Being offered the chance to relocate to Mapleville was the best news that I could have gotten. I thought Thad and I would spend the afternoon making love and celebrating. But when I walked into his house behind him, sex was obviously the last thing on his mind.

He turned to me with his arms crossed over his chest and a pissed off expression. Much more pissed off than when I left him in the hospital parking lot. Apparently my little omega had done some thinking while he was driving…and he wasn’t happy about where those thoughts took him. “So, what was that all about?”

I hated seeing him so closed off from me. It just didn’t feel right. So, I grabbed Thad by his elbows and gently pulled him to the couch so I could hold him in my lap, right where he belonged. “This is actually kind of embarrassing.”

“Good.” Thad was trying to stay angry, but I could tell he was losing his fight and wanted to smile. “Start talking.”

“When I couldn’t find you on any of the dating apps, I did a people search for Thad Hart in Mapleville, since that’s all I had to go on.”

Thad’s shoulders dropped and he leaned his forehead against mine. “Oh, shit. I think I know where this is going.”

“Yeah, you probably do.” I cringed at the memory of that day with the creepy foot doctor. “Well, as you can guess, the closest real person I found was a Dr. Thaddeus Hartman. I didn’t think it was you, but I was desperate, so I made an appointment to see him. I was only in there for a few minutes but—”

“Did he lick your feet?” Thad pulled back with a completely serious expression. “I can totally picture him being all gross like that.”

“Not quite, but he looked like he wanted to. I took off and never heard from him.” The niggling in my mind that had been triggered a few times over the past few months finally clicked into a revelation. “Holy shit, it was him…”

“What was him?”

“The note, all the flowers… It had to be from him. At first, I thought T.H. was you...but it’s not. That fucker has been stalking me.”

“What flowers?” Thad had that same angry look in his eyes as earlier and it was fucking adorable.

“A while ago, right after that first weekend I spent here, a bunch of flowers were delivered to my place with some weirdass message. I was gonna mention it to you, but all that shit at work happened, and I just kinda forgot about it.”

“Have you talked to him at all before today?” Thad seemed worried but less angry. And I definitely didn’t want him to be worried about anything.

“Not since that first appointment I made when I stormed out of his office. You work with that guy?”

Thad frowned. “Unfortunately. Not closely, but I see him around. Occasionally, we’re assigned the same patients, but it’s rare. But he has been particularly cold to me lately. I guess now I know why.”

I pulled Thad against my chest and held him there. “If he even looks at you funny ever again, you let me know. I’ll go kick his ass if that’s what it takes for him to get the hint that there will never be a chance with me.” I pressed my lips to the top of Thad’s head and held there. “I’ve already found my mate, and I’m never letting you go.”

* * *

Over the next few months, I made the move from Oak Grove to Mapleville. Danny was bummed to see me leave, but he decided to keep the apartment to himself and not bother with another roommate. At least not until he found a partner to share his home with.

Opening a satellite office in a new town was daunting, but the little town of Mapleville welcomed me with open arms and the mayor even brought me some homemade cookies that his wife baked on our first official day of business. I’d been busy with consultations for new clients and trying to hire a few more advisors to work with me, so I didn’t pay attention to the warning bells in my head when they first started.

In fact, we were more than six months into the pregnancy when the warning bells turned into a five alarm air siren that couldn’t be ignored.

The day had started off normally. Thad and I woke up early on Saturday to take a walk into town and grab some delicious scones from our favorite bakery. There was some construction going on at the library so we had to cross the street to avoid all the heavy equipment that had been left in the parking lot for the weekend. When we were heading back, the sound of a truck heading down the street startled us as we crossed the intersection.

Thad gasped beside me as a large moving truck came barreling down the street, right toward us. Instinctively, I grabbed Thad and pulled him out of the way and into my side, but the truck veered right and continued directly toward us. I hesitated for a few seconds, not sure where to go or how to keep Thad safe before I lifted Thad off the ground and ran with him behind one of the earth movers parked on the side of the road.

I expected the truck to veer back into the street and continue on its way, but it didn’t. It kept coming forward, and as it moved closer, I looked right into the eyes of the driver.

Dr. Thaddeus Hartman.

The world moved in slow motion as I carried Thad as far away from the tractor as I could get before the truck barreled into it. The sound of crunching metal was horrific but not nearly as frightening as the explosion that immediately followed. Thad and I huddled behind the crane for a long moment before we stood up and looked at the scene behind us.

The truck Dr. Hartman had been driving was engulfed in flames, and I was positive he didn’t make it out.

I turned to Thad, inspecting him from head to toe. “Are you okay? Is the baby okay?”

He nodded and kept his eyes glued to the inferno just a few hundred feet behind us. “Did you see him?”

“Hartman? Yeah.” I held Thad in my arms, grateful he and our baby were safe and sound.

“He was trying to hit us…” Thad sobbed against my chest, the reality of how differently things could have turned out finally hitting him.

“I think so.” I held him tightly, praying this was the worst moment of our lives now that the danger Dr. Hartman posed to us was finally gone. “But he didn’t. You’re safe. We all are. I promise to always keep you safe.”

* * *

It took a few hours for us to get through questioning from the sheriff and local news reporters. Thad was popular with the townspeople, and it seemed like every single resident of Mapleville came out to check on him. We were both exhausted by the time we made it home after lunch, so Thad and I spent the rest of the day in bed, napping and holding each other.

Neither of us were ready to get out of bed when dinner rolled around, so I ordered in a pizza delivery and we stayed put, lazily teasing each other whenever there was something even remotely sexy on TV.

After an hour of torture while watching an episode of The Bachelor, my cock was hard and desperate for relief. Thad was in the same boat when he slipped out of bed with a serious boner and then whined about not being able to pee because he was too hard. Of course, I had a plan to take care of that.

“Well, then get that cute little ass and gorgeous baby bump back in here and let your alpha take care of you.”

Thad peeked out from behind the bathroom door. “This bump is not gorgeous. It’s annoying and makes everything uncomfortable.”

I shook my head until Thad finally relented and waddled back to me. He was being dramatic but damn he was gorgeous, bump and all. “Get over here, little omega.”

Thad pushed out his lower lip and climbed onto my lap. “I’m gonna break you with all this extra weight.”

“You think so?” I lifted my ass off the mattress and pushed down my sweats until I could kick them off. “I feel like that’s some kind of challenge.”

Thad shrugged and a smile crept onto his lips. “Maybe it is.”

“These aren’t your favorite boxers or anything, right?” I pinched the elastic waistband with my thumbs and forefingers and held Thad’s gaze. As soon as he shook his head, I tugged and tore the fabric right off his body. “Then climb onto me, baby. We’re going for a ride.”

Thad didn’t hesitate as he lifted up and positioned the head of my cock at his opening. He was already dripping wet and ready for me as he slid down my shaft, taking me fully inside him as we both sighed in satisfied relief at being connected so intimately after the worst day of our lives.