Page 56 of Baby and the Beast

Casimir pretended not to hear. He busied himself checking the cabin's provisions—a few canned goods, some basic utensils, a pot that would need scrubbing.

"Will the storm delay us?" Nash asked, peering through a crack in the shutters at the swirling snow.

"Hard to say. Might blow through by morning, might settle in." Casimir filled the pot with snow from outside and set it near the fire to melt. "We'll know at first light."

Nash nodded and returned to Copper, who had begun to fuss. As he picked her up, Casimir noticed the wince Nash tried to hide.

"I pushed you too hard today," Casimir said.

"I'm fine."

"You're not," Casimir countered. "Your body's still healing." he paused. “Actually, can’t you shift? Won’t that help?”

Nash hesitated. “I daren’t.”

Casimir just looked at him and waited for the explanation. “Male omegas are rare, and…” he sighed. “Basically, unlike most shifters, Foxes—especially the dens we know of—are ultra conservative. Males mate with females, so the circumstances surrounding me getting pregnant would have been impossible. He wasn’t happy, but he believed me when I thought I’d had sex with a human. It was the getting pregnant part that was a problem. Copper would have been taken away from me and I would have been mated to a female from another den by the summer.”

He sighed. “That’s shit, sorry, but what has that to do with you shifting?”

“We had cousins of ours visit and they told us there’s a gay male couple in their den, but that after the omega gave birth, he shifted three days later. When he shifted back to human, his milk just stopped, like immediately. No one knows why because there aren’t enough of us to ask, but—”

“But you can’t risk having your milk stop, especially at the moment,” Casimir finished for him, understanding immediately.

All of a sudden a cloud of soot and muck fell into the fire and it went out immediately. Casimir shot to the fireplace, and Nash dashed Copper to the other side of the room. sheltering her from the smoke. Casimir went to the door and opened it for a moment to let the smoke out, but the temperature dropped instantly.

He shut it, then investigated the grate. “I daren’t try and light it tonight. If we can’t leave tomorrow, I’ll take a look, but it’s not a good idea in the dark.”

Nash shuddered. “Let’s go to bed then.”

Casimir moved to the bed and rearranged the blankets, creating a more comfortable nest. "You need to rest properly. Both of you."

"And you?" Nash asked, settling onto the edge of the bed with Copper.

Casimir gestured to the floor near the fire. "I'll be fine there."

Nash frowned. "Don't be ridiculous. It's freezing, and that floor is hardly softer than the snow outside." He shifted over, making space. "The bed's small, but we can manage. For warmth, if nothing else."

Casimir hesitated, looking torn. The wind howled outside, rattling the shutters.

"I don't bite," Nash added with a hint of a smile. "Well, not unless provoked."

A reluctant chuckle escaped Casimir. "It's not that."

"Then what?"

"I'm not used to... this," Casimir gestured vaguely between them.

"Sharing space?" Nash asked. When Casimir nodded, Nash's expression softened. "How long has it been since you've been around other people?"

Casimir busied himself with the fire. "I trade with the village sometimes. See hunters occasionally."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know what you meant." Casimir's voice was quiet. He stood, shoulders rigid. "I'll check our supplies again."

Nash watched him move around the cabin, methodically organizing their packs. Copper had fallen asleep against his chest, her tiny breaths warm against his skin.

"You don't have to tell me anything," Nash said after a long silence. "But you should know that whatever happened—those scars you carry, inside and out—they don't define you to me."

---