Page 37 of Evan and the Alpha

Evan stirs at the sound of our voices. He blinks a little. “Sobek? Terek?” He yawns, then rubs his eyes. “What time is it?”

He pauses and puts his hands down behind him, leaning his weight back on to them. “Why’s it so hot?” His skin has a sudden sheen to it; his cheeks are pinker. He’s going much faster than I thought he might. “Why do I feel so weird?”

“You need to leave this room now,” my phapha orders.

Confusion clouds Evan’s pretty face. “Huh? Why?”

“Just trust me,” Phapha says.

“Don’t,” I command, and Evan freezes. He looks between the two of us.

“Sobek,” Phapha chides.

“He’s my omega,” I counter.

“You’re in no shape …”

“What’s going on?” Evan looks wary still.

“You’re in heat,” Phapha says sharply, and Evan is stunned into silence. “Now get up. You’re not staying in here.”

“If he leaves, then I will go too.” I make a move to get up.

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Evan snaps at me. “You can’t get up yet. You have to stay in bed and rest.”

“See?” Phapha’s tone is mocking. “Even the omega knows.”

I scowl. “He is my omega. I will not let him out of my sight.” Not while I draw breath. Not while Evan’s in heat. Not while there’s another alpha around.

That would be the perfect coup for my alpha parent—cuckold me, claim my omega, keep his territory and the omega.

A growl rises unbidden in my throat. Evan looks between us again, then sits back down. He crosses his arms. “I’m not going anywhere,” he says.

Phapha sighs in exasperation. “Omega, please. My worthless child cannot tend to you.”

Evan shakes his head. “I’m here to take care of him.”

“Omega,” my phapha growls.

I sigh. “Evan. You are in heat.”

He looks at me with those green eyes of his. “I don’t understand what that means.”

My father seems surprised that the omega has admitted such a lack of knowledge. He looks to me expectantly. I feel embarrassment creep into the pit of my stomach, as though Evan’s naivete is a reflection on me. “It means you are now receptive to mating.”

Evan considers my phapha before looking back at me, a question in his eyes. I shake my head. I don’t just mean sex. Evan, oddly enough, seems to be quite receptive all the time. Although that might have been because he was coming up on a heat episode.

I try to think of a delicate way to phrase this, so that Evan will not get upset. My phapha, not realizing how skittish Evan is about this, says, “You’re ready to mate, in preparation for nesting and laying eggs.”

Evan boggles at him for what feels like a full minute. Then he keels over laughing. He laughs long and hard, clutching his stomach as he does it, kicking his legs. “Lay eggs!” he laughs finally. “Yeah, right!”

My father frowns at him. Then he turns to me. “Why does the omega think this is funny?”

“I’m unsure,” I reply.

“Humans—sun spirits,” he replies, “don’t lay eggs, for starters. Second, like I already told you, I can’t.”

“Don’t lay eggs,” Phapha murmurs.