Page 52 of Evan and the Alpha

Part Two

The Cold-Blooded Kind of Love

15

Evan

Ipeer cautiously out the window. The rough edge of the sandy substance bites into my palms. When I catch a flash of metal in the afternoon rays of Enochtra, one of Veda-3’s suns, I duck back out of view.

It’s been three months since Sobek fought his father and won. Three months since Terek’s funeral pyre. And three months since I found out—or maybe finally admitted—I’m pregnant.

And now, a human ship has finally arrived. They were in orbit yesterday afternoon, but there was a lot of cloud cover, which had made it impossible for them to land. This morning, the wind cleared out the clouds, leaving the sky empty. The ship landed.

And we discovered that it is not theColumbia, with our crew, but a smaller cruiser dispatched from the nearest station. Seems theColumbiaused too much fuel breaking orbit to turn around and come rescue our sorry asses. They’ve had to turn off the afterburners to conserve fuel, which means it’s going to take them longer to get here—maybe another month or two. This cruiser has a dual mission: one, go top up theColumbia’s fuel tanks and their stores so they can actually make it back to the station themselves, and two, rescue our sorry butts.

Except I don’t really want to be rescued at this point. I mean, yeah, access to human medical technology would be great, considering I’m ostensibly male and I have yet to figure out how the heck I’m going to give birth to a human-kroakka baby on a planet where everyone else lays eggs, but otherwise, I’m not exactly eager to see other humans. Darwin’s bad enough; he sees me every day though, and he hasn’t commented on me being pregnant, other than with curiosity and kindness.

I’m not sure other humans will be so nice. And especially not the crew that just landed: Captain Scott Powell, my eldest brother, and his crew, along with Major Thomas Powell, my father, and my mom and my other brother Vince, just for shits and giggles.

I turned tail the second I saw Scott’s face. Sobek’s down there now, along with Darwin, talking to them, and I know it’s only a matter of time before they come back to the house.

Our house. The house Sobek inherited after he killed his father in a death match, meant to get me a territory so I could nest and lay eggs, back when he still thought humans did that.

I lay a hand over my belly and rub absently. I’m only three-ish months along, but they’re gonna notice. They’re totally gonna notice. Then they’re gonna want to know what the heck is wrong with me, and then the whole sordid tale’s gonna come out.

And then they’re gonna think I’m crazy, and Mom’s gonna cry and demand I go home. Dad’s gonna be pissed and yell at me a lot and demand I go home. And Scott and Vince are just gonna make fun of me. Like always.

I am … really not in the mood, I find. I sink down on the bed, sighing heavily. I glance down at myself, then lay a hand on my belly again. I’m not sure if I’m showing so bad because I was so skinny to start or if maybe it’s multiples (I fucking hope not) or if maybe I’ve just gained a lot of weight, because Sobek won’t stop bringing me food (gifts, he calls it). Maybe some combination of those factors.

At any rate, I’m definitely heavier than I was, my belly’s protruding, and I have tits. Which is all very weird, but I actually didn’t think much about it until I saw Scott taking off his helmet. It was kind of nice to not even think about my body for once—Sobek likes it, Sobek thinks I’m hot, and I felt pretty good about myself.

Scott, Scott’s a meathead, gym bro of the worst kind. He’s all protein shakes and never skip leg day. I look like I skipped leg day for the last twenty years. And arm day. And ab day. And whatever else day.

Vince is less of a bro about it, but he’s still … fit. Muscular. I’m just a gangly weed, and they’ve always, always made fun of me for it. And then there’s the fact I’m the youngest brother and I’m the gay brother.

I’m sure the fact I’m dating—married to?—a seven-foot-tall crocodile alien is not going to help me here. Although … maybe Sobek will bite their heads off or something.

I sigh, then freeze when I hear footsteps on the stairs leading up to the front door. The soft slap-slap is Sobek’s bare feet, followed by Darwin’s sandaled ones. Then there’s the heavy thump-thump of four sets of boots.

The whole gang’s here. Great.

“Perhaps he is lying down,” I hear Sobek suggest.

“Why would he be lying down?” my father grumps. “It’s the middle of the day.”

A pause. Then Sobek’s voice, nearer now. “Evan must take his rest, for he is—”

“Just fine,” Darwin cuts in, with an almost-nervous laugh. “Things are a little different here, though, Tom. No military drills at six in the morning, up with the sun.”

“Hmph,” Dad says, just beforeSobek pokes his head into our room.

I glance up at him—my alpha, my mate. My beautiful mate. His golden eyes wander over me, soft and loving, but also fierce. His scales shimmer in the afternoon light from the window, dancing between purple and blue. A lot of people would think he’s ugly, with his long, broad snout and his craggy fangs poking out of his mouth, but to me, he’s gorgeous.

“We have visitors,” he says. “Are you feeling well enough to receive them?”

I wish I could say no. I mean, I technically could, but that’s just delaying the inevitable at this point. I’m not going to feel better about seeing my dad or my mom or my brothers if I put it off to tomorrow or even the next day. So even though my stomach is in knots with nervousness, I nod. With a sigh, I push myself off the bed. “Yeah,” I say, grabbing one of the gauzy veils and wrapping it around myself. “I’m feeling pretty good. Let’s go see them.”

I can feel Sobek’s gaze roving my body. He’s pretty into this whole “pregnant Evan” thing, which I appreciate. Makes it a bit easier to forget how weird and uncomfortable it is. Or should be.