Page 71 of Alpha’s Conquest

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I could ask you the same question. You should be resting.” I joined him in the kitchen. He was cooking bacon and eggs for us.

“Hush. I slept enough. I’m worried about you right now.” His eyes searched mine, his body rigid with worry. He was so scared. I’d never seen him this afraid.

I crossed over to him and put my arms around his sturdy waist, resting my head on his chest. “I’m fine. We’re both fine.”

“You’re not bleeding?”

“No.” He was so warm, and his earthy scent soothed away any remaining aches. “Thank you for staying with me during your rut. I promise I’m okay.”

He folded into my embrace, resting his head on mine and wrapping his arms around me. “I will never not be afraid of hurting you or our baby, but I will never abandon you during my rut. Not ever.” I tightened my arms around him. It wasn’t close enough. I would never be close enough to him. “Thank you for taking care of me. And thank you for tending to yourself when I couldn’t.”

Tears pooled in my eyes. Why was I crying? Maybe because… I had never felt so safe or so seen after a rut. I knew deep down in my bones he would never walk away from me, and it had been so long, so long, since I had someone like that.

“Hey,” he cooed, gently wiping my face clean. “I’m here now. We’re both okay.” He brushed his thumbs across my cheeks to catch more tears. “I uhh… I said something to you last night.” My body went rigid as I realized what he meant. “I’m mostly angry that you first heard those words from me when I was high on rut pheromones. But I meant them, Casey. I love you. I love you more than I could ever say. I didn’t think it was possible to love someone this much. And I’m going to tell you every single day for the rest of our lives. I want a life with you, Casey. I will stay by your side no matter what.”

“I love you.” The tears returned in full force as I said the three words that unbound me. “I’ve wanted to tell you for so long. I love you, Adam. I thought falling in love again would feel like a cage, but I was wrong. I just want you. I love you so much, Adam.”

He picked me up in his arms, and we laughed and kissed in the morning sunlight. “I love you. And you have me, no matter what. Move in with me, Casey. I’ll take care of everything.”

The choice was easy. Simple. Just like loving him. “I do love your house.”

“Our house.”

Yes. Our house.

FORTY

Casey

Casey

Two years later

The scent of rain in the morning. The indent he left on his pillow. The warmth of his body still lingering in the sheets. His soft kiss before he left to make breakfast. The small things were the ones I cherished. But the best thing of all was my husband. My baby. And my new family.

I won the bet, by the way.

Adam and his sons had insisted our baby would be a boy. David bet ‘boy omega,’ just to be interesting. And simply because I refused to believe their assumptions had to be correct, I bet the one combination everyone insisted wouldn’t happen. Maddie was born a healthy omega female, with her father’s eyes and his ruddy red hair.

Everyone was shocked and disappointed that they had to pay up. Adam held our little baby with such care and love. He didn’t care that he’d lost. He insisted she looked like me, but the older she got, the more I could see the resemblance between them. She was stubborn and strong. Unrelenting, just like Adam. And despite the fact that her brothers were so much older than her, she never let them tell her what to do.

David and Dina loved Maddie. She spent more time at their house than ours sometimes. Marshall, on the other hand, was still living in Hanford and only visited every month or so. He always came with presents for Maddie, so she allowed him to continue his infrequent visits.

As for me, being a parent was a dream come true. Every small moment, from the first time she threw a ball to her first steps, made me more happy than I ever thought possible. Even though Maddie was quite the handful, every day with her was one I cherished.

Adam’s home became mine, and I’d slowly started adding my own touches to it. Adam’s plants remained, with a few new pots from me. He built me a little area on the patio outside our bedroom to replace my nest in Hanford. I could sit outside with Maddie under the shade, and drink in the soothing air of Oakridge. This was more than just finding my family. I’d found my home.

It was still early morning when I got up and started getting ready for my day. I had a week of work left on the mural outside the old pharmacy by the courthouse. Adam ordered more flowers for the landscaping around the building. The colors complimented the blues and red I was using on the wall.

Pulling on a pair of pants, I stood at the closet mirror and gently cupped my chest with both hands. It was tender and swollen with milk. I needed to pump before we went to work, and I’d have to keep pumping all day long just to keep my supply up. Maddie was getting a little old for it, but I almost didn’t want to stop. Some male omegas couldn’t produce milk. It made me so happy, knowing I was the one who fed our baby. I could just give it to another family, right?

Adam entered our room just in time to see me squeezing my nipple. The scent of his pheromones made a thick stream of milk drip down my hand. “You know better than to let that go to waste. Come here.”

Well, if I couldn’t give it to another family, I had someone who was always willing to help drain my milk.

I turned towards him, my eyes glazed over with desire. He drew me in, one arm holding me tight around the waist and arching me to meet his lips as they closed around my swollen nipple. “S-sir, fuck.” He suckled me, slowly releasing the ache in my chest. The added stimulation on my nipple started a fire inside me, making my cock painfully hard.