Page 41 of Claiming Xan (Shifters of Greymercy #7)

XAN

The next afternoon, River and I went in to talk to my boss about TJ’s behavior. River was edgy, and rightfully so, because just as I expected, Roger blew us off with a, “You’re probably overreacting.”

This pissed my mate off. He yanked up the sleeve of my shirt to show off the fingerprint bruises where TJ had grabbed me too roughly.

“See this? My mate is in peril because of some shitty Alpha, and you’re not going to do anything about it? Bullshit. Aren’t there security cameras in this place?” River demanded, and I had to admit, the Alpha energy he exuded was kind of hot.

Focus, Xan.

I perked up. “Right! There are!” I said.

“Roger, back in July. Comb the tapes. During a closing shift, TJ came onto me and kissed me against my will. He’s been sleazy towards me for months, but I didn’t want to say anything.

I really need this job, and I didn’t want to get TJ in trouble over nothing. ”

Angie, who had just “casually” walked past the office, nosy Omega that she was, poked her head in. “There should be security cameras in the parking lot, too, if you know where you were. We could get mall security to look into it.”

Roger grumbled. “This all sounds like a big waste of time and resources. You don’t have any proof.”

River growled and jabbed his finger at the rotund Alpha. “Look. All you have to do is call TJ into your office. I kicked his ass last night after I pulled him off my mate. He’ll be covered in bruises.”

My boss sighed, as if he couldn’t be bothered, but finally agreed. River and I sat in the office and waited.

It wasn’t fifteen minutes before TJ showed up, his face looking like he fell down a flight of stairs. Busted lip, broken nose, black eyes—the works. I kind of felt bad for the guy. He was just a human and River was, well… River.

TJ froze when he saw us, panic glinting in his eyes as his gaze landed on River. I could see the wheels turning, like he was putting two and two together.

“Take a seat, TJ,” Roger grumbled. “Xan tells me you’ve been sexually harassing him.”

TJ did as he was told, but jumped to his feet again almost immediately. “He’s full of shit!”

River growled, tensing beside me. “You little—” He moved like he was going to go after TJ a second time, but I placed a hand on his chest to stop him. Our eyes met and his narrowed, but he sat back in his seat once more.

Our boss sighed. “Be honest with me. Have you or have you not been coming onto Xan?”

“Well, I’ve flirted but it’s not like I’ve gone out of my way to make his life miserable.” TJ gestured to me in a jerky manner, letting out a humorless laugh. “He’s hot. Can you really blame me? But he’s never been interested. He always shoots me down. I’m not Alpha enough for him.”

He glared at me, his eyes like daggers. Like if we were alone right now, the only two in the room, there would be a repeat of last night. My stomach churned, but River growled and TJ immediately flinched away.

Roger grunted. “So you’re telling me that if I go through the hassle of pulling up security footage from the store cameras and from the parking lot last night, I won’t find any sort of sexual assault?”

TJ clenched his jaw, looked me square in the eye, and said, “No, sir. He’s lying to you.”

Our boss sighed. “Alright. Fine. Get out of my office. Seems I’ve got my work cut out for me.”

My stomach plummeted. I jumped to my feet the minute TJ slammed the door behind him and we were alone. “You’re going to look at the footage, right? Please, sir, I?—”

River stood and placed a hand on my shoulder. “He’ll look at the footage, or we’ll get the cops involved. I don’t think he wants that.”

Roger looked at River and frowned. River stared right back, unflinching. Roger grumbled and shrugged his beefy shoulders. “I’ll look at the footage and give you a call. Why don’t you take the next couple of days off? TJ can cover your shifts.”

Relief flooded me. “Thank you, sir.”

We went home after that. We didn’t even stop to get anything to eat. River was still agitated, so we retreated to the bedroom and I set out to cuddle him back to good.

It wasn’t twenty minutes later that there was a knock on the door. We exchanged a glance. River growled and fastened his arms around me, like he didn’t want me to leave.

“River,” I said around a laugh, kissing his cheek. “It might be important. Five minutes.”

“Fine.” He got out of bed and followed me, like he didn’t trust whoever was at the door not to mug me or something. After everything that had happened? I was kind of thankful he was so protective.

I answered the door to see Nevin with a little gift bag in his hand. His face was bright and smiling as he glanced between us. I’d never been so happy to see him in my life.

“Xan! I brought you something,” he said, thrusting the little bag out at me.

“It isn’t Christmas yet,” I told him.

“That’s okay. It isn’t a Christmas gift,” he said, then waved at something over my shoulder. Presumably River. “Hi there. It’s for both of you, so you gotta open it together.”

“You wanna come inside for a bit?” I asked Nevin, opening the door a little wider. Nevin smiled and trotted in after us, and we all meandered into the living room.

River and I sat down on the couch, and Nevin took the arm chair. I handed the butter-yellow and blue gift bag over to River. I already had a feeling about what was hidden away inside.

“You should open it,” I told him.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know, so hurry up!” I said with a laugh.

River reached in and rustled around in the tissue paper. He pulled out the most adorable little blue onesie with snowflakes on it.

I squeaked and snatched it away from him. “It’s precious, Nev!”

He grinned. “Winter babies, am I right?”

“It’s amazing. Thank you.”

“Actually, we’ve got a lot of stuff you can have, too, that Zechariah has outgrown—and there’ll be more where that came from.”

I paused, looking up at him. “Wait… I thought you and Kace were going to have another baby?”

Nevin hesitated, then slowly shook his head.

He ran a hand through his white-blond curls.

“No. We talked about it, and we decided that one miracle baby is enough. We’re going to pour our adoration and our love into Zechariah and give him the best life a little boy could ever hope for,” he said.

“Maybe we’ll adopt a puppy when he’s older. ”

“Oh, damn.”

He smiled. “I’m happy with it,” he said. “Truly. I’d love you guys to have Zee’s old stuff, since you’re having a boy—and you’re family, of course.”

“Thank you, Nev.” I got up and gave him a big hug. His embrace was warm and gentle and exactly what I needed after today. “That saves us a lot of money.”

Nevin laughed. “Oh, I know. Kids are so expensive. But hey, I gotta run. Meeting Kace for an early dinner and he’s on baby duty. It was great to see you both.” He gave my belly a little rub. “Bye baby. Bye Xan, bye River. I’ll see myself out.”

I sat down next to River, who was holding the onesie in his hands once more. He rubbed the soft fabric between his fingers, staring down at it.

I smiled. “Sinking in now?”

“We’re gonna be dads,” he murmured.

I patted my tummy. “Yeah. We are.”

And I couldn’t wait.