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“Touchy?” Gray’s eyes widened, and he paused, appearing to collect his thoughts. “Who said it was touchy?”
“It seems so to me,” Wilder murmured, more than interested in knowing more about the beta. “I’m curious why.”
Gray paused a moment, his gaze searching the horizon. “His parents used his middle name. After his parents’ passing, there was a mix-up with his identification cards. Some listed him as Avery… some as Abraham… and it caused problems. It took a long time for it to be cleared… and Abraham decided it would be easier to use his given name. After twenty years of calling him Avery, I sometimes forget and say the wrong one.”
That story made more sense than any he’d gotten, but Wilder detected he wasn’t getting the whole truth. Nothing about Abraham Norcross was logical, and the more time passed, the more questions Wilder had.
“Youarecoming to the birthday party tomorrow, aren’t you?” Gray asked, changing the subject. “The twins will want their Uncle Wild there.”
“Just try to stop me,” Wilder answered as they came to a stop beside Gray’s car. He opened the door and helped the omega into the backseat of the large vehicle.
“Good,” Gray said with a smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
The door closed… but the window went down before the driver pulled away.
“Abraham will be there,” Gray said with another of his odd smiles. “In case you wished to say hello.”
Heat filled Wilder’s face. Was his interest obvious? If so, he’d need to work harder to hide it. An alpha and a beta? It was unheard of.
Gray gave him a sly smile before the window went back up. Wilder observed the car pull away, his mind drifting to Abraham.
Avery.
The name played over and over in his head… and a vision of the male came to his mind. Just the wayward thought made his body tighten more and his lust flow.
Hell, maybe I shouldn’t go.
All the while Wilder realized there was no way in hell anything was keeping him away from seeing Abraham Norcross.
* * *
Later that afternoon
Avery satin a dusty office on the campus of the College of Waltyn & Marris, staring at the mountains of books, papers, and other assorted paraphernalia that teetered precariously on every surface of Dean Hightower’s workspace. The room was not large as it was, but the plethora of hoarded items—no doubt treasures in the eyes of the man behind the desk—made it feel claustrophobic. The man himself was small. Compared to the surrounding stacks, he faded into them, his tweed coat and skin and similarly colored hair too dull to make him stand out. Had it not been for his bright red bowtie, Avery wasn’t sure if the man might go unnoticed.
“Your grades have been exemplary,” the Dean of Students remarked while looking over Avery’s transcript. He lifted his gaze, and Avery was sure the man looked quite toadish, yet somehownotin a horrifying way. Hightower’s appearance made him smile, halfway expecting a long tongue to snake out and zap a passing fly from the air. “I see Professor Higgins noted you have a keen mind for forensic accounting, Mr. Norcross.”
Avery cringed. He’d worked his ass off with something to prove. For once, he’d love to hear his own name from a professor’s lips. Yet that wasn’t anyone’s fault but his. HewasAbraham Norcross now. There was no other way. “I enjoyed the courses Professor Higgins taught.”
“Well,” the older beta said as he reached for a folder on a shelf behind him. Avery winced, waiting for the whole puzzle of books and papers to come toppling over. It wobbled a bit, but remained in place. After sliding it down, the man turned back to face Avery, almost looking pleased with himself for not being crushed. “I’ve been made aware of an internship at Reece & White, in their forensic accounting department. Unpaid, but with the potential for a job opening for the right candidate.”
Avery sat up a little straighter. Reece & White was a prestigious accounting firm, and he’d love to work there. For them to have an opening in an area he was interested in was just icing on the proverbial cake.
Unpaid, though?The whole reason he’d gone to college was so he might provide for his younger brothers.
Younger brothers who now lived in the F Quad with his uncle and Rohan—along with their growing brood of children. Their situation had quite changed over the last four years. When his parents died, his brothers moved to live with their then-unmated uncle. Avery had already been heat age and had lived there already. With no means of income besides their parents’ limited savings and the income off the sale of the family home—and little prospects of a legitimate salary coming from anywhere else—Avery did what needed to be done.
He’d become Abraham and sought an illegal education.
His uncle hadalsodone what needed to be done. Gray gave his body to protect them—literally. His uncle signed a contract to become a surrogate for Rohan and Jamie Parker. A deathly ill Jamie used the time to push his alpha into Gray’s arms. It hadn’t worked quite as intended—yet ultimately, the two found solace in one another after Jamie’s death.
Once Gray and Rohan had gotten on even footing, they’d offered a home to him and his younger brothers, Lake and Auggie, so he could focus on his education. At first, he’d refused their desire to move; but it gave his brothers a better opportunity outside the OQ. Lake and Auggie had access to better schools and been able to return to the life and friends they’d lived before their parents’ deaths.
He’d found himself at a loss for why they couldn’t go. Avery begrudgingly accepted his uncle’s offer to care for his younger brothers.
But he’d remained in the small Omega Quad cottage alone. Studying was easier in the quiet versus a house filled with rambunctious children and a set of newborn twins. Rohan and Gray only compounded his decision with the announcement of a third child to come. Now the pair was pregnant with theirfourth.
Lake and Auggie were both well settled and thriving in the Family Quad. Perhaps Avery had a little more time for an internship that might take him where he wanted to go career-wise.
