by Emma Knox
I crouched down to grab a pan from the cabinet below the stove and placed it on the electric range.
“How do you like your eggs?” I inquired of Riley with a weak smile. I realized I didn’t ask the last time I made them for him.
His eyes narrowed in on me. “Are you sure you are up to this?”
“Mmm-hmm.” I nodded, afraid to look him in the eye because I knew the lie inside my brain would reveal itself in powerful colors.
“Okay…” Riley said reluctantly, apparently unconvinced. “In that case, I guess my favorite way to have eggs is scrambled.”
“Coming right up.” I grinned and fought back the urge to dry-heave.
Riley sat across from me at the barstool and stared at me while I cracked the eggs and put the slices of bacon on an oven safe baking sheet.
“I could get used to this,” he teased.
I shrugged. “I love to cook for friends and family.”
“We are family now,” Riley reminded me.
I glanced up at him and we locked eyes in an intense gaze. “Right.” I nodded and grabbed a spatula. “We are bonded family.”
“How is your scar this morning?” he asked.
I touched the sensitive area where the bite mark was still indented in my skin. “Healing.”
“That’s good to know,” he said with approval.
I put the bacon in the oven and set the timer, then went to work on the eggs while I tried to ward off a fresh batch of nausea. I tried to breathe through my nose, but it wasn’t helping to relieve any of my suffering.
The smell and appearance of the eggs was too much for my sensitive belly to handle. I whisked them together to scramble them in the pan, but in a gut wrenching instant, was overcome with a powerful new wave of nausea that hit me like a freight train.
“I’m going to be sick,” I warned.
I didn’t have time to get to the bathroom, so I raced to the first outlet I could find to become violently sick in…which just so happened to be the sink.
Riley watched in horror as I vomited again. I choked and gasped for air. When I was finally finished expelling more sickness, I grabbed a paper towel off the rack on the counter and wiped my mouth with it.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized profusely through mortification that turned my cheeks a profound crimson color.
“It’s okay,” Riley said and came over to my side where he rubbed my back and soothed me. “I’m sorry you are feeling so bad,” he empathized.
“Thank you.” I chuckled feebly and relished in the way he ran his hands through my hair. I glanced over at the range. “I’m burning the eggs.” I laughed at the irony.
“Screw the eggs, we can order in,” Riley joked.
I laughed. “You can order in,” I reminded him. “I will probably spend the rest of the day hugging the porcelain throne.”
“Well in that case, you can count on me to remain right by your side to take care of you.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I shook my head defiantly. “I’m already humiliated enough that you saw me throw up.”
“I think it’s adorable.” Riley smirked with a gleam in his eye, leaning against the kitchen counter. “It’s a good sign that the pregnancy is viable and healthy.”
“You are probably right.” I nodded in agreement. “At least, that’s what my doctor tells me.”
“You are too laid back and nice to admit that you need help, but I’m honestly happy to offer and oblige,” Riley stated.
I glanced at him and gave him a smile. “That means a lot to me.”
Riley took the burnt eggs off the heat of the cook top and turned off the stove. Then he took the half cooked bacon out of the oven. “We don’t have to eat right now. We can wait until your stomach feels a little better.”
“Thanks,’ I sighed with relief.
Riley scooped me up in his massively muscular arms and carried me over to the couch where he gently laid me down.
“Do you need a cold rag on your head or anything?” he asked with love.
“No,” I shook my head. “I’m feeling a little better now.”
“Okay,” Riley said and sat beside me, stroking my hair. His face was fraying with concern and I recognized the look of alarm as his eyebrows furrowed as if they were a freshly knit sweater.
“What is it?” I said and propped myself up on my elbows.
Riley glanced at me and licked his lips. “What happens now? I mean…as it stands with your fake engagement?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. It was a burning question that had been gnawing at my conscious ever since I found out I was pregnant.
“How do you think this will affect it? You can’t hide your symptoms or your growing belly for long,” Riley confessed, although I already knew it was a pressing issue.
I was beginning to feel queasy again, but the pregnancy hormones weren’t the underlying cause this time. Panic erupted a cold sweat that formed over my skin. I glanced up at Riley with a sea of dread drowning in my eyes.
“I’m…afraid.”
Riley tried to read my features. He gripped my hand and cupped it, squeezing it against his.
“What are you afraid of?” he whispered softly.
I was in agony. I knew my pack was going to be furious once they learned of my pregnancy.
“I’m afraid that…they’ll make me either get rid of the pregnancy by termination or they’ll make me give up the baby for adoption.”
My eyes pooled with tears that stung my eyes and blurred my vision with pain at the mere thought of losing my baby in any capacity.
“Hey,” Riley said and stroked my cheek. “Nobody is giving up our child. I’d die before I let that happen.”
I gave him a pathetic attempt at a smile because I knew he was only trying to help my emotions as they teetered on the brink of collapse.
“Maybe we should just run away together or hide the pregnancy. I can wear baggy clothes or something.”
It was a weak suggestion, but it was all I could brainstorm in the moment. Maybe Riley had a better plan of action brewing in his own mind.
“No,” he said firmly. His eyes flickered with a force that made me cower. “We are not running from this situation. I want a pack of my own. I’m a proud Alpha, and I have no reason to hide from anyone.”
Chapter 11
Riley
“Are you ready to go yet?”
I slammed the trunk of my car shut after putting in some backpacks with supplies just in case they were needed on the venture out to Kyle’s pack’s cabin today.
It was located in a remote area in the woods just outside of Anchorage. Kyle told me that it would take at least an hour for the drive, and I was excited and looking forward to the quality alone time with him on the way out there, even if the reason for the journey wasn’t exactly ideal.
Kyle stood reluctantly on the sidewalk below his loft, wringing his hands together with visible anxiety.
“Come on.” I grinned and shifted my weight. I wasn’t going to allow Kyle’s nervousness about today to hinder my ability to remain cool, calm and collected.
I was the Alpha in this situation and I had to do what it took to keep my pregnant Omega partner from unhinging.
“I…can’t…” Kyle trailed off and stared at the ground in shame.
I took a deep breath and began walking toward him. This was going to take a substantially greater deal of coaxing to get Kyle to even so much as step off the sidewalk and into the car.
I grabbed Kyle’s shoulders on each side and gently shook him with affection. “Hey,” I whispered and waited until he finally appeased me with a glance up to meet my gaze.
“It’s…too hard.” Kyle’s voice was trembling.
“Nothing is impossible,” I said and stroked his cheek with adoration. “I’m your Alpha and it’s my responsibility to protect you.”
He looked unconvinced and I got placed on the inadvertent defensive for a moment or two. “Do you not trust me?” I eyed him, t
rying not to growl.
Kyle looked mortified. His cheeks blushed with fresh regret. “No…of course not…I mean yes…I do trust you…it’s just…”
He was a wreck. The trip to visit his pack was going to prove a difficult task at hand.
I inhaled a deep breath of the fresh, crisp Alaskan air. “Kyle…” I said in a lecturing tone although I didn’t mean for it to come out that way. “We have to get this over with. It’s now or never. It will be like ripping off a Band Aid,” I suggested. “The pain might sting for a few moments, but once it’s over with you’ll be relieved and be so glad to have it behind you.”
“Behind us,” Kyle reminded me of the fact that I was just as part of this situation and played a monumental role as he did.
“Right.” I grinned. He was a pistol, I’d give him that much.
He groaned and glanced up at the stark, gray sky above us. He looked like a sullen child who was being told what to do and was defiantly protesting.
I patted his back. “You can do this. You are strong, and I’ll be right there with you. I’ll pounce on anyone who tries to defile or harm you.”
Kyle beamed with pride, his eyes glowing radiantly. Finally, the man I was growing to care for so intensely and even love…was back underneath that timid shell somewhere.
“Let’s go.” I gestured to the car. “They will be waiting for us.”
Kyle climbed into the passenger seat. “If we are late, it won’t set the mood off to a favorable start,” he admitted.
“Exactly,” I said with a nod while putting the car in gear. “Everything will work out.”
He glanced over at me. “How can you be so sure of that?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged with nonchalance.
Kyle leaned back in his seat and placed his head against the headrest, staring outside as if he were searching for meaning in the world out there whizzing by.
“I wish I had your confidence,” he said.
“You are confident,” I attested. “You just don’t know how to use it yet. You are too…” I trailed off, brainstorming the right word to describe him.
Kyle’s eyes narrowed. “I’m too…what?” he said brashly.
I just had to chuckle. “Don’t get your panties in a bunch. I am scoping out the perfect compliment to give you. You are so laid back and down to earth. You always want to please people.”
“I do not,” Kyle said resentfully and pouted out his bottom lip.
“You sure are defensive today.” I chuckled. I was aiming to keep things light under any circumstances. The goal was to keep Kyle from completely freaking out and losing his shit today. “What I meant was,” I continued, “you are so kind and genuine that you put others above yourself.”
His face softened at that comment and he looked slightly smug with himself. “Yes,” he agreed. “I suppose that part of my personality is true.”
“Of course, it is.” I smiled warmly and rubbed the back of his neck while keeping my other hand on the driver wheel. “You are a great person, Kyle, and anyone who doesn’t realize that is a total fucking idiot.”
“Thanks.” He blushed.
I stared straight ahead at the snow trodden trees around us, blurring by on the highway as a blanket of white.
It wouldn’t be long now before we got to the cabin. I glanced over at Kyle. “Which way from here?”
Kyle pointed to a four way stop just ahead off the horizon. “When you get to that stop sign, make a right. Then, it will be the third street on the left.”
I approached the four way stop and turned on my right signal, turning the wheel as instructed.
“I love to come hunting out this way,” I admitted.
“With a gun?” Kyle asked, but his face revealed that he already knew the answer.
“Nope.” I grinned. “I have no use for tools like that.”
“I should have known better.” He chuckled, then pointed to a side street. “Turn here.”
The driveway was steep, and icy. Even with snow tires adorning my wheels, it was going to be tricky business maneuvering up the hill.
Kyle gave me a nervous glance. “Are you sure you can make it?”
I scoffed and snorted. “Please. This hill? It’s nothing.” I was doing my best not to add fuel to the fire when it came to Kyle’s worries.
A couple of minutes later, we arrived at a charming and quaint looking cabin tucked away in the center of a pine wooded forest.
“It looks cozy,” I said and placed the car in park, glancing over at Kyle.
He looked green and was breathing rapidly.
“Hey,” I said and took his chin in mine, cradling it there while I squeezed his hand with my free one. “Everything is going to work out.”
“You promise?” Kyle’s voice was a whimper.
I gave him a genuinely warm smile. “I promise.”
“Okay,” he said and took a deep breath. He clutched the passenger door handle and pushed it open. “Here we go then.”
“That’s a way to be brave,” I chimed and walked around the side to walk up to the front door with him.
Kyle rang the doorbell, and I stood behind him with the goal in mind to be the foundation of support, his gallant rock that I knew he’d desperately need in the face of mocking and disapproval.
“Coming,” I heard someone from the inside proclaim as footsteps approached.
Kyle was visibly shaking, and I wanted him to snap out of it. Unfortunately, time wasn’t on our side and yielded no extra moments to give him a resounding pep talk because in the next instant, the door swung swiftly open.
I stared into the face of an Alpha and an Omega that I was certain were Kyle’s parents. “Hello,” I stated, wanting to be the first one to greet them with charming, zealous appeal.
The Alpha stared me down with furrowed eyebrows and the Omega stared at Kyle.
“Hi Alpha Post,” he nodded to his father and then to the Omega, “Rodney.”
“Hmm,” Alpha Post grunted, but he stepped aside to allow us through into the foyer, so I supposed it was as good a sign as any that we were on the right track.
I glanced at Kyle to coax him along and he followed me inside. The cabin from the internal perspective was equally as cozy as the outside.
There were warm, soft colors and the wood on the walls was rustic and visibly pleasing.
Alpha Post wasted no time with small talk as he led us into the living room. “So,” he said and turned to face Kyle and me with a massive scale of judgement. “Why did you call this pack meeting today?”
For a brief and fleeting few seconds, Kyle was saved by the entrance of several other of his pack members that he greeted with smiles and hugs.
“It’s so great to see all of you,” he said in a friendly tone, but his voice was audibly shaking as he glanced back at his noble and prideful Alpha.
“Who is your friend here?” one of them perked up and asked.
Kyle looked at me and licked his lips, trying to compose himself. “This is uh…”
I held out my hand to shake with the Alpha that I saw in front of me. “I’m Alpha Riley, of the Crow pack.”
The Alpha pumped my hand. “Pleased to meet you, Alpha Crow. I’m Alpha James Wood and this is my Omega husband Dusty.”
“Alpha Wood is my cousin,” Kyle explained.
I nodded with polite flare with a smile as Alpha Post grunted with a domineering sound behind us.
We spun around to look at him. He was scowling, eager to get this meeting underway. I recognized that glare, I had seen it a thousand times in my own father’s eyes. The backlash was inevitable, but Kyle and I could withstand the rough tides and make it back to shore if we just stayed strong for a little while longer.
I knew that Kyle was wavering, and it was my job to step up to the plate if he needed me.
“Well…” Kyle began with a hard swallow. “I arranged the meeting because I wanted to uh…” he trailed off again, chuckling. “You see…,” he said and frowned, sh
ifting his weight.
I tried not to roll my eyes at Kyle’s shady behavior. If he wasn’t going to get this shit over, I was hell-bent on it.
“What he is trying to say,” I swooped in to rescue him with a charming smile flashing across my face. I had a way with Alpha’s, because I was one. “Kyle here is not good with the words today.”
I meant it to be a lighthearted and fun joke, but it was a tough crowd to say the very least. Alpha Post grumbled gruffly, and his Omega partner snorted, clearly amused and entertained by this fiasco unfolding in front of him. My Alpha cousin and his Omega looked confused, but kind.
I took a deep breath. “Kyle is um…pregnant.”
Alpha Post’s Omega partner gasped audibly and then you could hear a pin drop in the room, it became so silent.
Everyone had faces displaying pure shock as their mouths hung open. Everyone that was, except Alpha Post.
His eyes were dark, cold and profoundly livid. “Is this true, Kyle?” He glanced at his son with so much loathing that it made me tremble.
Kyle hung his head in shame and sagged his shoulders in defeat. “Yes.” He nodded with confirmation.
“Who is the father?” Rodney asked with a grin on his face. He was clearly relishing in far too much enjoyment over Kyle’s demise.
“I am the father,” I boasted with prideful arrogance, puffing out my chest and daring any one of the lot in this pack to speak against me.
Alpha Post glanced at me as if I were a bug that he wanted to squash under his boot. “You are the father?”
“That’s right.” I didn’t falter. I could hear Kyle’s breath quicken and I saw him visibly stiffen.
“I can’t believe what I’m hearing.”
I spun around. Someone else had entered the room, an elderly pack member.
“That’s my grandfather,” Kyle whispered.
I nodded with understanding as the grandfather came into the room. His eyes were frosty blue, and his hair was as white as the snow-capped mountains.
“Kyle, why would you shame our family like this?”
I had to bite my tongue to keep from going off on this asshole.