Page 13 of His Unicorn Alpha
I had my suspicions, naturally. His sperm had fertilized my eggs in a petri dish. He was my fated —or at the very least compatible— mate.
My soul ached with the potential for so much more and the knowledge that, once he discovered what I had done, that was all it would ever be.Potential.
This…thingwent on for days, turning into vivid daydreams as the yearning to leave the clinic and walk up to Beck and Ollie’s house, where Micah was staying, became an incessant itch beneath my skin.
It made me irritable and sad in equal measures.
Thank the gods my job was mostly solitary. It was easier to hide away in the lab, poking at test results dazedly, than to have to interact with people.
Especially when those people knew me too well.
“Alright,” Damon said, folding his arms and staring at me with arched eyebrows, “what gives?”
“What gives,” I drawled, “is that you burst into my lab and are now asking me frustrating questions when I should be working.”
He leaned against the bench running along the side wall, his lip quirking. “You’re being snippy, Bran. And you areneversnippy. You might look like a big, scary dragon man, but you’re the teddiest bear of your siblings. So, I’ll ask again. What gives?”
“Teddiest bear?” I cocked my head. “Does that mean you think of Eric as a teddy bear also?”
“Eric’s a golden retriever,” he shrugged. “But you’re the one who is secretly softest and cuddliest, and not just on the outside.”
Though his descriptions left a lot to be desired, he wasn’t wrong.
I sighed. “It’s a work thing.” It was not a lie.
“I don’t buy it. Try again.”
Relaxing my shoulders, I tried a different tactic. “Day, I am fine. I am just tired and frustrated.”
A flash of memory struck me of when he had been six months pregnant and stressed over his alpha, Rex, reacting somewhat poorly to the news of his pregnancy. He had unleashed a tirade of all the things ailing him, from heartburn to hemorrhoids, and I had felt sympathy for him, but little empathy. I had wanted what he had and couldn’t understand why he was so resentful.
But now, I understood.
He had been scared. Scared and sad.
I hated to admit it, but I was beginning to feel the same way.
Omegas weren’t designed to go through pregnancy alone. After observing Ollie, Damon, and now Lena, Eric was theorizing that the presence of the alpha provided some kind of magical stabilizer to their omega’s physical and emotional health. While I wasn’t entirely convinced that it was magical,I did agree that having a supportive partner was beneficial for anyone while pregnant.
Now that I was experiencing it personally, some part of me selfishly wished I could share the experience with a partner myself.
But I had chosen to be alone from the outset. My alpha (beta?) hadn’t even been present for the conception. He wasn’t even remotely responsible for my choices or for the embryos his DNA had had part in creating. I had no right to desire his support.
Knowing as much didn’t prevent me from wishing for it, though.
Once again, I lamented the draw to him. I wished that we hadn’t locked gazes across the small parking lot. I wished that I hadn’t even opened the door that day.
“Earth to Brandt,” Damon waved his hand in front of my face. When I blinked and focused on him, he was frowning in concern. “I’m worried about you, Bran,” he said softly, his words matching the expression on his face. He tucked a stray lock of his long, dark hair behind his ear. “You’re tired. Frustrated. Zoning out. It’s not like you. And if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. We all know I’m not the world’s biggest sharer,” he chuckled with a modicum of self-deprecation, “but I think you need to at least take a break. You’ve worked nonstop in this lab for years now, right? When was the last time you took a vacation?”
“A…vacation?” The idea had never occurred to me. I enjoyed working with Eric. Even though most of our test results were disheartening and got us nowhere, I loved researching and hypothesizing. The lab was usually my happy place. My escape.
It was funny that the idea of leaving Shifters’ Sanctuary had never occurred to me.
I gave it a moment of consideration, but to hide away would only make things worse in the long run. I needed to come clean.To confess what I had done and to wear whatever consequences came my way.
I was just too cowardly to say anything.
After I completed my next ultrasound and confirmed that the pregnancy was still viable, I told myself that I would put an end to my anxiety. I would tell Eric and Beckett.
