Page 16 of His Unicorn Alpha
“Come on,” Ollie tugged me in the opposite direction, towards his living room. “Damon’s watching all three kids right now, and I think he could use a hand wrangling them. I’ll get us some iced tea and we’ll wait for the others to get us when they need us, okay?”
It wasn’t okay, but short of breaking the likely locked door to the meeting room down, it was probably my best option, especially when I couldn’t explain —not even to myself— why it was so important that I get in there. My shoulders slumped and I nodded. “Yeah, okay.”
Chapter Seven
“What’s going on?” Beck asked as Eric shoved me forcibly into the meeting room with the two alphas.
The very second I had finished telling him what I had done, he had held up his index finger, instructing me to wait, and he had called the Pack Alpha and requested an audience with him and the other alphas.
I could hear Beck’s confused response that Brandi and Lena were not available, which was unsurprising considering how close Lena’s due date was, but that he would call Rex to meet us at the house.
Then Eric had thanked him, ended the call, and had finally addressed me. He had been berating me for my selfishness ever since.
If it had been anyone else on the receiving end of his vitriol, I might have been impressed. Of the three of us —myself, Sage and Eric— Eric was the least likely to lose his temper so completely.
It turned out that breaking scientific and medical oaths was his trigger.
In the Alpha’s meeting room, Eric pointed to a chair at the long table and barked, “Sit.”
Aware of Beckett and Rex exchanging raised eyebrowed looks, I did as I was told.
Eric waved his hand in a sweeping gesture towards Beck and Rex, who were both leaning casually against the buffet unit running along the opposite wall from the door. They straightened as my brother demanded, “Tell them. Tell them what you’ve done.”
I had known Eric would be disappointed in me, but I had hoped that, as a dragon shifter also desperately trying to save our species, he might have some empathy.
I’d been wrong.
It hurt that he didn’t see it at all from my perspective. That he wasn’t even remotely supportive or even excited.
I also knew that the upset I was feeling over that realization was mostly hormonal. As were the tears that blurred my vision. Still, I couldn’t stop them.
“Jesus, Weldman,” Beck snapped, and I flinched from the harsh rebuke until I realized that he was glaring at Eric as he rounded the table to stand between the two of us, “he’s clearly upset. Why are you—”
“He’s pregnant, Beckett,” Eric announced, despite his insistence that I tell them what I had done myself.
“Wait,” Rex stepped forward, cocking his head, excitement building in his voice, “does that mean there’s another alpha ’round here? Another dragon?” Then he frowned. “And why is that a bad thing? Unless…” His blue eyes widened with horror. “You don’t think one of us…”
“No,” I interrupted, shaking my head and bringing their attention my way. I felt miserable. The one person I had hopedwould at least somewhat understand what I had done had reacted with far more anger than I had anticipated. And if Eric was so upset with me, I doubted I would get a gentler reaction from either of the alphas.
Perhaps I should have listened to Damon after all. Perhaps I should have taken a vacation and given birth to my children in private. Perhaps I should have kept them a secret from the entire world, including my family and the pack I had come to think of as home.
No. That would have been wrong and I knew it. I had known from the outset that my actions would have consequences. I had just hoped that Eric would understand. That he would be on my side, despite his misgivings.
It would break my heart if Sage also hated me for what I’d done.
“No?” Rex repeated. “No what, exactly?”
I looked up at him, knowing my expression was pitiful. For all of the hundreds of years that separated us, I considered Rex one of my closer friends in this pack. He was Damon’s mate, and we spent a lot of time together socially. It was going to hurt to have him loathe me for my choices, too. Not that I didn’t deserve it.
Licking my lips, I told him, “No, Eric knows it wasn’t either of you, nor was it Brandi. But,” I steeled myself and cupped the small swell of my belly gently, taking strength from the conviction that I had made the right choice even if it hadn’t been the ethical one, “there isn’t any other alpha.”
Both Beck and Rex frowned. Beck gently pushed Eric further away so he could sit on the edge of the table in front of me. “Explain,” he urged, but his tone wasn’t accusatory like Eric’s had been. I didn’t know if that was better or worse.
I picked at my thumbnail, unable to look him in the eye. “You know about the compatibility tests we have been running,attempting to fertilize donated ovum with sperm samples from potential alphas.”
“Yeah?”
I swallowed. “A couple of months ago, I discovered that we had a successful match. Viable, fertilized eggs.” Licking my lips, I finally dared to meet his dark gaze. “Myeggs.”
