yes,” Dr. Madison said behind Aaron. “The harridan was selfishly thinking of her patient first.”

  Aaron didn’t acknowledge her presence until she elbowed him out of the way so she could sit on the bed.

  “How do you feel, Wyatt?”

  “Like I could sleep for a week. A little lighter and oddly…empty.”

  “It’s natural,” she said, holding his wrist to get his pulse. “You’ll feel less out of sorts when you’ve gotten some rest.”

  “Can I see him now, doc?”

  She smiled, the look odd on a face he had never seen hold any other expression except stern and severe. Satisfied, she stood up to make room for Gage again. “Kevin is bringing him.”

  “What do I do about…you know…feeding?”

  “We have a formula, specially designed to give babies all the nutrients they need for healthy growth.”

  The crowd of people at the bedroom door parted when Kevin stepped into view. “He was just fed, Wyatt, so he’s quiet.”

  Wyatt gingerly took his baby. He was so tiny. “Look at that head full of hair. Just like you, Gage.”

  Gage sat on the bed and fussed with the blankets. “How do you know that it’s my genetics?”

  “Because my mother said I was bald for the first two years of my life. So it can’t be me.”

  “I like it,” Gage declared. He smoothed a gentle hand along the cap that covered the baby’s head to keep him warm. “It’s a good look for an Alpha.”

  “I didn’t think we’d know he’s an Alpha until he reaches his teenage years.”

  “Just like you knew he was a boy,” Gage said, “I can tell.”

  The flash of a camera illuminated the room briefly. “Do you have a name picked out?” Aaron looked up from his phone, and then showed them the picture of the happy family.