Jace

I’d lost so much when my parents died. We’d expected them to be there, to see us grow up into adulthood, find our way in life, and be the amazing supportive presence they’d always been, and that had been torn away. I’d stepped up, tried to be them for Em, keep her safe and happy and get her through the grieving process, but now I had something for me. We could build our own family here. Jace and I, we could be just like my parents, surrounding our child with love and…

The thoughts were pushed aside as the feelings just kept rising, and then a montage of images hit me almost physically. A little boy with a shock of dark brown hair and a mulish expression, just like his dad. A delicate little girl who’d stumble over her feet but pick herself up again with a grin. I could see them, right as they—

“Baby?” Jace mumbled the word, fighting against sleep, obviously being wakened by what was going on in me. He blinked rapidly, trying to make his eyes see me. “Are you OK? Did something…?”

The words stopped when it seeped in, that bone-deep knowledge that I felt, that we felt. He frowned slightly, looking down at my hand on my stomach, and then his face transformed. Big growly fucking alphas, they make you think that they’re made of rusted steel and barbed wire, but at their centre, they were gooey marshmallows. Jace stared at my hand over my belly like it was the Holy Grail or something, his hand shaking as he reached out, covering mine with his.

“Jesus, Sloane…?”

I nodded slowly, smiling the smuggest of smiles.

“We’re…” He tried to say it a few times, his brain fighting his mouth, so I had to do it for him.

“We’re going to be a family.”

Then he surged forward, covering my body with his, pi

“I don’t know what the fuck I did to deserve you, love, but I promise you, I’ll show you every damn day that I do. You’re mine, Sloane, mine.”

“Mine,” I agreed, relaxing back onto the bed and closing my eyes, just sinking into the emotions and the sensations of being an omega with her alpha. “Mine.”

Art

The beta barman was back at work, no one else, other than the alphas, wise to his other job. As far as they knew, he’d been on leave for a week or so. He’d walked back in, heard the news about Sloane and Jace and their pregnancy, and was able to act surprised along with everyone else, because he was. He’d lain awake at night, wondering if returning Sloane to Jace was the right thing to do, but evidently, he needn’t have bothered. She’d looked positively radiant when they made the a

He never knew if his handlers mapped his position on the GPS or had cameras installed in the bar, but they always seemed to know to call when he was alone.

“Any updates?” the crisp voice asked when he answered the call.

“Hard to say,” Art replied, going for vague, always trying to redirect their focus. “I’ve only been back on the job for a day or two.”

“The beta girl, the one that was latent. She’s mated to the alpha now?”

“Ah, yeah.”

“Good, good, we’re facing some opposition, but it looks like we might be able to confiscate her estate. That would be an amazing boost to Alpha Control coffers. So, has she been bred?”

Fuck, direct questions, bolstered by some sort of intel he hadn’t provided, those were the ones he hated the most.

“It appears so,” he replied reluctantly, feeling yet another stab in his gut as a result.

“Well done!” the voice down the other end said, as if he’d had anything to do with it. “We’ll be in touch.”

And with that, the phone line went dead. Art’s heart thundered in his chest, his breathing coming harder and faster as he looked up at the ceiling, hearing the muffled sounds of voices. How much did Alpha Control hear or see? Would they know if he went to the alphas’ office, asking to see them urgently? His heart kept beating on, a death knell, it felt like, for either his honour or his career. He swallowed hard, his mouth bone-dry, his grasp on the keys loosening, but it was her that was the deciding factor. He saw Sloane, the way her eyes had struggled to focus due to the drugs she’d been pumped with, her desperate, desperate need to get back to her alpha.

In his training, this had been used as further evidence of omegas and alphas’ inferiority. They were dismissed as primitive creatures, ruled by instinct, not rational thought, but it was that same rational thought process that had him deconstructing Alpha Control ideology every time he dealt with this kind of case. His hand gripped the keys tighter as he spun on his heel, climbing up the stairs, passing the task and the keys onto a passing beta as he went. He made his way through the back area of the bar, walking past people, so many people, before he reached the office door. His hand hovered. If this was found out, if they knew what he was doing… He frowned and then forced his knuckles to rap on the door.

“Come in,” a deep voice said from within.

He turned the doorknob, opening it to see the three main alphas here, along with several others he didn’t know, their collective gaze boring into him.

“Hello…Art,” Jace said, the alpha’s emphasis making his name sound like a lie.

“I’ve got some news,” he said shortly in reply. “News that affects all of you.” He stepped in, closed the door, and then approached the group of alphas.

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Sam’s acknowledgements

To my amazing co-writer, who decided to take a chance and come on this journey with me. I felt like we were that old skit where people keep saying ‘after you. No, after you’ for awhile there but I think we got there! It’s been an amazing experience and I’m stoked we got to do this together.

Super editor Meghan Leigh Daigle, the lady with the red pen who catches so many pesky mistakes. She’s a gun and I’d be lost without her.

https://www.facebook.com/Bookish-Dreams-Editing-105567517555119/

Special thanks to Richelle, Jessica, Renee, Kayla, Lizzy, Mollie and Steph. As always, you dropped partners, family and life to help get this baby out so thank youuuu!

To the omegaverse trope group, thank you so much for your ongoing feedback. You helped us whip this baby into shape and that feedback helps keep the creative fires burning

Crystal, Elizabeth, Jayne. Judi, Kayse, Liza and MaryA

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