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The meeting with Jai’s fathers had gone well... apparently. They talked with the lawyer, showing only a passing interest in Val—actually commenting on his height and size of his muscles, as well as the size of other things, which set Val’s teeth on edge.
It made him wonder if that was how Zach felt most of the time, stared at and discussed as if he were a thing for sale, his qualities and flaws openly talked about, his worth weighed against his net worth as stated in his father’s will.
A net worth he was planning on using for Zach. All of it.
He could foresee a huge fight in his future with the De los Lobos family, when he announced that. Of course, the money was his. The law stated that an alpha in a couple retained the rights to his inheritance, unlike an omega.
Unfair laws, but good in this case. They’d serve him well. Jai had no need of more money. His fathers had no fucking need of a single penny more, greedy bastards.
Whereas Zach would start a new life with that coin, freed of debts he’d had no choice in accumulating. Sold as a child to the academy, he’d always been in debt even though he’d held no power over his life.
Just like the omegas getting trafficked that Alex was fighting to free, a trade he was doing his best to stop. And Val hadn’t really stood by his side, too lost in his own struggle—but he should have stood by him.
He would, once this stupid fucking Claiming was done and he knew that Zach would be okay.
Why was he so protective of the pretty blond omega? Why did he miss him so much it hurt inside? Why couldn’t he want the rich, arrogant omega he was about to Claim? He was handsome. He was the one his father had chosen for him.
And Val felt nothing for him.
Zilch.
The following meetings with Jai had ranged from indifferent to fucking painful—like the one he was halfway through right now.
“Give me your hand,” Jai demanded, reaching for it. “Come on. Let’s go to my room.”
“Jai, no. We can’t, not before the Claiming. It says so in the will.”
“The contract, you mean.” Jai rolled his eyes. “Nobody is here, Val. It’s just us.”
It bothered him that Jai called him Val—though just about everyone did. It felt too intimate.
“Your fathers are in the room next door. And my lawyer.”
“Why do they always have to be here, huh? And why do you always stand so far away from me?”
“I’m not,” he said automatically. “And they have to be here because the will says—”
“Yeah, yeah.” Jai waved a delicate hand back and forth. “The will this, the will that. Screw the will.”
But the will was the only reason Val was there. How could he fucking forget it?
“Jai, stop.” Val pulled his hand away as they reached the top of the stairs. “I’m not going into your bedroom.”
“Why not?” Jai put his hands on his hips. “Why do you keep refusing me? It’s as if you’re avoiding me. You’re the one who came and asked to Claim me, you know!”
“I know, damn it.”
“Valerian De Chateau,” Jai mocked in a high voice, fanning his face dramatically. “The alpha every omega dreams about. Oh, he’s so handsome. He’s so sexy! His shoulders! His mouth! His—”
“Jai. Why are you with me?” Val wanted to know. “You’re pretty, your family’s rich. You could have any alpha you wanted.”
“Who says I don’t want you?”
“Do you?”
Jai shrugged, looking away. “You’re handsome.”
“Is that enough?”
“Why are you being so deep and shit? Isn’t this about sex and attraction? Shouldn’t I want you? Don’t you want to do it with me?”
“Sure,” Val said, his mouth feeling numb.
“Good. So come on. Let’s go.” Jai grabbed Val’s hand in his much smaller one and started toward what had to be his room. Val reluctantly followed him up, forcing himself to take in the man’s delicate jaw, his delicate hand in his, the graceful arch of his neck.
Nope. Not doing it for him, damn it.
It got worse when Jai led him into a pale blue robin’s egg bedroom with a canopy bed and heavy drapes on the windows.
And started to undress. Pale shoulders appeared under the white shirt he shucked off, a narrow, hairless chest, and Val’s dick had no opinions about it at all.
His dick was bored.
“Jai, stop. Put your clothes back on.”
“What’s the matter?”
“We shouldn’t be doing this.”
“Never took you for such a stickler to the rules. Aren’t alphas supposed to be daredevils, horny and aggressive all the time?”
Yeah, Val had read the manual, too. “That’s just a tendency, Jai.”
“You don’t want to touch me? Feel my skin? Hold me?”
“No, damn it.” It came out without Val’s permission. Damn his stupid brain. “Look, Jai...”
“Why not? Am I not pretty? I don’t understand how you can not want me. Oh, shit, don’t tell me... you want someone else, don’t you?”
Fuck. Busted.
Jai’s reasoning may be flawed, but the conclusion was right.
And Jai might be damn annoying but... this wasn’t fair to him. Val didn’t want to hurt him. Jai hadn’t done anything wrong.
But it also wasn’t fair to Val.
And what about Zach? Was it fair to him? Did he still want Valerian? Did he ever really want him? Could Val find another way?
He realized he had to. This couldn’t be how he’d spend his life—without Zach. Without love.
Hell.
***
Evening had fallen. He walked out of that mansion, his thoughts whirling and spinning. How to do this? He still had no clue, the sum he owed Lotus academy a boulder hanging around his neck.
Zach. He had to see Zach. The pain of being apart from him was like a knife he carried inside his chest, stuck deep, bleeding him dry. He’d never smiled so much as when he’d been with Zach, had never laughed and felt good like when he’d been with his omega.
His omega, his Mate. Just the thought of holding him again in his arms had him running toward his car and then speeding down the road toward Lotus academy.
And if he doesn’t want to see you?
Fuck that. He wasn’t gonna think about it. He’d try. Trying was all one could do. And he’d fall to his knees if he had to, just to see his man once again.
Then he’d decide what to do.
But upon reaching Lotus academy, he was told that Zach wasn’t available right now. He was in what they called a “private show”.
Private show of what? To whom?
The thoughts zipping through Val’s head, the possibilities, made him want to punch a couple of walls and put his fist through them.
“Take me there,” he told the scared-looking beta in the cheap two-piece suit and bad hairdo. “Right the hell now.”
“But sir—”
“I am his alpha. I need to see him.”
“Sir, you cannot—”
“Move aside or take me to him. I won’t ask again. The Dean will be hearing from me if you don’t take me to Zach right now.”
“... yes, sir.”
Intimidating a beta. Bullying your way into the academy. Being the asshole everyone has marked you down as. Didn’t you say you weren’t doing this anymore?
He had to see Zach, period. Whatever it took. He had a sudden, sickening feeling that it was urgent. That he had to see Zach before he was taken from him, before Zach decided he didn’t want anything to do with Valerian ever again. And he was afraid for his omega’s safety, though he couldn’t say why, only that cord between them that he’d felt every time, tugging on his heart, was getting painful.
Everything about being with Zach was painful and good. Painfully good and right.
The beta hurried ahead of him, down a long path across the academy grounds, toward a small building Val had never had cause to visit.
“What’s this place?” he asked as the beta opened the door and ushered him inside.
“The small theater, sir. Reserved for small, private shows of important patrons and potential Mates for our Lotus Boys.”
It was as bad as Val had feared. Since he’d gone away, the Dean had arranged for Zach to get an alpha and quickly. Why the rush? Fuck if he knew, but it pissed him off hugely. His heart was beating hard in his chest, and his hands were clenched into fists as they moved down a dim hall.
Was Zach stripping for these alphas? Lap dancing? What the hell was a private show about?
How dare they look at his omega when Val wasn’t there? And if they’d dared touch a single inch of his skin, a hair on his head, he’d punch their daylights out.
Bastards.
“In here, alpha, I— Oof!”
He hadn’t even realized he’d shoved the beta aside and burst through the doors until he’d found himself inside a small theater. A couple heads turned in his direction, but most of the few alphas sitting before the small round stage didn’t bother. Music played—a simple rhythm of small bells following the movements of an omega dancing on the stage, alone, in a yellow robe that fluttered behind him as he moved in a slow, sensual dance.
And as he turned, Val could see that his belly was swollen round, barely fitting inside his robe.
A pregnant omega. A very pretty one.
The fine golden hair caught in a braid reminded him of Zach.
As did the heart-shaped face.
And the graceful sweep of those slender arms as he danced.
Of course it was Zach. Had to be. The beta had brought him where Zach was giving a private show.
Bewildered, he watched as the pregnant omega carefully turned in a circle, hands going to his round belly, smoothing over it, showing its size to the hungrily watching alphas in the audience.
As he swung his hips slightly right and left, legs a little bent at the knees, spread apart, his hips rolling in slow circles, belly thrust forward, lush and full.
Zach was pregnant.
Val’s knees went weak. He grabbed at the back of a chair not to fall.
It still was difficult to grasp. He’d come to see him, talk to him, hold him, and found him with a full belly, dancing for unknown alphas. Why?
Why hadn’t Zach told him?
Why hadn’t anyone told him?
His baby.
Oh, fuck. Had Zach—and everyone—believed that Valerian didn’t want Zach anymore?
Of course they had. That was the message he’d sent out. He hadn’t known why Val had not returned. Zach hadn’t known. He hadn’t known that Val wanted to set him free.
And maybe for him it didn’t matter. Not when he was pregnant. He’d want an alpha beside him, Kai had been right.
Val wanted to be that alpha.
He had to be. He couldn’t let any other alpha have his Zach. Especially now that he was carrying Val’s baby.
There was no doubt in his mind that he’d gotten Zach pregnant that first time they’d spent together, when he’d knotted so hard. Somewhere deep inside, he felt as if he’d known it all along—a weird feeling to have coupled with the astonishment he’d felt when seeing his omega’s belly.
He needed to smell him, smell his belly, smell himself inside his omega, to touch and kiss and lick and caress.
The opposite of everything he’d felt with Jai.
Zach went on dancing, those slow, careful movements making much more sense now as the size of his belly became more and more apparent, depending on the pose, and Val remained standing, rooted to the spot, spellbound, confused, and aroused, all in one.
Then he jerked when Zach started to undo the sash tied around his hips, opening his mustard-yellow robe a little, still rolling his hips and moving slowly on the stage.
What the hell was he doing? Val couldn’t quite see. Was he really undressing for these fucking pervs?
Murmurs came from the alphas sitting before the stage. Val was already moving toward the stage, torn between fury, curiosity, and arousal.
The yellow robe was parting, revealing his omega’s round belly, a taut and pale mount, the navel sticking out just a little.
Beautiful.
Sexy.
So full.
And all the alphas drooling over it, dying to see more, to touch and feel when Val was the one who should be doing that, the only one, damn it.
“Get out,” he yelled, “all of you! Get the hell out of here. Go on, what are you waiting for? Show’s over. Fucking get off your asses and fuck off!”
He was half-shifting already, his canines cutting into his upper lip, warm blood dripping down his chin. Not even attempting to wipe it, he lifted his hands, his nails grown into hard, sharp claws, his spine was bowing, and shudders ran down his back as he preparing to wolf out and tear the throats out of anyone still staring at his omega.
The other alphas were on their feet, snarling at him. They could probably smell his pheromones and testosterone flooding the place, the burnt-iron stink of his fury. Their eyes flashed, wolf eyes, canines flashing in their mouths, but he must have looked scary enough because they didn’t come at him. There were seven of them, backs hunched in the first stages of shifting—but whether they’d been that way when he’d walked in due to horniness from watching Zach or not, he couldn’t tell.
And it didn’t matter.
“Peep show is over,” he growled, the sound coming from so deep inside his chest the words barely formed. “Get out! Zach is mine. Do you hear me? Out!”
When that didn’t do the trick, he went, grabbed two by the arms, and flung them out. The others followed, giving him dark looks.
By the time they were out and he’d slammed the door closed, he was more animal than man, all his primal instincts vying for supremacy, tearing him up inside. He wanted to go after the other alphas, shred them to pieces.
He wanted to tear the room apart, throw the chairs at the walls, and score the wallpaper with his claws. He wanted to grab Zach, shove him down on all fours, and mount him.
Then Zach called out to him, stopping his churning thoughts. “Val?”
Zach. He was here for Zach.
Val climbed onto the stage in one jump and reached for him, confused when Zach stepped back, his eyes wide and face pale.
Yeah, he really had to look absolutely fucking scary, caught between beast and man, for his omega to backpedal and look so terrified.
He made himself stop and take a breath, force the shift back down. Shaking out his hands, rolling his shoulders, he bowed his head and looked for the human inside him, banning the wolf to the depths of his mind.
“Zach.” When he lifted his head again, he was in control. Well, partly, because seeing his omega right in front of him, looking so pretty and scared, did things to him that no other omega ever could or had.
“Now what?” Zach whispered, his face red, his hands clutching his robe closed over his belly.
“Now... I want to see.”
“What?” Zach squeaked.
“What were you gonna show these old geezers? Show me.” He shouldn’t be asking that but he was still caught in that loop of anger, curiosity, and lust. There was a stool backstage, behind the curtains, and he went and pulled it out and sat. “I wanna see you.”
And though he was still all growly and scary, he didn’t expect Zach to agree, to cower and do as he said. Zach was a bright spirit, a defiant one, sparkling and feisty.
But his omega only nodded and shifted on his feet, the small bells on his anklets chiming softly, his long, blond braid swaying. “Yes, alpha,” he whispered, moved back a few steps and began to dance once more.
Val sank down on the stool and stared, transfixed, as Zach swayed and rotated his hips, stepping sideways, then turning and sweeping his arms up, not bothering to retie his robe. The soft fabric gaped open, framing and drawing Val’s attention to his dark nipples—were they always so dark and prominent?—and round belly.
Wow, it was really round. When had he last seen Zach? He remembered that he’d gained some weight around the middle, but hadn’t realized... hadn’t thought that Zach might be pregnant.
It was an actual belly dance, Val realized, the open robe and the movements designed to showcase that sexy babybump that he couldn’t stop staring at.
He’d heard stories of omegas dancing this pregnancy dance back in time, celebrating their gift of bearing children and seducing alphas who wanted to have families, but he’d never seen one performed.
Most importantly, it was Zach, his own omega, performing it, and his big bump was full and alluring. Damn sexy.
Val was so hard he thought he might bust a nut inside his pants, but the dance wasn’t enough, not when it came to Zach. He had to touch and smell and feel, and he just couldn’t wait a fucking second longer.
“Come here,” he said, his voice sounding gruff to his own ears, and opened his arms. “Come to me, babe.”
Zach was trembling. He approached, though, and let Val draw him to him, pulled him on his lap to stroke a hand over his swollen belly. Val marveled at the changes in his omega’s slender body, running a thumb over a hard nipple, and rewarded with a shudder and a moan from Zach. His omega was getting aroused, he could see that small, hard cock tenting the silk of his loose pants.
“Is this mine?” he whispered, rubbing gently at the curve of Zach’s belly. “This baby?”
A flash went through those pretty green eyes. But then his omega bowed his head, meek once more, and nodded.
Val wanted to press his nose to his omega’s belly but even like this, he caught a whiff of pregnancy hormones and something else, something intense that was drawing him closer.
The smell of his baby inside his omega’s womb.
Val trailed the back of his knuckles down that smooth cheek. “What’s wrong?
A shake of that blond head.
“Why didn’t you tell me you got pregnant?”
“And chance stopping your wedding?” Zach said bitterly, tears standing on his blond lashes like crystals. “I wouldn’t dare.”
Shit.” Zach... I can explain.”
“Can you? I don’t want you to drop your life because I’m pregnant. I don’t want you to come see me if you don’t want to be with me. In fact, if you want to see me,” Zach whispered, his voice cracking, getting off Val’s lap before Val could grab him, “speak with the Dean and wait in line with the other alphas.”
He hurried to the back of the stage and before Val knew it, a door had slammed in the building, and Zach was gone.
Well, fuck.