The man who entered was just as Jenna had described: completely nondescript. Plain white lab coat, black slacks, white button-down shirt. His graying hair was buzzed close to his head, and he carried a clipboard that Brand could only assume was also completely blank of identifying marks. Three women, each with a guard, followed the doctor. At least, Brand assumed he was a doctor. But who knew what the actual structure was here.

"Dr. Delaney?" the lab coat asked.

Brand struggled to sit, and Jenna slid her arm behind his back to support him. It was easier this time, and he pushed himself to his feet. He didn't want to face his opponent on his back.

The lab coat nodded his approval. "Good. I'm glad to see you up and about. We have need of your skills. Our personal physicians have examined these women and attempted to ensure that their pregnancies are progressing as expected. As far as we can compare to human standards, each seems mostly fine, though there have been some irregularities. We'd like you to submit them to a normal prenatal examination."

"You can't make these women see a doctor against their will," Brand spat. The very idea went against every code of ethics he been sworn to as a doctor and every ounce of loyalty he had as a member of a pack.

"I'm afraid we can do whatever we please, Dr. Delaney. Though I doubt we'll have any need to threaten force against you." The lab coat looked significantly at Brand's stomach. Did they know he was pregnant? Had they figured out that difference between humans and shifters? "You will see to these women simply because it would go against your personal code not to. If something is wrong, and you refused to examine them?" He shrugged. "It will be on your head. We will return in an hour."

The man stepped behind the guards to leave.

"Who are you?" Brand asked.

"You may call me Dr. J."

The guards unlocked the women's bindings and followed Dr. J out.

Brand rubbed his head which was pounding from more than the after effects of the drug.

"You will see us, won't you, doctor?" one of the women asked softly. "You'll make sure our babies are okay?"

Brand sighed. Dr. J had been correct about that. There was no way Brand could abandon these women if they did want his care. "Of course," he said. "Jenna, if you will help me to that chair, over there."

He had Jenna raise the chair so that he wouldn't have to stand much, though his large stomach made it awkward to get up in it at first. Once he was up in it and settled, it was smooth sailing.

The women were each from a different pack. Shannon was from Maine. Holly from New Mexico. Deanna from North Carolina. All of them had been pregnant before arriving, Brand was glad to hear. He danced around the subject until Jenna told him bluntly that as far as they knew, none of the shifters had been victims of rape in their captivity. He drilled them all as subtly as he could, but none of them could reveal much more than Jenna had been able to share. Holly and Deanna had been in separate locations before here, while Shannon had only been here, and she'd been taken about two months ago.

"Isn't anyone out there looking for us?" Deanna asked.

"If they weren't before they took me, they will now," Brand assured them. He didn't want to tell them that most of his pack had considered the omega disappearances merely rumors. They hadn't been entirely correct, Brand realized. Of the four women, only two were omegas. Both Jenna and Shannon were betas.

Brand was using the ultrasound on Holly's stomach. She was about six months along, she said, and her excitement and relief at seeing her child on the screen broke through the worry that had started to etch wrinkles on her face. Brand switched over to the heartbeat and turned the sound up. He didn't know how closely they were listening, but he had no doubt they were at least trying.

Under cover of the heartbeat, he asked, "Do they know that male omegas can give birth?"

The women looked at each other and shrugged.

"You're the first pregnant male we've seen here," Jenna said.

That gave Brand some small hope, but he kept replaying Dr. J's glance at his stomach and couldn't help but feel uneasy.

"So, is he okay, doctor?" Holly asked.

Brand smiled at her, though it was difficult. "He's perfect, Holly. Everything looks exactly as it should." She breathed a sigh of relief and he handed her some paper towels to clean her abdomen off. "Shannon? You're up next."