Page 29 of Where the Current Takes Him (Mermate #1)

Loriun

G ills. He had gills. His human Omega had gills. Beau’s wide brown eyes met Loriun’s, though he knew Beau’s vision was poor in an aquatic environment.

“It’s okay,” he heard himself say. “Let’s get back to the house, and we can call Dr. Enas.”

“Do you think he’ll know what’s going on?” Beau’s voice was small and scared. The ruffled tissue at either side of his neck swirled in the currents of his breath.

Loriun gathered his mate into his arms and struck out for the house. “I’m sure he will.” The muscles in his lower back burned with exertion as he whipped his tail through the sea. He worked to keep his face a mask of calm.

Internally, Loriun was having a meltdown. If Omegas regularly developed gills, wouldn’t it be common knowledge? Did all Omegas have gills? Did they sprout gills after mating with a Mer? Had he fucked gills into a human? Was Beau somehow a hybrid and he didn’t know?

The last thought gave Loriun pause. It would certainly explain why Ashford seemed to care so little for his son, and why he would have offered Beau up as a lab rat.

A fresh wave of rage at the very idea washed through Loriun. He ought to have forgone the handshake and greeted Ashford with a well-deserved punch to the face.

But Beau couldn’t be a hybrid. He was born four years prior to the very first Mer–human pairings, and he appeared entirely human, with the obvious exception of his newfound gills.

Even beyond that, Loriun couldn’t imagine Ileana stepping out on her husband to have a tryst with a Mer. There had to be some other explanation.

At last, they reached the sea entrance to their home. Loriun surfaced and set Beau on the shell bench. An unwanted flash of Beau in the throws of heat on that same bench invaded Loriun’s mind.

“Wait here. I’ll get you a towel.” Human skin didn’t repel water the way Mer scales did, and the last thing he needed was for Beau to slip and shatter a bone.

Loriun flicked the last drops of water from the end of his tail and retrieved a fluffy towel from the bathroom. When Beau’s naked body was sufficiently swaddled, Loriun grabbed his phone from the kitchen island. His hands were shaking. It was already 8 p. m. and well past the clinic’s closing hour.

Loriun sagged with relief when Dr. Enas picked up.

“Hello?”

“Doctor, I’m so sorry to be disturbing you after business hours…”

“Not at all. What is the problem? Is Beau okay?”

“Yes—Well…” Loriun eyed his mate, who was curled in a ball on the sofa, hair dripping in his eyes. “He’s not hurt. But we found something… worrying.”

“And that is…?” Dr. Enas prompted.

The words began to spill out. “We went for a night swim and Beau was trying to prove that humans could actually swim, but then he got caught in a riptide, and by the time I reached him, he was… breathing. Underwater.”

The Omega doctor on the other end was quiet, ratcheting Loriun’s anxiety levels up a few more notches.

“Well?” he asked loudly, scraping his claws through his hair. “Why does my human mate have gills? ”

“I can think of only one reason,” Dr. Enas said. “But you must answer me truthfully this time. When Beau was suffering from Pheromone Overwhelm, did you engage in intercourse?”

Loriun winced. “Ah… Yes. We did.” He’d deal with Beau’s ire later. For now, all he cared about was making sure his mate was okay.

A sigh crackled over the line. “I thought so. And you did not use protection?”

“No.” Loriun closed his eyes. Foolish, teenage mistake. Something he would have done in his college years, not as a thirty–three–year–old adult.

“Well, Loriun, I don’t know how to say this tactfully,” Dr. Enas said at last. “Your Omega is pregnant.”

The muscles in his chest came to a complete standstill. He could no longer draw breath.

“What?” he choked out. Beau looked up, eyes swimming with worry.

“You had unprotected sex with an Omega in heat.” Loriun could almost hear the eye roll. “Pregnancy is often the result.” Clearly the doctor’s bedside manner did not extend to his patients’ Alphas.

“But…” Loriun’s mind was little more than a windswept dandelion. “How—What does that have to do with the gills?”

“Some human Omegas carrying hybrid children have been known to develop latent gills for the duration of the pregnancy. The exact cause remains unknown, but the theory is that their bodies react to the fetus, triggering the change. An Omega with sudden-onset gills is undoubtedly pregnant. Latent gills have never been observed for any other reason.”

“What is it?” Beau asked, fear hitching in his voice. “What’s he saying?”

Loriun didn’t want to imagine what his face looked like to Beau, but probably something similar to being slapped upside the head.

“Loriun?” Beau rose from the sofa.

“It is late, and you have both had quite a shock,” Dr. Enas continued. “Get some rest, and come to the clinic tomorrow morning. We will do a blood test as a formality, then go over your next steps.”

Beau rested a hand on Loriun’s arm. “What did he say?” The Omega looked fragile now, more than ever. His feeble lungs, skin so easily torn, eyes without any protective covering… This delicate creature was carrying his child?

Loriun cast his mind around, looking for the piece responsible for forming words, but came up empty-handed. All he could do was stare down at his mate.

“Mr. Kolhn?”

Beau reached up and removed the phone from Loriun’s hand. “Dr. Enas? It’s Beau. What’s going on?”

Loriun’s heart thundered under his ribs as he watched the blood drain from his Omega’s face. Would he scream? Cry? Lash out? Tell Loriun to never touch him again?

“I’m… pregnant?” Beau whispered. “Are you… Are you sure?”

His horrified gaze shot up to meet Loriun’s.

Gaish utenye, Beau, I’m so sorry. Loriun braced himself on the countertop. He’d always pictured this moment would be a time of joy and celebration. Something both he and his partner longed for. This was nothing like his daydreams.

“I understand,” Beau said. “Thank you, Dr. Enas. Yes, we’ll see you tomorrow.”

From the corner of his vision, Loriun saw Beau’s golden-skinned hand set the phone down.

Silence.

For the first time in his life, Loriun wished he was capable of crying.

“Beau.” His voice cracked. “I am so sorry. I was irresponsible. I should have been more careful, more thoughtful.” Loriun clenched his hands into fists until his claws broke skin. “We will schedule a termination first thing tomorrow. I will not ask you to suffer for my mistakes.”

Loriun forced himself to look at his mate. Beau’s handsome face was still contorted in an expression of shock. The sandy hair that brushed his forehead was curling under the influence of seawater. He looked so very young.

“It will all be okay,” Loriun heard himself say. “We will get through it. The termination procedure is much more advanced than—”

“Termination?” Beau blinked, as if returning to his body. “You want me to get an abortion?”

Loriun ran a hand through his hair, trying to focus on how the wiry strands felt below his fingers.

Yet try as he might, images of nymphs with sandy hair and teal scales danced through his mind.

“I do not want you to carry my mistake for the next nine months and irreparably alter your life, not to mention what pregnancy does to your body and mind. Not if you aren’t ready. ”

One of Beau’s hands came to rest on his flat stomach. “A baby?” he murmured. His eyes were still staring into the distance.

“Beau.” Loriun pulled his Omega’s hand away. “You do not have to make a decision now. We will go talk to Dr. Enas first. And there is plenty of time for you to consider.”

Slowly, Beau nodded.

As Loriun guided Beau towards a hot shower, a cacophony of emotions roiled within him.

Shame, guilt, fear, and, worst of all, joy.

He knew he could not ask this of Beau. Their relationship was too new, and his Omega too young.

But if there was even the slightest fragment of hope that Beau might choose to go through with the pregnancy, Loriun couldn’t help but cling to it.

∞∞∞

Beau had never looked more beautiful. Pale, predawn light filtered through their gauzy curtains, alighting on the Omega’s high cheekbones and smooth skin.

Light lashes splayed across his cheek and mussed hair spun across his pillow.

Perfect, pink lips parted just a bit, allowing quiet breaths to ghost between them.

“Yai aenwe,” Loriun whispered. He couldn’t bring himself to say the words in English.

“Mm?” Beau’s lashes fluttered and a yawn stretched his mouth.

“Good morning, luae ,” Loriun murmured, pressing a kiss to his mate’s forehead.

“Mornin’,” he mumbled.

Loriun trailed his fingers through Beau’s hair, gently coaxing him into wakefulness. “We have to leave soon.”

“Leave?” Beau’s eyes had drifted shut again. “Leave where?”

“The clinic. Your appointment is in half an hour.”

“Oh… Appointment…” Beau shot upright. “Oh, FUCK I’m pregnant.”

In any other circumstance, Loriun would have burst out laughing. But right now, the little glow of hope in his chest was at risk of being smothered.

“Yes, you are,” he said softly. “How are you feeling about that?”

Beau’s hair was sticking straight up like a cockatoo’s crest, and his lips were parted in renewed shock. A hand emerged from the blankets and came to rest on his stomach.

“I… I don’t know.”

“Of course. It is a lot to take in, and I will support you no matter what decision you reach.” Loriun reached out and took his mate’s chin in his hand. “But let’s get you to the clinic first, and hear what Dr. Enas has to say.”

Beau merely nodded and swung his legs from the bed.