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Orla had warned me yesterday that things were looking worse and I was trying my hardest not to think about what that meant, but seeing him now I knew she was right.
Leith was the bravest of the bunch and jumped in to introduce himself first. “Nice to meet you, sir, I’m Leith and this is Enzo, another alpha in our pack and finally our omega, Artie.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Artie said, looking nervous as he and Charm stood at attention like a pair of soldiers waiting for their marching orders.
“I see…” Finneas looked between them. “So which one of you got my daughter pregnant.”
I gaped at him. “How do you know about that?”
He wasn’t supposed to know that information yet and I’d been wearing oversized clothing to hide the bump from him in the first place. I hadn’t been sure if I wanted to tell him or not, though that seemed to be a moot point now.
Finneas shot me an incredulous look. “Ciara. You may think I can’t hear you going out into the hallway to boke into the trash bin, but I assure you it’s been very obvious. Oh, and Dr. Monning loves a good craic and told me all about it after examining you.”
I hadn’t seen that doctor since that first day, but apparently Finneas had.
“So, out with it, which one of you impregnated my daughter?”
Artie slowly lifted a hand, his normally pale cheeks ruddy with a blush.
“I see,” Finneas repeated again. “And are you going to take responsibility?”
“Oi,” I warned, turning to face him fully. “I don’t know if you giving the protective da speech is really appropriate considering the situation here, Finneas.”
“What? I’ve never gotten to do it before and while we’re not in the states and I can’t threaten them with a shotgun the way those dads of yours over there can, I can still make sure that they’ll take care of you.”
I really couldn’t say anything to that and I leaned back in my seat and crossed my arms over my chest, giving in to the entire messy business unfolding in front of me.
Finneas seemed pleased by that and he turned back to Artie again with an incredibly smug, incredibly silly smile. “So? Are you taking responsibility?”
“Yes,” Artie squeaked. “I mean, I guess we already have? She’s already bitten me.”
The omega gestured to the silver bite mark that was high on his neck, just underneath his ear.
“Good. I’m not long for this Earth and just as soon as they find Father Lafferty I plan on meeting my maker and atoning for all of my sins, but I want to make sure that Ciara here is happy and taken care of.”
It was the same words he’d been repeating for the past week and when I asked Orla about it she’d told me that Father Lafferty had passed away last year and no one had the heart to tell Finneas.
“You might want to consider Father Murphy, Finneas,” I cut in. “I hear he’s very good.”
My accent had gotten stronger over the last couple of weeks, though I knew I still sounded oddly American to most of the people that I’d spoken to since arriving.
It seemed to surprise the three men who were staring at me as if they’d never heard me before and I felt my cheeks warm.
“Pah, Father Murphy is barely a priest. What is he, twenty-four-years old? How can he give me last rites when he’s barely been given his first ones?” Finneas waved a hand in the air before he began to have a coughing fit, the machines around him starting to beep wildly.
As if on cue, the room began to fill with nurses.
“Could you all please step out for a bit?” Orla, dressed in her usual clean, white uniform, said to us as she stepped inside.
“Now hang on a minute,” Finneas managed around a cough. “I’m not done talking to them.”
“You’re going to be done talking to them forever if we don’t get a handle on you,” Orla scolded as we were shooed from the room.
Once the door snapped shut behind us, we stood in the hallway for a moment until Enzo spoke first.
“You have the same smile as him,” he said with wonder. “And the same laugh too—the way you throw your heads back and the crinkle in the corners of your eyes. It’s almost eerie.”
“That’s genetics for you,” I said with a shrug. “Though don’t be fooled, my stubbornness comes straight from the Peterson clan. No sharing of blood needed.”
