The Omega's Secret Pregnancy (Men of Meadowfall Book 1)

by Anna Wineheart

They’ve built a system by now: Kade checks the storefront and the cars at the pumps, and Felix will stop him if it’s a bad time.

  And this instance is the same: Kade steps in when Felix walks out of the backroom, adjusting his pants.

  “Thinking of me?” Kade asks, smirking.

  Felix grins. “If I was?”

  Kade crowds into his space, cupping him through his jeans, and it takes just three squeezes before Felix is hard, his cock thick against Kade’s hand.

  “No one at the pumps,” Kade growls, stepping behind his omega. He pulls Felix’s pants open, letting his cock jut out at the snack aisle. Then he hitches Felix’s waistband down, exposing his pale, smooth ass. “Get me hard.”

  Felix groans, slipping his thin hand past Kade’s waistband. His cool fingers wrap around Kade’s cock. Kade unzips his own jeans, so Felix eases his cock out, stroking him base to tip.

  With an eye on the glass doors, Kade pulls his omega to himself, sliding between his cheeks, pushing his cock between Felix’s thighs. They watch as its tip nudges at Felix’s balls, pushing them up. “Don’t tease,” Felix says.

  So Kade bends him over next to the end-cap of the shelves, sliding in halfway, then pulling out just to hear Felix whine. Then he shoves back in, and Felix shudders, his body opening around Kade’s cock.

  Kade walks them closer to the door, Felix shuffling in front of him, dripping onto the floor. Kade anchors him by the hips, edging them past the candy aisle, to the snack aisle, then the muffin aisle, seeing how far they can get to the door before someone steps in.

  Except Felix whines when Kade fucks in, and Kade’s attention fixes on him. He wants to hear that sound again. So he pinches Felix’s nipples, angling his hips differently, shoving in. Felix cries out.

  Something moves at the door. Kade stills, his breath rushing through his nose, and Rick steps into the store. His nostrils flare.

  They’ve been lucky so far, avoiding the manager when they fuck. Until now. And Kade finds that he doesn’t care. The bastard has been calling Felix names, crawling under Kade’s skin, and it’s about damn time something changed.

  Their eyes meet over the shelves—Rick’s narrowed, Kade’s taunting. Felix straightens in a hurry, red sweeping up his face.

  So Kade thrusts into him. Felix makes a little mewling sound, his cock jumping hot against Kade’s hand.

  “What the everloving fuck,” Rick spits, his eyes bulging out. He stares from Kade to Felix, to their joined hips, and his lips twist in a sneer. “I always knew you two made a good pair. A slut and a measly alpha.”

  Kade growls. Maybe they were asking for it, doing this in the store, but he refuses to let Felix hear any more of Rick’s crap. When Felix presses against him, his face paling, Kade slides his arms around him.

  “You’re not,” Kade murmurs in his ear. But Felix’s eyes are fixed on his manager. Kade slips out of him, tucking his bondmate back into his clothes. More loudly, he says, “He’s my omega. If I want to fuck him, then I’ll fuck him, your store be damned.”

  Like a tiger, Rick prowls toward them, his face turning puce. “This is my store,” he snarls, elbows knocking wrapped muffins to the floor. “I didn’t hire that whore to spread his legs! Especially for some puny alpha like you.”

  “Don’t listen to him, Kade,” Felix mutters behind him.

  Heat sears in his chest anyway. Kade nudges Felix to the side, stepping in front of him. It reminds him of decades ago, back when they were in school, and it was Kade protecting Felix from his bullies, tearing into them before they attack his most precious person.

  But Felix doesn’t run. He freezes like a statue, eyes wide. Kade clenches his fists, staring down Rick.

  “Just making sure he’s getting treated right,” Kade says, shrugging. Even though his heart thumps like a drum. “Needed to perk him up. You’ve been treating him like shit.”

  Three feet away, Rick leers. “Sons of bitches,” he seethes, nodding at Felix. “Guess that sack of holes is good enough for you, if you rank so low. What’s wrong? You’re not good enough to get any better?”

  Kade tenses. He’s good enough. He has to be. But even that’s not enough for Felix, is it?

  Felix cradles his belly, and Rick looks him over. Kade wants to rip his eyes out.

  “Huh. I never realized he was knocked up. Think he slept around? Were you gonna put a second one inside?”

  It’s not his child, and the reminder sinks its teeth into him, a nagging shame. He doesn’t need this bastard, of all people, to know that. You have no goddamn right to speculate whose child it is. Kade growls, thinking about punching his fist through that mustached face, smashing his bones.

  “Don’t,” Felix says, grabbing him by his shirt. “Kade, he’s not worth it.”

  Rick swings a punch at him. Kade snarls, deflecting it with a sharp jab. He’ll listen to Felix because Felix asked. Rick’s arm swerves to the side, and Kade catches his wrist, gripping it and yanking him forward.

  “Diss my omega again,” he growls, digging his fingers into Rick’s tendons, “and I’ll rip your eyes out.”

  Rick sneers. Kade flings his arm against the shelves, hard enough to leave bruises. Then he turns to Felix. “We’re going,” Kade says, flipping Rick off. “If we come back, it’s to crack his skull.”

  “Okay,” Felix says, his face pale, chest heaving. He slips his hand into Kade’s, pulling him out of the store. The entire place reeks of bitter-wood.

  “You’re fired, you omega slut,” Rick yells after them. Kade almost turns back and punches him. Felix’s fingers tighten around his.

  It isn’t until they’ve rounded the corner to Kade’s bike, that Kade sucks in another deep breath, his hands shaking. Felix is fine. They’re both fine, and they’re going home now. It doesn’t matter if he’s not worthy, or whatever.

  “Are you okay?” Felix steps in front of him, eyes darting over Kade’s face. He brushes his fingers over Kade’s forehead, down his cheeks, over his mouth. His eyes glimmer with worry.

  “Yeah,” Kade growls, baring his teeth. He needs to hit something, needs to make that bastard hurt. “Would’ve got him nice and bloody.”

  He would have thrashed Rick if Felix hadn’t stopped him. Kade checks the store to make sure the bastard stays inside, before looking over his omega.

  Felix is still pale, his pupils constricted, his hands trembling as he tucks Kade back into his jeans. Kade blinks. In the standoff, he’d forgotten that his cock was hanging out. “We’re going somewhere else.”

  “I’m fired,” Felix mumbles, looking down. “My things are still in there.”

  “Damn it.” Kade scowls. He hadn’t thought about that. And they aren’t going back into the store right now, with that dick still in there. “Anything important?”

  Felix shakes his head. “I’ve got my phone and wallet. It’s just... the giraffe is still in there. In my locker.”

  Kade swears, but his heart thumps anyway. He’d seen the giraffe in the locker, but Felix liking his gift enough to want it back... “I’ll get you another one.”

  “It’s not the same.” Felix shakes his head. “But it’s fine. I’ll get it some other time.”

  “Tell me when you want to go. I’ll pick you up,” Kade says, baring his teeth. He’s not letting Felix in there alone again, not when Rick could be in there with his filthy hands.

  “Yeah, okay.” Felix breathes in. Kade mirrors him, sucking in a breath to calm down. They’ve got Felix out of the store. Felix doesn’t have anywhere else to go, and Kade has his company for the next few hours. “So where do you wanna go now?”

  Felix looks down at his hands. He’s still trembling a little, so Kade pulls him close, tucking his head under his chin. Felix’s hair tickles his jaw. “I don’t know. My rent’s due and I... probably still needed my pay, actually. The payments on the paintings don’t process until the shipments arrive.”

  “That’s a damn underhanded way to pay artists,” Kade mutters.

&nbs
p; They’d spent all of Felix’s day off on the watercolors: buying frames, mounting the pieces inside, packaging them, then riding down to the post office to mail them off. With forty paintings, it had taken all day. It wasn’t until ten PM that he’d left Felix that night.

  Felix shrugs. “I was kind of counting on this paycheck. But Rick’s probably not even going to process it.”

  “Fuck that bastard.” But Kade was also the one to start all this. He was the one to slip up, not seeing Rick until it was too late. “Look, whatever you need for rent, I’ll cover it. Look for another job if you want, but I’m not sorry that you’re out of that place.”

  Felix grimaces. “I’m not sorry about leaving, either. It’s just... you don’t have to pay my rent.”

  Kade breathes his omega in—lavender, musk, honey. He wants Felix close to him, and he wants Felix... “How about you stay at my place? Rent’s whatever you want to make it. Free if you stay in my room.”

  Felix chuckles against him, trembling slightly. “Free in your room, huh?”

  Kade imagines Felix sleeping in his bed, curled up against him, and the thought sends warmth sweeping through his chest. So maybe the baby isn’t his. But Kade will care for the child like his own, and that’s the right way to do things.

  Rick steps out of the store at that moment, looking in the opposite direction. Kade bristles. Low-ranking alpha, the bastard had said. As if it’s anything important. “C’mon, we’re leaving.”

  Felix catches sight of the manager, and nods.

  They pull into Kade’s garage fifteen minutes later, the bike exhaust oily in their noses. Kade watches as his bondmate pulls his helmet off. Felix said it wasn’t his fault that he left. But Kade also can’t provide luxuries for him, and maybe he doesn’t deserve to have Felix as his own, after all.

  “Take my bed,” he says. “I’ll use the couch whenever you move in.”

  Felix looks away. “I’m not sure your mom wants me around. I mean, the child...”

  “She’ll be happy if you stay for a while.” Kade sets their helmets into the bike’s trunk, shutting it. “She doesn’t have anyone else to talk to while I work.”

  Felix chews on his lip. “Okay. But I really don’t want to impose on either of you. You don’t have to sleep on the couch.”

  Kade sighs, wrapping his arms around his omega. The thought of Felix living with him makes his heart race. It’s as though they’re restoring their past, a little at a time. “It’s not imposing. You’ll be fine here. Just tell me when you want to move in, and we’ll rent a trailer to haul your things.”

  Felix nods, pressing his nose to Kade’s shoulder. Felix smells familiar, like warmth and home. “I’ll think about it.”

  40

  Felix

  Felix picks nervously at the rough maroon fabric of his shirt, twisting it between his fingers.

  He’s fired. It’s oddly liberating. Terrifying, too, when he doesn’t have the earnings from his watercolors yet. But he has Kade, and Kade has offered him and the child shelter.

  He trudges behind Kade as they walk up the stairs, looking at the framed paintings on the walls—oil pastels, watercolors, inked sketches of a lake. He remembers Kade’s family home from a decade ago, when his brothers squabbled over the TV, and his father sawed up planks in the garage. At the end of the hallway, his bay painting hangs on the wall, facing them as they climb the stairs. Felix gulps, tears prickling at his eyes.

  How can he stay in this house for even a minute? He was the one who caused it all to shatter. He can’t leave Kade and his mother ignorant for years, can he?

  They find Kade’s mom in her bedroom, folding some laundry. The child squirms in Felix’s belly.

  Kade’s mom has known about it since his last visit. Kade might have told her it isn’t his. And Felix doesn’t know how to talk to his alpha’s mom, if she believes he’s carrying someone else’s child. They might think of it as infidelity. And it’s just as bad, isn’t it? Kade doesn’t want a baby at all.

  Kade knocks on the open door. Felix pauses next to him, working up a smile. “Hello again, Mrs. Brentwood.”

  She looks up, smiling. “Hello, Felix. Aren’t you working today? Kade mentioned you’re only free on Saturdays.”

  Felix cringes. I was just fired doesn’t sound good any way he phrases it.

  “I got him to quit his job,” Kade says, looking at him from the corner of his eye. “Figured it would be better for him to focus on painting.”

  Mrs. Brentwood beams. “That’s wonderful!”

  “I guess,” Felix says, his heart pattering. That went better than I expected.

  “He’s worried about rent, so I said he’s welcome to live with us whenever,” Kade says, slipping his hand into Felix’s. It curls large and warm around his fingers, and Felix hangs on to it, glad for the whisper of comfort Kade offers.

  “I really don’t want to bother you,” he says.

  “Nonsense! You’re always welcome here, as you were before.” Kade’s mom smiles, patting an empty spot on her mattress. “Would you like to stay for a chat?”

  Felix hesitates. Twenty years ago, Mrs. Brentwood had welcomed him into their home, allowing him and Kade to do their homework together. It’s very kind of her to extend that same hospitality again. His alpha nods toward his mom, and Felix breathes in deeply, stepping forward. A conversation wouldn’t be difficult, would it?

  “I’m going back to work,” Kade says, glancing at Felix, then his mom. “I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”

  “See you at dinner,” she says. “Felix?”

  His feet heavy, Felix trudges further into the room. Sunlight slants in through the curtained windows, and white drawers sit on either side of the queen-sized bed. He plants himself gingerly on the mattress, among blouses and skirts and towels.

  “How are you doing?” Kade’s mom asks, turning to hang a skirt in her closet.

  Not that great. Felix swallows. “Okay, I suppose. I sold some paintings last week.”

  “That’s exciting!”

  “It is. Kade helped me pack them for shipping.”

  “So he said.” She slips hangers into her blouses, turning back to her closet. “And how is the baby?”

  Felix stops breathing. He hadn’t expected her to ask this so soon, especially when she’d seen through his secret. He looks down at the bulge of his abdomen. “It’s fine. Kade brought me to the doctor two weeks ago. I had an ultrasound done.”

  She brightens, pausing with a towel in her hands. “So... about twenty-two weeks along?”

  “Twenty-four,” Felix says, touching his belly again. The child moves inside, a bare flutter, and maybe he’s more comfortable thinking about himself as a father now. And because he can’t lie to her, Felix checks the empty doorway to make sure his alpha’s not around. Then he murmurs, “It’s Kade’s.”

  It feels like a boulder rolling off his chest. Felix breathes in deep, looking down so he doesn’t have to see her reaction.

  Mrs. Brentwood stills. Her stare prickles his skin, and Felix touches his belly, holding on to his child.

  “Oh, Felix,” she says. She sweeps away the jumble of clothes next to him, sitting by his side in a rush of lilac-scented air. He glances up—she isn’t angry that I lied?—and blinks when she takes his hand in her own, looking into his eyes. “Do you know how upset he was when you said it isn’t his?”

  Felix looks down at their hands, guilt flushing hot through his cheeks. Kade had been furious. But wasn’t it because Felix had lied to him? He had glowered back in the department store months ago, and Felix had shaken with terror. Kade’s never touched his abdomen, or shown any sign of wanting the child. Maybe Mrs. Brentwood read him wrong. “Oh.”

  “You should tell him,” she says, squeezing his hand. “It’ll save you both a lot of pain.”

  But how does he tell Kade that the baby is his, when it’s been almost a month since he spun that lie? He doesn’t want Kade to know he’s lying again, doesn’t want to hurt
Kade any more than he already has. “I’ll try,” Felix says, gulping. “I don’t... don’t want him to hate me.”

  “He’ll never hate you,” she says, slipping her arm around his shoulders. “You know him best, don’t you?”

  Felix shrugs, staring at his belly. Kade wouldn’t want this child.

  “Come on, why don’t you help me with these clothes,” Mrs. Brentwood says, getting to her feet. “If you decide to move in with us, I’m sure Kade will be happy to help.”

  “You don’t mind if I move in?” he asks. She doesn’t know he caused the bankruptcy, either. Felix never wants her to find out.

  “Of course not.” She beams at him, crow’s feet at her eyes. “You’re my fourth son, you know.”

  His throat constricts. His own father has never smiled warmly and said You’re my son, and it feels like he’s returned to a home he hadn’t realized he left.

  “I guess I know that now,” Felix says, his voice hoarse. He loves Kade’s mom as his own, and it’s sheer relief to know that she still accepts him.

  Mrs. Brentwood pulls him into a hug, and tears well in his eyes.

  41

  Kade

  Kade sits down to dinner some hours later, his mother and Felix waiting for him at the table. Felix had knocked on his bedroom door ten minutes ago, poking his head in, and his nostrils had flared as he breathed in the scent of Kade’s room.

  He sits next to Kade now, his eyes very slightly red-rimmed. Kade frowns. “You okay?”

  Felix nods, his mouth curving up. “Yes, I am.”

  Kade carves the steaming pork roast into slices, dishing it out: first to Felix, then his mom, and finally himself. Felix spoons peas onto his own plate. He hesitates, then dishes some onto Kade’s, too. Kade stares. His omega hasn’t done that in a long time. Not since five years ago, and his pulse quickens.

  Felix looks away from him, cheeks flushing pink. He hands the peas over to Kade’s mom, and Kade wants to kiss him, all over again.