Page 17 of A Baby for the Beast (Beastverse #3)

Hayley

W atching Lucas spar with other alphas and beasts is easily in the top ten of my favorite things to watch.

Actually, scratch that, top three. Staring at him while he's all lust drunk from eating me out is currently number one, but I'm pretty sure the first time I see him naked, it's going to bump that to number two, and so that leaves spot number three to Remus, all sweaty and half dressed, punching other alphas. And I think that's a pretty great list.

Lucas is speaking with a middle-aged man he introduced to me as Phil, his trainer.

They're discussing what's happening with Kyle and how Phil has a meeting scheduled for us with a PR company to discuss how to handle this.

It's embarrassing that he knows all about it, but then I realize everyone at the gym knows exactly who I am, and none of them made a thing about it at all.

Lucas introduced me to everyone he was sparring with, and he told them all I was his omega, and I didn't deny it.

They all shook my hand, made me feel like I was welcome, and it never occurred to me that they already knew.

But why wouldn't they? In their world, the drama between Kyle, Lucas, and me is the biggest thing going on right now.

"I need to shower, and then are you good to go talk to the PR people?" Lucas asks when he comes over to where I'm standing.

His hands find my hips easily as though he's used to touching me whenever he feels like it, and I don't hate that one bit. I step closer, frowning down at my abdomen when it keeps me from getting as close as I want to be to him.

"Yeah, is it okay if I stay here?"

"Do whatever you want," Lucas says with a smile. "If anyone gives you a hard time, let me know."

"Pretty sure they all respect you too much to do that," I tell him, pushing his chest and shooing him off to go shower.

He growls but relents, and I watch him leave, knowing full well he's flexing his back muscles as he walks because there's no way he looks that good naturally. I have to be stinking up the place, but like I said, all of these guys respect Lucas too much to say anything about it.

I grab my cell out of my pocket and start going through my texts, sending my manager a thank-you text in response to him giving me the next week off while I figure all of this out.

My phone buzzes with an unknown number calling me, and I frown, looking at it.

So far, no one has texted or called me from all this nonsense going on, but I know it's possible for people to get a phone number if they pry enough.

I take a deep breath, telling myself I'm panicking prematurely.

I slide my finger over the screen, answering the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hayley, this you?"

The only reason I recognize the voice on the other end is because of his stupid videos playing on the TVs at the bar all the time. My stomach twists, but I push through the discomfort, needing to know what he wants.

"What do you want, Kyle?" I try to keep my voice even, but it's difficult when this man is trying his hardest to make my life difficult.

"We need to talk about this whole giving up parental rights thing," he says, and all of my discomfort is lost to the pure rage that fills me at him thinking he can bring my daughter into this bullshit.

"We don't need to talk about anything," I snarl into the phone, fury lacing my words.

They're louder than they should be, but I'm too upset to care that a few heads are snapping in my direction.

"You do not want this child. You couldn't even remember my fucking name.

You left me alone in the middle of my heat, and you lied about being sterilized.

Sign over your parental rights, forget that you ever had a part in creating my daughter, or I will make you regret all of this.

You want to fuck with me, fuck with Lucas, fine.

But you do not get to bring my daughter into this. "

"Okay, I think you need to calm down," Kyle says on the other end, but I swear I hear a hint of trepidation in his voice.

"I am eight months pregnant, do not tell me to fucking calm down, you asswipe," I hiss into the receiver, shooting a glare at the alpha nearest to me, who is very blatantly listening in to the conversation.

He holds his hands up, dropping his head and smiling slightly. I roll my eyes but return the smile, hoping to tell him I'm not upset with him.

"Just meet me somewhere so we can talk about this," Kyle says.

Before I can respond to him, Lucas is standing beside me, dripping with water, a towel wrapped around his hips. Someone must've gone to get him while he was in the middle of his shower, and wow, if they haven't just helped me bump watching him fight shirtless to number four.

"Can I talk to him?" Lucas asks, holding out his hand for my phone.

"Someone wants to talk to you, and just know whatever he says, I will do a thousand times worse to you, I swear," I spit into the phone before handing it over to Lucas with a cheery grin that doesn't match how I feel at all.

He gives me an impressed look, nudging my chin with his knuckles as he mouths "fierce omega."

His demeanor changes as soon as he lifts the phone to his ear. "Why are you talking to my omega?"

I can't hear Kyle on the other end, but I'd like to imagine him sputtering and not knowing what to say. I do try to wiggle closer, but Lucas is taller than I am, and I can't even get my ear close to the phone to try to listen in.

"No, our lawyers already set up a meeting with yours," Lucas says, keeping his tone even.

He's a lot better at keeping his cool than I am, but looking at his wet body and imagining everywhere he might still be wet is doing a lot to get my thoughts off murdering Kyle.

Seeing him like this has me wondering why I'm putting off getting him into my nest. My gaze falls lower, head tilted to the side as I stare at where I'm assuming his nice and thick and–

Lucas grabs my chin and tilts my head up so my eyes are on his face. He shakes his head, smiling at me as he speaks with Kyle. "You were advised to go through legal channels only. Don't contact Hayley again."

Lucas doesn't wait for a response before hanging up the call and palming the phone.

"What am I going to do with you?" he asks, not at all put out that his shower was interrupted by yet again more drama that I've brought into his life.

"Well, based on how hot all of this has been," I say, letting my eyes track down his body as much as I can with how he still has a hold on my chin. "I'd say you could do whatever you wanted to me."

Remus comes out because, of course, he does. " You have such terrible timing, omega. "

"Does that mean no quickie in the shower?" I say, wiggling my brows.

" Where's the vicious omega that was just here? "

I lean into him like I'm telling him a secret, "She likes submitting to her alpha."

Remus closes his eyes, and it's like I can see him warring with himself.

There's a not insignificant part of him that wants to pin me down right here, not caring who all sees, and make me his.

The part that's going to win out is the one that leaves us both a little edged, but that'll just make it better when we finally fuck.

" I need to shower, " Remus says, swallowing hard as he steps away from me.

"And masturbate," I add in, winking at him as his eyes fly open just to glare at me.

There's a snort from nearby, but I ignore the alpha because there's a good chance Remus hurts him if I pay attention to anyone other than my alpha right now.

"Go," I shoo him away. "We can pick this conversation up at home."

It isn't until he's back in the locker room that I realize I called his apartment home, and how it came so naturally. Maybe two good things have come out of sleeping with the world's biggest douche. I'll have my daughter, and if things work out, I'll have my alpha too.

***

Phil lets Lucas and me take the elevator down alone.

The meeting with the PR firm they hired went differently than I expected.

Well, not even different since I wasn't sure what I expected.

It's not like a twenty-eight-year-old bartender is ever in need of a public relations team.

But the suggestions they gave us have left Lucas and me with some things we need to discuss.

"We don't do anything that will make you uncomfortable," he tells me when the elevator has gone down a few floors and I still haven't said anything.

"They're paid to give us the advice that will have public opinion even more in our favor.

Like they said, we're already good for the most part and just have to ride this out until something else happens to catch people's attention. "

"How do you feel about what they suggested?" I ask, peeking at him in the elevator mirrors.

His brows shoot up, and he swallows down the grin that tries to spread across his lips. Okay, good to know he's interested in their idea.

"Hayley, I feel like I've made it abundantly clear how I feel about marking you up," Lucas says, grabbing me and turning me so I'm looking directly at him instead of sneaking peeks in the mirrors.

"I would be honored to mate you. But like I said this morning, we only do this when you're ready, not because it'll look better from a PR standpoint. "

"When do we have to meet with Kyle's lawyers?" I ask.

Lucas snarls at the mention of Kyle, but he replaces it quickly with a look of neutrality. Bringing up Kyle in the same conversation we're talking about mating probably isn't the best idea, but I have my reasons for asking.

"Next Tuesday. He's been advised to bring all of the paperwork to sign over his rights."

"Do you think he's going to try to make it hard?" I ask, leaning into Lucas, who wraps his arms around me without hesitation and cradles me gently to him.

The elevator door dings and slides open, but Lucas doesn't make any move to get off. When I look up at him, he gives me a small smile.

"We can ride a little longer," he says as the doors slide closed. He cups the back of my head and holds me to him again. "And after the way you chewed him out earlier, no, I don't think he's going to cause more trouble than he already has."

I cuddle harder against Lucas, wishing that I could be even closer, but my baby is keeping a nice little distance from us.

Not that Lucas minds. No, his arm wrapped around me is so tight he can reach my abdomen and press his fingertips into it, almost like he's ready to embrace my daughter.

I sniffle at the thought of how much Lucas already loves my little girl when he has no reason to.

Before I know it, the sniffles turn into tears.

"Shh," Lucas murmurs as he rocks us back and forth, his purr coming to life, mixing with the elevator music to make a worse concoction than the sound of my sobbing and his purr. "I won't let him hurt her. She's safe. So safe."

And those words have me crying harder because it's not just me that Lucas and Remus care about.

They do, obviously, but they care about Tessie, too.

They care about her like she's their own, and I want so badly for Lucas to be the one to help me raise her.

The thought is like a firework going off in my head, and it's like everything clicks into place.

"Bite me," I whisper against Lucas's shirt. My hands fist in the material, trying to keep him close even as my words have him trying to step back. He and Remus are flickering back and forth between who's in control, and when Remus stays in control, I think I'm about to get my way.

" Devilish little omega, " he growls at me, snapping his teeth loudly as he presses the open door on the elevator that still hasn't left the ground floor.

It opens, and before I can ask him why he seems upset, he has me wrapped in his arms, lifting me off my feet so he can take long, purposeful steps toward the exit.

He growls low and soft, but no one approaches us.

They'd be foolish to approach Remus when he's not worked up.

I've finally pushed my alpha too far because he does not seem pleased at all.

For as upset as he seems, though, he sets me in the car gently, buckling me in, and pressing his palm to the swell of my abdomen before glaring at me.

"I'm sorry," I whisper, biting my lip.

" No, you're not, " Remus tells me, tilting my head to the side so I'm giving him my neck.

He snarls at me as I flutter my lashes, because he's not wrong, I'm not sorry. Whatever comes from this, I know it's the right thing. As messy as us finding one another has been, being with him will be the best thing I've ever done for myself and for my daughter.

"No, I'm not."

He kisses me, sloppy, hard, more teeth and tongue than loving touches, but Remus takes what he wants from it before pulling away, snarling at me once more.

I finally realize it's not because he's mad at me, but because he's mad he can't have me yet.

I keep that thought in my head as he gets in the car.

As soon as he starts it, I slide my hand into his lap and earn myself a vicious growl.

" Omega, " Remus growls like he wants me to stop, but he thrusts up into my hand like he wants more.

"What is it, Remus?" I ask, fluttering my lashes at him as I play coy.

Remus glares at me, but ends up shaking his head. " When I know what I'm doing, I'll make you pay for this. "

"Promises, promises," I tease, squeezing where his cock is hard in his slacks, making him purr much to his annoyance.

I let out a peal of laughter, and thankfully, Remus doesn't take it like I'm laughing at him. No, he cracks a smile, moving his hand over mine, keeping my hand on him the entire way back home.