Page 78 of Bully for Sale

“Did you dislike Pete?”

Ezer thought about it. “I liked him fine. He was the man who replaced my da, so I didn’t like that. But he was kind to me. Young. Kind of naïve. But he was nice. I hope he delivered safely. I hope he gave my father the alpha he’s always wanted. If he didn’t…I mean, Father seemed very enamored with Pete, but who knows?”

“He’s young with plenty of heats left.”

Ezer shrugged.

Ned looked at his phone. “I did some searching online. There’s an announcement for the birth.The Wellport Starsays a babe was born to George Fersee and his omega Pete Wilson last week. The baby came while you and I were at the heat house. No gender given. No name either. No further announcement.”

Curiosity pricked Ezer. “Must not have been an alpha. Father would have been crowing that from the rooftops.”

He thought back to when Rodan had been born and the subdued celebrations they’d hosted after Da’s post-partum drop had passed. If Pete’s baby was an alpha, there would be massive parties planned, and announcements all over the place. The Fersee line finally being saved by the birth of an alpha would be huge news.

“Another omega or a beta, then,” Ezer said to himself. “I’m sad for them. I shouldn’t be but I am.”

Ned shrugged. “All the focus on alphas… It doesn’t make sense to me. A child is a child. Each of them is valuable. I wish our culture was different.”

Ezer rested his elbow on the back of the sofa and his chin in his palm. “So you wouldn’t prefer an alpha?”

Ned shook his head. “I don’t care what we have, so long as you’re safe and the baby is healthy.”

“What if it’s an omega?”

Ned looked confused. “That’s okay?”

“How will you handle his future?”

“Meaning?”

“Will you let him choose his life for himself, or will you pay an alpha to take him off your hands if you don’t like his behavior?”

Ned put his spoon down. “Ah, there’s my Ezer. See? That hostility in your tone? You’re not tamed. You don’t need to worry about that.”

“Right now, I’m worrying about the future of any omega child I have with you and what arrangements you’ll make for him.”

Ned shifted back in his chair, crossed his arms over his chest, causing his biceps to bulge.

These were the kinds of questions Ezer had always wanted to ask in advance of a breeding. It was one of the reasons he’d always planned to auction off heatswithoutbreeding attached to get through his life. Having children hadn’t ever been included in his dream, no matter how much he craved them, because of how complicated and ugly the world could be, especially for omegas. He’d never wanted to bring an omega into the world to live at the whim of alphas. So, if he were being honest, he hoped he gave birth to an alpha or a beta. Then he’d know for sure that his son’s life would be much easier than his had been so far.

“I promise I’ll never make an arrangement for one of our sons that you don’t approve of in advance.”

Ezer narrowed his eyes. “That’s almost a good answer, but not quite good enough.”

Ned huffed. “Why? How’d I fall short this time?”

“Promise to never make an arrangement for one of our sons thattheydon’t approve of in advance.”

Ned smiled then and wagged a finger at Ezer. “See? You’re smart. I like that. And it’s a deal. I promise.”

Just like that? Ned wasn’t going to give him pushback or suggest that alphas had a better grasp of the world than omegas, or…

“Is this just because you want to make nice with me?”

“It’s because I never wanted an omega who didn’t want me,” Ned said sharply. “This isn’t how I dreamed my life would go either. I mean, yes, I wantedyou. I wanted you from the start, like I’ve said, but not like this. In my dreams, you wanted me, too.”

Ezer swallowed hard. “I…do…” He took a deep breath, feeling shame inside, but also having to admit the truth. “I do want you. Physically.”

Ned rolled his eyes. “That’s not the same. You’d want any alpha who’d stuffed you full with his kid. It’s biology. Nature. You can’t even help it. I wanted you to wantmeto be the one to do it. Before we did it.”