Page 24 of Feral: Part One

Kael’s arms tighten around Preston, his voice softer than usual. “The only reason you’re still alive right now is because my Omega is happy.”

Preston smiles up at him, his gray-blue eyes twinkling the same way they did for me in the shower. “Slate’s mine, okay? You can’t hurt him.”

Kael’s jaw ticks, his gaze flicking to me. “I don’t—”

“No,” Preston cuts him off as he sits up straighter. “No hurting him. Besides, he’s going to be a daddy.”

Everyone freezes and I’m not sure why but I look at Malik first. He’s mildly confused but it also seems like this isn’t shocking news to him, as if he noticed. The nurses at Veltmoor always knew when something was off, when something was different with me. They rarely brought it up but when I mentioned something, they were right there already helping me out.

“What the fuck did you just say?” Kael roars, my attention snapping back to him.

Preston’s hand finds mine across the table. He squeezes a little before pressing a kiss to Kael’s jaw. The gesture calms the Alpha but not by much. “He’s pregnant, like me. He must be furtheralong than me, though, because you can see his belly. God, he’d be pretty in panties like mine, wouldn’t he?”

I can’t tell if Preston is teasing or this is just the way he is, adding sentences on where they don’t seem to belong. Kael is furious, a pulsing that I can still feel through his faded bite. I can’t really read Thane, which just adds onto the worry that I seriously fucked up whatever this was.

I look down at the fabric stretched across my stomach. “I wasn’t… I’m not… I can’t, okay? I can’t do this.”

My voice cracks as I extract myself from Thane and rush back to my room, tears spilling down my cheeks. Some part of me wants to find something to drag the pain out again. The other part wants to burrow so deep into the blankets beneath my bed that the light will never find me.

And then there’s my Omega, a soft annoying pulse telling me that everything I think I knew about myself is all wrong.

Malik

Pregnant?

I stare down the hall where Slate vanished before turning back to the others. “What the fuck just happened?”

There’s a crack in the steel armored front my Alphas put out a few days ago. They won’t admit to it but they no longer want to break Slate. It’s sudden and way too fast but it’s more than just a biological impulse at this point. It definitely is for Preston and anything Kael tries to do to keep him away from Slate might backfire on us.

Case in point that Thane caved so fucking easily when Preston dragged Slate into the nest. I raise an eyebrow as I glance over at Thane, wondering what was going through his head. “I’m not sure what happened,” Thane offers, “but Preston was adamant about having him. It was supposed to be five minutes and thenit just…” He runs a hand down his face, not looking particularly peeved to have slept in that room watching them hold each other all night.

Kael’s hand shoots out, smacking Thane against the back of his head. “Seriously? You put our Omega’s safety at risk.”

Thane grits his teeth but swallows his growl, realizing that the fight isn’t worth it. “I was there the entire fucking time and Preston can handle himself. As much as we want to shield him from the whole goddamn world, he was fine. Besides, as much as we hate it, Slate is now my Omega too.”

Kael’s grip on Preston tightens, his voice a low rumble. “What the fuck does that mean?”

“My instincts are telling me to provide for both of them, not just Preston. I will not put Preston in harm’s way but icing Slate out fucking hurts. It goes against every nerve in my body.”

Kael’s eyes narrow, his anger flaring. “I told you—”

I cut them off, knowing that this little fight isn’t going anywhere. I move closer and crouch in front of Preston still nestled in Kael’s lap. “Preston is just fine, aren’t you, baby?”

Preston nods, his hair bouncing on his head as he puckers his lips for a kiss. He melts against me as I taste a mixture of him and Slate, Preston purring into the embrace before pulling back. “The best part is that Slate even has a knot. It’s at the tip, not the base but it’s there. I’m going to have fun with him.”

Thane frowns as he leans forward. “Omegas don’t have those. Is he defective?”

Preston whips his head around, letting out a small growl. “No, he’smine.”

He tries to slide off Kael’s lap, but Kael isn’t letting him go.Typical.I laugh, pressing a kiss to Preston’s forehead, my lips lingering against his warm skin. “You stay with our Alphas,” I say. “I think they need a little reassurance. I’ll go make sure Slateis okay and then I’ll come to you so you can lick his scent off my skin.”

Preston’s eyes widen, a spark of mischief in them. “Are you going to fuck him again?”

I chuckle, shaking my head. “No, I’m just going to make sure he’s okay.”

And that really is all I want to do. Until Kael bites Slate for real, I won’t feel Slate through a bond like Preston does. I want to and since last night, the feeling has been stronger. I can feel his confusion and worry, his desire to disappear growing with every second. When I push into the guest bedroom, I frown because there’s no one in there. The bed is missing several blankets, my hackles raised at the thought that he either tried to escape or he made a nest somewhere.

The thing is, I don’t see anything.

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