by Eva Lyra
“Perfectly fine. Two babies.”
“That’s good. Two is enough for a first pregnancy. You can work on more next time.”
Tiberius’s grin widened. He liked the sound of that. First pregnancy. He wanted many babies with his omega. And that meant... “I may need to get a job.”
“Now? I thought your omega father left you a trust fund.”
“He did. I have another year to finish the Academy, and you know I like it here, but I’m wondering if it’s worth using up that money to finish a degree I’ll probably not need anymore. Instead, I could be saving that money and working to take care of my family.”
Marcus nodded, a frown on his face. “I see. So your father disowned you?”
“He said he was going to. I have no doubt he will. His thirst for power has grown too strong. If I don’t do his bidding, then I’m not his son, it seems.”
“Damn. I’m sorry, Ty.”
Tiberius shrugged. “He’s a bastard. And it’s not like I wanted the family business and the politics anyway.”
“Yeah, you’re not into politics. I forget.” Marcus shot him a wry smile and limped over to their corner, sinking into a chair. “What did he do to your omega? Did he tell you why he ran like that? Was it because of your planned wedding?”
“Yes and no. My father held something over his head.”
“Like what?”
“Between us, Marcus, and if you breathe a word to anyone, I’ll have to kill you, and then who will annoy me to death every day?”
“You have Nero. He’s pretty good at that.”
“Fuck, so true. Any case, you swear not to tell anyone?”
“I swear, dude. Now spill.”
“His fathers were accused of treason. Then they very conveniently died.”
“Not so convenient for them,” Marcus said grimly. “What was the proof?”
“Reese said he never saw it. I asked him if he ever saw his fathers meeting with witches, and he said no. He said that they met with a Fae, though.”
“A Fae?” Marcus muttered, frowning. “You sure?”
“I know. Unusual.”
“You can say that again.”
“Unusu—”
“Shut up, Ty.”
“What are you two thinking?” Nero asked.
“State secrets vanished. And the accused were meeting not with witches but with the Fae.”
“Maybe that Fae was answering to the witches?”
“Witches keep away from the Fae. Their only link is magic, and it has all but died out in the Fae world.”
“So what are you saying?”
“I’ve got a theory. See, the Fae closed their borders after the Great War. It’s weird. We like the Fae, even though it was with them we fought, not the Witches. We feel... an affinity with them.”
“Because they are cute,” Nero supplied.
Tiberius arched a brow at him.
Nero shrugged. “What?”
“Cute or not,” Marcus muttered, “they can’t be trusted. You know the theory that the elves and vampires were born thanks to a similar mutation that gave birth to wolf shifters. Elves were generally thought to have a recessive fox or cat gene, whereas vampires had a bat or raven gene.”
“A raven gene. Do you believe that?” Nero shook his head.
“That the only thing that bothered you about all this?” Tiberius muttered. “The raven part?”
A shrug. “It was all conjecture. The elves would rather kill themselves than get tested for the shifter gene, and the vampires had avoided contact with the other races for so long nobody seemed to know what they were up to. The point remains: we feel closer to them than to the witches, or the humans for that matter. We’re more inclined to believe that the witches are the bad guys.”
“Are you saying that they’re not?”
“Oh, I’m sure they’re no angels. Then again, neither are the Fae, no matter how cute they are. They could be the bad guys. Besides, foxes have pretty sharp teeth.”
“So do we,” Tiberius said, scowling. “If they’re trying to conquer us, we’ll fight them.”
“That’s right.” Marcus nodded approvingly. “Or better still, stop them before they even try. That’s the beauty of politics, brother. See?”
Chapter Twenty-Four: Reese
“Welcome back, Reese.” The Dean glanced at Reese’s rounded belly and arched a brow. “And congratulations.”
“Thank you, sir.” Reese ignored the burning blush on his cheeks. “And thank you for giving me more of your time.”
“Not a problem. I’m glad you’re back. Although Tiberius is the one now talking about leaving.
“Leaving the Academy?” Reese sank down in one of the empty chairs, winded. “Did he tell you that?”
“Yes. I know, I was shocked, too. At first, I wondered, is it an epidemic causing my best students to leave? Should I be worried? But he seems determined to find a job and take care of you and...” The dean waved a hand, indicating Reese’s belly. “His family.”
Aw god. Tiberius had said his father wanted him to marry. He didn’t really say what the consequences of refusing were. He had to talk to him. Reese was already behind in his studies and would have to stop again in about three months when the babies came. He could take a part-time job...
“Reese.”
“Sir.”
“If you want to come back, just say so. You still have the scholarship.”
“I do?”
“I’d been hoping you’d come back. I realized something had happened when you left so suddenly. And now I know why, or I’m guessing I know why, I have to tell you that there are special terms for pregnant omega students.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ll get more flexibility in timetables, deadlines, and presence requirements, once you give us a doctor’s paper stating you’re pregnant.”
“Oh.” Reese thought about that. “Would the ultrasounds of the babies do?”
“They certainly would.” The Dean smiled. “Does that mean you’re picking up your studies again?”
“That was the plan, if you’d let me,” Reese whispered, “but...”
“But what?”
“I have to talk to Tiberius, see why he thinks he has to drop out.”
“If you can convince him to stay...” The dean shrugged. “He’s a good student. In one year, he’ll have his diploma. It could open many doors.”
“Right.” Reese got to his feet, rubbing his belly. “Thank you, sir. If that’s okay, I’ll come back later to talk some more.”
“Of course. I hope you both stay.”
***
“Did your father kick you out?”
Tiberius looked up from where he’d been reading the back of a prenatal vitamin jar, eyes wide, as Reese stormed into his room. “What?”
“Did your father...” Reese stopped, and bent over a little, trying to catch his breath. Damn, but he got so easily tired these days. “Did he kick you out? When you refused to marry?”
“Love.” In two strides, Tiberius was beside him, tugging him toward the bed. “Come, sit down. Are you all right?”
“Yes. I’m fine.” Frustrated, Reese yanked—or tried to yank his arm free from the alpha’s steel grip. “It was just a question.”
“I see.” Tiberius was quiet for a few moments, and Reese relented and stepped closer to him. “What did the dean tell you?”
“You know what he told me. You want to drop out of the Academy.”
“I was only thinking of the future. Reese...” He tugged on Reese’s hand again and they sat together on the bed’s edge. “My father promised to disown me if I didn’t do as told. And I don’t regret it at all. I never wanted to lead the company and the estate, never wanted to stand beside my father in his power politics. I’m much happier working a job and sharing my life with you.”
“But...”
Tiberius kissed him. It always worked to distract him. “I’ll finish this year first,” Tiberius said,
cupping Reese’s face. “And then decide. It’s not urgent, okay? There’s nothing to stress over. We’ll study. Wait for the babies to arrive. And after that, we will see.”
“Okay.” Put like that, it sounded logical. Practical. “I’m just so sorry you lost your inheritance, your father—”
“I haven’t lost anything I wanted. All I want is you. My boyfriend. My lover. Tiberius pulled him into his strong arms. I’m so damn lucky to have you. My father is the one losing a son. He tried to force me into a life I didn’t want. Tried to scare you away from me. He’s not only losing a son, he’s losing two, plus the grandkids. You should be sorry for him.”
“... I can’t,” Reese breathed.
Tiberius chuckled. Then he laughed outright. “You never will, will you?”
“Probably not.” But then Reese was laughing, too, and then the babies started kicking, and the topic was dropped in favor of Tiberius serious conversation with Reese’s belly, what he always did when the babies kicked.
It involved Tiberius lying on his stomach on the bed, to be on belly-level, rubbing Reese’s belly and talking to the babies about the weather, the Academy, and even singing them rock songs.
It was hilarious.
And exactly what Reese needed to feel better about the whole thing.
***
After telling the dean that he’d be happy to go back to his studies, and that Tiberius would be doing the same at least until the end of the year, Reese was walking back toward the alpha building, relieved—when he thought he saw a familiar blond head.
The other omega stopped, too, giving him an uncertain look. Reese didn’t have much contact with the other omegas of the Academy. He mostly saw them in the salon, serving the alphas for credits.
“You’re Jace, right?”
“Yeah?” The omega approached him. He held his backpack against his chest, as if afraid someone might take it. “I’ve seen you before.”
“I’m Reese, Tiberius’s boyfriend.” It felt weird to introduce himself like that, but he also kind of liked it. He liked belonging to Tiberius. “We met at the salon. You brought Marcus a gift.”
Jace colored, and his mouth tightened. “Oh yes. I remember now.”
“I’m sorry he’s so callous.”
“Oh, it’s okay. Aw!” He took a step closer, looking at Reese’s belly. “You’re pregnant!”
“Yeah.” Reese felt himself coloring. “Halfway through the third month already.”
“And you have that glow about you. You look lovely.”
“Thanks. The morning sickness is finally easing off, so...”
“Can I touch?”
“Um. Sure. Go ahead.”
It was common for omegas to want to touch a pregnant belly. And Jace’s eyes positively glowed as he placed his hand on Reese’s bump. “How many babies?” he whispered.
“Um, two.”
“You’re so big already, though. Maybe it’s alpha babies.”
That could be. It was impossible to know how a shifter presented before the first years of life, but the size was sometimes a good indication. Alpha babies were the largest, omega babies the smallest, with Beta babies in the middle.
“Tiberius seems to be a nice guy,” Jace said. “He loves you, one can clearly see that.”
“Yeah.” Reese rubbed at his belly, smiling. “I think he does. He said he wants to Claim me.”
“I’m so happy for you. Uh... I should let you get on with what you were doing. Where you were going. Whatever you have to do. Um.” Jace stepped back, then turned and hurried away.
“Jace. Wait.” When the other omega stopped and glanced at him over his shoulder, Reese took a deep breath. “Tiberius says that Marcus is a good guy.”
Jace waited, a question in his eyes.
“But he’s also a difficult guy. Complicated. Or so it seems. And he’s been going through a rough patch since he hurt his leg. I’m telling you all this in case you meant to Court him more. Just so you know.”
Great, he was babbling.
After a moment, though, Jace shot him a faint smile, inclined his head in thanks, and walked away.
Reese liked Jace, he decided. He didn’t even know why, if that desperation in his eyes tugged on Reese’s heartstrings, or what it was. Maybe it was just a fellow omega thing, in an Academy chock-full of burly alphas.
And he also liked Marcus, who was kind in his own gruff way.
Why did he find himself hoping for a happy ending for those two? It was ridiculous. And he wasn’t a matchmaker.
Stop it, Reese, he told himself firmly. You have enough on your plate already.
As if in reply, one of the babies kicked him in the ribs, making him snort.
Exactly that, babies.
Chapter Twenty-Five: Tiberius (Three months later)
“Hey guys, how are things?” Nero took his seat at the table in their favorite salon corner. “Hey, Ty, didn’t know you were eating for three, too.”
“What? I’m hungry,” Tiberius said, his mouth full.
“Where’s your other one-and-a-half?”
Tiberius snorted, swallowed. “He had a history class. Should be done about now.”
“Still catching up on lost time, huh?”
“Yeah, he missed those few weeks when he was away, and as he’s tired all the time, he needed some extra tutoring.”
“You’re not stressed that his tutor may be flirting with him?”
Tiberius shrugged, refusing to think about it too closely, his alpha instincts constantly screaming at him to keep Reese by his side at all times. “He can flirt all he likes. That boy is mine.”
“And he can’t run away from you right now,” Nero said cheerfully, “so you’re set.”
“True, that.” Tiberius grinned. Reese was so heavy now with the babies he could barely walk. “I’ll go fetch him in a bit.”
“Are you? He’s here.”
“What?” He left the drumstick he was holding drop on the plate and shot to his feet. “Reese.”
There he was, waddling with some difficulty, his huge full-term belly with the twins straining the fabric of his pregnancy shirt. He smiled at Tiberius, adjusting the straps of his backpack. “Hi.”
“Reese.” He rushed to his omega, took his hand. “You finished earlier. Why didn’t you wait for me?”
“I’m fine. I’m not an invalid. I can walk.”
“But what if you fall?”
“I’m fine, Ty.” He shot Tiberius a dark look that said he didn’t want coddling right now, especially not in front of others.
Tiberius spoke quite good Reese-ish by now. He knew that in the bedroom Reese would allow him to baby him and carry him around and feed him, but not where others could see. He was a tough little omega, with a strong sense of pride, and Tiberius liked that about him.
Not right now, though, when he was worried about his omega, so he just gripped his lover’s hand a little too tight, to show his displeasure at not being allowed to act on his possessive instincts. He led Reese to the leather chairs in silence.
“Well, look at you, Reese.” Nero arched his brows. “Is it me or is that belly growing by the day?”
“It’s you,” Reese said.
While at the same time Tiberius said, “It is.”
Reese’s mouth twitched. He stole a fry from Tiberius’s plate, then another. “I’m starving,” he announced.
“That’s great news, because I discovered that they actually serve food here. A cafeteria, of all places.”
“No, really?” Reese slapped Tiberius lightly on the shoulder. “I had no idea.”
“Want a burger?”
“Yes, please.”
“Me, too, please,” Nero said, batting his lashes like the idiot he was.
Tiberius called one of the omegas and gave the order, then leaned back in his chair. “Have you seen Marcus?”
“He’s either lost in a history book, or in an omega.”
“I thought he laid off sex recently.”
>
“Yeah, strangely he has. Maybe he’s thinking of holing up in a cave on the Sacred Mountain and howl at the moon for a while.”
“Might help clear his head,” Tiberius said thoughtfully, “though I doubt it would work.”
Nero chuckled.
Reese shifted uncomfortable, rubbing at his massive belly. “Ow.”
“You okay?” Tiberius put his hand on his omega’s belly, feeling the babies kicking. “They’re very energetic today. Hey, babies, settle down.”
“If they take longer to be born, they’ll start answering you back,” Reese grumbled.
“Well, that’s a terrifying thought,” Nero said. “They are very big, Reese. Please don’t kill me for saying so.”
“I would, but can’t right now, sorry, too tired.”
Nero blew out a breath. “When are you due?”
“Anytime now.”
“And where are you having the babies?”
“The closest birth center, where I’ve been having my doc appointments. It’s half an hour away.”
“Good, good.”
“Stop interrogating my Mate,” Tiberius rumbled. “He needs to eat and rest.”
“He’s not your Mate. You haven’t Claimed him yet, have you? I don’t see a Bite on his neck.”
“We decided to wait for the babies to come first.”
“Good thinking.” Nero looked pensive, but he said nothing more until the food came, and then he wolfed his burger and fries just as fast as Tiberius.
After a few bites, Reese picked at his food, abandoning his burger and pushing his fries around in the ketchup.
“Are you feeling okay?”
“Yeah, sure. You know that the babies are pressing on my stomach. I can’t eat much.”
But he’d eaten less than usual. It was gut instinct and knowing his Mate that made him ask, “Reese, are you having any pains?”
Reese winced. “Just a few. It’s Braxton-hicks. False pains. The doctor said it’s normal.”
“You called and asked?”
“I did.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“And you didn’t tell me about it?”
“Relax, Ty.” Reese rubbed the top of his belly. “It’s nothing.”