Jason nodded, determined not to burden Vale with his hideous guilt. “I love you.”
“I’m not scared, Jason. Do you feel how good we are?” Vale murmured, tensing slightly beneath Jason. “You deep in my womb. Me receiving you. The beginning and the end.”
“Not the end,” Jason gritted out, shaking his head.
Vale’s shiny eyes softened. “No, darling. Not the end.”
Jason smiled down at him, trying to be strong like Vale asked. Yet he couldn’t stop crying entirely until his knot had softened. As he carefully pulled out, appalled to see the huge gush of semen from Vale’s gaping hole, he swallowed back the last of his tears and carefully inserted his fingers in Vale to help ease him down until the next wave hit.
“I love you. And I’m not scared either.” Jason’s voice trembled.
Vale laughed, and that sweet, familiar sound held all the fear that had gripped both of their hearts. “Of course, you’re not.” He smiled wryly, obviously humoring Jason. “You’re my strong, fearless alpha. My everything.”
“And you’re my everything,” Jason whispered in reply.
The words hung between them, huge and true, and Jason didn’t know how he was going to live without Vale if he fell pregnant from this heat. His mind went to Urho and his handling of unwanted pregnancies for omegas, and Jason’s pater who had connections with the pharmacist in the Calitan district. There were other options no matter what happened. Scary options, but they’d get through them together.
They had to.
Suddenly Vale groaned, and squirmed beneath him, “Oh,fuck. Here it comes again.” He gripped Jason’s chin and said desperately. “Please, Jason, relish it. Take my body and enjoy it. Don’t taint this beautiful thing we’re sharing with fear for a future outcome that might not even happen.”
Jason kissed his collarbones and his throat and his jaw. Vale was right. There was no guarantee that he would fall pregnant. He was, after all, a bit older than most, and these unexpected heats were often a sign of decreased fertility. It might be that he was scared for nothing. He should take Vale’s advice. Feel this beautiful union fully. Revel in it because they might never get to experience it again for a lot of reasons.
Vale arched. “Oh, it’s back. Wolf-god, darling, please. Make me come again.”
So, Jason, terrified and more in love than ever, did.
PART TWO
City Pregnancy
CHAPTER FOUR
Dr. Urho Chasewas being his usual uptight, rigid self, and really, Jason had no idea how Vale had ever let the man fuck him for fun, much less handle his heats. Jason’s jaw clenched hard. Now wasn’t the time to think about that. Jason was fragile at the moment—scared and hurt. Alpha expression fairly lived beneath his skin, just looking for a reason to lash out.
Vale sat in the wing-backed chair in his study, the one he and Jason had first fucked in, sealing their bond, and breaking all the protocols of the time. Fucking like that without a contract had been reckless. He’d been reckless, and it seemed he still was. A clear pattern was establishing itself in their lives together. He didn’t deserve Vale as his omega, his beloved.
“Jason,” Vale said sharply. “Please stop pacing. You’re making me feel sick.”
Instantly, Jason stopped and dropped to his knees by Vale’s side. He took Vale’s hand and asked, “Do you want some fizzy water? I’ll get it for you. With lemon?”
“No. I want you to be still.” Vale’s fingers sank into Jason’s hair, and he combed through it soothingly as he eyed Urho where he waited, obviously anxious underneath his condescending attitude. “So, that’s where we stand,” Vale went on, having been the one to tell Urho everything about their trip, his unexpected heat, and the apparent consequences because Jason was too horrified and overcome to talk about it even now. “What are our options?”
Urho took a deep breath, and his nose twitched.
“You smell it, too?” Vale asked. “Jason scented a change in me almost immediately after the heat.”
Jason trembled and pressed his face to Vale’s knee. He’d nearly lost his mind the final night in the cabin when he realized that the odd scent he kept picking up over dinner was coming from Vale. The scent of a growing baby. Their baby.
“You should have called me as soon as you got back,” Urho said quietly. “The herbal remedies often work in the earliest stages.”
“I didn’t see any reason to think that I could be pregnant,” Vale said, putting his chin out. “No reason to endure cramping and bleeding if there was no babe.”
“No reason to…” Urho huffed dramatically and spread his hands wide, snarling. “This boy pumped loads of his cum in your fertile womb for four days straight, and you didn’t think there was any reason to think you might be pregnant?” He scoffed. “Irresponsible. Both of you. Especially you, Jason. You call yourself an alpha?”
Jason growled but then whimpered. He hung his head, shame filling him from foot to crown.
Vale snapped. “Don’t do that to him. He’s already tearing himself up over this. He did what any alpha would do.”
