CHAPTER NINE
The sun rose on Urho wrapped around Xan in a soft bed covered by a canopy and warm, wooden furniture. He blinked into the sunlight, lazy satisfaction shifting into confusion and then dismay that he’d somehow spent the night in Xan’s home, lost in pleasure and flesh, feeding on Xan’s small noises and salty tears. The lingering scent of their combined pleasure smothered him, and he threw back the covers, eyes sharp and throat dry, searching for the bathroom.
Xan groaned and slept on, his dark lashes pressed against his sleep-pale cheeks, and his red mouth open and wet with drool. The formerly livid bruises on his face, back, and ribs were now shaded green and yellow. Urho remembered how heedless he’d been of them last night, and the way Xan hadn’t complained in the least. Either the boy enjoyed pain or was willing to endure it in exchange for pleasure. Urho cleared his throat, but Xan only whimpered in his sleep and drowsed on.
After pissing in the attached bathroom, Urho pulled on his clothes from the day before, buttoning up his shirt slowly, staring at the young man in the bed, trying to make his life fit back into shapes he understood. Unable to make that happen, he finally stepped up to the bed, smoothed Xan’s hair off his forehead and kissed him there.
A warmth he’d almost forgotten, a kind of joy and peace combined, creeped through him. He might not know the future, but this moment of staring at this beautiful man was his forever. He didn’t regret it.
Leaving the room and shutting the door carefully behind him, he set out toward the front of the house, uncertain if he was on his way out or simply looking for some kind of breakfast. He only knew he was too restless, rushing with anticipation and dosed with a liberal amount of shock, to sit still.
The stairs led to the front hall and two beta servants stood whispering by the door. When the saw him, their faces shuttered neutrally and the one called Ren stepped forward asking, politely, “Sir, would you like your coat and hat? Or are you going to be joining Mr. Riggs for breakfast?”
Urho opened his mouth to ask for his things, but then his stomach rumbled. The last food he’d eaten had been the soup Jason had forced into him, and he’d been pretty physically active since then. Besides, he supposed that facing Caleb bravely and alone, rather than running off like he was ashamed, was the least he could do after the generosity Caleb had shown last night in discovering him naked with Xan.
His neck felt hot as he said, “Perhaps some breakfast.”
“This way, sir.” Ren motioned him toward a room beside the kitchen Urho remembered from parties. It wasn’t the large dining room or the ballroom used for dancing, but a small morning room with a table that, during parties, was laden with appetizers and sweets.
Now it held only Caleb, sitting in a white robe with messy blond hair and a hint of what looked like silver glitter on his eyelashes. Urho hadn’t noticed it the night before, but it sparkled in the morning sun when Caleb lifted his eyes and broke into a pleasant, if somewhat reserved, smile. He put aside the newspaper he’d been reading and gestured at the table.
“I apologize if—”
“Of course not,” Caleb interrupted, as he was wont to do. “Please join me. Have a seat. Xan sleeps late typically, something that will have to change in Virona.” He picked up a piece of toast and slathered it with marmalade, closing his eyes as he took a bite and hummed. “The perfect flavor. Do you like marmalade?” He motioned toward the half-empty jar on the white tablecloth.
“Occasionally.”
“It’s my favorite,” Caleb said, smiling as he chewed. He nodded at the beta servants, and a steaming plate of bacon, eggs, and potatoes was placed in front of Urho.
“Usually Xan just has some hair of the dog if he’s been drinking the night before, or a bowl of oatmeal, but I thought you might want something that would stick to your strong bones.” Caleb pushed a strand of chin-length blond hair away from his mouth and took another bite of his marmalade toast.
Urho smiled at the beta servant who disappeared shortly after verifying that Urho had everything he needed. “You have a lot of servants here,” he commented, more accustomed to the three servants at his home and none at Vale and Jason’s. Yosef and Rosen, both betas, didn’t hire servants, either.
Caleb nodded. “I admit I like being spoiled. When I was quite young, my family had a fairly decent fortune, but you may have heard from rumors past that my father lost it all.”
“Cocaine. And the resulting poor choices.”
Caleb raised a brow at Urho’s boldness in saying the words out loud, but said only, “Exactly,” before stuffing his mouth with more toast.
“I have a few servants, but my Riki was a private type and he liked to take care of me himself.”
Caleb swallowed and smiled gently. “You loved him dearly, I can tell. You were Erosgapé, I take it?”
“Yes.”
“You’re a strong man to have gone on without him. Many can’t.”
“He made me promise.” Of course, the promise had come close to the end, when Riki knew he wouldn’t survive. Urho had assumed the promise was elicited for the sake of the child who also died but he didn’t want to meet Riki in the afterlife and discover he’d been wrong. So he’d soldiered on despite every desire, especially at first, to put an end to himself.
“Ah.” Caleb’s voice dropped into a compassionate tone.
Urho ate in the resulting silence for a while before saying, “You must wonder what my intentions are with Xan.”
“Do you even know?” Caleb asked, his blue eyes catching Urho’s and holding his gaze. “I suspect you don’t have a clue what you’re doing or why. Acting on instinct and rationalizing after the fact.”
Urho took a sip of water and then cleared his throat. Caleb saw too much and too clearly. “I planned only to offer to satisfy his needs so he wouldn’t be tempted to go to him again. I didn’t expect…”
“To like it? To want him for your own reasons?”
“I should have anticipated both of those things, shouldn’t I?” A wry, tight smile twisted the corner of Urho’s mouth. “But you’re right. I didn’t. Until it was happening and everything flashed clear, like when I imprinted on Riki all those years ago. And again when it was over, and in the aftermath I realized…”
“You realized?”
Urho looked around, trying to see if any servants were lingering.
“We’re alone. They won’t disturb us again without making a ruckus as they enter. They’re used to us.”
“Ah.” Urho wiped his mouth and took another bite of his food, stalling for time, but Caleb wasn’t having it.
“Go on. I’m interested to hear what stolid, sensible Urho is feeling when he’s thrown all of that to the wind.” He grinned crookedly.
Urho sighed, wanting to argue the description, but he knew he’d polished that reputation over the years, in part to obscure the things he did as a doctor that were not so very sensible. “Everything’s more confusing when I’m not near him. Right now, I wonder if it was a mistake to make my offer, to have discovered this part of me; to want him, all of it. What good can come of this? We could be arrested, imprisoned.” He gestured with his fork in frustration. “We can never be a proper couple. He’s contracted to you as your alpha, for wolf-god’s sake. Pretending to be my omega is pointless.” Urho’s voice rose slightly as the fears he forgot about completely while in Xan’s presence frothed to the surface.
“Do you plan to run away then?”
Urho stammered, but Caleb went on before he could answer.
“Are you going to run from the first taste of joy you’ve had in years? The future that we could all three forge?” His voice grew harder. “The promises you made to him and me last night?”
“No,” Urho replied gruffly. “That’s not what I want either.”
“I didn’t think so.” Caleb sat back in his chair again, his body losing the sharp aggressive lines that had accompanied his questions. “As for whether or not Xan is an omega, when he’s in your arms, he’s whatever you both want him to be. Will he ever go into heat or bear your children? No. But he’ll do anything in his power to please you if you just give him the chance.”
“I’m not running,” Urho said flatly. “Even though it would be the smart thing to do. Not to mention the safe thing. But, no.” He rubbed between his eyes and sighed. “You don’t have to convince me. I’m going to keep my promises and, in exchange, I expect him to do the same.”
Caleb smirked, his eyes glinting mischievously. “So you’ve already exacted promises from him too? You move quickly, Dr. Chase.”
“I thought we were on a first-name basis now.”
“We are, but sometimes a man has to tease another man when they’re so very transparent to everyone but themselves.” Caleb laughed and crammed more marmalade toast into his mouth, his eyes crinkling at the edges as he chuckled and chewed.
“I’m sorry to disturb breakfast, Mr. Riggs,” Ren said after knocking loudly and being called into the room. “But Jason Sabel is here for Mr. Heelies. How do you recommend I proceed?”
“Send Jason in here,” Caleb said, wiping his mouth with a napkin. After the servant exited, he turned to Urho. “This should be awkward. But I’m sure we’ll all survive.”
Jason entered the room dressed in his usual suit, with a tie obviously chosen by Vale, and his hat in his hand. His eyes went wide seeing Urho at the table, but after only a moment he smiled good-naturedly and said, “Caleb, Vale sends his love.”
“Of course, and mine goes to him.”
“He would have sent some to you, too, Urho, if he’d known I’d see you.”
“I’ll be by this afternoon. He can tell me then.”
“Good. Thank you.” He turned his attention back to Caleb. “Anyway, I stopped by to see Xan?” He darted another glance to Urho. “I have reason to believe he might need my help with something in particular. And I wanted to talk with him, one-on-one. But Ren says he’s not up yet?”
“He had a very strenuous and late night,” Caleb said, his tone rife with implications and his eyes twinkling merrily. “He’s exhausted this morning. Poor lamb.”
“Oh, I…” Jason trailed off, turning inquisitive eyes to Urho. “Why are you here exactly?”
“Urho came over last night to bring some medication to help me with a private health issue. And then he stayed for breakfast,” Caleb said as though that was perfectly natural. “Why don’t you join us?”
“Oh, well…” Jason licked his lips. His eyes nearly gobbled up Urho’s plate of food. “All right.” As the beta servants provided Jason with a heaping plate of eggs, bacon, and toast, he added, “Vale’s not much of a cook—”
“You can say that again,” Urho muttered.
“And normally that’s fine. I fend for myself. But he hates it when I eat breakfast at home now that he’s pregnant. He says the cooking smells so early in the morning turn his stomach.” He spun to Urho with a raised hand. “But don’t worry! I always leave him a homemade oatmeal bar on the counter and a full glass of milk in the fridge, as well as those vitamins and powders you prescribed for him. He swears to me upside down and backwards that he eats and drinks it all when he gets up.”
“I’m sure he does,” Urho reassured.
“I am too. I think. I mean, he’s so fussy right now,” Jason said. Worry crackled over him like electricity over a wire.
“I only just heard about Vale’s pregnancy,” Caleb said, with a respectfully subdued quality to his voice. It was a tone omegas often took when discussing a state of being always fraught with discomfort and the threat of death for them. “I haven’t had time to send a congratulatory note or flowers. But I will try to do so once we get set up in Virona.”
“Virona?” Jason asked, distracted from his own worries at this comment. “You’re going to the sea now? The cool weather will be coming in soon. What sort of holiday is that?”
“It’s not a vacation. We’ve been sent up by Xan’s father to open a new satellite office there.”
“Permanently?” Jason’s brows shot up.
“For a long time, if not forever.” Caleb pushed his hair behind his ears. “You and Vale are welcome anytime. You can pop up for a short visit or feel free to stay at length. The house is huge, from what I’ve heard—much bigger than this one—and it’s right on the ocean. The sea air is good for health any time of year. Isn’t that right, Urho?”
Urho nodded, his gut tying up at the thought of Xan so far away from him.
Caleb went on, “I know Xan would love it if you and Vale could make the trip.”
“Not until the baby comes,” Jason said, chewing his breakfast slowly. His mixed feelings about Xan’s move were written clearly on his face. “But we’ll come up directly after, if everything goes well.”
“Everything will go perfectly,” Caleb insisted, with a superstitious zeal Urho recognized from years of dealing with omega health. To behave as though a pregnancy wouldn’t go to term, or that the omega wouldn’t come out of labor in perfect health, was bad luck amongst omegas. “Vale will be strong and the baby will healthy. And vice versa.”
Jason nodded. “Thank you. From your mouth to wolf-god’s ears. But back to the subject of this move. It’s so far. Virona is a three-hour train ride away.”
“It’s quite far,” Caleb agreed, nodding pleasantly.
“Can’t someone else handle the satellite office? Ray or that annoying Janus?”
“Apparently not.”
“Is this because of…” Jason trailed off, clearly uncertain how to proceed, but he looked to Urho for guidance.
“Because of?” Caleb prompted.
“Urho?” Jason implored, clearly wanting Urho to take up the slack or answer his question through some sort of telepathy.
“Because of Urho?” Caleb laughed before Urho could speak. “Wolf-god, no. News of that hasn’t spread to Xan’s father quite yet. It’s because of other rumors mostly. Probably the same rumors you heard about the trouble Xan’s been having lately? Yes? And, I suppose, they really do need someone to head up opening the satellite office.”
“Wait. The news of Urho and…” Jason glanced at Urho again, and then his brows shot up. “Oh. I see. Ah, well, um. Good. That’s…good. That’s great even.” He took a big gulp from his water glass before digging into his food. He didn’t say much for several minutes and they all ate in silence. Or, rather, Caleb watched the two of them eat, having apparently put away as much marmalade toast as he could hold.
“I thought we were keeping that bit of information just between the three of us,” Urho finally said, when his throat came unstuck and his own hot cheeks had cooled. “The fewer people who know, the better.”
“I assumed Jason already knew.” Caleb’s smooth, pale brow furrowed. “The way he was looking at you, the comment about Xan being in trouble. Did you not know, Jason?”
Jason shook his head and wiped his mouth with his napkin. “I suspected something could happen, but I didn’t realize it had begun. Or that it could begin. I don’t know. Obviously, I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
Caleb’s face paled. “I’m sorry,” he whispered to Urho.
“Mistakes happen,” Urho said. But that was exactly the problem, wasn’t it? They couldn’t afford mistakes, even casual ones.
Caleb had lost a bit of his usual composure. “When it comes to Xan, Jason has his own secrets to keep. Right, Jason?”
Jason cleared his throat. “I do. And I wouldn’t endanger Xan for anything the world. Or you, Caleb. Or, frankly, Urho for that matter.”
“While I’m glad our little group is so liberal minded,” Urho said, his stomach fluttering, “I’d rather this news traveled no further than this table. Not even to Rosen and Yosef’s ears. For our safety and everyone else’s.”
“I have to tell Vale about it,” Jason said. “We don’t have secrets from each other.”
“It’s not your secret,” Caleb pointed out. “It’s Xan’s and Urho’s. And mine. And if Urho wants to tell Vale, then that’s his business, but I do think you should keep this news to yourself.”
Jason scoffed.
Caleb flushed, his eyes glinting dangerously. “I know, I’m a hypocrite, and this situation is all my fault anyway. But my mistake won’t make telling Vale the right thing to do.”
“I’ll tell him,” Urho said. “He’ll figure it out at some point on his own. He’s brilliant and observant and he probably somehow already knows.”
Jason laughed, his eyes bright as always when thinking of his omega. “That’s true.” He went dreamy. “He’s probably written a poem about it.”
“Wolf-god, I hope not. That’ll get us arrested for sure. Likely for violating the Wolf Reform Party’s creative laws of moral decency.”
“His poems are beautiful,” Jason defended. “Especially the ones about me.”
Urho groaned. “You’re Erosgapé and thus totally besotted. He could fart on a sheet of paper and you’d love it.”
Jason laughed again and didn’t dispute the accusation.
“Well, look who rose from the bed before ten,” Caleb said, his eyes going to the door.
Urho’s throat went dry as he met Xan’s gaze across the small room. His heart flipped in his chest, and his hands began to tremble. “Good morning,” he said, and even his voice sounded frayed by the sight of Xan in his pajamas and bare feet.
“Morning,” Xan said, his gaze sliding to Jason. The lingering bruise on his cheek glowed in the morning light. “Is Vale all right?”
“We were actually just discussing how perfect he is,” Caleb said, chuckling and plucking up his flute of orange juice and sipping it.
Xan rolled his eyes. “I’ve heard it all before. Twenty times. At least. In some cases, upwards of a hundred.”
Jason chuckled, but his eyes hung on Xan’s bruises worriedly. “You tease, but you have nothing but praise for Caleb as well.”
“True. Because Caleb’s perfect,” Xan said, smirking and taking a seat by Caleb’s side.
“Amazing how every alpha says the same of their omega,” Caleb said. “Did you think your Riki was perfect?”
Urho ripped his eyes from Xan’s exposed collarbone, where a red love bite bloomed. “Riki? Yes, he was absolutely perfect.” He glanced back to Xan, whose eyes softened in sympathy.
“He was handsome too,” Xan said. “I saw his portrait yesterday when I was in Urho’s library.”
Jason nodded. “It’s a good portrait. He has a nice smile in it.”
Caleb rested his elbow on the table and his chin in his hand. “And that’s the way it goes, isn’t it? Alphas adore their omegas, and omegas adore their alphas. The beginning and the end. The natural order of things.”
Urho caught Xan’s gaze as the beta servants brought in his bowl of oatmeal and a small, decorative plate featuring a single fried egg. He left unspoken his question of whether the natural order of things could ever be turned upside down. Was it possible for an alpha to adore another alpha? If it was, did he truly want to find out? Despite the risk and against all odds?
Urho knew he was risking rather a lot here, but Caleb was right: he hadn’t felt so alive in years.
“What happened to your face?” Jason asked Xan casually, but with a sideways glance at Urho.
“Bar fight. The usual,” Xan said dismissively, waving it away.
Caleb hummed under his breath and took another swallow of his orange juice, sending challenging looks Jason’s way.
“You get in a lot of bar fights for someone who doesn’t go to bars that often.”
“True.” Xan took a bite of oatmeal and closed his eyes tiredly.
Jason flicked a glance at Urho, who tried to appear reassuring. Caleb smiled and finished up his orange juice.
The topic was dropped.
Breakfast proceeded as it normally would at that point with jokes, discussion of the move to Virona, and no further heavy conversation between them. As they broke up, beta servants came in to escort Jason and Urho out. Xan’s only concession to what had passed between them being a tersely stated reminder addressed to Urho that he left for Virona on Sunday, and a significant gaze. Urho had nodded in return.
It was only as they reached the sidewalk in front of Xan’s home that Jason returned to the topic of his original reason for visiting.
“Urho, do I have your word that whatever madness you brought to me yesterday is finished? That Xan is safe and I don’t need to worry about him being hurt?”
“I can’t promise that,” Urho said, opening the front gate for Jason and glancing back at the house behind him. “I made him an offer to act as his surrogate—” his lover, his heart hissed, “—and he accepted it. I’ll obviously hold up my end of the bargain, but I can only say that he’s promised to hold up his. Time will tell if he actually does.”
“So whatever man he was seeing, the man that you believed was unsafe? That’s in the past now? It’s over?”
“He gave his word.”
Jason groaned. “I guess that’ll have to be good enough. It helps that he’s going to Virona. I take it the man lives here?”
“Yes.”
“And his father found out about him?”
“I’m not sure about that, but there seem to be rumors that his father can’t deny or ignore. Rumors that imply something not entirely according to protocol is happening.”
“And you still aren’t going to tell me who he is?”
Urho snorted. “If I knew myself, the animal wouldn’t still be breathing.”
Jason nodded, slowly trailing his gaze up and down Urho’s body. “Just remember what I said about your feelings, Urho. You can say words like ‘surrogate’ all you want, but you sound more like an alpha protecting his omega to me.”
Urho swallowed thickly.
“Hey, that’s all right. In fact, that’s what Xan needs.” Jason put his hand on Urho’s shoulder and squeezed. “Don’t let your hang-ups and fears prevent you from giving him that.”
“You’re a mouthy pup.”
“Not half as mouthy as Xan can be,” Jason said. “But you like that about him, so you probably like it in me too.”
Urho cuffed Jason’s shoulder and they parted ways, hustling toward their respective cars. “I’ll be by later to check on Vale,” he said. “I’ll phone if there’s a problem, but there won’t be.”
“Thank you,” Jason called out from across the street. “For taking care of Vale, for helping with Xan, and for everything.”
Urho hoped Jason’s gratitude wasn’t unfounded. After all, Xan was leaving town on Sunday, they hadn’t made firm plans to see each other in the interim, and promises made in the heat of the moment always felt less solid in the light of day.
He supposed it was the same as any aspect of life. There were no guarantees. He’d learned that early on with Riki.
He turned to his car and opened the door, climbing inside and starting away from Xan and Caleb’s house.
Only time would tell.