“You did this to me. You took away my youth and my choices. And all because you didn’t want to look at my eyes. My da’s eyes.”
George picked up the whiskey and swallowed a mouthful. “You also look like the man who bred you, in every way except for those eyes. Scrawny and ugly. I was grateful to that man for years. Believed he’d saved my Amos a world of agony, saved him from being raped. But it was all a scam. You were a scam.”
“I was a baby.”
“And a very disobedient omega.” George swallowed another mouthful of whiskey before using the bottle to gesture at Ezer. “Look at you. What are you doing out of your nest? You’repregnant. This is disgraceful. Your alpha will punish you after he rips the head off any other alpha who’s been near you.” George glared. “Is that it? Do you want that alpha to be me?”
“I want you to admit you put me in a position where I had no real consent.”
“Why? What difference does it make now?”
“Because you did it to Shan, too, and you’re about to do it to Yissan.”
“Omegas should be with alphas. They should be pregnant and happy.”
“Do I look happy?”
“You could be if you stopped thinking ugly thoughts.”
“You knew I couldn’t read the contract when I signed it.”
“I offered to read it to you. You declined.”
“You knew I didn’t know what I was signing.”
“I did. I knew a lot of things. I knew the Clearwater boy wanted you, I knew you needed to get out of my house, and I knew the less you knew about it all the better. But, for what it’s worth,” George gestured to Ezer’s stomach. “I didn’t know you’d have two.” George’s face grew pale and his eyes cloudy. “Your da—Amos—he struggled with the twins.”
Ezer rubbed his stomach, his feet aching and his knees feeling as if they might collapse under the weight of him. “I’m smaller than he is.”
“You’re just here to frighten me?”
“Does it frighten you? That you set one of your sons up to endure a situation that might cause his death?”
“You aren’t my son.”
“I am. In the eyes of the law, on my birth certificate, I’m very much your son. You once considered me one.”
“What do you want from me, Ezer?” George asked. “More money? I can send your alpha more cash if he’s spent it all already. Do you want something expensive? A birthing present of some sort? Jewelry?”
“I want you to let Yissan out of whatever contract you’ve designed for him. I want you to let him make his own choices.”
“Yissan? My first born? The one I’ve wanted, since childhood, to find the best possible match for? Why on earth would I let him make his own choices? He is in love with a beta. He’s an idiot.”
“And Flo, too. I want you to promise me that both of them will be allowed to choose.”
“Or what?”
Ezer shrugged. “Or I’ll file a failure to consent suit, and my alpha will file a contractual abuse suit, and we air this filthy laundry in public. Assuming I’m alive to do it. If I’m not, then I suppose you’ll win after all.”
George studied him, scoffing as he scrubbed a hand over his face “You’re not bluffing, are you? You’ll file the suits.”
“I will.”
“And if I back off for now? Tell Yissan he can have a year to reconcile himself to this contract so that he signs without so-called coercion?”
The walk and the movement had taken its toll. Ezer hurt all over, and when one of the babies gave an especially violent kick, his back spasmed. He gasped and shifted trying to get comfortable, but it was no use. The spasm wouldn’t let loose.
George narrowed his eyes. “I’m calling your alpha.”