Introducing Mrs. Harold to the Bennington’s was an emotional affair, as Jason had expected. He wasn’t surprised the older couple had welcomed Betty’s mother with open arms. Seeing the look on her face when she’d first met her grandchild had told Jason that it was all worth it.

It had also raised questions he and Kade had left tabled for months. Namely, how and when they would begin the process of planning their own family. Sometimes he was grateful they couldn’t just accidentally wind up pregnant. Others, he envied the ease of life for all the Alpha-omega couples who seemed to take that gift for granted.

Not that he was even sure he was ready to be a father. Yeah, Kade was ready enough for the both of them, but if he brought it up now, he knew there was a chance his mate would think it was just a ploy to hang onto him.

Hell, maybe it was. All he knew was that when they did have a kid, whether it was through adoption or bringing one into the world through surrogacy, he wanted it to be for the right reasons. He’d been born with a job and when he failed to live up to those expectations, he’d paid the price. He refused to do that to their future kids.

When someone knocked on his office door, he murmured, “Come in,” thinking it would be Kade. The sight of Clyde at the door, his hair falling around his shoulders the way it had earlier, was both unexpectedly welcome and a shock.

The omega had made it clear he didn’t want anything more to do with Jason than he had to, and that was more than alright with him. He still wasn’t sure what had come over him in the woods, when they were both in their wolf forms and Clyde had seemed so…not himself. He just knew it was safest not to give whatever it was any room to flourish.

“Is this a bad time?”

“No. Come on in.”

Clyde shut the door behind him, and Jason wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He’d already told Kade that whatever did or didn’t happen between him and Clyde, he didn’t want to stand in the way of it, but he didn’t particularly want to know about it, either. He knew what kinds of things happened when a destined pair were in close proximity and had no allusions that Clyde would remain as cold toward Kade as he was trying to be for long.

“What can I do for you?” Jason asked stiffly, nodding for Clyde to take the seat across from his desk.

The omega sat down but didn’t seem comfortable. The worried look on his face and the fact that he was actually hesitating to speak for once suggested that whatever it was, he’d been thinking about it for some time. “It’s about something I was discussing with Kade earlier. Well, not that I was discussing this with him. I wanted to come to you first. I just…”

Jason waited for the omega to finish his thought, but when it became clear he wasn’t going to, he pressed, “I’m not sure I follow.”

Clyde gulped audibly. This time, he met Jason’s gaze and squared his shoulders like he was having to work up all the courage he had to say the next words out of his mouth. Considering who he was, that was a lot of courage. “I’d like to offer to be your surrogate.”

Jason stared at him for a minute, trying to convince himself he hadn’t heard what his ears were trying to shove into his brain. When at last he realized that one of the two was hopelessly broken, he asked, “Come again?”

Clyde frowned, as if irritated that Jason was making him repeat it. “I said I’m offering to help you and Kade start your family by being your surrogate.”

So his ears and brain were working correctly, after all. It was just his racing heart that seemed to be malfunctioning. “I’m sorry…why exactly would you want to do that?”

“Do you really see me as some robot beyond normal human reasoning?” Clyde challenged. Jason decided not to give him an answer he probably wouldn’t like. “I know that we don’t know each other very well, but whether either of us likes it or not, there is always going to be a connection between me and your mate. Something good might as well come of it.”

“And you came to me instead of Kade?”

“I thought it was best for you to have the chance to discuss it together in private, and if you’re not comfortable with the idea, there’s no point in getting his hopes up.”

Jason listened, only slightly bristling at the omega’s words. They were true, for one thing, and for another, Clyde didn’t have to give him the deference he did as Kade’s original mate. Most wouldn’t. Hell, there were omegas in his own pack who gave them the side eye, as if two Alphas being together was somehow taking away an opportunity they might have had to take a mate for their own. Clyde might easily have used his pheromones and his wiles to worm his way between them, but so far, he’d been nothing but respectful if a royal pain in the ass. It was almost more impressive that Jason knew for a fact Clyde couldn’t stand him, and he behaved with integrity anyway. The fact that he cared about sparing Kade’s feelings if Jason said no was even more of a tribute to his character, which the Alpha would grudgingly admit seemed far superior to any other members of the Tribunal he’d encountered.

For better or for worse, Clyde Harp was the real deal. He was also presenting them with an opportunity that was going to change the course of their lives one way or another. Being impregnated with Kade’s child would only serve to deepen the bond between them, and Jason had seen enough mated Alphas start families with their omegas that he knew there was also the risk that Kade would decide Jason wasn’t necessary anymore. The very thought filled him with terror that years of fighting for his pack in life or death situations had never come close to stirring, but his answer had been decided from the moment Clyde made the offer.

“Thank you,” he said in a tone of disbelief. “I know the gravity of what you’re offering, and I’ll talk it over with Kade, but I already know what his answer is going to be. If you’re sure this is what you want to do, then of course my answer is yes.”

Clyde’s shoulders relaxed, as if he hadn’t been sure how the Alpha was going to take his offer. He nodded. “Good. I think you’ll both make excellent parents, and goodness knows the species needs more disciplined folks to pick up the slack for the rest.”

Jason’s mouth twitched. Contrary to the omega’s belief, Clyde didn’t really strike him as a robot. More the love child of the bureaucracy and one of those Federation brainwashing videos they’d always played in school. He’s stopped believing in the whole queen and country schtick at the age of fifteen, but Clyde’s overtly professional demeanor and endless zeal for law and order was so earnest that he could almost buy in, if he wasn’t the Alpha of a pack that existed to snub those very ideals.

“I appreciate that. If we do go through with this, how are you going to explain that you’re having a Silver Rapids Alpha’s kid to the Tribunal?”

“I’ve accumulated a lot of paid leave. I don’t take vacations and I never get sick.”

Jason cocked an eyebrow. “How much leave exactly?”

“Over the years…probably six months. Realistically, I should only need three or four. None of the omegas in my family show much until the third trimester, and I see no reason they have to know anything.”

“And you’d be what, completely uninvolved?” Jason asked, not sure he liked that any more than the alternative.

“You might have noticed that I lack the nurturing gene omegas are purported to have,” Clyde said flatly. “I’ll have to be around, if only because it’s bad for Kade otherwise, but I have no intention of hovering or telling you how to raise your child. Which brings me to my condition…”

“Condition?” The last time the Alpha had jumped to the conclusion that the omega would find some way to use this situation to his advantage, he’d been proven wrong, so he decided to hold out. “Which is?”

“I want you to be the other biological parent.”

Now that one Jason was sure he’d heard wrong. “What? Why?”

“Kade imprinted on me. If I have his baby without being marked, there’s always the chance that I’ll get mating sickness, and then he’ll have no choice but to mark me.”

Jason knew he should leave well enough alone. What Clyde was offering was more than anyone close to them ever had, and the only possible solution was one that kept him awake at night. Nonetheless, he cared about Kade too much to stay quiet, and much to his chagrin, he was starting to care about Clyde, too. “Would that really be such a bad thing? I know you’re opposed to the idea of changing your life in any way, but Alphas like Kade… hell, people like Kade, they don’t just come along every day.”

To Jason’s surprise, the omega listened without putting in a remark. “I know that.”

“Do you? Because he already cares for you, and once Kade cares for someone, he’d go to the ends of the earth for them,” Jason said, surprised at how worked up he was getting over the idea that his mate might remain exclusively his. It was what he wanted, so why was he fighting so hard against his own interests?

Oh, right. Love. When exactly had they decided it wasn’t just another form of insanity? Because to him, it seemed far worse than going feral. It could make a man do even stranger, more self-destructive things.

Clyde’s gaze softened, and the smile on his lips made Jason’s gut twist up in that indecipherable, inexplicable way it had when he’d caught sight of Clyde’s wolf form in the forest. When he’d hunted him.

“There it is,” he said quietly.

“There’s what?”

“The thing that makes him love you the way he does.” There was something in the omega’s wistful tone that spoke to Jason’s heart in a language he didn’t understand. A sadness in it, too. “It’s strange how you can both see each other so clearly, but not yourselves.”

Jason didn’t have the first idea how to respond to that, so he chose not to. “I still think it should be Kade, but if that’s what you want, we’ll find a way to do it.”

“It’s not all that hard,” Clyde said in a wry tone. Now that Jason was used to. “There are laboratories that specialize in this kind of thing.”

Jason grimaced at the idea of jerking off in some sterile waiting room to do what nature had instilled in him instinctively, but when he reminded himself that it wasn’t his mate he’d be impregnating, the idea was a little easier to swallow. He wouldn’t let his mind drift to doing things the natural way with Clyde, not the least of all because of how easy it would be…

“Discuss it with Kade and take your time, but my next heat is probably due in a month or so, so keep that in mind,” Clyde said, standing.

Jason really shouldn’t have been surprised by how clinically the omega discussed subjects that made most blush, but it was refreshing in a sense. Despite his smaller stature, Clyde was no shrinking violet. He carried himself with poise and spoke the same way, regardless of what the topic was. He was class personified, and while he was the last damn person Jason would ever have imagined he’d get along with, he could see why Kade was already so smitten with him.

“Thank you,” he said before he lost the chance. “I know that’s not enough, but…I mean it.”

Clyde gripped the door, giving the Alpha a nod of affirmation. “You’re welcome. Goodnight, Jason.”

“Goodnight.”

* * *

“He offered to do what?”

When the plate slipped from Kade’s hand and shattered on the floor, the Alpha winced, knowing that he probably should have waited until the dinner dishes were done to drop that bombshell.

“I was as shocked as you are now,” Jason admitted.

“Are you sure?” Jason could hear his mate’s heart going a mile a minute, but he could tell Kade was too afraid to get his hopes up. He still hadn’t mentioned Clyde’s one condition, and wasn’t sure how that would change things.

“You know him. He makes it pretty clear what he thinks, good or bad.”

Kade gave a small laugh, shaking his head in disbelief. “I just never expected… I mean, we talked a little about me wanting to start a family earlier, but not about this.”

“He said he didn’t want to get your hopes up if I said no.”

Kade looked him up and down, thinking deeply about something. “And yet you came to me.”

“I know what this means to you, Kade. What it means to both of us. It’s our chance to finally start a family. How am I supposed to say anything other than yes?”

“You could, though,” Kade insisted, stepping over the broken glass to stand in front of the other Alpha. “If you weren’t comfortable with doing it this way, I’d understand completely. We could find another surrogate —“

“We’re not getting another surrogate,” Jason said firmly, wrapping his arms around Kade’s thick, toned waist. He loved the way the other Alpha felt, hot flesh pressed to his, separated only by their clothes. The fabric did nothing to quell the heat burning up between them. “Not unless you object to his condition.”

Kade tilted his head to once side. “What condition?”

Jason cleared his throat, realizing that relaying this bit of information was harder than he’d thought. “He uh, wants me to be the baby’s biological father. It’d be done in a lab setting, of course,” he added quickly.

It took a moment for the information to sink in, and Jason knew it had from the spark in the Alpha’s eyes. “Oh.” His tone was blank and unreadable.

“If you’re not okay with it —“

“No,” Kade said quickly. “No, of course I am. I think it’s a great idea, actually. I probably would have suggested the same, if he hadn’t brought it up.”

“You would have?”

Kade gave him a look, running his hands over Jason’s sharply defined chest. “I love you, Jason. I want to start a family with you. I don’t care if the baby has my DNA, or neither of ours. I just want what we have to grow and become the family you gave up to be with me.”

“You’re all the family I’ve ever needed, Kade,” Jason said gruffly, letting his hands drift down to his mate’s hips. “I want a baby, I do, but even if we could never have children, I would never regret the choice I made. I’d never feel like I lost anything more than what I’ve gained.”

“I know,” Kade whispered, brushing his lips against his lover’s. “And you’re enough for me, too. But I want to share this with you. The only way I can think of our life together being better is…” He trailed off and Jason’s heart ached with the knowledge that what he didn’t say wasn’t just about starting a family. It was about the mate he’d newly discovered, and already felt such a strong pull toward that Jason could feel it through their link.

He didn’t blame him. It hurt, but he understood. He wanted that, too, if only for Kade’s sake. “He’ll come around, Kade.”

The Alpha’s blue eyes shone with guilt. “Don’t comfort me when I’m the one who’s supposed to be reassuring you.”

Jason smirked. “When have I ever needed reassurance? Besides, no one can be around you for long without falling in love.”

Kade rolled his eyes.

“It’s true,” Jason insisted, pushing him up against the counter. He leaned in for another kiss, this one deepening until Kade’s lips parted to receive his tongue. He breathed deep of his mate’s woodsy, intoxicating scent and let his hands explore the hard planes of Kade’s chest. Every inch of this man always felt like uncharted territory to discover, even though he knew his mate’s body better than his own. He knew all the places to touch, all the little flickers of attention that would make him moan and yield to breathlessness.

Kade’s shaft was hard, straining at his jeans. Jason’s rubbed against it, the friction igniting the flame of their passion as their tongues tied. For a moment, he forgot all about the investigation and the day of emotional peaks and lows. All there was in that moment was his mate in his arms, and the pleasure that was theirs to take.

Jason fast undid his jeans and Kade’s hands clumsily but effectively undid his own. The other Alpha’s thick cock sprang free, heavy and glistening with need. Jason dug his hand into Kade’s hair to pull him closer and captured his mouth, sliding his tongue down the other Alpha’s as his own fully erect cock slid against Kade’s. Sweet, pulsing friction made all the day’s stresses melt away as he bucked his hips into his mate, his hand wrapping halfway around their close pressed shafts to stroke.

He swallowed up Kade’s moan and the other Alpha’s hands fisted in his hair as he deepened the kiss in a bid for more. Jason had him up against the counter, the pots and pans rattling as their heads brushed the handles.

All of a sudden, the flames became an explosion and he needed more. He grabbed Kade’s hips and spun him around to face the counter. The other Alpha’s fingers splayed out on the granite as he bent to give his mate easier access, making it clear that he wanted the penetration just as badly. Usually, Jason would have taken the time to work a finger or two into him first, but the moment he thought of it, Kade threatened “don’t you dare go anywhere” through gritted teeth, as if he was perfectly capable of reading his mate’s mind. “Fuck me.”

Well, how was a man supposed to say no to an invitation like that? In one heavy thrust, Jason sheathed himself inside of his mate and clamped a hand over the other Alpha’s mouth to quiet his groan of approval. Kade gripped his wrist, fingers biting in as he bucked demandingly against Jason’s cock.

Jason’s fingers dug into the other male’s hips and he began to jut hard and fast into Kade’s tight passage. Every time his hips slammed into the other Alpha’s perfect ass, it was sheer bliss. Kade was doing a passable job of moderating his own volume now, so Jason reached around with his free hand and started stroking his mate’s cock to the beat of his thrusts. Each one brought new delight until he felt Kade’s pulse reach its peak and his shaft explode in his grip.

The way Kade clenched around him combined with the delirious moan on the Alpha’s lips had Jason pulsing his seed into his mate the very next moment.

As he panted, his arms still wrapped around Kade’s clothed torso, trying to remind himself that knotting in the kitchen was ill-advised for a whole host of reasons, even if the other Alpha was still grinding against him like he was ready for round two, Jason found himself bewildered. Not just by the pleasure that always felt as good and as new as the first time he’d been with Kade and tasted that forbidden fruit, but in awe of how Kade could ever doubt that he was enough. He was absolutely everything.