Page 47 of Omega's Forbidden Heat
The man hooks his thumbs into the corner of his pockets and examines Jack’s face. Yes, there are more wrinkles written into the skin about his mouth and between his brows and his hair has grown longer, not clipped as smartly as it once was and thinning at the temples.
“Jack,” Mr Stephens says, slamming the car door shut.
Jack stares at him. What the Hell is he doing here? He has absolutely no idea.
“I’m sorry about your mum,” Mr Stephens says, the line above his nose deepening. “How are you doing, Jack?” He stands in the same straight-backed manner he’d stand at school inspecting the students as they bustled past him on the way to lessons, barking orders, issuing reprimands. Now, he seems, Jack realises, almost nervous.
“You know.” Jack shrugs his shoulders.
Mr Stephens nods. “I hear you’re selling the house, leaving Losworth. What are you planning on doing?”
Jack glares at him. “Do you really care?” he answers with a laugh.
“Yes, I do care.” The man shuffles on his feet. “Do you think we could go inside and talk?”
“Talk?” What on earth do they have to talk about? “No, I don’t think so. I am pretty sure there’s nothing we need to talk about.” He almost expects Mr Stephens to argue with that; after all, they never got on. Back in his school days Mr Stephens had been an older Alpha, dominant and the one in charge. Though they’d argued, there’d always been this innate reaction to do everything he said. Not anymore. They’re strangers now and Jack is older, maybe not wiser, but a hell of a lot more experienced in his short years than he imagines Mr Stephens is.
“Fine,” Mr Stephens says. “I didn’t know your mum was sick. I didn’t hear about it until after…”
Jack snarls at him. “How did you not hear about it?” They both know that in the village, even in the town, everybody knows everybody’s business.
Mr Stephens catches his meaning. “I don’t live here anymore. I’m out Southampton way now. “
Jack rubs his fingers along the hard line of his jaw, the bristles of stubble brushing against his fingertips. Southampton is over an hour away. He’s come all this way to stand in his drive and talk to him. Jack juts up his chin. “Why are you here?”
“I got a letter from your mum. It arrived after she passed. In it she told me you were home, told me it was about time you learned the truth, and, well, I guess she’s right.”
The truth.
Jack’s heart freezes in his chest and he stares at Mr Stephen’s face. His blue eyes. His stature. The line of his jaw. The shape of his nose. No!
Jack shakes his head and strides towards the front door. “No! No, I don’t want to know the truth.”
“She said you’d say that,” Mr Stephens calls after him.
Jack freezes a second time, his shoulder slump.
“If you tell me, what difference will it make? The past can’t be undone. I know that better than anyone.”
“That’s why we never told you. For a long time, that’s what we both thought. But these secrets and these lies, inadvertent or not, eat away at you and everyone around you too. It is better to face up to the truth.”
Jack faces him. “Okay, tell me then.”
“I am your dad, Jack.”
Jack nods, his eyes fall to the ground. The gravel needs raking. There are patches of moss between the mottled stone and it will be ruined by spring if he doesn’t deal with it soon. He’ll need to head into town and buy some weed killer, perhaps some new gravel too.
Mr Stephens exhales with a puff of air, and Jack jolts. He swallows, dragging his vision back to the man.
“That’s it? That’s all you have to say? You did the dirty on my mum, abandoned her, and that’s all you have to say?” The words stir his anger. He can’t help it, he steps towards him and grasps a handful of his shirt. “She was 18. You fucking bastard. 18.”
He can read the guilt all over Mr Stephen’s face, guilt and something else, self-loathing. He knows that look. He’s seen it in the mirror every day for the last five years. He opens his hand and backs away.
“I know,” the man mutters,
“How could you do that? An Alpha? Abandon her, your child, like that. It’s not natural.”
“Because what does it matter what’s natural or not. There’re bigger forces. Ones that twist and shape our lives. We’re fighting to fit our nature into this ill-fitting world, one the Betas have created.” He brushes his hand over the front of his shirt. “She was my pupil in the sixth form. I was only in my early twenties. The gap between us was only a few years, and there was this spark between us. I could read it in her scent how much she wanted me and I knew she could read it in mine too. But we fought it. Suppressed it. Never admitted it to ourselves, let alone each other. We couldn’t be together. If anyone had found out, it would have ended my career and I would probably have ended up in jail. But then she came to me in heat. And I couldn’t resist her. She’d been driving me mad and I couldn’t resist her.”
