Before we left the city limits, Richard told Tyler and Winston they were welcome in his home whenever they pleased. But the couple was happy to be where they were living. They wanted to raise Joshua in the natural world. I didn't blame them. I wanted the same for my baby in the future too.

Seeing how happy Richard was after he had been reunited with Tyler made me want to reconnect with my father as well.

My father lived not too far from Richard's house. One afternoon, when Richard was staying late at the office, I decided to go see my father. I was nervous as hell as I walked down the familiar street to the house I grew up in. The lights were on, so I knew that either my dad or his Beta housekeepers was there.

The code to open the front gate still worked, so I went right into the property. I wondered if my father was looking for me too like Richard had been looking for Tyler. I wondered if my dad had noticed I had been gone at all. I knew why I was there. I wanted to be on good terms with my father so that when my baby was born, he'd know who his grandfather was.

I stood at the front door for a few minutes before I had the courage to ring the doorbell. But I decided to knock instead.

Through the frosted glass, I could see someone approach the door. I recognized the muscular and tall silhouette.

The door opened, and my dad stood in front of me. He was emotionless when he saw me, and for a split second, I thought he was going to close the door in my face.

"Look who decided to come back," he said.

He didn't look happy to see me. I compared his reaction to Richard's when he’d seen Tyler for the first time in months.

The plan I’d laid out in my head went out the window. I'd completely forgotten what I was going to say.

"Can I talk to you?" I said.

My dad looked at his watch as if he had more important things to do and opened the door to let me in without saying anything.

The familiar smell of cigar smoke made me want to cough. I was very sensitive to smells since my pregnancy. I followed my dad into the kitchen. He sat down on a barstool and turned to face me.

"Talk," he said.

My father's bright yellow eyes pierced through me.

I felt my heart race faster than before. I had a whole speech planned, but I wasn't sure if he wanted to hear any of it. I wanted to cry because of how cold he was acting toward me. I shouldn't have set myself up for such high expectations because I felt crushed, wondering if my father had even noticed that I'd been gone for so long.

"I'm pregnant," I said to him finally, cutting it down to those two words and skipping over everything I'd prepared.

"That's great," he said sarcastically.

He swirled his whiskey and drank it, then smoked the cigar resting on the ashtray. The tip of the cigar glowed bright before he blew the smoke between us.

"I always knew you were a little slut," he said.

"Excuse me?" I said, fanning the smoke away. "I've been gone for months, and this is your reaction?"

"What do you want me to do? Beg for you to come back?" he asked.

I didn't know what I wanted from him. But I was hoping he'd missed me.

"Do you even care about me, Dad?" I asked.

My dad took another drag from his cigar. "Care? You think I care about you? The only thing I care about is my business."

His words hurt me more than I wanted to admit. I ran away for a reason, hoping that it would make my dad realize how much he missed me.

"So, who's the unlucky Alpha who knocked you up?" he said with a smirk.

I didn't want to answer him. But I still felt the need to validate myself, to show my father that even though he didn't love me, someone else did.

"His name's Richard Reyner," I said.

My dad dropped his cigar, and I watched it burn a mark into the hardwood. He picked it up quickly before he looked back up at me. "Richard Reyner? Do you know who that asshole is?"

I wasn't surprised that he knew him, considering how close they lived to each other. But I wasn't sure why my father called him an asshole.

"Yes, he's an Alpha who’se man enough to take care of his Omega," I said.

"And he's been a business rival of mine since I started in the real estate industry," he said. "This motherfucker has the nerve to breed my son?"

"You suddenly care now because he’s a business rival?" I asked.

My dad shook his head. "I'm going to burn this motherfucker's house down. Did you come here to tell me this? I always knew you were a little slut. You have no loyalty to your pack."

"You're wrong. I was loyal to you, Dad. I would've done anything for you. But you never saw me as more than a nuisance that slowed you down," I said, trying not to tear up.

My dad's laugh echoed in the mansion. "You're right. I never wanted to have you. You were the result of a drunken night with some slut who I never loved, to begin with. What makes you think I'd suddenly care about you? Because you ran away?"

I couldn't stand there and listen to my father putting me down anymore. He was never going to change, and I had to accept that.

"That's all the answers I needed from you, Dad," I said.

I turned around and walked to the front door.

I was proud of myself that I didn't cry in front of my dad. He didn't deserve my tears. As I left the property, I thought about Richard. All I wanted was to be with my Alpha at that moment. Someone who really cared about me.

When I got back to Richard’s house, I noticed his car was parked in the driveway.

I went inside and heard someone in the kitchen. It was Richard, and he was turned away, cooking something that smelled delicious on the stovetop.

"You're home," I said.

He turned to me with a smile, but it quickly faded when he saw that I was crying. He dropped the wooden spoon he was holding and walked toward me.

"What's wrong, Ollie?" he asked, putting a hand on my stomach. "Is it the baby? Are you okay?"

I shook my head. "The baby's fine."

Richard held me so tight in his arms it was hard to breathe.

"Then what happened?" he asked.

"I went to see my dad just now and realized he doesn't even care that I've been gone for so long."

I could feel Richard's heart beating as fast as mine. "It's all right, Ollie. I'm here for you."

Hearing him say those words was all I needed. Only, I wished it came from my father.

"Where does he live? I'll go over and kick his ass right now," Richard said.

I could tell he was only kidding. But the thought of Richard knocking my dad out made me stop crying.

"He says he knows you," I said, wiping the tears from my cheeks.

Richard pulled me back to look me in the eyes. "What's his name?"

"Troy Bering," I said.

Richard's eyes widened. "Your father is Troy Bering?"

I nodded. "You know him too?"

"Of course, I do. Your father started a rumor about me that almost ended my real estate business a couple of years ago."

Richard noticed the food burning on the stove and went to turn it off.

I was worried Richard wasn't going to love me anymore now that he knew who my father was.

If my dad could be so cruel to his own son, I could only imagine how awful he could've been to Richard, his business rival.

"Why did you go see him today?" Richard asked.

I took a deep breath. "Because I saw how happy you looked when you saw Tyler, I thought my dad would have the same reaction when he saw me."

Richard clenched his fists. "What did he say to you?"

I felt blood rush to my cheeks, ashamed to tell Richard what my father had called me. "He said I was a slut for being bred by you."

Richard walked back to me and put his hands on my shoulders. He kneeled down so that he was eye level to me.

"Listen to me," he said slowly. "Just because he's your father doesn't mean he can treat you like that. You're not a slut. We're having a baby because of our beautiful connection to each other. Don't let someone else put you down like that, especially your father."

I tried to listen to what Richard was saying. But my father's words had such a powerful effect on me that it'd take me a while to get over it.

I wrapped my arms around Richard and leaned on his shoulder.

"What do you see in me anyway?" I asked.

"Everything." Richard took a breath. "You're the most beautiful Omega I've ever met. You’re not just beautiful on the outside. You have a heart of gold. And you were the one who brought me back to my son after months of searching and wondering if he was dead or alive. If your father doesn't see the value in you, then that's his loss. Because I'd never let someone as special as you slip away from me."

Tears fell from my eyes. I wanted to be strong in front of Richard, but he was the only person I could show my real emotions to. Richard put his hands on my cheeks and brushed away the tears with his thumbs.

"I love you so much, Richard," I said.

"I love you too, Ollie."

He got off his knees and held me in his arms.

"I don't know if now's the right time, but I've been waiting all day to come home to surprise you with something."

I raised my brow, wondering what he was going to surprise me with. I needed something to distract me after such an awful evening.

Richard held my hand and brought me upstairs. We walked to the end of the hallway, and we stood in front of a room I’d never been in before.

"What's in there?" I asked.

"Well, it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you," Richard said with a smile.

He took the blue tie off his neck.

"Close your eyes," he said as he put his tie over my eyes.

Richard led me into the room.

"Okay, you may look when you're ready," he said.

I pulled off the tie and opened my eyes.

"Richard..." I said. "When did you do this?"

"I did it myself the past few days when you were sleeping," he said.

He'd built a nursery for our baby. The room was freshly painted blue. I walked around and touched the beautiful crib, a baby changing table, and all the toys and books he'd bought. I turned to him and saw the smile on his face.

"Are you happy now?" he asked.

I nodded. "I can't believe you did this."

He walked up to me and held me in his arms. "I know you want to raise our baby in the wilderness. But I wanted us to have a safe space in the city for us and the baby whenever we return."

I looked around the nursery and felt loved and appreciated. Richard was everything my father wasn't.