Adrien snorted. “Like you gave me an option?”
“Oh please. As if you really wanted to go.”
“I was at my dorm with our son. I think it was clear I wanted to go. At that time.”
“He was in a box. You had our baby in a box in your dorm room, like he was a pet rabbit.”
“Heath—”
“You didn’t want to go, or you wouldn’t have come home with me.”
Adrien shrugged. “You made a compelling argument, what with the begging and pleading and—”
Heath shot him a look and Adrien stopped talking, but a chuckle remained on his lips.
“You have to accept, though, that if you give him the right to go, he might take it.”
Ned felt dizzy at the thought. He didn’t know how to be a good alpha yet, and he didn’t know anything about fatherhood, but the idea of Ezer leaving, of him going away and leaving him with twins to care for was overwhelming. But if it was what Ezer needed…
Heath went on, “For what it’s worth, you’ll have to be willing to lose the children, too. Omegas are attached to their offspring.” Adrien snorted again, but Heath ignored him. “If you tell him the contract is void, that he can go, he’ll take the babies with him.”
Ned felt even sicker at that thought. He didn’t know his sons yet, but he loved them all the same, and he wanted to do right by both Ezer and them. He was a kid, but he was brave enough to face this.
Heath continued, “As hard as that might sound, if you aren’t up for the rigors of fatherhood yet, and if he’s not interested in being with you seriously as your omega mate, then it could be for the best. End things now.”
Ned’s stomach swam up his throat.
A waiter approached and Heath waved him off. Ned was glad to have longer to collect himself before having to place an order for food he no longer wanted.
“But where would he go? His father won’t take him in,” Ned said. “He’d be penniless with two babies. He can’t leave if he doesn’t have a place to go.” It made him sweat to imagine it, but he knew that if he were to make a true offer of freedom from this mistake they’d made, then he had to offer him the means to gain that freedom, too.
Heath regarded him with a stony, serious expression. “There are ways. The children will be my great-nephews. I’ll settle money on both them and on Ezer. I’ll even provide a small home for him in Fellson, so he can start fresh in a new city. He can claim to be a widower. No one will be the wiser unless he prompts someone to dig.”
Ned wiped at his face, his heart pounding and feeling as if it would rip in two. “All right,” he whispered. “Thank you.”
“You don’t want him to take the offer,” Heath observed.
Ned shook his head. “I love him. But I love him too much for him to be with me out of obligation. I want him to behappy, even though I barely know what that looks like. I had it for maybe two days before it was destroyed again by Braden showing up at our nest. I’d rather he be happy without me, than miserable with me.”
Adrien touched his hand. “That’s beautiful, Ned.”
Ned shrugged. It didn’t feel beautiful. It felt awful, wrenching and world-ending, but he wasn’t going to hurt Ezer more than he already had. Ezer deserved autonomy and consent from the beginning. It was like Yissan said, an omega should be allowed to decide for himself.
Speaking of Yissan—
“Thank you for doing all this for Ezer, Uncle, and I’ll let you know what he says and how it progresses with him. But the main reason I asked you here is to discuss another problem. I was approached by another omega recently—”
“Another omega!” Adrien said, scandalized.
“It’s not like that,” Ned hastened to explain. “It’s Yissan Fersee, Ezer’s eldest brother. He’s in trouble and wants help.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“This is confidential?”
Heath scoffed, offended.
“I’m sorry. I just don’t want to endanger him.”
