by Eva Lyra
A certain gray-haired alpha that certainly wasn’t Marcus or Nero.
“Father? What...?” Tiberius disentangled himself from his Mate who murmured something, blinking sleepy eyes at Tiberius, grumbling at losing his warm, muscular pillow. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Hello to you, too, son.”
“Stay away from him. From them.”
“Is that...?” The old wolf took a step toward the bed, then stopped when Tiberius turned toward him, canines bared, fists clenched.
“Not a step closer. I asked you a question. What are you doing here?”
“Is that the boy you want to Claim? Why didn’t you tell me he was pregnant?”
“Because I loved him before I knew. I didn’t think you deserved to know.”
The old wolf nodded, some of the hardness leaving his weathered face. “I deserved that.”
“You did. So fuck off.”
Tiberius grabbed the pillows the nurse had brought earlier and stacked them behind Reese, making sure he was okay, keeping his back to his father until he got a hold on his temper. It wouldn’t do to attack his father and throttle him, not here. Reese needed his rest, and the babies, too.
“I came to say...” His father cleared his throat from behind him.
“That you’re sorry?”
“That, too,” the old wolf said, and Tiberius stilled.
“You’ve never apologized before.”
“Well, I’m starting now.”
“What are you sorry for?”
“Damn it, Tiberius, do I need to spell it all out?”
“Yes, you do.” Tiberius turned to face him once more. “Let’s hear it.”
There was a harrumph. “Fine. I’m... sorry for trying to force a marriage on you. Sorry for attacking you. For saying I’d disown you. For threatening your omega to get him away from you.”
His old man was really, actually apologizing.
“I don’t want to disown you, Tiberius,” he said. “Never did.”
“Well, I’m not interested in running the company anyway. let Emanuel do it. He’s much better at it anyway, and you know what’s even better? He wants to do it. Just like I want to Claim Reese. Free will, father. Doing what you want, not being forced to do something. Now that’s a notion.”
“I get your point.”
“Do you?”
“Yes. Yes, I get it. I’m not going to disown you. But we can leave the company to Emanuel, if that is your wish, and his.”
“It is.”
His father nodded, scratched at his beard.
“Why are you really here, father?”
“I wanted... I wanted to meet my grandkids.”
Tiberius struggled with himself. His father sounded sincere, but not so long ago he’d threatened Reese, told him lies. Tiberius had almost lost Reese. If Marcus hadn’t tracked him down... He wanted to believe that Reese would have told him about the babies, but maybe after they’d been born and already running about.
He’d have missed all of this. Because of the fucking old wolf.
He hesitated.
“Ty...” It was Reese’s voice from behind him. He sounded wide awake. “Let him.”
“What?”
“Let him meet us.”
Tiberius let out a long breath. “You sure?”
“Yes.” His omega had a faint smile on his face. Though pale and drawn with fatigue, he looked so pretty. And when one of their babies yawned, Tiberius couldn’t help a grin.
“Fine, then.” He went to sit on the bed’s edge, in case his father tried anything, but the old wolf seemed subdued. Were those tears in his eyes?
Tiberius thought he’d never see the day when the old wolf would feel something other than anger. For a long time, he thought it was sorrow brought on from the passing of his Mate, Tiberius’s omega father, but as the time passed and the anger only got worse, he’d stop giving his father excuses.
But now...
“Can I hold them?” his father asked Reese, and for a moment Tiberius thought Reese would refuse. He hadn’t let even Tiberius hold the babies yet.
But Reese surprised him again, nodding.
“You sure, love?”
“It’s their grandfather.”
So simple.
His Mate was kind. So Tiberius would keep watch, just in case. The old man would have to earn back his trust before he left him unsupervised with his Mate and children.
He watched as his father approached the bed and reached out for the babies.
“You know how to hold them?” Reese asked, passing him one baby first. “Supporting their heads?”
“I’ve had kids of my own,” his father said, but quietly. He nestled the baby in the crook of his arm, his eyes going soft. Tiberius helped pass the second baby to his other arm. “Tiberius and Emanuel were my first, but I did have two sets of twins after them, now living with their omega father. It never worked out between us. After I lost Tiberius’s father, I was lost.”
Tiberius looked away, suddenly sad.
His father sat on the edge of the bed, beside him, looking down at the babies. “So small,” the whispered. “I forgot how small babies are when they are born.”
“Didn’t feel small coming out,” Reese grumbled.
Tiberius leaned in and kissed him, unable to help himself. “Love you,” he whispered.
Reese’s face went red. “Love you, too,” he mumbled and pulled the sheet up, to cover his still slightly swollen belly and his nipples.
He was embarrassed? God, so cute.
“So when is the Claiming going to take place?” his old man asked.
“We haven’t set a date yet. We wanted to wait until after the birth.”
“Am I invited?”
Did the old wolf sound unsure of himself or was it all in Tiberius’s imagination?
“Of course you are,” Reese answered for him. “Isn’t he, Ty?”
“Yeah,” Tiberius said gruffly.
“Good. Seeing these babies reminds me of so much. Emanuel was still a baby when your omega father passed.”
“I wasn’t much older,” Tiberius said.
“I blamed myself, you know?” his father whispered. “For his death.”
“I thought he died in an accident.”
“Yes. If had been with him, if I had driven that day instead of him...”
“You’d be the one dead.”
His father shrugged. “I don’t care about my own life. I’d gladly have given it for him.”
There was a world of pain in his voice. It made Tiberius’s eyes hot. The thought of losing Reese was unbearable. It would kill him.
“He was hit by someone under a hex spell, they told me.”
“Really? You never said that.”
His father was gazing down at the babies. “It never came up. So many shifters have been spelled, going manic, committing crimes. Witches did this to us. So I swore to hunt witches, fight them.”
“Father... we need to talk about that. What if the witches aren’t the ones to blame for the spells?”
“What are you talking about?” His father jiggled the babies in his arms and cooed at them.
Actually cooed.
Tiberius had somehow entered a parallel dimension, it seemed. “Marcus said it all seems like a setup. That witches can’t be the ones behind it all.”
“They are the ones who have magic.”
“So do the Fae.”
“The Fae?” His father frowned. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah. You should talk to Marcus. He has studied the matter a lot.”
“Marcus of Clan Wolfclaw?”
“The very same.”
His father narrowed his eyes at Tiberius. He expected him to laugh at him, deride the thought, yell how he knew better.
But strangely, he didn’t. Instead, he said, Okay. I might do that, if you think he has any information on the matter.
He does.
Yeah, definitely an alternate universe.
Just then the babies started to fuss and cry, waving their tiny fists in the air.
“I think they’re hungry,” Reese said.
“Didn’t they finish eating a few minutes ago?”
“They’re new to this. They need to feed a lot.” Reese grinned at him. “And maybe they took after you, and are hungry all the time.”
The old wolf sniffed at the babies, smiling so wide his yellow canines glinted, and turned to hand his grandkids back to their omega father.
“Speaking of Marcus...” Reese received the babies and cradled them to his chest. “Remember Jace?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Well... I think he might be pregnant.”
EPILOGUE
Tiberius
“Ready?” Tiberius asked, grinning at Reese. The trees rustled overhead, the bushes moved as birds chirped and fluttered. The park was peaceful, no other shifters visible around, though a few scents lingered.
“You sure the babies will be okay while we’re away?”
“Positive. Even two brutes like Nero and Marcus can feed two babies and keep an eye on them for a couple of hours.”
“You sure? If...”
“Hey, don’t you worry. They’d die to defend our babies, I promise you that.”
“I know. I know, it’s stupid.”
“No. Never. Come here.” Tiberius cupped his omega’s face, kissed those soft lips. “You worry. I worry. They’re our pups. It’s normal. But they’ll be okay.”
“You’re right.” Reese smiled up at him. “Everything will be okay.”
“That’s right. Now...” He pulled back and unbuttoned the top of his shirt. He winked. “Are you ready for this?”
“I’m dying to see your wolf,” Reese said and licked his lips.
“Naughty boy,” Tiberius muttered, grinning widely. “I love it when you talk dirty to me.”
Reese laughed and started shedding his clothes, shoving down his pants, kicking off shoes and socks, yanking his sweater and T-shirt over his head.
Tiberius’s fingers stilled on the buttons of his shirt as he drank in the sight of his Mate’s naked body. From the top of his tousled dark head to his toes, with the slight swell of his belly and the pink stripes, the stretch marks from the pregnancy, he was perfect. The stripes only made him look more beautiful, proof of the hardship he’d gone through to bring their babies into the world.
Reese flicked him a look, smiling, and Tiberius’s heart turned over.
“Love you,” he whispered as he watched his Mate shift, crouching down and transforming into his animal nature, fur sprouting, ears and muzzle lengthening.
Finally. He’d waited for so long to see Reese’s wolf and he was just as cute as he’d imagined him to be, a small silvery wolf with black years and big blue eyes. Reese stood on all fours and yipped at Tiberius, skipping closer to butt him with his head.
Tiberius reached down and scratched the pretty wolf behind the ears, his heart full.
Then he shed his clothes, crouched down and shifted, too, running with his Mate into the woods as the moon rose.
AUTHOR NOTE:
Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed! If you feel like writing a review on any platform, it would be wonderful.
I have two more books written in this series, following the adventures of Marcus and Jace, as well as Nero and Kian, as well as other series, some written, some in the plans. In fact, you are invited to attend the Claiming ceremony of Reese and Tiberius in the next book in the series: Feisty Cute Omega (Marcus and Jace).
If you wish to be notified when a new book comes out, please scroll down to find my contact links!
AUTHOR BIO:
Eva Lyra writes Mpreg Omegaverse in an all-male world (human, wolf shifter and Fae). All stories are set in the same wide universe that encompasses the shifter lands, human lands and Fae lands (with the possibility of future mermen and other realms to be added). She has a fondness for pretty boys and happily-ever-afters with plenty of rosy-cheeked babies.
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Have a lovely day and take care!