Page 84 of His Surrogate Omega

“Well?IsJamie okay? He missed an appointment this morning.”

Rohan ran a hand through his dark locks before lifting his stare again. “Jamie is…notwell.”

“Oh,” Gray said. “Anything I can do to help? Although—I don’t want to risk an illness with the babe. It’s nothing serious, is it?”

“You can’t catch what Jamie has.”

A shiver raced up Gray’s spine from the tone of the alpha’s voice. He stared at Rohan’s expressionless face, and his heart quickened a moment. A whisper raced through his mind. “What is it? What’s wrong with him?”

Before Rohan even had a chance to speak, Gray felt his knees wobble and weaken. His stomach lurched, and he felt like he might vomit right there into the mums lining the stairs

“His cancer,” Rohan murmured. “It’s back.” He winced. “With a vengeance, it seems.”

Gray frowned. “What?”

“He’s dying,” Rohan whispered, a pained look hitting him. He glanced over his shoulder before looking back out. “He’ll likely want to see you. Will you come in?”

For a moment, he stood there, frozen. This couldn’t be. It wasn’t supposed to be like this… He’d just found a friend he could confide in… a man he could love like a brother. He’d already lost his real one. Now Jamie?No.

Gray brushed past Rohan and stormed up the stairs.

“Wait!” Rohan said behind him, but he ignored the alpha.

He needed to see Jamie himself.

“Jamie?” he bellowed at the top of the stairs. When he heard nothing, he began working his way door by door, searching for his friend. He continued to call out to the omega.

“Gray?” he finally heard—faintly—and followed the sound.

He found Jamie lying in the middle of a large bed. He looked pale and tiny… and the bed gobbled him up. Gray rushed closer and sat on the edge before taking Jamie’s hands. They were like ice, and he began warming them furiously. He felt the sting of tears burning the backs of his eyes, but he did everything in his power not to shed them.

Not yet.

He needed answers.

“Please tell me this is some sick, twisted joke. I won’t even be mad at you. We can laugh and let it go… just tell me… tell me it’s a joke.”

Jamie shook his head slowly.

Gray bit back a sob and turned his head away. He didn’t want to cry. Now was not the time for tears. They had a battle ahead of them… Jamie had won once before. He could do it again. “So what happens now? What treatments are they planning to do?”

“No treatments.”

“What?”

“I don’t want to endure it all again.” Jamie shook his head. “Ican’t.”

Gray was stunned into silence for a moment. “What about the baby? He needs a papa.”

“He’llhavea papa.” Jamie smiled. “You.”

Gray shook his head. “No.”

“Rohan,” Jamie whispered. “He needs reason to live. I need you and that babe to be his reason for going on.”

Gray frowned. “Youshould be that reason. Not me.”

“But I don’t get that chance. Not in this life. I need you to do this for me.”

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