Page 36 of A Baby for the Beast (Beastverse #3)

Hayley

One Year Later

E ven if I wanted to pretend Kyle wasn't part of my daughter's biological makeup, I wouldn't be able to with how much like her sperm donor she looks.

It's almost comical how little she shares physical traits with me.

Her hair, the small amount of it she has, is almost white with how light it is, and her eyes are the brightest blue I've ever seen.

No one mentions it. Which I understand. You don't want to be the first one to be like, 'wow, that kid looks nothing like the two people who claim to be her parents.

' But this kid obviously looks nothing like Lucas or me, though Remus does tell everyone she takes after him.

It's met with skeptical glances and sometimes quirked brows because I just know that before people know about the whole thing, they think I cheated on this amazing man.

Not that it's anyone's business except for mine and Lucas's, but still.

There are times I wish Tessie looked more like me, with dark hair, dark eyes, and tanned skin instead of Kyle. His half of the genetics must've been strong, though, because she even has his nose.

"I can't believe he pled down and only got seven years," Scott says, flopping down onto the couch next to Lilah. "I feel like life would've been the better option."

"Do they give life for that kind of thing?" Sarah asks.

Before we came to family dinner tonight, Lucas asked me if I wanted him to tell everyone not to mention the news about the trial, or lack of a trial, wrapping up. I told him I didn't mind. It's not like I'm unaware of everything that's happened.

It took a while for the case against Kyle to be built.

Once it was, a trial date was set, and I was given a specific date to testify about what happened.

There were eight of us with strong enough cases, and a dozen more who came forward with their own stories of Kyle using them.

I'm working on accepting what he did to me as what it was.

A part of me minimizes it, and I'm working with someone to unpack all of that.

Lucas gets pissed whenever Kyle is mentioned, and Remus is always around to remind him that they should have killed him when they had the chance.

A couple of days ago, the prosecutor called me and told me my testimony would no longer be needed.

I had a little freakout thinking that, for some reason, Kyle went on another spree of trying to smear my name on his social media.

No, turns out, he signed a plea deal. One that was too generous if I'm being honest, but then again, I didn't expect much anyway.

Kyle's picture pops up on the television because the trial and the plea deal are part of the segment of whatever sports news channel they have on right now.

I'm paying more attention to my daughter than the screen.

I already know everything that they're going to report on.

The plea deal, the lack of jail time, the fact that he victimized so many people, and how it was just never talked about until he tried to use it against me.

He was his own downfall, and I just wish it had been a bigger one.

Sure, his name is being scrubbed from the fighting league. His time holding the title has been given a little asterisk at the end with a note that reads 'The league does not condone the actions of this fighter during his time as title holder.'

He's been barred from participating in any of the mainstream fight scenes, but that came after Lucas did an interview talking about his retirement and the lack of response from the league.

He was brutally honest about there being a systemic issue in the community with using omegas in the same way I was.

Perhaps not to the same degree and without the deception, but many of them are used for their pheromones to aid in a fight, and no one had done anything to condemn it until Lucas brought it up.

If he wasn't already retiring, he'd have ostracized himself from the community just by bringing it all out into the daylight.

Once he did, the league had no choice but to either address the problems or ignore them like they had been for so long.

It might have worked in the past, but there were endless social media campaigns against them, with groups dedicated to calling their sponsors.

It was actually impressive how just a little push had people begging for change, and how quickly the league responded when their wallets were being impacted.

"Damn, it's kind of crazy just how much he looks like–" Henry's eyes go wide as he shuts his mouth.

Beside me, Remus is already out, ready to go to bat for me and our daughter even against his twin. A twin that he's finally allowed me to be around without causing a fuss because they smell the same.

" He looks like what? " Remus asks, biting out the words in such a way that everyone in the house knows there's no correct answer to this question.

Henry dips his head, trying to appease Remus in any way he can. I feel bad because it's not like he was going to say Tessie is anything like her sperm donor. And he's not wrong. There's a picture of Kyle up on the screen looking eerily similar to the baby I'm bouncing on my knee.

"He looks like Tessie," I answer, looking at my daughter and smiling at her when she babbles.

The room is silent except for the sharp intakes and exhales Remus is making because he wants to fight someone right now.

I turn our daughter to face him. "Remus, we've talked about this.

She looks like him. Nothing is going to change that. "

Remus snarls at his brother, but when he looks back down at our daughter, it softens. Of course, that lasts for all of a few seconds before he looks back up at Henry. " Stupid thing to say. "

"Oh, are you calling me stupid?" I ask, quirking a brow at my alpha, who immediately looks like he's been struck.

And just like that, the tension in the room eases, and everyone can relax a little bit while Remus grovels to me for inadvertently saying I said something stupid.

" Not you, omega, " Remus says, scooting closer to me and taking Tessie from my lap so he can hold her.

"It's okay to admit she looks like him," I say gently, ignoring that everyone in the room is listening in on our conversation, even if they're trying to give us some semblance of privacy by not saying anything and pretending to watch the television.

Remus huffs for a second, but he won't snap his teeth or growl when he's holding Tessie. He's too much of a softie for our daughter to even think about scaring her or making her fear him in any way.

" Not his place to say, " Remus settles on saying, his golden eyes landing on where I'm sure Henry is still ducking his head to show he's not trying to cause problems with Remus, and he's not trying to insult me.

"Well, I said it, so now anyone can say it," I tell him, giving him a look that begs him to argue with me about it. "She looks like him. It's not like we were going to keep it a secret that you're her chosen dad and not her biological father."

Remus screws up his nose at that, but it's true.

We've had long talks about when we're going to sit Tessie down and explain to her why she doesn't look like her dad at all.

Probably at some point before she does those little square genetic things at school, because then she'll learn the hard way that she shouldn't have blue eyes if we're her parents.

Remus doesn't say anything else, just lets Lucas have control again.

It's something that used to send my heart rate soaring when he was holding Tessie because some alphas aren't that great at transitioning their body back and forth.

Lucas and Remus are seamless, and they've never once even put our daughter in any kind of danger.

They no longer switch back and forth when they're standing and holding Tessie, because I almost fainted once with worry.

"Is the dick measuring contest over?" Jace asks, breaking whatever privacy Lucas and I were pretending to have with one another.

"Wasn't really a contest since Henry submitted immediately," Lucas laughs, the animosity between the brothers dissipating in an instant.

"Not trying to have my ass beat," Henry says, looking up through his lashes to make sure everything really is good before he sits back up straight. "You think Romulus was going to save me?"

"Dude was probably shaking like a leaf," Jace throws his head back and laughs harder.

"Okay, but really, though, do you think his genetics were so strong she's going to end up with a beast?" Scott asks the question, catching us all off guard.

I open my mouth to say she's probably going to be an omega like me, but is she? She hasn't taken on any of my physical markers, so why would I think she'd have the same dynamic I do?

"Remus wants you all to know that he wants her to be a beast so bad because she will kick all of your asses," Lucas says, standing Tessie up on his knees, facing the rest of the room. She's babbling away about something, staring right at Scott like she's answering his question.

"Look at our strong girl," Lucas beams, his adoration clear on his face as he listens to Tessie babble on and on. She's been getting more and more vocal, even if she's not making any sense at all.

A cry from the other room has Janie and Sam getting up to grab Evie from her crib. Someone turns off the television since we're no longer watching it. Everyone breaks off into their own little groups of conversations while I check in with Lucas.

"You know you're her father in every way that counts, right?" I ask him.

Lucas looks at me, his smile still plastered on his face. "I know, but keep telling me anyway. We like to hear it."

I lean into him, whispering right up next to his ear. "What else do you like to hear?"

It takes Lucas a second to realize I'm attempting to seduce him.

Which, granted, he's getting better at picking up on hints, but it's still one of my favorite things to do to tease him.

Sometimes he doesn't pick up for a while, and when he does, oh, it's nothing but a good time for me.

His jaw ticks as he narrows his eyes on me, and then he's up on his feet, grabbing for the diaper bag.

"We're leaving," he announces to the family.

"Good, you're both are stinking up the place," Sarah says, screwing her nose up. Henry drags her close to him, sweet peppermint filling the air around us much stronger than anything Lucas or I were putting out. "Henry, you ass!"

"It was great having you over," Janie tells me, pulling me into a hug as we start heading out. "We're doing vegetarian options next week."

" It's my week, which means pot roast. I'm not only eating vegetables, " Fenrir interrupts Janie, telling me what we need to bring to the next family dinner.

It's fine. She's already sent out the schedule in the family's online group folder, and she keeps us updated on everything happening fairly frequently over text. If something's happening, she already has a plan for it and about twelve backup plans just in case.

"We'll bring something," Lucas tells her, giving her an awkward side hug since he has the diaper bag on one arm and Tessie in the other. Janie doesn't mind. She just wiggles her fingers at our daughter and then looks over at where Sam is bottle-feeding theirs.

As we're leaving, Jace leans over to Fenrir, and he asks something that has us all throwing up a little bit in our mouths. "Hey, Vilkas doesn't want to fight anymore, think you could get us a job at the heat clinic?"

"Nuh-uh," Lucas says, corralling me out of the house before I get to see how that conversation unfolds. I whine at him, wanting to know if everyone freaks out since Jace is the little brother of the group. "I'm sure we'll hear about it secondhand from Sarah and Henry when they come over tomorrow."

"But I want to hear about it now."

Lucas shakes his head, his purr rumbling around him. "No, right now you want to be good for your alpha."

I lick my bottom lip, knowing there's only so much teasing I can get away with before we get home. I'd better start now so I can make the most out of my time.

"I think I want to be bad." I flutter my lashes, leaning into him enough to feel his strength as I let my hand travel down his abdomen to where he's hot and hard in his jeans.

He startles and turns his body away from me as if that's going to stop me in my mission to get him worked up on the way home. "At least wait until I get her in her carseat, you fiend."

"But then your hands won't be full and you'll be able to stop me," I pout, wrapping my arms around him and pressing my face into his back. My hands are a little gropey as he hustles to the car, me right on his heels.

"You're a menace, you know that, right?" Lucas asks me, bending down to buckle Tessie in her car seat.

"Only to you," I purr in appreciation of how sweet he is to our little girl. "And I haven't even been that bad today."

Lucas turns around, finally, wrapping his arms around my waist and tugging me close to him.

"No, you could've been much worse."

He presses his lips to mine, his tongue snaking into my mouth and deepening the kiss.

I moan against him, needing him right now, but knowing the waiting helps to make it all better.

When he pulls away, he helps me into the car, making sure I'm buckled in, and then gets in.

Remus takes over while we're driving down the street, grabbing one of my hands and placing it back over his crotch.

" You have twenty minutes to show me how bad you can be, and then it's my turn. "

I whimper at the promise in his words and get to work on seeing how worked up I can get my alpha. He deserves nothing but my best, and that's what I plan on giving him. Today and any other day, I'm lucky enough to have him in my life.