Page 113 of Slow Heat
Vale stared at them. “This is about…oh. I thought…well, I see.”
“You thought?”
“I thought you were going to confront me about what Jason and I might or might not have done when he was at my house last night.” Through his misery, Vale patted himself on the back mentally for not completely admitting that they’d violated all protocols and consummated their status asÉrosgápewithout signing a contract.
Yule’s eyes hardened slightly, but Miner’s mouth turned up at the edges, his hazel eyes glowing a bit.
“I’m sure you and my son violated every last protocol in the bunch, but at this point, I don’t give a damn about any of that,” Yule bit out.
Miner looked at him approvingly.
Yule stared hard at Vale. “You see, we have a situation. Miner is pregnant.”
Vale nodded and said, “Jason told me.”
“And did he also tell you that we are at odds about it?”
“He did.”
“And what will you do with this information?”
Vale frowned at Miner. “What do you mean? I don’t understand.”
“Will you go the authorities? Should I prevail over Miner’s wrongheaded madness and convince him to terminate this pregnancy before it kills him, what will you do?”
“I…” Vale stared at him. “I’d do nothing. Why would you bring this up?”
If Miner’s pregnancy terminated by unnatural means, he might never have known. Given Miner’s history, he would have assumed a miscarriage. And given his own, he’d never have pressed for more information on the matter. His stomach churned slowly.
Yule raked shaking fingers through his hair. “Because if Jason told you what I think he told you, then you have my entire family in your hands now. You know about the abortifacients?”
Vale swallowed hard. If he hadn’t already known, he did now. Yule was clearly out of his mind with distress for Miner and showing his cards all over the place. It was dangerous. For everyone. Especially Miner and Jason, and, subsequently, Vale.
“Wolf-god, man! Keep your mouth shut about such things,” Vale whispered urgently. He wasn’t going to give up his baby alpha just to lose him to the possible consequences of his father’s wild panic. “It’s too risky to talk about this openly.”
“Tell me what you plan to do with the information you have on my family!” Yule demanded, pounding the table.
Miner frowned and put his hand over Yule’s fingers, but he pulled away.
Vale’s heart stuttered. “I have little room to judge you and your choices—past and present. And believe me, there’s nothing that could possibly drag that information out of me. It would hurt everyone involved, including Jason.”
“And you. If you sign a contract with him. It’s only right that you know the risk.”
If Yule was trying to scare him off, he needn’t have bothered. “I don’t plan to contract with your son.”
Miner gasped, and Yule narrowed his eyes. “You consummated the imprinting last night,” he said accusingly. “But you don’t intend to contract with him? Why would you do that?”
“It will make it harder, for both of you,” Miner said, his brows crinkled over his dark-ringed eyes. “Nothing can compare to being with yourÉrosgápe.”
Vale wanted to dispute it, but he couldn’t. The intensity of what he’d experienced with Jason was unmatched by any sexual encounter he’d shared with any other alpha—even during heat. Refusing the contract felt like he was cleaving his soul in half. “At the time, it didn’t feel like a choice.” Or if it had, it’d felt like the only one.
Yule rubbed a hand over his face. “This is all going to hell.”
“I shouldn’t have allowed it,” Vale said, apologetically, voice shaking earnestly. “I should have made him go home, but he was upset and…”
Miner nodded. “Omegas need to soothe their alphas.”
Yule snorted.
