AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It’s obvious that Tyler is not from Circeana, but what he’s doing here and why is a mystery. Alyx seems certain, but he’s always been superstitious. The only thing we have to go off of is a fireball in the night sky. Part of me is not even certain Tylerwassent here by the Great Phoenix. Alyx and I have worked together for so long, just the two of us. Having to take care of Tyler is truly going to be a problem. It would be so much easier to just take him to the nearest city where an oracle or diviner can take care of him—someone with the qualifications to deal with an omega from another world—but I already know that I would never let that happen. Maybe I just have a thing about strays, being one myself. I want to keep him safe.
Suddenly, Tyler’s voice reverberates through the cave.
“Kalistratos!” he shouts. “Alyx! One of you!”
I unsheathe one of my blades and dash for the exit passage with Alyx right behind me. Were we found? Someone after the map?
When I emerge from the hole I find Tyler standing with the ragged shroud I’d pulled off the roadside altar wrapped around his waist.
“What’s the matter?” I call.
He spins around. Starlight glints off his naked chest and the smooth mound of his belly. He looks at me with an expression that’s locked somewhere between terror and utter disbelief. And I can’t believe it either.
Alyx’s tail puffs straight up. “You’re pregnant?!” he exclaims.
Pulled the words right from my head.
“I…I didn’t know! I can’t be!”
Tyler runs to us like he’s fleeing from a demon. I can see the panic coursing through his entire body.
“Careful,” I warn. “Or you’ll”—he slips on the wet rock, but I’m a step ahead of him and he falls right into my arms—“fall.”
He looks up at me, and I’m caught by surprise by the tears in his eyes.
“I wasn’t like this before,” he tells me. “I don’t know what’s happening. Kalistratos, what the fuck is going on with me?”
“I think you’re pregnant,” I say. Perhaps it wasn’t the best answer I could give.
He pushes me away and disappears back into the cave. Alyx and I look at each other and follow after him.
Tyler is crouched beneath an alcove of candles, staring into the wall. I cautiously make my way towards him. He looks possessed. Dead-eyed.
“Tyler,” I say. “It’s alright.”
“Cheesus, it’s not alright.” He stands up. His face is streaked with tears. “This shit is fucked up. God.” He looks down at his stomach and rubs his hand across the front. “How can this even be possible? And more importantly, who the fuck got me pregnant?!”
“Perhaps the one you?—”
Tyler furiously shakes his head. “No. No, Jeff didn’t get me pregnant. Kalistratos, we can’t get pregnant in my world, remember? And Jeff and I haven’t… We’re kind of on a break. I mean, it’s not a break since we’re not even…” He groans and crumples onto the ground.
His face is hidden in the crook of his elbow. I gently touch his shoulder.
“What am I doing here?” he says miserably.
“We’re going to find out,” I tell him. “We’re going to get our answers.”
His eyes are soft in the candlelight, and his hair glows like a golden crown on his head. He looks at me, and it feels like I’m seeing a different person from the man I first encountered in the swamp. It’s as though a shroud has fallen away to fully reveal the omega he is. It’s a vulnerability in his eyes. Not a helplessness or lack of strength, but a softness that my alpha heart immediately reacts to and catches me off guard.
Tyler drops his head despondently and sighs. “Kalistratos,” he mutters. “I guess I am going to need some clothing until mine dries.”
I dig through our stash and find an old woolen chiton tunic.
“Hey,” Alyx says. “That’s mine.”
“I don’t see you wearing it anymore,” I say.
I hand the tunic to Tyler, and he unfolds the cloth and gives it a puzzled look. “How do I…?”
