Raph tried to keep the excitement off his face. Wyatt saw it in the gleam of his eyes, the twitch of his mouth. He stopped by the exam table, broad and towering. And the tension in Wyatt’s shoulders melted away, having his alpha so close.
Raph wrapped his fingers around both the ultrasound wand, and Wyatt’s hand. Wyatt’s breath snagged in his throat.
“Do I move it this way?” Raph asked, tipping the wand slightly, pressing its flat end against Wyatt’s belly. The baby slid off the screen, and Raph turned the wand, his touch gentle. Then the baby came into view again, and Raph froze, his eyes bright, a tiny smile spreading across his face.
He was so very eager. Wyatt didn’t know how he could stop himself from pulling Raph close, kissing the breath out of him.
“Can we have pictures of it?” Raph asked. And then paused, his eyes flying to Wyatt’s.
Heart thudding, Wyatt glanced at Dr. Smith. The doctor nodded. “Of course. We offer an image printing service. The prints will be $5 each. How many would you like?”
Raph looked away, his ears and neck flushed. Wyatt cringed. Gods, we must be so obvious. “Two, please.”
She keyed it into the computer. “The prints will be ready at the receptionist’s desk in fifteen minutes.”
“Thank you,” Wyatt said.
Raph reluctantly released Wyatt, retreating to the other side of the room. They fell back into silence.
Dr. Smith took the wand back, handing Wyatt a fresh towel to clean the gel off. Wyatt watched her from the corner of his eye. As a doctor, Smith would have to abide by patient confidentiality laws. She had never revealed his location nine years ago, either.
“The bloodwork tests will take a week to process,” the doctor said. “We’ll email you a report with the details. If there’s a problem, we’ll call you back to the clinic to discuss your options.”
“Okay.” He squirmed, pulling his shirt over his belly. If they left her office now, Wyatt was sure their secret would be safe. But Smith knew, and that information nagged at him. “About the baby’s parentage...”
“We don’t do DNA tests unless requested,” Smith said, tilting her head with a smile.
Could he say Please don’t tell anyone about Raph and me? Or perhaps something a little more vague...
“Wyatt’s my omega,” Raph said, slipping his arm around Wyatt’s shoulders. Wyatt spluttered. “We’re stepbrothers. D’you think there’ll be a problem with that?”
Dr. Smith blinked. Then she shook her head, her eyes warm. “No, there shouldn’t be a problem. You’re not related by blood. I’ve seen hundreds of omegas by now—a pregnancy between consenting adults is not at all an issue.”
Wyatt relaxed into Raph’s side, relief turning his limbs to jelly. That was unexpected. “Thank you.”
Raph squeezed his shoulder. “Thanks.”
“Take care,” Smith said. She unlocked the door and shook their hands. “Have a great day.”
As they headed to the next room, Wyatt stepped away from Raph. They remained silent through the bloodwork, until they returned to the waiting area once more.
“That went better than I thought,” Raph said.
“Went better? You fucking told her,” Wyatt hissed. “I almost had a heart attack!”
“You were going to say it anyway.” Raph met his eyes. “I just told her straight up.”
“Oh, gods.” Wyatt buried his face in his hands. At least Dr. Smith didn’t judge their relationship. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Sorry.”
“The conception date, too.” Wyatt’s cheeks prickled. “I didn’t think you remembered!”
“Damn it, Wy. Of course I remember it. I hadn’t seen you in ages!” Raph brushed their hands together. “But back in the office, I was just excited. If you can believe that.”
Wyatt swallowed hard, his chest squeezing. “You really were.”
Raph caught his hand. Then he leaned closer, and murmured, “Am I forgiven?”
The memory of the debt crashed back into him, foreboding and nerve-wracking. Wyatt’s stomach shrank. How had he forgotten that? “I don’t know. Probably not.”
“What do I have to do?”
He felt like a bit of a jerk, refusing to forgive Raph. But a hundred and fifty grand was a huge whopping sum, and the thought of trying to pay it off anytime soon... Wyatt’s thoughts spun.
“I’ll think about it,” he said.
“Am I still staying over tonight?” Raph asked.
“We’d have to talk about everything else. Figure where we go from here.”
Raph looked away, his mouth a thin line. “Yeah, I guess we’d have to.”
This shouldn’t be happening, him and Raph. When all was said and done, they were still stepbrothers. The townsfolk thought of them as blood family. Their dad still didn’t know. If Wyatt wanted to escape it all, he’d have to move Hazel and their home away from Meadowfall, and rebuild their roots somewhere else.
I can’t believe you never told me about the debt.
He held on to Raph’s hand, listening to the tinkling lullaby of the clinic.
24
Raph
Much later, when they were both in Wyatt’s bed, stripped down and sweaty, Wyatt said, “Someone has to move. Either you do, or Hazel and I will.”
Raph sighed. Yeah, there was that. He’d been hoping he didn’t have to discuss the debt—he’d been kicking himself for letting Wy see the text message—but deep down, he knew it wasn’t something they could avoid indefinitely.
He laced their fingers together, bringing Wyatt’s hand up to kiss his knuckles. “So we aren’t making the hour-long commute every day forever?”
Wyatt snorted, turning to sink his teeth into Raph’s bicep. The sharp points pressed lightly into Raph’s skin, and Raph wished Wyatt would bring his face closer, bite him on his scent gland.
But Wyatt never seemed to want to return his end of the bonding, and maybe he knew Raph wasn’t the greatest alpha there was. Wyatt deserved so much better, so much more than an alpha with a debt on his shoulders.
Their parents had struggled with debt. No reason to put Wyatt through it again. Except Raph didn’t want to let Wy go, either.
He swallowed. “I could apply for a transfer.
