Page 108 of Bully for Sale

“Go ahead,” Ezer said, as George reached for the phone. “I’m not afraid of him.” As the spasm released and vanished, he said, “Father, please, swear it. Swear to me that the others won’t face what I’ve faced.”

What Shan was facing right now.

A pain like none Ezer had ever felt before lanced across his body, a popping sound come from within, and the babies jolted inside him. Vomit churned in his throat, as Ezer slumped and cradled his head. The room spun. “Swear it,” he demanded, determined to get his way, to save his brothers even if he couldn’t move his father’s heart. “Promise me.”

“Damn calling your alpha, I’m calling an ambulance.”

Ezer heard George’s voice, and then his shouts for Pete. The room was spotted and swirling, and vomit made its way up his throat.

“Don’t pass out,” George’s voice said from quite close.

Ezer realized he was held in his father’s arms, spread out on the floor, his limbs shaking and jerking.

“Ezer, son? Stay with me. Show me your eyes. Show me Amos’s eyes.”

Ezer didn’t hear anymore.

Chapter Thirty-Three

“He shouldn’t beout of his nest,” the hospital doctor, a tall, dark man named Urston, said irritably.

Grim and miserable, Ned nodded, gripping Ezer’s hands in his, watching as fluid dripped into his arm, keeping a close eye on the monitors strapped both to Ezer’s chest and his stomach.

“It was foolish of him to leave the house. Has he been having psychotic episodes?” Dr. Urston asked. “Some omegas don’t wait for the post-partum period, a few experience a serious drop and psychosis while still pregnant.”

“He’s been depressed,” Ned murmured. “He’s felt unsafe.”

Dr. Urston glanced around the room, taking in the worried faces of Heath, Adrien, George Fersee, and Pete. “You’re both young. It’s hard for an alpha of your age to fully satisfy the safety needs of an omega. It’s time for you to grow up, young man. You must put him first. This is already a dangerous pregnancy. He will undoubtedly need a cesarian to even hope to survive this.”

Ned’s stomach dropped. The food Adrien had convinced him to chew and swallow, once it’d been confirmed Ezer and the babies were all right, threatened to come back up.

“Are you understanding me, young man? This is beyond serious; this is life or death.”

“I understand,” Ned whispered. “I’m doing my best, but I’ll do even better.” He kissed Ezer’s fingers and prayer filled his heart. “I’ll do anything to make him feel secure.”

“Good, because he won’t be ready to have these babies safely until he trusts you.” The doctor tsked, and then turned to the George Fersee. “It’s a shame when young omegas and alphas make poor choices, enjoy a heat, and end up in a situation like this.”

Ned didn’t miss the assumption that this was his and Ezer’s fault, that none of the adults in the room had anything to with it.

“With hips as narrow as Ezer’s, I’d have recommended waiting a few more years before he was impregnated at all, and the twins just complicate things. Did he have a heat readiness exam?”

“He did,” George confirmed. “They said he was fit.”

Dr. Urston shook his head, making a note. “Unreal. I couldn’t disagree more. But what’s done is done.” He turned back to Ned. “If you care for this boy at all, and I can see that you do, then his every wish will become your world until delivery is over. Nothing should prevent you from being near to him. I’ll write an excuse for your school.”

“Thank you,” Ned said, squeezing his eyes shut.

He still wasn’t sure what’d happened. He knew only that Ezer had gone out on his own, wearing a blanket and a robe, and somehow made it to his father’s house. There he’d passed out after exhibiting signs of pain and enduring a seizure. But why Ezer had left, what he was doing at George Fersee’s house, Ned didn’t know.

“Why was he even there?” Ned asked, when the doctor had left the room, and the only people left were so-called family.

Heath crossed to put his hands on Ned’s shoulders, squeezing reassuringly. “Yes, George, what was the boy doing at your home instead of being tucked away safely in his nest?”

“That’s a question for your nephew,” George said, crossing his arms over his chest. He smelled of whiskey and looked exhausted. “He’s the one who says my boy doesn’t feel safe enough with him.”

“Ezer is safe with Ned,” Heath stated.

“I don’t see how, when he’s recently been assaulted in his own nest—” George had heard about that during the interview with the doctor when Ned had been asked if Ezer had had any shocks recently. “And he was able to leave the house on his own without anyone noticing. Not even a servant.”