Page 5 of The Alpha’s Sin (Forbidden Omegaverse #7)

POPPY

“T hat’ll be seven seventy-five,” I say to the customer across the counter from me. “ Cash or card?”

She slips her card in the slot and I finish the transaction. I’m working at the Dollar Tree —the very same one I bought the cheap pregnancy test at. I applied at several places, but they’re the only one who got back to me. So here I am, doing my best to earn my keep.

It’s only been a week and a half since I moved in with Logan . He didn’t want me to work—he wanted to pay for everything, but I got stubborn.

“I’m not just going to sit around and do nothing all day,” I told him. “ No offense, Logan , but I need to earn my own money.”

I didn’t say it out loud, but what I’m tired of is being dependent on a man. I let Dirk convince me to stay home and look where it got me. I like Logan —he’s been really good to me—but I don’t feel like I can trust any man right now. Not after what Dirk did.

So here I am, doing my best to earn a paycheck while Logan tries to track his little brother down.

( So far, no luck—it’s like Dirk disappeared off the face of the Earth .) I’m also trying my best not to look at the aisle where they have the pregnancy test kits because every time I do, I feel so anxious it makes me dizzy.

Actually, I’m feeling kind of dizzy right now, but I do my best to ignore it. I grip the edge of the counter with one hand as I hand the customer her bag with the other.

“Have a good day,” I say automatically, and she nods and murmurs, “ You too.”

The next customer in line steps forward. I’m just starting to ring up his items—a birthday card and a shiny pink bow—when my dizziness gets worse. I grip the counter harder.

It’s not a big deal—it’s just because I couldn’t keep my breakfast down, I tell myself. I’ve been puking almost every morning but I’m usually able to wait until after Logan goes to work. I’ll be okay in a minute. I just ? —

And then the world spins around me and I go down—hard.

The next thing I know, I’m looking up at the ceiling and the customer is shouting,

“Hey—she fell down! Hey , somebody help!”

I try to get up, but I can’t—the room is still spinning. And then, for a minute, everything gets really hazy.

When I open my eyes again, someone is holding me in their arms.

“Huh?” I look around, feeling dazed. Why am I being held? And how in the world are they holding me? I’m not exactly skinny.

Then a face comes into focus and I see Logan . His pale gray eyes are beyond worried as he cradles me to his chest. He still has on a hard hat from the construction project he was overseeing, as though he rushed over here so fast he forgot to take it off. How did he get to the Dollar Tree ?

“Logan?” I struggle to get out of his arms, but he only holds me tighter. Why is he here? Then I remember that I put him down as my emergency contact person. My supervisor must have called him when I passed out.

“Be still.” His deep voice is strict as he strokes my hair out of my eyes. “ You fell and hit your head.”

“I did?” I put a hand to my head and wince. Yup —it’s sore. I’ve got a bump back there and it really hurts.

“You might have a concussion,” Logan informs me. “ I’m taking you to the hospital to find out.”

“What? No ,” I protest weakly. “ I’m fine— I just need a minute and I can get back to work.”

“Like hell you will,” he growls. He’s carrying me out to his work truck like I’m as light as a feather. He’s so tall I feel like I’m thirty feet off the ground. But maybe that’s just because I’m feeling dizzy again. I close my eyes and let my head lean against his shoulder.

“I’m okay,” I say, but I can’t make my voice sound strong—it’s not. I’m not. I feel tired and weak and little and stupid. I interrupted his whole day because I can’t even keep myself upright at work. Some independent woman I’m turning out to be!

“You’ve been under a hell of a lot of stress lately, sweetheart,” he says, surprising me, both with the endearment and the concern in his deep voice. “ Let’s just get you checked out.”

I don’t make any more complaints as he gets me into the passenger side of his truck and makes sure I’m buckled in.

It’s kind of nice how careful and concerned he is.

Dirk never worried about me. Even that time I sliced my finger making him lunch and had to go to urgent care for stitches because it was bleeding all over.

He barely even looked up from his video game.

“Wrap it in a paper towel and drive yourself,” he said, when I begged him to pause the game and take me. “ I can’t stop right now, babe— I’m right in the middle of a quest.”

When I remember things like that, I feel even more stupid for ever believing he loved me. But what can I do? It’s too late to go back and change things now.

We get to the ER and once again, Logan insists on carrying me. He even waves off the orderly with the wheelchair who comes to meet us as we pass through the sliding glass doors.

“No— I’ve got her,” he says firmly.

“You don’t have to— I’m too heavy,” I protest.

“No, you’re not, kitten.” He cradles me closer. “ Not letting you go until we find out what’s going on with you.”

It’s not too crowded in the ER —maybe because it’s the middle of a workday—so we get sent back to an exam room immediately—a cubical type area surrounded on three sides with pale blue curtains.

Logan at least agrees to put me down on the hospital gurney but then he pulls up a chair and holds my hand, watching me anxiously all the while.

A few minutes later, a nurse comes in. She gets my vitals and the story of what happened and nods.

Next comes a doctor—an older man with silver hair and a frown.

He checks my pupils with a light and feels the bump on the back of my head.

When I wince in pain, he tells me he wants to get a quick X -ray of my skull to be sure everything is okay. Then he bustles away.

A few minutes after that, a girl in her twenties with short, bleached blonde hair and lots of piercings comes over with a wheelchair.

“Hi there— I’m here to take you to Radiology . But first, we have to do a little test. So we’re going to the bathroom.”

Logan helps me get into the wheelchair and makes the girl promise not to leave me.

“She’s still dizzy,” he says anxiously.

“Don’t worry,” the girl chirps. “ It says she’s a fall risk on her chart— I won’t leave her for a minute.”

True to her word, she accompanies me into a large bathroom with a single toilet. She helps me get up and then looks away nicely as I sit on the toilet.

“Good—now pee in this—fill it up to here.” She hands me a cup, pointing to the line near the middle.

“Okay,” I agree, groggily. Everything still feels kind of unreal. I pee in the cup and hand it back to her. She nods, labels it, and then puts a cap on.

“All right—we should know in a minute if we can do those X -rays or not,” she says brightly.

I want to ask what she means. Didn’t the Doctor order the X -rays? Doesn’t that mean we have to do them? But I feel too tired and dizzy to say anything about it. So I wash my hands—while she stands beside me, making sure I don’t fall—and then she rolls me down a long hallway.

A few minutes later, though, she rolls me right back to my cubical again. I’m too out of it to protest as she and Logan help me back into bed.

“Is everything all right?” he asks, frowning. “ That was quick. Did the X -rays show something bad?”

“We haven’t taken the X -rays yet. The doctor needs to talk to you first.”

She whisks away and I lay back and close my eyes, too tired to protest when Logan fusses over me.

“You’re shivering,” he says, sounding worried. “ Are you cold again?”

“A…a little,” I admit.

He wanted to buy me a warm coat when I started working, but I refused and insisted I could just borrow one of his—he has several.

I swim in them, but they’re warm and they smell like him, which I secretly really like—his scent makes me feel safe.

However , I left the coat I was borrowing today in the break room at the back of the Dollar Tree .

And being wheeled around the drafty hospital in the wheelchair has leeched away all the warmth I gained when he carried me and held me to his chest. So yeah, I’m cold.

Logan finds a blanket for me and he’s tucking it in when the doctor comes back.

“Well, Mr . and Mrs . Hayes ,” he says, smiling. Clearly he’s mistaking us for a couple since we have the same last name. I’m too tired to correct him and Logan doesn’t either.

“Is there some reason you haven’t done Poppy’s X -rays yet?” he asks, frowning. “ I thought we were worried about some kind of skull fracture.”

“We were—a little. But now we have a different problem,” the Doctor informs him. “ Did the two of you know that Poppy is pregnant?”

This jolts me out of the daze I’ve been in. I sat bolt upright in the hospital gurney and then wish I hadn’t. My head is throbbing and my heart is pounding. I look at Logan in terror. Oh God , it wasn’t just a cheap test— I really am pregnant!

Now what will he do? Will he kick me out? Bad enough to deal with his destitute sister-in-law…now there’s a baby in the mix. No man wants to raise a baby that’s not his—right? Right ?

“Easy—take it easy, kitten.” Logan puts a hand on my arm, he looks concerned and a little stunned but he’s not angry. At least not so far. He looks at the Doctor . “ Excuse me but I’d like a little time with my, er, wife—alone.”

“Sure. I’ll be back in a while, and we can discuss treatment options.”

The Doctor nods and draws the curtain, giving us semi-privacy, which is the best you can get at the ER .

“Poppy?” Logan looks at me with a frown on his face. “ Did you know about this?”

I feel tears stinging my eyes, but I try to push them back.

“I… I had an idea,” I say, hoping he won’t get mad. “ Dirk , he…he flushed my birth control pills right after we got married. He said he wanted to…to start a family right away.”

His face twists.

“Shit! That fucker!”

I’m frightened at once.

“I’m sorry!” I exclaim and my hands go instinctively to my belly, which actually, is still pretty flat.

Or as flat as it ever gets for me, since I’m a curvy girl.

“ I should have said something, but I was so afraid you wouldn’t let me stay with you.

And … I was afraid to know the truth,” I end, my voice sinking to a whisper.

He takes a deep breath and rakes a hand through his hair.

“Of course you were afraid,” he says at last. “ I just can’t believe my brother. Getting you pregnant on purpose and then abandoning you!”

“Are you going to kick me out?” I ask, and my voice is tight with fear. “ I know I should have said something, but I was hoping it wasn’t…wasn’t true.”

“Kick you out?” He looks both surprised and horrified. “ Of course not, sweetheart! Why would you think that?”

“Because you might think I’ll be a burden,” I blurt. “ But I won’t be— I swear! I can pull my own weight. I can?—”

“You’re not going to do anything unless the doctor says you can,” he says firmly. “ And you’re not leaving my house, either. You’re going to stay with me no matter what. You’re under my protection. Nothing can change that.”

I feel a rush of relief—it’s almost too good to be true.

“Really?”

“Really, kitten. So don’t cry.” He reaches for some tissues from a box by the bed and passes them to me. “ You’re not going anywhere,” he tells me. “ You’re staying with me.”

“Thank you,” I whisper. “ I just… I don’t know what to do. Should I keep it or…or get rid…get rid…” Somehow I can’t make myself finish the sentence.

“Look at your hands,” he says quietly.

I look down and see I’m still rubbing my belly protectively. Like I’m trying to keep the little spark of life that’s taken hold inside of me safe.

A burst of realization hits me. Oh God , I want this baby— I really do. I know it sounds crazy after my husband left me with absolutely no money to take care of it. I ought to hate it for being part of him but somehow I don’t.

This baby didn’t ask to be conceived—he or she is innocent and helpless and vulnerable. Which is kind of how I feel myself.

“You want to keep it, don’t you?” Logan asks softly.

Mutely, I nod.

“Then you’ll keep it.” He puts one big, warm hand on mine protectively. “ I’ll help you through this, Poppy . I’ll take care of you both.”

This time I can’t stop the tears from falling.

“Why…why…” I can barely get my words out. “ Why are you so nice to me?” I ask at last. “ You barely even know me! And this baby isn’t yours.”

“It is now,” he says firmly. “ I don’t want you to worry about a thing, kitten. I’m going to keep you safe. Both of you.”

No one has ever spoken like this to me before. Not even my Grandpa , when he was still alive and certainly not Dirk . Yet this man who barely knows me is volunteering to take me and my unborn baby on. His kindness makes me weep even harder.

“Hey, now. It’s okay. Everything’s going to be all right.

” He stands up and puts his arms around me.

I press my face to his chest and breathe him in—why does his leather and spice and fur scent make me feel so safe?

I also like it when he calls me “kitten” and “sweetheart.” Dirk always just called me “babe” which is such a casual nickname and not really very sweet at all when you think about it.

While Logan is comforting me, the Doctor walks back in. He explains that it can be dangerous to X -ray pregnant women. He’s fairly certain my head is okay—the X -ray was just hospital protocol.

“You don’t seem to have a concussion—your pupils are dilating and contracting normally. I think you’ll be all right. As for the dizziness, it was probably caused by the pregnancy. Have you had a lot of morning sickness? Difficulty keeping things down?” he asks me.

I nod hesitantly. I hope Logan won’t be mad— I’ve been hiding how often I puke in the mornings from him.

But he only takes my hand and squeezes it gently.

He’s still pretending to be my husband instead of my brother-in-law but I’m not about to complain.

He makes me feel a lot safer than my real husband ever did.

“You need to find an OB - GYN and start on prenatal vitamins and have an ultrasound,” the Doctor says. “ Early nutrition and prenatal care is important for a healthy pregnancy.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. We’ll make an appointment as soon as we leave here and I’ll make sure they get her in as soon as possible,” Logan answers for me.

I shoot him a surprised look—does he already have a doctor in mind? Maybe he does. He sounds so confident, which is nice because I have no idea what I’m doing. I just now figured out I want to keep this baby. Everything else feels up in the air.

We agree not to do the X -rays and Logan is instructed to keep a close eye on his “wife,” which he agrees to. Then , in a relatively short amount of time, I get released and Logan says to me,

“Come on, sweetheart—let’s go home.”