Alpha's Submission: an MMMM Mpreg Gay Romance (Irresistible Omegas Book 2)

by Nora Phoenix

  His eyes drifted shut as his breathing slowed down, and seconds later, he was asleep.

  14

  His uncle’s words had kept buzzing around in Lidon’s head, ever since the visit a week ago. The story of his grandfather passing on his powers to Lidon, it sounded like science fiction and yet…deep down, it felt true. Not with his mind, but with his soul. He connected with this truth, acknowledging it deep inside his alpha.

  He’d looked at family photo albums again, and lo and behold, his uncle had been right. His beta grandfather had been there all along, but his father had never identified him as such to Lidon. Both his beta and his omega granddaddy had died days after his grandfather, which made sense if they had been fated mates. Melloni had explained to Palani and Enar that the lifelines of fated mates were connected, that they usually could not survive without each other, especially not if they’d been together a long time.

  But Lidon needed to learn more about that last statement his uncle had made.

  “Grayson,” he started on a Sunday afternoon, as they all lounged in the cool shadows of the porch with a beer. “Have you ever heard of the legend of the true alpha?”

  Grayson looked up from the crossword puzzle he’d been doing on his phone. “I have, but who mentioned it to you?”

  Something in the man’s tone was sharp, sharper than Lidon had ever heard him speak.

  “My uncle.”

  “Your uncle Leland, the younger brother of your father?” Grayson asked with that same sharpness.

  “Yes, but why does that matter?”

  “I’ll explain in a sec, but just to verify: he’s your oldest living male relative from your father’s side, correct?”

  “Yeah. My dad had younger sisters who got married, but only one brother, Leland.”

  “And he mentioned this to you? What did he say precisely?”

  “He said I was the true alpha and when we asked what that meant, he said to ask you.”

  Grayson gasped. “He called you the true alpha?”

  “You’re freaking me out, Grayson, and not in a good way,” Palani commented from the swing where Enar lay cuddled up against him on one side, and Vieno on the other.

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Grayson held up his hands. “It’s just… Fuck, this is big. Okay, let me explain, ‘cause I see you’re getting frustrated with me.”

  “You got that right,” Lidon mumbled, taking another swig from his beer.

  “The legend of the true alpha is not common knowledge. It’s passed on from storyteller to storyteller…and beyond that, only those who are related to the true alpha can know about it. Your grandfather was a true alpha, which is why your uncle knows. But he couldn’t have told you unless he knew for certain you were a true alpha because he would’ve brought dishonor on himself and his family.”

  “You’ll need to explain what this whole true alpha thing is, but if what you’re saying is true, how do you know about it and why are you telling us?” Palani asked.

  Grayson smiled. “Because I’m a storyteller…who heard the legend from my grandfather, another storyteller. And look around. Lucan is not here and neither is anyone else but us: me, the storyteller and the four of you, Lidon’s family. By telling Lidon and mentioning me by name, his uncle has sanctioned me to tell you…”

  “What is the true alpha?”

  Grayson leaned forward. “Every generation, there is one alpha who will lead all shifters, one alpha with extraordinary powers who will bring about change for the good of our kind: the true alpha. It’s been like this for centuries, and there are stories of each true alpha and what he has done for his kind… Your grandfather was the last true alpha, none have been recorded in the generation after him, though some claimed to be. But a true alpha can’t be faked. The power is felt by everyone and can’t be denied. It’s confirmed by the alpha’s oldest living male relative…”

  “And you think that’s me?” Lidon asked, too stunned to grasp what Grayson was saying.

  “I know it’s you. I’ve known from the moment I set foot inside the gates, from the second I met you. But I couldn’t confirm it, couldn’t even mention it, because that’s not my task… But now that your uncle has, I’m at liberty to talk about it with you.”

  “I…I don’t know what to say,” Lidon stammered. He leaned back in his chair, his head a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions.

  “What do you mean by powers?” Enar asked.

  “Extraordinary senses,” Grayson said.

  Enar looked at Lidon. “That’s true. Both your eyes and your hearing are exceptional, way beyond what’s standard.”

  “A strong intuition, an innate sense of right and wrong.”

  “Look at the job you chose,” Palani commented.

  “Physical and mental strength…combined with a high level of discipline.”

  He couldn’t deny that one, Lidon thought.

  Grayson cleared his throat. “No need to confirm this one but a high sexual libido is also one of the characteristics.”

  Vieno giggled. “We’re not saying anything.”

  “A stronger alpha compulsion, which we’ve already seen evidence of.”

  Lidon swallowed. “If this is true, why didn’t it manifest sooner? Why didn’t my uncle tell me before?”

  “Because it didn’t manifest until you chose the old ways. As long as you were single, dedicated to your job, the power was there, but it was untapped, unfulfilled. Like a natural talent that hadn’t been honed yet. Once you chose Vieno, Palani, and Enar, when you made the decision to rebuild the ranch and honor the pack traditions of your blood, your powers rose to the surface. Your uncle didn’t tell you sooner because you would have rejected it, like your father did.”

  Lidon frowned. “My father was a true alpha?”

  “No, he wasn’t. I meant to say he rejected the traditions of the bloodline he was a part of. He didn’t want them, at least most of them, instead only allowing those traditions that he was comfortable with.”

  “Like the rule about not allowing strangers within the gates,” Lidon said.

  “Yes. Some pack traditions would have been too ingrained for him to ignore, or they must have seemed harmless to him. But the ones that truly mattered, like having multiple mates, he chose to diverge from.”

  “You do realize that if my father hadn’t married my daddy, I wouldn’t be sitting here?” Lidon asked Grayson.

  Grayson smiled. “Of course, and I get this must be hard for you to hear, but your father weakened himself and his bloodline by letting go of his strength. A pack’s strength is always in numbers, most notably in the numbers of the alpha leading it.”

  “Yet here we are,” Palani remarked. “With, apparently, a true alpha. What does that say?”

  “It means nature finds a way. It means that whatever your grandfather did on the day you were born was strong enough to overcome your upbringing.”

  “What traditions are you talking about?” Enar asked. “Like, what specific things should Lidon do if he wanted to honor his bloodline or however you called it?”

  “That’s a question Lidon should ask, no offense. I can’t show what he’s not willing to see.”

  “I’m asking,” Lidon said, and he hadn’t realized how much he meant it until he spoke.

  Grayson leaned forward. “Danger is coming, and you need to be ready. Build and grow your pack and name your beta, your second in command. Protect your pack above all, at all costs. Trust your instincts, your alpha. Claim what is yours and mark it. Lead, and others will follow you, Alpha.”

  15

  Palani was determined to get to the bottom of the mysterious fertility drug they suspected caused the genetic mutation, but due to everything going on in his life, he hadn’t found the time yet. His work had kept him too busy.

  He’d finished a series of four articles on the Anti Wolf Coalition, whose ideas were equally shocking as those of their counterpart, the Conservative Wolf Party. Palani thought them both fringe-style lunatic
s, but their popular appeal couldn’t be denied. He still wondered how two parties with such extreme ideas amassed such support and Franken was bewildered as well, so he’d asked Palani to investigate further. So far, he hadn’t come far, but he’d figure it out.

  He hadn’t made any headway in his Excellon investigation either. Truth be told, the threat against him and Lucan had him rattled. He felt safe on the ranch with Bray and his men around, but even with a massive bodyguard called Adar shadowing him—he had Lidon to thank for that, as he insisted Palani be protected by one of Bray’s men at all times—he was apprehensive when he set foot outside the gates. Adar was built like a fucking tank but even that didn’t lift the sensation of being watched off Palani’s system. It was like Lucan had described, an awareness of being tailed, even though he never saw anyone. He wouldn’t let go of his investigation into Ryland, Excellon, and Lukos, but he’d damn well tread more carefully.

  He had off today, so he made it his priority to determine if their theory about the fertility treatments was plausible and to find out who’d been behind this. He’d made calculations based on the data on the carriers of the gene. The drugs had to have been available for at least fifteen years, but most likely longer. No trial could ever last that long, so how had they managed it?

  Rosalind and Abby McCain, two of the McCain sisters, had been more than willing to talk to him. “Anything to shed more light on what happened to our sons,” Abby told Palani. She'd lost her son, Robert, the computer programmer, and her sister Rosalind had buried her son Lance, who’d been safe in the flower shop until that fateful delivery. Their third sister, Gillian, was Colton and Adam's mother, and Abby explained she was unable to speak to Palani as she struggled with her unfathomable loss. They were kind and sweet to Palani, their faces older than their age suggested, marked by the grief that hung around them like a cloak.

  “You entered the trial first, correct?” Palani asked Abby. With their permission, he used their first names as the “Mrs. McCain” would get too confusing.

  “Yes. We’d been married for five years and when I still hadn’t conceived, I sought treatment. A friend of my husband’s was a doctor, and he’d heard of a successful trial, so I applied and I got in.”

  “Do you remember the doctor’s name?”

  “Yes, of course. Dr. Morton Baig. He was young, only mid-thirties back then, but ambitious and smart. Very friendly, too.”

  The name tickled Palani’s brain, but he couldn’t place him. He filed it away to do more research later. “And he worked in a hospital?”

  Abby nodded. “Yes, he was on staff at the Women’s Clinic with his own room and everything.”

  “The one with the wolf poster,” Rosalind said, a smile on her face. “Remember that poster with the big grey wolf?”

  Abby smiled as well. “Gosh, I’d forgotten, but yes. Every time you hung in that chair with your legs in the stirrups, you felt as if that wolf was watching everything!”

  They giggled, and it warmed Palani’s heart to see them smile, if only for a little bit.

  “What did he tell you about the drugs?”

  “It was called X23, and he explained they affected the embryo right after conception. His theory was that I could conceive, but that the embryos didn't survive that initial stage because they were too weak, so I kept having early miscarriages…if you can even call them that at that stage. He said these drugs would produce stronger embryos that would survive. And he turned out to be right.”

  “How long did it take for you to get pregnant?” Palani asked. “I’m sorry, these are quite personal questions.”

  “Mr. Hightower,” Rosalind said.

  “Call me Palani, please.”

  “You explained the Melloni gene to us and your reasoning that it was the likely cause of the depression that drove our sons to suicide. Your questions make me feel like you think the fertility drugs are the cause, is that right?”

  “Yes, that’s what we suspect.”

  “We?” Rosalind asked.

  “I have a friend, a doctor, who’s helping me get to the bottom of this. We’re also being aided by Dr. Melloni himself, the man who discovered the genetic mutation.”

  Abby and Rosalind found each other's hands, and Palani was struck by their strength. “I’m so sorry for dredging up emotions,” he said. “I can’t even imagine the grief you must be coping with.”

  Abby nodded. “I hope you’ll never experience this,” she told him. “But if we can do anything to prevent other mothers and fathers from losing their son, we’ll do it. We’ll answer any question you have, no matter how personal or intrusive.”

  She shot a quick look at Adar, who stood at a respectful distance. “Is this the reason you needed protection?” she asked. “Because of you investigating the gene?”

  “No. It’s because of another investigation which angered some people. It’s a precaution from my employer,” Palani said.

  The employer part was a little lie though Franken had readily agreed with Palani’s request to let Adar shadow him after Palani explained his investigation into dirty cops had pissed off some people. But he couldn’t burden these women with the details of his personal life and his work, not when they didn’t need to know.

  Abby took a deep breath, then dabbed her eyes with a tissue. “I got pregnant two months after taking the first shot. Dr. Baig said I would feel differently about a month after, and I did. I had…an increased sexual appetite, as he predicted. Even during the pregnancy, my sex drive was strong.”

  Rosalind nodded. “When Abby got pregnant, Gillian and I wanted in on the trial as well. I’d been married three years, and I, too, struggled with getting pregnant. Gillian too. Dr. Baig accepted Gillian into the trial first, and she became pregnant within two months. A few months later, he contacted me to inform me a spot had opened for me, and three months later, I was pregnant with Lance.”

  “Did Dr. Baig guarantee you would get X23? Or did he mention you might get a placebo or another fertility drug?”

  Abby and Rosalind shared a look. “No, he made it clear we’d be given X23 from the start,” Abby said.

  “That’s strange, because usually drug trials are double blind, meaning both the doctor and the patient are unaware which drug will be administered, so the results can’t be mis-reported by the patient,” Palani explained.

  “I didn’t realize that,” Rosalind said.

  “Did you ever feel like something was off about the trial or about Dr. Baig? Or now, looking back and knowing this might be the cause, can you remember anything out of the ordinary? Anything he said or did?”

  Abby said, “I always thought it was weird that he didn’t track us during the pregnancy. He only did the initial exams and administered the shots, but once I was pregnant, my regular OB/gyn did the rest. And Dr. Baig stressed not to inform my regular doctor about the treatments, as it could influence how he treated me.”

  Palani nodded. It made sense for Baig to keep his distance once the women were pregnant, as not to arouse any suspicion. His warning not to inform their regular doctor fitted the profile as well of someone who wanted to cover his tracks.

  “And you?” he asked Rosalind. “Anything strike you as odd?”

  She looked pensive. “I remember contacting him after Fredric, my second, was born, because I was surprised he, too, was a male omega. Dr. Baig said that the drug might affect the embryo’s sex and identity, so we had a higher chance of getting an omega.”

  “You used the drug for all your pregnancies, correct?” Palani asked Abby.

  She looked at her hands, her cheeks growing red. “I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone. Even my husband doesn’t know. Only Rosalind and Gillian. After we had three omegas, my husband wanted me to stop with the drugs. But he wanted an alpha so badly, so I tried once more without him knowing. I contacted Dr. Baig and explained the situation and he agreed to give me the drugs free of charge and outside the trial. I know it wasn’t legal, but I—”

  “I complet
ely understand,” Palani assured her. “No judgment from me. Did he come to your house?”

  She shook her head. “No. He asked me to come to the research facility where the drug had been developed.”

  Palani leaned forward. This was interesting. “What can you tell me about that?”

  “I went there as well,” Rosalind said. “My husband wanted me to quit the drugs after our first, since he’d seen Abby only had omegas, but I went behind his back. I wanted more kids, you know?”

  “It was small,” Abby said. “And it had a super weird name… Do you remember what it was, Rose?”

  Rosalind frowned. “Something with Mais…Mait…Wait, that’s it. Maiitsoh.”

  “Maiitsoh?” Palani repeated. “Can you spell that for me?”

  “M-a-i-i-t-s-o-h. I looked it up years later, because a friend asked me about the drugs and Dr. Baig had left the hospital, but the facility was closed and I couldn’t even find that weird name online anymore. Like they had never existed.”

  “Baig left the hospital?” Palani asked.

  Abby and Rosalind both nodded. “Yes. It was weird,” Abby said. “One week he was there and the next he was gone.”

  “We got a letter that he’d resigned,” Rosalind said. “We suspected he’d been fired for…” Her voice trailed off, and her hand found Abby’s arm, gripping it so hard her knuckles turned white.

  “What’s wrong?” Abby asked. “You turned all white.”

  “What if it was because of the drugs, the X23? You said the trial ran way too long, that it wasn’t double blind, that something was off about it. What if the hospital found out?”

  “That’s good thinking, Rosalind,” Palani said. “I’ll verify that with the hospital.”

  He asked them a barrage of other questions and they answered each one. By the time he left, he had a whole stack of notes. He’d gotten answers, but in turn these had resulted in a ton of new questions.