Page 85 of The Omega's Fake Mate

I shrugged, thinking about my own situation. “I can be pretty stupid too. Really, I think love makes us stupid. I get that now.”

“You might be right about that,” Rhys agreed. “But what stupid thing did you do?”

Unconsciously, I laid a hand on my belly. What stupid thing had I done? Hah. “Isn't it obvious?”

Rhys looked at my hand. “You don't want the child?”

“It's notthat.” Truth was, I was bonding with the unborn life inside of me. Just last week, I'd felt the little one kick for the first time. I'd been kind of excited to share that with Zander.

Zander...

“I just kind of...” I paused, searching for the words. “This wasn't my plan, you know? Not that Ihadmuch of a plan, but this wasn't it. I never wanted to have children or get married or any of it. And then I met Zander again and I thought he was... different. But in the end, he's just like all the other alphas.” Even if part of me still didn't want to believe that. Was I being too hard on him?

“What did you fight about?”

“Just... nothing.” Rhys didn't need to know thathewas at the root of it. He'd had enough to worry about these last few days. “Why don't you go to your room and try to catch some sleep? You look tired.”

Rhys snorted. “Don't think you can distract me so easily. You didn't fight overnothing, and if you did, maybe you should consider that you fought because you're scared.”

“What would I be scared of?”

My brother only shook his head. “How about becoming a parent?” he suggested getting up from the couch. “Being in love? Moving back to Oceanport? Changing your life's plans? They're all scary things. Take your pick.”

Okay, maybe he had a point. Maybe I was scared. But what if I had a right to be?

“I can't do this, Rhys! I can't raise a baby.” I dragged my hand over my face. “I don't have any nurturing instincts or whatever.” I should never be a parent, I'd known that! So why had my body thought it was a good idea to have sex without a condom?

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

“What are you talking about?” My brother shook his head at me. “No nurturing instincts? You've been fussing over me for the past forty-eight hours straight.”

“That's different! You're my—”

“Your brother?” Rhys shot me a look that made me see how silly I was being. “If you can take care of me, you can take care of your child. I know you love them. I see the way you pat your belly when you think no one's looking.” Rhys touched my shoulder in a comforting gesture. “You're going to be fine, little brother.”

A derisive noise escaped my throat. Rhys hadn't teased me with the fact that he was born first in years. “Who's little? You might be older, but I'm taller.” If only by half an inch.

“And yet you're always going to be the younger brother.” Rhys poked my forehead. “It should be me fussing over you, really, but I know you're going to be fine.” Rhys smiled, and I had to smile as well. If he could joke with me like this, maybe he was going to be okay, and maybe he was right and I was going to be okay as well. Eventually.

32

Zander

In Nick's absence, there was nothing I could do but carry on as usual. Somehow, I managed to make myself open the bookstore in the morning, close it in the evening and lose all the hours in between by rearranging all the shelves in an effort not to think about Nick.

On the phone, he'd said he needed some time.

How much time?

It had beenfour daysalready. How much longer was I supposed to wait?

I took a deep breath, taking in the smell of ink and paper which was one of my favorites—second only to Nick's. Nick's always made me think of morning dew for some reason, but I thought it fit him well. He was the kind of omega who saw every day as a new opportunity. So why was he taking so many of them to talk to me? He must know that I didn't mean to harm him or his brother. That was thelastthing I wanted.

I pulled a couple of books from the shelf in front of me and stacked them up on my desk. These all had passages or entire chapters filled with harmful misinformation about omegas, and I wanted them gone from my store. No way was I going to sell this crap any longer.

As I walked back to the shelf to continue my work, the jingling of the door bells made me look up. I didn't often get customers this early in the morning. Much less children who were supposed to be in school. The boy stopped a few steps into the store and looked around a bit uncertainly, as if he'd entered a foreign land. I'd never seen him in here before, but I'd spotted him around town with Conner every now and then. An alpha's scent came off, faint but noticeable even where I was standing a couple of feet away from the kid.

“You must be Jake,” I said, startling him.