“Ah, so Alex’s is back for a payday. He’s dangling an alpha grandson under our noses.”
Michael shook his head. “No. Alex never wanted me to know. He had moved away from here, but only came back because his mother got ill. She died recently and he would have moved away again had Micha not played around with his phone and saw someone with the same last name as him.”
“You still love him, don’t you?”
Michael nodded. “Yes. Ever since the first day I saw him.” There, he had claimed Alex.
“What about Duncan?”
“What about him? We’ve been engaged for six years. He doesn’t want to get married. I’m going to break the engagement.”
“I think that will be for the best,” Frank said. “Bring the child to dinner tomorrow and let your mother and I meet him.”
“Okay,” Michael said. “You’re going to love him. He looks just like me.”
* * * *
Duncan took the broken engagement well. He was evenexcited about Michael having a son. And, as Michael suspected, his parents loved Micha. Convincing Alex to forgive him and to start all over again took more work. Even though Michael apologized countless times for breaking up with him, Alex still didn’t trust that it wouldn’t happen again. In the meantime, he did land himself a better paying, fulltime job, and he never moved out of the penthouse.
In August, they registered Micha into a private elementary school. Both parents escorted him to school in September. Alex went into heat a day later. Luckily, Micha was out of school for Labor Day. He went to stay with his grandparents while Michael tended to his omega. Unfortunately, Alex’s heat set off Michael’s rut. And despite Michael’s promise to fight the urge to mate with his omega, their biological needs would not be denied. For three days they rediscovered each other’s bodies. The room filled with the scent of sunshine and pine. Michael fell in love with Alex all over again. At the beginning of the fourth day the fever was gone.
“What was that?” Alex asked when he senses came back to him.
“Love,” Michael answered.
Alex scowled at him. “Lust, probably.” He paused. “What happens if we…?”
“Then Micah will get a sibling,” Michael answered.
Alex looked at him oddly. “You want more kids?”
Michael nodded. “Sure. I’d love more kids with you.” He saw the confusion in Alex’s eyes. Omegas were unique creatures. They were caring, loving, and forgiving. They were also attached to their alphas by a unique bond. A month later they got married. Eight months later Micha’s baby sister was born.
The Crimson Garden by Alisa Lindfield-Pratt
Lady Margaret, the taker of my heart, lay listless in her bed. My chest tightened with worry, but outwardly, I remained calm. Bessie, her devoted maid, wiped a washcloth across her mistress’ brow, brushing away her auburn curls damp with perspiration. When her mistress failed to improve after a visit from Dr. Brown, the local physician, it was Bessie who came for me. Bessie was not blind to my knowledge of herbs nor to the growing forbidden affection between Lady Margaret and myself, a gardener of medicinal plants.
But they knew not of my craft, nor my connection with the spirits. That my herbs, blessed under a waxing moon, vibrated with intent. That the juice from the first pomegranates of the season, harvested from my dear departed father’s trees, would purify my beloved’s blood, restore her health, and ignite our love. Nor of the incantations I had taken from the old grimoire passed down to me by my dear mother.
I set my elixir, herbs, and two pomegranates on a table beside Lady Margaret’s bed. Bessie moved aside and busied herself with stoking the fire, allowing me access to her mistress. I poured the crimson elixir into a crystal glass and sat upon her bed, my knees brushing her person.
“My lady, it is Katharine,” I said.
Her eyelids fluttered open. Her teal eyes seemed distant. Taken, I thought, by the delirium.
“I have a drink for you.”
“Katharine?” she mustered with a whisper.
“Yes, it is I. Drink my lady. It will restore you.”
Bessie appeared on the other side of the bed and assisted me with placing pillows behind Lady Margaret’s head. She felt warm to the touch, and I sensed the weakness in her body. Bessie returned to her work at the fireplace. I reached for theglass of crimson elixir and Lady Margaret mustered her strength and lifted her head from the pillow. I touched the rim of the glass to her pale lips and she sipped the elixir. As she sipped, I whispered an incantation under my breath.
“You came to…me…” she said.
“Hush, my lady,” I said as I brushed a strand of hair from her forehead. “Drink. And then you must rest if you are to regain your strength.”
She took two more sips, then collapsed back onto the pillows. I settled her back on the bed and adjusted the bedclothes accordingly. On impulse, I reached for the washcloth and dabbed her forehead. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. I sat with her awhile.
