Unexpected Alpha (Gay M-Preg)

by Chris McHart

  “Hello, anybody home?” he shouted as he unlocked the front door. Nobody answered, so apparently, Lindsay and Jeremy were working, too. Well, it didn’t matter. Then Hanna could play with the pots as loud as she wanted, at least as long as her brother slept.

  Josh put Leon in his bed, hoping he wouldn’t wake up, then he took Hanna with him into the living room. He gave her two small pots and she began banging them against each other right away. It was deafening, but her loud, bright laughter made it easier to deal with it.

  He went looking for the baby monitor he’d recently gotten and switched it on. It had lights on the front so he’d see if Leon was crying. He wouldn’t be able to hear it at this volume.

  After a while, Hanna began to put her toys in the pots and sat down on the floor. Now she was a little quieter, even though she was babbling to herself. Josh had read that she was supposed to speak more, but he figured it was probably because her parents hadn’t talked much to her. He’d considered going with her to a pediatrician in the city, but first he wanted to have the legal background clarified. The last thing he needed was some doctor who meant well destroying everything he’d started to build.

  Since Hanna started speaking more, he didn’t worry too much that she wouldn’t be able to catch up. Once the adoption had been formalized, she’d of course be introduced to a pediatrician. He wanted to make sure they didn’t miss anything that would hurt her later.

  He watched Hanna on the floor playing happily with her toys, completely satisfied and oblivious to everyone around her. His head slowly tilted backwards against the sofa and he closed his eyes. He couldn’t fall asleep, because in his experience, toddlers immediately noticed when you got inattentive.

  Closing them for a moment would work, though. After all, he heard Hanna and knew that she was still sitting in front of him.

  “Josh? Josh!” Something shook him, and he grunted as he opened his eyes.

  “What?” He sat up. Damn! He’d been asleep.

  Lindsay kneeled before him with a worried expression on his face.

  “I’m sorry. What time is it? I didn’t want to sleep. I didn’t think this would happen. Where are the children?” Panic seized him. He hadn’t heard Lindsay and Jeremy come home, and the place where Hanna had been playing was empty.

  “Lindsay’s in the kitchen with her, watching her while he cooks dinner. Anthony took care of Leon, since he said he had the best chance of calming him down. He was crying when we got home. But since the baby monitor is silent, I think Anthony managed.”

  “Thank God!” Josh rubbed his face and tried to figure out what had happened. His eyes fell on the clock, and he noticed he’d slept at least half an hour. How had that happened? He’d never failed to hear Leon cry before. And to just fall asleep while Hanna played in front of him? That was unforgivable.

  “Hanna was on the floor playing, and how long Leon cried, we don’t know. But he calmed down quickly, so I doubt it’d been very long. Nothing happened. Don’t worry.” Lindsay tried to calm him down, but it didn’t work.

  He’d fallen asleep while both children were at home. Hanna could’ve done god-knows-what while he was out. Jesus, she could’ve burned down the whole house and he wouldn’t have noticed.

  Anthony came into the living room with Leon in his arms. The baby was awake and babbled happily as he waved his fists in the air. “How are you?” Anthony sounded worried.

  “I think I fell asleep. I’m so sorry. I don’t know how this could have happened. I’ve been so tired all the time, and apparently I just fell asleep.” Shame filled Josh as he realized even more how much he’d failed.

  Anthony put Leon carefully on his belly on the ground then sat down next to Josh. He pulled him to his body, and Josh leaned his head against Anthony’s shoulder.

  “I’m so sorry. I know it doesn’t change anything, but still. I’ll do everything I can to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

  Anthony put his arm around Josh and pulled him closer. He pressed a kiss on his hair and muttered, “You don’t have to apologize. I think you’ve been working way too hard. In the future, we’ll find a solution so you can lie down during the day without watching them. I’ve tried to take as much off your hands as I can, but it clearly can’t go on like this. You can’t take care of two small children, run the guest house, and keep the house clean. That’s impossible and far too much to ask. I’ve already been asking around, but I have to admit I underestimated how tired you are. I thought there’d be enough time to find a solution. Apparently, it’s more urgent than I suspected. I’m very sorry I didn’t recognize it before. I didn’t want it to come to that.”

  He paused briefly, meeting Josh’s eyes, before continuing.

  “I’d never be mad about something like this. You didn’t do it on purpose. And it’s my fault, too, because I didn’t realize soon enough that so much was going wrong here. I promise I’ll do anything to help you. And if anything, I should apologize for putting too much on you.”

  Josh raised his head and looked at Anthony. He really looked like he was blaming himself, even though none of it was his fault. Josh raised his head and pressed a gentle kiss on Anthony’s lips. “No more apologies. We change a few things, then it should run smoothly again.”

  Anthony’s gaze met his own, and the strong alpha nodded. “All right.” He pulled Josh into another kiss, but this one didn’t stay as innocent as the one before.

  Josh willingly opened his mouth when he felt Anthony’s tongue. A soft groan emerged from his throat and he pressed closer to Anthony. He needed that now, the closeness, the affection. He’d love to drag Anthony into the bedroom to show him everything was all right between them.

  He traced his hand over Anthony’s back, over his strong shoulders, then his upper body. His hands were still above the T-shirt, but he wanted nothing more than to push it under the fabric and play with Anthony’s nipples. He wanted to feel him, skin on skin, and enjoy their connection.

  He ended the kiss, breathing heavily, and he was just about to say something when a clearing throat interrupted them.

  “I don’t mind watching the kids, but could you at least stop having some kind of foreplay on the couch?” Amusement lay in Jeremy’s voice, and Josh raised his head.

  “You’re interrupting, even though you’re right. I’m sorry.” He dropped his head on Anthony’s shoulder and breathed deeply to calm down. He was hard, and lust hummed through his body. He wanted to feel Anthony, wanted to feel how he took him, how he held him and pushed him into the mattress.

  He wanted to feel as deeply connected to him as possible. But not now.

  They couldn’t just disappear into the bedroom while Lindsay and Jeremy were in the house watching the kids. That’d be too weird. With a sigh, Josh dropped one last kiss on Anthony’s lips. “I think we need to remember where we were and get back to it later.”

  Anthony slapped his ass and helped him get up. “I’m afraid so. Let’s see if we can help with dinner, and when the kids are in bed, we’ll get back to it again.”

  Josh grinned at him as his heart sped up. Even though Anthony hadn’t chosen him as his mate, things were really good now.

  Chapter 19

  Anthony

  * * *

  Anthony had pondered who to call, and eventually his choice had fallen on the person who probably had the most experience when it came to exhaustion because of kids.

  The phone rang and finally his brother answered the call. “What’s up?”

  He smiled as he heard D’s usual greeting. He always claimed that anyone who called him knew whose number they were dialing.

  “Hi. How are you?”

  “Apart from the fact that I really don’t know why the hell we wanted another baby, quite well. I feel like a walrus, and I still have a lot of time until the two of them will be born. I thought the first pregnancy was tough, but apparently it’s nothing to the second. Besides, one of us has to run after the other two all the time. Ash helps as much
as he can, but still. I can’t let him do all the work alone.”

  “I understand that. And to be honest, that’s why I’m calling.”

  “I should’ve known you didn’t really care how we were doing. How I am.” D laughed, and Anthony stopped for a moment.

  Really? Was he so caught up in his own problems that even his brother felt he never called to ask how he was?

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I didn’t mean to… Well, actually, I only called because I wanted advice from you. I’m sorry if that made you feel I didn’t care. I think I–“

  “That wasn’t meant seriously. I know you have a lot on your mind, and I don’t blame you for the fact that we don’t have as much contact as before. It was nice just to hang out with you in the evening, but I have a lot on my plate, and I can only imagine what you’re dealing with. I really didn’t mean it like I was blaming you.”

  But where he was right, he was right. Anthony had been very caught up in his own problems, and even if D had been joking, there was probably a lot of truth in what he’d just said. Damn, first Josh, and now D. He kept doing things wrong no matter what he did.

  “So, tell me. We’ve just talked about my pregnancy, and otherwise I’m fine. Ash is fine too, and so are the monsters. Now that all the important points have been dealt with, you can ask me what you wanted to ask.”

  Anthony couldn’t help smiling. That was so typical of his brother. Direct and to the point. He didn’t resent anything, he didn’t hold a grudge, and he was always ready to help.

  He briefly told them of the scare when they’d come home. Josh had been asleep on the sofa while Leon had cried and Hanna had sat alone on the floor and played. It had just been luck that nothing had happened and that he could calm the baby down very quickly.

  But it had frightened him that Josh had been so exhausted that he’d fallen asleep even though he was supposed to take care of the children. He had apologized to Josh for putting him through so much work, but still he had blamed himself.

  He should’ve realized how bad Josh was doing. Josh had clung to him that night, after they’d had sex. He had apparently needed the connection, the closeness, and the affection. It hadn’t been hard sex, but tender and slow, with Josh under him and Anthony’s big heavy body over him. It had taken a long time, and in the end, Josh had come with a soft groan.

  It’d been different than usual when they just wanted each other. Deeper and somehow… different. He’d held Josh in his arms all night.

  He held Anthony like he was his personal lifeline. It couldn’t go on like this. That’s why he’d called his brother. He told the whole story. In the end D was silent for so long, Anthony stared at the phone to see if his brother had hung up. “Are you still there?”

  “Yes, I’m still here. I’ve been thinking. I have to admit, I have no idea what this might be all about. Either he’s really just overworked, and it takes too much out of him to take care of the two children, or there’s something else going on. What that could be, I don’t know. I’m not a doctor, and while he’s mostly human, he carries vampire genes, right?”

  Anthony nodded, then remembered D couldn’t see that. “Yes, he comes from a relatively insignificant family, so I don’t think he carries much vampire blood in him. At least I never realized he needed blood, and he never mentioned that he wanted to drink. But he can’t be really sick, can he?”

  “I wish I could give you an answer to that.” D sounded thoughtful, but he didn’t say anything else.

  That didn’t get him anywhere. Anthony wasn’t sure what he’d hoped for, because he could’ve guessed that Josh probably wasn’t sick. Maybe he just wanted to talk to his brother about it, even though he didn’t really want to admit it. Admitting that you had no idea what was wrong with your own mate wasn’t a nice feeling.

  But he didn’t know what to do, and he wanted to help Josh. He’d already arranged for the children to be watched by someone from the village in the afternoons, and Josh had gratefully returned to bed. Tomorrow would be the first time someone would come to clean the house and cook dinner for all of them. That should give Josh more time to himself, too, but still. Anthony was afraid that something else was wrong and he didn’t realize what it was.

  “I really don’t know what it could be. I still think he’s just completely exhausted. But maybe you can take him to Dr. Brown’s clinic?”

  Anthony shook his head. “I really don’t know if that’s such a good idea. I mean, I don’t want him to feel like there’s anything wrong with him. He’s just tired, that’s all. And maybe that’s really just the work, like you said. I don’t know if he’d like it much if I dragged him to a doctor.”

  “You could, of course, be a little more subtle and not tell him you want to drag him to a doctor because you think something is wrong. But you’d have to start learning what tact means.”

  Anthony smiled. Yeah, he was direct, and it wouldn’t work out if he told Josh he wanted to take him to a clinic. But he and subtle weren’t quite such good friends.

  “How about Ash, the children, and I come over for a visit? That wouldn’t be so obvious, and maybe Ash can figure out what’s wrong with Josh. I know he can feel a lot of things, and maybe he’ll get something. It’d be nice to see you both anyway, the kids would have fun in the village, and Ash can try his magic. I have no idea if that’ll help, but if Ash feels that something is wrong with Josh, you can still figure out how to tell him to go to the doctor. Or Ash will do it since he’s much more sensitive,” D suggested.

  “That sounds like a good idea, and I’d really love to see you again anyway. You can also ask Gerome and Luis if they want to come with you. Gerome is very welcome here, even as a vampire king. Although, I’d have to call Gerome myself and invite him. I think his circle was never welcome here, and maybe I need to talk to him personally before he comes. But you two are welcome to show up anytime. Just let me know when, then I’ll make sure we have a room when the two little ones need to sleep. Oh, and you can stay here overnight as well. We might have time in the evening to sit down and talk a bit. Josh wouldn’t know Ash is here to check on him, and I think it’d be good for all of us to spend some time together.”

  “Then let me talk to Ash, and I’ll text you. I guess the weekend might be good, but I’m not sure.”

  “The weekend would be good for us too. Maybe you can come Saturday and stay ’til Sunday?” Anthony asked.

  “That sounds doable, but let me talk to Ash. Everything else is all right?”

  Anthony leaned back on the sofa and closed his eyes. “Yeah, otherwise everything’s fine. I have to say that I’m still not happy to have a pack now, but it was really the best for everyone. We’re realizing more and more how awful it was here, and I think we’ve changed a lot for the better.”

  “I know you don’t want to hear this, but I think you’re doing a really good job. Maybe you were born to lead this pack, even if you never imagined it. There must have been a reason why you were always the leader while we were still working together, right? None of us would’ve thought of telling you what to do. You’ve always been a born leader, and I think that’s going to show in the pack, too. It’s a big change for you, of course, but I’m sure you’ll make it. Or is it so terrible that you’re fighting against the urge to throw away everything and just leave?”

  Anthony went silent, thinking about D’s words.

  Putting it that way, it wasn’t that bad. He’d never wanted to have a pack. That was still true. But he hadn’t minded working as the leader of their small group, and he couldn’t imagine taking orders from anyone else. D pointed that out correctly. If he kept thinking about it, he liked it.

  He could change a lot of things, make the lives of the individual pack members easier, and he’d really helped them to get their freedom. They had a long way to go, but he liked it. Sort of.

  He wasn’t the dictator his father had been but tried to think of every single member of the pack when making decisions. Even thoug
h he was their leader, he wanted them to agree with his decisions and be as happy as possible with them.

  This was what he liked. He liked it when they thanked him because he’d changed something. He liked it when they moved into houses that were now empty and began living their lives as they wanted to. He liked the way their eyes shone when he told them they could leave the village. Slowly, very slowly, they began to open up and trust him.

  He didn’t need the alpha role, but the position allowed him to change things. And for that, he’d keep the role.

  “Where did you go?”

  Anthony shook his head then quickly replied, “I’m still here. I was just thinking about what you said. It’s hard for me to admit, but I think you’re right. A lot has happened, even though we haven’t been here long, and I think much more will happen. And that’s something I like. Back then and today even more. I want to change lives, help people, and that’s what I can do here. Whether it comes with a title or not, I don’t care. All I care about is what I can do. Until now, I couldn’t do it to this kind of extent, and it was worth it to overthrow our father and take over here.”

  This time it was D who was silent for a moment before answering, “I’m glad you finally see it that way. Took you long enough, but still. I believe you’ll achieve a lot more in this pack, and if you manage to work with Gerome, there is nothing to stop you from changing the laws even further. Maybe even try to change the laws about children from mixed relationships, which Gerome has wanted to do for a long time. If you took his side as a pack alpha, he’d have a powerful ally. I know it’ll be mostly lawyers involved, but still. The more paranormal beings that support this change, the more likely it is to go through.”

  “You might be right about that. Even if it doesn’t affect me personally, it doesn’t mean it’s not worth fighting for. I’ll call him and invite him to visit us with Luis and Lucas, and then we can talk about it.”