Chapter Nineteen
Chris went down to fix them a midmorning snack and didn’t bother to put his shirt back on. He was warm after the morning’s activities and knew it would help desensitize Danny to the habitual nakedness he was going to encounter when living with shifters.
Armed with sliced apple and peanut butter, he returned upstairs, finding Danny had mimicking him, slipping back into his sweats but leaving his T-shirt off.
Danny had found a small rubber ball from somewhere and was bouncing it off the walls, harder and harder each time. He was definitely favoring his left arm for throwing, a clear sign his elbow was still bothering him as Chris knew he was right handed.
He set the plate and himself down next to where Danny sat, the Omega losing interest in the ball in favor of the sweet and salty snack.
“If you’re an Alpha,” Danny asked out of nowhere. “Does that mean you only like Omega?”
Chris swallowed a mouthful of apple before replying.
“No. Shifters, like humans, have a variety of orientations. We’re just not as hung up about them as humans are. Most Alphas like Betas, some like Omega, some even like other Alphas. And it would be normal for Alphas who like Omega to like Betas, too. Having more than one mate is common in some packs, especially for the Alpha leader.”
“So you can be mated to more than one wolf at a time?”
“Yes, again, we’re very like humans in that regards, relationships form and break.”
“You’re not monogamous then? One Alpha for one Beta or Omega?”
“The majority are, but only just. Maybe sixty percent? In some Packs, polyamorous relationships are expected. There’s a Pack near the east coast where the Alpha has six mates. Three Betas, one Omega, and another Alpha.”
Danny’s eyes widened at that and Chris wondered if he’d made a mistake being so forthcoming.
“Are they… happy?”
“That particular family in that particular Pack, I would say no. But that’s only because I know the Alpha’s reputation. More than one of his mates have tried to leave. On the whole, though, relationships involving three or four shifters work okay. Similar to humans, you’ve got the jealousy factor and the attention factor, especially if you’re talking one Alpha mated to a few different wolves of different standings. It creates a lot of tension.”
“Are you mated?”
Chris smiled at the question. “Mated to my work.”
Danny smiled back at him, then seemed to be working up to asking something else.
“And if you did mate, would you be looking for a Beta or an Om—”
A door opened downstairs and Chris got to his feet. “We have company, Danny. Stay here until I find out who.”
He wasn’t aware they were due any visitors and very conscious that there was only him there to keep Danny safe. He relaxed as he reached the stairs, familiar voices filtering through.
“Danny, we’ve got visitors, come down and say hi,” he called over his shoulder before climbing down the stairs. He stopped in his room long enough to grab a new shirt then went down to meet Will, Jake, and Rhea.
“Does Mitch know you’re here?” he asked. He couldn’t see that the Alpha, so cautious in his decision to allow Danny back into Eden, would be fine with allowing an Omega and child into the vicinity.
“How else are we going to introduce Danny to the shifter world if he doesn’t see what it’s all about,” Will replied, glancing meaningfully at Jake and Rhea.
Danny appeared in the doorway, hands tugging at his newly donned T-shirt as he awkwardly hovered on the threshold.
“Danny, you know Will of course. And you remember Jake and Rhea, right?”
He nodded, offering a quiet hello.
“We thought you two could do with some company, and we brought lunch,” Jake said, indicating two bags Will had set down on the table.
“That was very thoughtful of you,” Chris said, watching Danny step further into the room. His eyes were mostly on Jake and Rhea.
“Maybe Danny could show Rhea and me around while you two catch up on work?” Jake suggested.
Will looked to Chris, a question on his lips that he knew his friend wouldn’t ask outright. Was it safe?
Danny was about as close to turning into a pumpkin as he was a wolf right then which was to say nowhere near it.
“That’s a great idea. There are some rooms upstairs that Rhea might like. Show her the one with all the lights.”
Danny was like a deer in headlights but shook it off and the three of them trundled out and towards the stairs.
“So, how’s it going?” Will asked.
“He’s starting to relax a bit. And he’s asking questions.”
“What kind of questions?”
“Who mates who, are they happy, am I mated.”
“Has he asked the big question yet?”
“No, but I’m going to have to tell him soon. He’s definitely very aware of Alphas and most of his questions have been about that and Omega.”
“So he knows, but he doesn’t know.”
“Exactly. Clear as mud.”
“How long until you make some progress on him changing?”
“If we’re following the same timetable as the first time, he’ll start producing shifter proteins in a matter of days. But Heidi thinks it could be weeks before he’s capable of shifting.”
“Can you handle that?”
“Of course,” Chris replied, wondering at the strange question.
“What I mean is, can you handle close contact with an Omega for weeks at a time?”
“You know as well as I do that Omega attraction is scent-based, and he barely has one. I’m not going to be overcome by it.”
“I also know it’s not that straightforward. You’re close with him, he’s vulnerable, grief-stricken, in pain. Those are all things that pull an Alpha to an Omega. Scent notwithstanding.”
“I’m careful, Will. I know how to control myself.”
“But he might not, Chris. And when his scent kicks in, and his strength, and all those other parts of being a shifter that he hasn’t experienced come to the fore? It’s not your control I’m worried about, it’s his. Especially were he to go into a heat early on.”
“What’s the alternative? How else do we do this?”
“A rota, no one here for longer than twenty-four hours at a time.”
Chris shook his head. “It won’t work. He’ll never form enough of a connection with us to trust us to guide him through this. That trust is going to be key when his body starts approaching the change. You remember what it was like, right? We were excited, sure. Because we knew to be excited, because we’d been raised to anticipate it. But it was also scary and painful, a massive change for our bodies to go through. And children are more malleable, they adapt easier. You know why most bitten wolves don’t last a year. Because their minds can’t handle the transformation of their bodies in such a way. I don’t want Danny to be just another statistic, Will. Not after everything.”
Will shook his head. “Fine. But you need to protect yourself, and him, through all this. It would be so easy to become entangled, in more ways than one.”
“I’ll be careful, I promise.”
Danny had questions and now that he and Jake were alone, there was no better opportunity to get answers. And yet, he couldn’t quite get the words past his lips. He showed them around the first floor, then up to the bedrooms, then on to the third floor. As Chris had expected, Rhea loved the room with the beanbags and they sat in there watching the patterned lights color the walls and ceiling while Rhea cooed and babbled.
“She’s beautiful,” Danny said, watching how easily Jake handled her.
“Don’t let looks fool you,” Jake replied. “She’s an absolute handful right now. Teething and crawling and generally causing mayhem. I wouldn’t change her for the world though.”
“And she… she’s yours.” Even though Chris had told him so, he still had to ask.
“Yep, mine and Will’s. I carried her inside me for seven months. A little shorter than a human pregnancy and thank god because I’m not sure I could have stayed sane for another two months. It gets uncomfortable towards the end.”
“And you’re an Omega?”
“That’s right. I was born an Omega, it’s just who and what I am.”
“Chris told me that bitten wolves are always Beta.”
“Yep, you only get the Alpha and Omega traits when carried through DNA.” Jake smiled over at him. “This must all seem very strange to you.”
“It did, at first. But I’m starting to get my head around it.”
Jake nodded, looking from him to Rhea and back. “Would you like to hold her?”
Hesitantly, he nodded, and Jake stood with Rhea in his arms, before helping Danny to take hold of her. “Be careful, she’s very wriggly.”
But Jake’s warning wasn’t needed. As soon as Rhea was in his arms, she stilled, turning her face up to smile at him before reaching one hand out and patting his face.
“Hi, Rhea,” he whispered. “I’m Danny.”
She babbled something at him and Jake laughed. “I think that was her attempt to introduce herself.” He lay back on his beanbag, watching them. “She likes you, which is saying a lot. She’s at that age where she screams at most strangers. It’s quite piercing on the ears.”
“You carried her inside you?” Danny still couldn’t get over that, the idea that she had come from Jake, grown within him.
“Yep. I know it must be hard to get your head around,” Jake started to say.
“No,” Danny shook his head. “It’s not, it’s fascinating. I didn’t think—” He stopped himself before he said too much. Jake didn’t need to know that.
“Yeah, a lot of shifters talk about being an Omega like it’s a bad thing, like we lost the genetic lottery. And there’s good reason for that. We’re smaller, more vulnerable, highly sought after. And Alphas can be real bastards, too. But we’re trying to make Eden a safe place for Omega. Somewhere they can live independently if they wish, have a safe space to find a mate of their choosing and not one their family or Pack Alpha wants them to mate with.”
“Does that happen a lot, someone else deciding who they mate?”
“In some places, it’s how it’s done. In others, Omega are given more freedom. But almost every Pack has a stipulation that an Alpha can arrange a mating for an Omega. More and more they just choose not to act on that.”
The light sequence changed and Danny shifted Rhea around so she could watch it, letting her lean back against his chest.
“My biggest worry right now, aside from her chewing through electric cable with her teething, is how she’s going to take to having a baby brother or sister in a few months’ time.”
Danny stared at Jake for a moment. “You’re pregnant?”
“Yeah. It’s early days. We haven’t told anyone yet but it won’t be long before people start to notice.”
Danny peered at Jake’s midsection, but couldn’t see anything different. Jake laughed when he noticed where Danny was looking. “The baby is small right now, so not very noticeable. In another month or two, it’ll be much more obvious. And later, it’ll be like I’m carrying a bowling ball under my shirt.”
Jake glanced at his watch as Rhea began to fuss and Danny tried to soothe her. “I think it’s time for lunch. Let’s head down and see what our two favorite Alphas are up to.”
They stood and Danny handed Rhea back to Jake. Jake caught his hand, pushing it against his stomach. “You won’t feel much just yet, but sometimes shifters can feel the baby’s heartbeat or movement.”
Danny closed his eyes, trying to feel it. At first, there was nothing and he was about to pull away when he felt the slightest flutter.
He opened his eyes and Jake grinned. “Yep, that’s baby number two.”
As they walked towards the stairs, Danny asked, “Are you hoping for a boy or a girl?”
“Those aren’t exactly the choices we have, being shifters. It’s Beta girl or Beta boy, or Alpha or Omega. And rarely you get girl Alphas, at least, I’ve heard stories about them. And even rumors about female Omega but I don’t know how that would work. But, to answer your question, I’d be happy with any of them. Will would too though I think secretly he’d like an Alpha. I think all Alphas want Alpha sons they can raise to be just like them when they grow up.” Jake grinned.
“Isn’t that right, Rhea?” he asked, tickling her. She giggled and squirmed and Danny was struck all over again by how happy and normal they seemed. Far from the monsters he’d always feared, or the strangeness he’d always imagined. They were just people, like him.
Over lunch, Jake and Will let slip that they were expecting again. From Danny’s muted reaction, Chris guessed Jake had already told him. He offered heartfelt congratulations, knowing how excited they both were for another baby. Danny seemed quiet during lunch but that wasn’t unexpected. What was unexpected was Jake taking Chris aside before he and Will left.
“Have you noticed how fascinated Danny is by Rhea?”
Chris nodded. “And you, too.”
“He’s asking a lot of questions. About Alphas and Omega, about pregnancy.”
“Do you think he suspects?”
“It certainly seems that way. And I think if you don’t tell him soon, be prepared for him coming right out and asking. That look on his face was almost like…”
“Yearning,” Chris supplied, having noticed that particular expression himself.
“Being an Omega is written into who he is. He’ll have grown up with human social norms but Omega feelings and attractions. Think how confusing that must have been. When I was a kid and a teenager, I yearned for a mate, for a child, I yearned to be pregnant. Imagine having those wants and being a human male. He must be so turned around.”
Jake was visibly upset at the idea and Chris moved quickly to comfort him with words.
“I’ll talk to him, ease him around to the idea. Once he knows, he’ll probably have questions.”
“You can get me on the phone, anytime, and I’ll come back and visit to talk through things.”
Chris shook his head. “Once we start making progress towards him shifting, you’re going to need to keep your distance, especially in your condition. Will would have my head on a platter if anything happened.”
“But he’s an Omega,” Jake protested.
“Right now, he’s the equivalent of a bitten wolf approaching their first change until we know better. Potentially just as volatile and dangerous.”
“Okay, I’ll check with you and Will before I make any house calls.”
“Good, Jake. And congratulations again.”