Page 13 of A Baby for the Beast (Beastverse #3)

Hayley

" Y our stalker is back," Steven teases me when Lucas comes sulking inside as though none of us have noticed him the last two weeks he's been coming to the bar.

I should go over and tell him to stop bothering me, but just like I haven't said anything about him being parked outside my apartment complex or about him watching from his car while I was working, I'm not about to say anything to him about coming into the bar to sit quietly at one of the tables, drink a few beers over the course of my entire shift and tip whoever's working the tables an exorbitant amount of money.

"Don't call him a stalker," I chide, not liking the term being used for Lucas of all people. He's a sweetheart, and based on his insistence on following me around, I'm starting to think he was telling the truth about being scent matched to me.

I've thought about texting him to let him know that I'm starting to maybe come around.

The thing that stops me is that I'm still not fully certain that he's not just interested in me to get at Kyle.

Sure, I'm leaning more toward him actually scent matching me now, but that doesn't mean it's true.

He hasn't pushed things, at least, he doesn't think he's pushing things.

As far as he's aware, I have no idea he's been following me and keeping an eye on me. I'm going to let it stay that way as long as possible while I try to figure out what I want for me, my daughter, and our future.

Steven doesn't say anything to me other than giving me a sardonic look before he heads out from behind the bar to ask Lucas what he'll have.

It'll be the same local wheat beer he drinks every time he comes in.

I start pouring it so it's ready before Steven gets back over here.

I don't know why he's teasing me when he already knows he's in for a great time just by Lucas coming in.

He's an easy customer and a guaranteed nice tip.

"Are you going to put that poor boy out of his misery any time soon?" Dale, one of our regulars, asks me. His partner in crime, Paul, nods along as though it's any of their business when I do or do not tell Lucas that I know he's been following me around.

The two alphas have been coming to the bar every weekday night for as long as I can remember.

They met in a widowers' group after their mates passed away, and now they spend their time watching sports, drinking cheap beer, and telling everyone who will listen about what their kids are up to nowadays.

They also enjoy being nosy gossips about what's going on with all the bartenders.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I sniff and tilt my head away from them, looking at their annoyed expressions from the corner of my eye.

"I'm surprised he hasn't noticed you know he's here already, you perfume enough to let everyone know," Paul says, causing a flush to cover my cheeks. I give up the ruse of not looking at them to glare at him. "What? It's true."

"He doesn't want to know that she knows, so he's probably ignoring it or thinking this is just what she normally smells like," Dale adds on as if this isn't a mortifying conversation to have right in front of me.

"I am not perfuming," I snap at the two, my face must be bright red with how I can feel the heat radiating from it. "Take it back."

"You are, babe," Chloe, the other bartender working behind the bar with me tonight, tells me. "It's been great for tips."

"Was no one going to tell me?" I ask, throwing my hands up.

I don't know if I look distressed or if maybe Lucas is picking up on the vibes shifting over here because for a moment I swear I can feel his heavy gaze on me, and not in the sexy way it's been on me the other times he's been watching me.

No, this feels almost assessing, like he's trying to figure out if Remus is going to get to come out and blow their cover for good.

"Stop or he's going to let his beast out," I whisper at the group teasing me. "None of us will be able to pretend we don't notice him if Remus comes out."

"Remus?" Dale says, his brows tugging together. "Why does that name sound familiar?"

I groan and toss my head back, forgetting for all of half a second that I haven't been giving any of these vultures any information because once they have a nugget, they can make a whole feast with it.

I give them the name Remus, and they're going to have his entire background figured out in less than a week, and then everyone else at the bar is going to know too.

"I don't know," I say, feigning ignorance.

I turn away from the group and head to the other end of the bar so I can grab a drink order for a couple of alphas who just came in. Lucas's eyes are still on me, at least based on the way I can feel someone staring at my ass and most of the alphas in here lose interest once they see the belly.

"What can I–"

"Are you Hayley?" one of the alphas asks me, his phone held up like he's recording me.

I stop moving toward them, still a couple of feet from the bar top, and my brows furrow. "Do I know you?"

"Dude, it's so her." The first alpha's friend slaps him on the shoulder. "You're the chick Kyle knocked up."

I think I'm going to be sick. I shake my head, my hands starting to tremble. I swear, if I cry, I'm going to be so upset at myself. "I need you to leave."

"It's okay, baby, he said you were easy. We just wanted to know if we could have a go."

They're laughing, they're both laughing like this is some funny joke, while I'm trying to keep my dinner from coming back up. How do they even know who I am or where I work?

I shake my head again, this time looking around the bar, wanting to motion to Paul and Dale that I need help, but they're already on their way to our end of the bar. They're both older, but they're powerful enough alphas.

I don't say anything to the two men, and I try to put it out of my mind that they were probably recording the interaction.

I take shaky steps to where Chloe is serving someone else.

She glances at me and then back to her customer before snapping her attention back over to me and asking me something I can't quite hear because of the roaring in my ears.

"What's wrong?" Chloe says, this time in my face, her hands on each side of my face.

She looks behind me to where I'm sure Dale and Paul are escorting the two alphas out of the bar. I want to cry so bad. I want to cry and throw up and go curl up in my nest.

If two strangers came in knowing who I am to Kyle, that means he's told them.

I don't know why, and I don't know what he wants, but he's told his audience about me.

Bile rises in my throat as I try to force down the disgusting feelings surging through my mind.

For the first time since I found I was pregnant, Kyle's managed to make me feel shame.

"Did those guys say something to you?" Chloe asks, but I don't answer her.

I want Lucas. I want him to tell me it's okay, that I'm okay, that he doesn't care about who Kyle is to me, just like he made me feel the one night we shared together. When I look over to the table he always sits at, it's empty, a few bills lying underneath his full beer glass.

Chloe catches who I'm looking for. "He just left. Do I need to go get him?"

Chloe is an omega too, and just like me, she doesn't have a mate.

Unlike me, she isn't pregnant. Still, she knows how important having an alpha around can be when we feel vulnerable, and right now, I feel more than just a little vulnerable, and there's not a single alpha here who will make me feel as safe as mine will.

And yes, mine, because that's who Lucas and Remus said they wanted to be.

Before they were confronted with what your baggage will bring on them.

If I wasn't already feeling bad enough, that thought does it.

"I need to go sit down," I tell Chloe, looking around the bar, making sure it doesn't look too busy.

"Go, go, Steven and I can handle this," Chloe says, ushering me to the back of the kitchen area. We have a singular cook back there, Brad, who mostly just reheats cheap bar food. We're not exactly known for our cuisine here.

"Jeez, are you okay? Is it the baby?" Brad asks.

He finishes one more puff on his cigarette before tossing the butt into the little trashcan Chloe stuck out in the alley through the back door for him because she was tired of him throwing them on the sidewalk.

He's supposed to stop smoking, but that normally lasts about a week before he starts again for a few months, and then the process repeats itself over and over again.

"The baby's fine," I say, stroking a flat hand against my abdomen and taking deep breaths.

He runs to the little closet that acts as the manager's room, pulls out the office chair, and brings it over to me.

"Thanks," I tell him, sitting in it and trying not to start crying now that it feels safe to do so. Brad starts purring, the sound startling me so much that it causes a laugh to bubble up out of me.

"What every alpha wants to hear when he purrs," Brad murmurs in faux annoyance. He doesn't stop purring, though. The rumbles help to calm me down, even though he isn't my alpha, and he doesn't want anything to do with me in that way.

"Hey, at least your purr calms me down. My alpha, his purr is so bad," I tell him, not realizing just how out of pocket that remark is.

Brad catches it, though, and just like the slip of Remus's name, I know this is going to get around to everyone because they're all a bunch of gossips at Night Owls.

"You got yourself an alpha," Brad says, his purr still rumbling, which means he doesn't think my alpha would care about it.

I don't think Lucas or Remus would. They might not like the idea of another alpha purring for me, but they would want me relaxed and calm when I'm stressed. Or, they probably would if they actually wanted me.

"I thought so, but something happened just now." I frown and shake my head. "I think it became too real for him."