Much later, when they were both in Wyatt’s bed, stripped down and sweaty, Wyatt said, “Someone has to move. Either you do, or Hazel and I will.”

Raph sighed. Yeah, there was that. He’d been hoping he didn’t have to discuss the debt—he’d been kicking himself for letting Wy see the text message—but deep down, he knew it wasn’t something they could avoid indefinitely.

He laced their fingers together, bringing Wyatt’s hand up to kiss his knuckles. “So we aren’t making the hour-long commute every day forever?”

Wyatt snorted, turning to sink his teeth into Raph’s bicep. The sharp points pressed lightly into Raph’s skin, and Raph wished Wyatt would bring his face closer, bite him on his scent gland.

But Wyatt never seemed to want to return his end of the bonding, and maybe he knew Raph wasn’t the greatest alpha there was. Wyatt deserved so much better, so much more than an alpha with a debt on his shoulders.

Their parents had struggled with debt. No reason to put Wyatt through it again. Except Raph didn’t want to let Wy go, either.

He swallowed. “I could apply for a transfer. See if they’ll let me move operations to Meadowfall.”

Wyatt smiled wanly, his hair gleaming golden on his pillow. “Somehow, I don’t think regional managers operate out of small towns, Raph.”

Raph sighed. He’d been turning over the options in his mind: Wyatt and Hazel moving out to Highton with him, or him leaving his job, returning to his hometown. Both would incur expenses. At the back of his mind, Raph wondered if Wyatt would do better with a different alpha, someone who wouldn’t fail him like Raph seemed to keep doing.

Wyatt leaned in, curling into Raph’s side. The bump of his belly nudged against Raph’s hip, and Raph imagined their baby, already the size of his hand. He couldn’t abandon their child. And Hazel. And especially not his omega.

If Wyatt even wanted to be his.

“You’ve never—never bitten me,” Raph said, his heart pattering.

Wyatt’s gaze slid over to Raph’s neck, where the skin over his scent gland was still unmarked. Then he looked away, running his hand down his belly. “I don’t know. You said I don’t have to.”

Yeah, well. Right now, Raph almost regretted that. He didn’t want to ask Wyatt, and make it sound like he was pressuring Wyatt into the bonding. But he couldn’t help blurting, “Do you think of me as your alpha?”

Wyatt looked back at him, the corners of his lips twitching up. He eased his elbow beneath himself, swung his leg over Raph’s hip, and straddled Raph, the damp skin of his ass rubbing down on Raph’s abs.

He was beautiful like that, his skin creamy, his belly half as round as a basketball, a dark line following the dusting of hair down his belly. The faint silver scar stretched horizontally above his pubic hair, six inches across, and Raph trailed his thumb over it.

“You have every right to touch me,” Wyatt murmured, holding his hands out. “Doesn’t that make you my alpha?”

“You haven’t left your mark on me.” Raph stroked the velvety skin of his thighs, the curve of his belly, his heart beating too loud.

Wyatt leaned in with a rustle of air, his belly pushing up against Raph’s abs, his hands coming up to cradle Raph’s face. “I still don’t believe I deserve you,” Wyatt whispered, kissing Raph’s jaw. “I’m used goods, Raph. I’m not an omega you can have publicly by your side.”

“I don’t need to be seen in public.” But he had his responsibilities at work, and he’d never once showed up at his office parties with an omega. Except now people at work knew he had a partner, even if they hadn’t asked who Wyatt was. “Do you want to be my omega?”

Wyatt paused with his mouth half-open. Raph’s heart sank. Whatever they’d built over the past five months... it had been a game. They’d been playing pretend, hoping they didn’t have to make a decision until the baby was born.

He cupped Wyatt’s belly, holding their baby between them. “You don’t have to answer,” he said, brushing his fingers over the scar. “You had a C-section with Hazel?”

Wyatt sighed, leaning into Raph. “Yeah. She was taking too long. The doctor wanted me to have a C-section and I... didn’t know better. She had trouble breathing at first because of it. Gods, I should’ve done my research. I mean, I was eighteen at the time, but you’d think...”

Raph frowned. “Just because the doc wanted it?”

Wyatt nodded.

“Were you alone?”

“For most of it, yeah.”

I should’ve been there. Raph closed his eyes, hugging Wyatt close. How had Wy gone through all of that by himself? Why had Raph been such a damn coward, staying away instead of reaching out? He buried his nose in Wyatt’s hair, breathing in old sweat and magnolia. “I’ll be there this time,” he said. “If you want me to.”

Wyatt nodded, pressing his face against Raph’s neck. “I’ve been thinking about a natural birth with the baby. If the doctor allows it.”

Raph froze. He’d read up on it some. “There’s risks if you go that way. Rupturing and all that.”

It raised the chances of infant mortality. Raph looked down at the swell of Wyatt’s belly, his heart heavy with dread. I don’t want our baby to die.

Unlike months ago, when he’d asked if Wyatt would abort the child. Raph shivered, just thinking about that. If Wyatt had gone ahead and tried an abortion, Raph would’ve been kicking himself right now.

He’d seen the baby on the ultrasound screen, held his palm against Wyatt’s abdomen. When he cradled Wyatt’s belly, he was so very close to touching their baby.

It was so real. And it was theirs.

Wyatt sagged against him. “I want to have a choice this time, Raph. I want whatever’s best for our baby.”

“I’ll be there with you,” Raph whispered, pressing kisses all over his face. “Promise.”

“Thank you.”

With all Wyatt had been through... it was selfish of Raph to make him move. He shouldn’t be uprooting Wyatt and his family, when Wyatt would have the birth to recover from, and an infant to nurse. Wyatt’s restaurant was here—the business he’d spent so long building from the ground up.

“I’ll put in an application for a transfer,” Raph said, kissing Wyatt on the lips. “First thing on Monday.”

Still didn’t solve the debt, but it was a step forward.

“I love you,” Wyatt murmured, his eyes warm. “You’re doing too much for me, Raph.”

“For the baby, too.”

Wyatt blinked hard. “Yeah, I’d do anything for our baby.”

“What about yourself?” Raph brushed his fingers over Wyatt’s cheek, leaning up to nuzzle his ear. “Remember that you’re important, Wy. I respect you as my omega. You don’t have to be mine. I just... wanted you to know that’s what I feel.”

Wyatt sucked in a shaky breath, threading his fingers through Raph’s hair. Then he leaned in, kissing Raph sweetly on the lips.

Wyatt was his family, and so was Hazel and the baby. Raph swore he wouldn’t disappoint any of them.

* * *

“I’m rejecting your transfer application,” Grandma said the following Monday, in front of half the office. “I need you as my regional manager here.”

Raph’s stomach squeezed. His coffee tipped over the rim of his mug. And a handful of his staff looked up, surprise and curiosity on their faces. I just told Wyatt I’m moving.

It was eight in the morning, far too early for shit like this. Raph kept his expression calm, breathing in. “Can we discuss this in my office?”

It was an open secret that he was the company president’s grandson. Sometimes, his staff even joked about it.

Raph felt the weight of ten pairs of eyes on his back, watching as he led the way to his glass-walled office, his grandmother stalking him like a predator. His heart hammered.

“I’ve suggested a number of possible replacements,” he said when he’d shut the door behind Grandma. The blinds didn’t need lowering; he didn’t care who witnessed this from the outside. “There are a number of excellent staff who will rise to the position and handle the operations better than I can.”

Grandma looked down her nose at him, her gold necklace glittering. “That’s not an option, Raphael. You will remain the regional manager for as long as I say.”

How long until you turn senile? Raph clenched his jaw, his thoughts racing. At 84, Grandma had a chauffeur who sent her to and from Highton every day. She had power over the entire office, and the mansion, and his parents’ lives. And she wanted control over Raph’s, too.

The only other option was for him to quit his job. He’d been looking at the openings in Meadowfall—the managerial positions back home paid half of what he earned right now. Not enough to cover the monthly payments for his loan. He’d have to take on a second job, work overtime. And it wouldn’t be fair to Wyatt, when Wyatt would be busy with their new baby.

Grandma’s eyes narrowed, the green eyeshadow on her lids wrinkling. Then she lifted her nose and sniffed, and Raph hoped like hell the scent suppressant worked. “This has to do with that useless brother of yours, doesn’t it?”

“He’s not useless,” Raph growled, anger snarling through his chest. But even acknowledging Wyatt was a risk. Elizabeth Fleming had the power to run them both deep into debt. She could plant people in Wyatt’s restaurant, riddle him with lawsuits, force him to shut down. And then they’d be forced to move, maybe go into hiding, just to escape from her.

How did you avoid people with money, when they were out to get you?

Raph swallowed hard, forcing his expression back to neutral. “I merely wish to return to my roots. That’s all.”

Grandma raised an eyebrow. “I hope those roots aren’t something so vile as... inbreeding. I’ve heard a couple of rumors.”

She knows, that bitch. Raph’s heart sank. Had it been from the night Max showed up?

Grandma looked hard at him. Raph forced himself to hold that stare, as much as he hated looking at her. “My choices and reasons are my own,” he said. “I’m sure you understand the desire to spend time with family.”

She watched him, her expression severe. He expected her to rail at him with the same insults she’d flung at him nine years ago, but instead, she kept silent. And Raph needed to move, shake off the unease on his shoulders. What else is she planning?

“You don’t remember the details of your loan agreement, do you?” Grandma asked. “If you leave your position in Alpha Associates, you will pay the rest of your loan over the next three months.”

Raph stopped breathing. Fifty grand a month? He couldn’t afford that. And neither could Wyatt. But it was either this, or stay in Grandma’s business, and Highton, and miss out on all the moments with his family. Were those moments worth a hundred and fifty grand? If he couldn’t pay, he’d have all his possessions stripped. And his debtors would pursue his next of kin. Wyatt. Penny. His parents.

Raph couldn’t do that to any of them. What kind of alpha left burdens on all his family?

He sank into his seat, glancing at his sprawling desk, his sleek computer, the wide windows that looked down on the rest of Highton.

Maybe it was better to leave Wyatt, pay off his own debt, than to have Wyatt shoulder what Raph was unable to pay.

Dad cried when he saw the hospital bills, Hazel had told him.

“I’ll withdraw my transfer request,” Raph said, the words bitter on his tongue.

“Very well. My weak heart thanks you for that, Raphael.” Grandma smiled, satisfied. Then she turned and left, the lemon of her scent sharp in the air.

It felt like betrayal. And Raph remembered that evening at Wy’s Drive-In, when Hazel had looked seriously at him and said, Don’t ever lie to Dad.

Raph had told him he’d transfer to Meadowfall. If he told Wyatt the request was rejected, it would feel as though Raph had lied to him. But that was better than burdening Wyatt with his debt. Raph wasn’t about to make Wyatt cry. Especially not with something he was supposed to have solved, a long time ago.

Why can’t I get any of this right? I’m an alpha, damn it!

While he was still in Highton, he would take on a second job, maybe a third. Get his ass in gear. Then maybe he could show his face to his omega, when all the debt was paid for.