Page 44 of Labor of Love

“Anything you want, all you have to do is ask.” Corbyn’s arms slipped from around his back and Shiloh sat back in his seat as Corbyn drove down the driveway and parked outside what Shiloh imagined would be his and Nora’s new home.

6

“Corbyn, what on earth have you done with that boy?” Corbyn looked around at his family in shock, before focusing on the only woman in the main living room of the big house. His father and brother weren’t going to be any help, given his mom’s tone of voice.

“Mom, this is my mate, Shiloh.” Corbyn deliberately lowered his voice. “I told you about him last night. I thought we’d come over and have a quick visit, so he could get a chance to meet you all. I know you were planning a celebration dinner at some point, and I thought meeting so many people at one time could be overwhelming. Admittedly, we both look a little tired, but...”

“Your mate is not only tired,” his mom insisted. “He’s ill, desperately ill by the looks of it. Come along with me, Shiloh, and let’s get you looked at. Honestly, you alpha’s have got absolutely no idea and can’t even see what’s going on in front of your own noses. This is the first time in a long time I’ve felt a strong need to take up my wooden spoon and wrap it around your darn head, and don’t think I won’t, Corbyn Stone, because I will.”

“Corbyn, what’s going on?” Shiloh’s eyes were wide, and he was holding onto the bottom of Corbyn’s jacket with his freehand – his other arm was supporting Nora. “I don’t know what you want me to do.”

“It’s all right. My mom’s just worried about you. You can go along with her. Maybe she can give you some tips on how to help our Nora to sleep a bit more than fifteen minutes at a time. Honestly,” he added when Shiloh didn’t move. “I’m not quite sure what has upset my mom, but I swear she’ll never hurt you.”

“Bah, you know that at least. As for you,” Corbyn’s mom pointed at her husband who was sitting in his chair looking on with a bemused smile. “You need to speak to that son of yours, explain to him the responsibilities that comes with taking an omega as a mate. For goodness sake. While this one was giving birth, Corbyn was buying the facility he’s in. I bet he didn’t even tell Shiloh anything about where they would be living together until they arrived at the gates.”

Corbyn felt his cheeks heat. But his mom wasn’t finished talking to his dad.

“You’d better straighten him out. Didn’t you notice this baby in his mate’s arms? Our Corbyn is a daddy now, and clearly, he needs to get his priorities straight. Leaving this poor, sick omega to look after a baby barely a day old. Do something.”

Corbyn winced as Nora started to fret. She hadn’t reached full out wailing, but it wouldn’t be long. “We’re doing our best here, Mom, but as you just said, Nora was only born yesterday.”

“Dealing with business and buying a damn facility, no matter how well intentioned, is not doing the right thing by your mate.” Corbyn’s mom’s tone changed completely as she crossed the floor, taking Shiloh’s hand off Corbyn’s jacket. “Let’s get you and the little one some actual help, shall we?” she said as she led a silent Shiloh out of the room.

“What the heck just happened? This is the last thing I expected when I decided to visit.” Corbyn sank into the nearest chair. “Yes, we look rough. Shiloh only gave birth yesterday,and he was up all night with Nora. She’s barely sleeping at all and spends most of her time trying to feed, or crying. There’s not much I can help with when Shiloh’s dealing with that, but it wasn’t as though I was just snoring in a locked room with earplugs in so I couldn’t hear poor Nora. I was right there with him.”

“I think what your mom was trying to convey,” his dad said quietly, “is that being an alpha is more than flinging your money around or showing your mate a good time, not that it sounds like you’ve had a chance to do that yet. But didn’t you notice how flushed Shiloh’s face is and I could hear his heart racing from here?”

“It’s not like I know what Shiloh’s normal state is, Dad.” Corbyn rubbed his hands over his face. “He’s a rescue. I’ve got no idea how long it’s been since he’s been out of where he was kept. I mean, I know he was in a state yesterday, but...” Various images flooded Corbyn’s mind - the rail-thin body, the insistence Shiloh had that he wanted to do right by Nora, but trying to feed him, even when it wasn’t working as well as that first time – and he grimaced. “Okay, I probably wasn’t thinking clearly. I should’ve probably insisted Shiloh allow Nora to be bottle fed, shouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know if insisting anything like that would’ve been the right thing,” his dad said. “Personally, I don’t see how that young man is still standing upright. He was wincing as he walked, and he seemed unusually flushed. Spending any time in captivity is traumatic enough, but Shiloh seems to be in physical pain.”

“Your mate was held by his captors for just over four years,” Jordan said grimly, tapping a folder he had on his lap. “When you told me about him yesterday, I got in touch with the Omega Rescue team to find out what they knew. It wasn’t much, but they did confirm Shiloh had been held for four years.”

Corbyn felt physically sick, and he swallowed down the bile in his throat. “So he’s had no medical attention, barely any food for all that time, and he’s been abused beyond measure for so long, it’s incredible he’s alive at all.”

His father nodded. “Your Shiloh has a strong desire to survive which shows an unbelievable strength of character. We can only be thankful that he was rescued before he was due to give birth, and that you were there visiting, and recognized who he was to you. Otherwise, he would’ve lost that little girl in his arms too.”

“He’s refusing to get pregnant again,” Corbyn said as a few more pieces of the intriguing Shiloh puzzle fell into place. “He warned me before I gave him my necklace. He outright told me he’d been ruined, and that I shouldn’t claim him. Given that he’d been held that long, I understand a bit more why he feels that way now.”

“According to the sparse records the rescue team found at the place where he’d been held, Shiloh had been pregnant eight times in those four years, including the birth you attended yesterday,” Jordan said. “Only three of the other babies aside from Nora survived and were then sold off. I’m not even sure another pregnancy would be possible for him, even if you wanted it.”

“I’m not worried about that,” Corbyn said. “I’m genuinely not. I know, I know, all alphas are supposed to want sons of their own” – his dad smirked – “but honestly, I’m so glad I found Shiloh when I did. He and Nora are my only focus and I’m more than happy to raise Nora as my own as I get to know my new mate.”

“Then there’s probably something else you should know that I am not even sure Shiloh will ever mention.” The graveness of Jordan’s tone pulled Corbyn from his thoughts, wondering what on earth his mom was saying to his mate.

“What can be worse than what you’ve already said?”

“I didn’t say it was worse, as such.” Jordan shook his head with a grin Corbyn was well familiar with. “It’s just something you should probably know. You know how when the rescue team bring in the omegas to their facility, one of the things they do as a matter of course is take a blood sample from them.”

Corbyn nodded. “It’s so that if any of their offspring are ever found, then paternity will be easy to establish.”

“Exactly, but it works both ways – using the blood sample to trace the DNA of any possible children the omega has given birth to and finding out where the omegas themselves came from.”

“Too many of these rescue cases are not even reported missing,” his dad said grimly. “It’s damned disgusting how little life is valued in some places.”

“Is that what happened to Shiloh? Wasn’t he reported missing at all?” Corbyn struggled to comprehend how that had happened. Four years his mate was held captive, and no one was even looking for him? His worry and sick feeling increased.

“Shiloh was never reported missing, but his parents’ DNA was on file with the Births, Deaths, Bonding and Matings office. His parents are bond mates – Senator John Farden and his wife Marjorie.”

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