Chapter 42
Mason
How did I think I could focus at work after the information Alex dropped on us last night?
At the moment, I’m sitting at the conference table while the junior partners give their updates for the month, except I don’t hear a damn thing.
I felt the moment something had changed in Hudson last night. Then I’d felt Alex’s fear.
Terror and panic unlike I’ve ever experienced crashed into my heart. Desmond called before I could even reach for my phone.
The high point is it sounds like mere morning sickness. But what if it’s more? What if something’s wrong with the baby? What if there’s something risky about the pregnancy?
What if there’s something wrong with Hudson?
As sick and cold as it sounds, it’s still super early on in the pregnancy, so early I’m not sure any of us have truly accepted the fact our omega is carrying our future heir. Meaning, we could try for another.
But Hudson…
As voices drone on around me, I raise a hand and press the heel of my palm to the center of my chest as an ache builds at the mere thought of losing him.
Haven’t I already, though? Hadn’t we already intended for this entire thing with him to be semi-temporary?
And then I marked him during his heat cycle. Me. The fucking pack lead and the one who’s supposed to be stable, and in control at all times.
A hand waves in front of my face and earns a deep rumbling growl from the depths of my soul.
That hand yanks away quickly, and I turn to see it’s my assistant attempting to gain my attention.
“I’m sorry, sir, but you have a phone call,” she says. Poor thing looks terrified and her normally neutral and calming beta scent smells stressed.
“My apologies,” I say, reaching over and gently touching her shoulder as I turn my chair to push to my feet.
I need a break anyway. I’ll take the call in my office and let Des fill me in on anything I need to know after the meeting.
Line one is flashing on my office phone. Hitting the extension, I put the receiver to my ear. “This is Mason Anders,” I say.
“Hey,” Alex says.
A frown draws my brows together. “Why didn’t you call my cell?”
“I did.” He’s whispering. Why is he whispering? “You didn’t answer.”
Reaching into the inside jacket of my suit, I pull my phone free and check. Shit. When had I turned the ringer off?
“Sorry. It was on silent. What’s up?”
“He’s in the hospital,” he says in that same hushed tone.
I lunge to my feet and grab my keys before I ask, “What happened?”
I need to grab Desmond. We need to go. We need to be by Hudson’s side.
“After his bout of sickness, he was really off. His skin was too pale, and his temperature kept rising. He got…dude, it was almost like he was incoherent and kept trailing off midsentence and wasn’t able to focus as I spoke to him.
I called an ambulance this morning. They ran some tests and I’m still waiting for someone to come in with the results. ”
“Wait, you fucking called an ambulance this morning and you’re only calling me now.” My voice has risen and I’m sure the whole office can hear me by how silent the entire place has suddenly grown.
Either Des hears my outburst or feels the stress and fear through the bond because he hurries into the room, concern etched into every line of his handsome face.
“What happened?” he asks.
He’s already gathering what he’ll need to take home with him before I tell him, “Alex had to call an ambulance. Hudson is in the hospital.” Shoving my keys into my pocket, I tell Alex, “We’re on our way. Text me the room number. And call me if you get any results before we get there.”
I end the call and half jog, half brisk walk through the office and to the elevators. I swear the few seconds it takes for one of the cars to arrive on this floor feel more like an eternity.
He has to be okay. Hudson has to be okay.
I’d kept the bond shut between us, unwilling to allow him to feel how deeply he’s embedded into my heart, mind, and body. We told him he was allowed to live his life as he pleased, that this situation is temporary.
When I’d bitten him, marked him, bonded him into the pack, feeling him there beside Des and Alex felt so normal.
Then the sense of responsibility and a hefty dose of guilt hit. Granted, I’d been pretty lost to rut, but that hadn’t been fair to Hudson. The rules had been laid out from the start and I’d broken it the first day with him in the nest.
Doesn’t change the fact that I want him.
And wanting him doesn’t change the plans we have for our future.
We never even contemplated adding anyone else to our pack. We were content just the three of us. Well, we wanted a child, wanted a family. But at no point had any of the three of us felt as though we needed to seek a beta or omega to round us out.
And then Hudson sauntered into our lives.
Sauntered might not be the right word. It’s more like he floated into our lives like an angel. A beautiful, sexy, strong, witty, kind angel who was willing to carry a child for three strangers.
We’d made promises. We promised him financial security, affection, and intimacy.
And we gave him one out of three.
Not that we don’t smother him with as much affection as possible on the weekends, but that’s not enough. I know that. Omegas need their alphas.
Pregnant omegas need the pheromones of their alphas.
What the fuck were we thinking? Why did we think any of this was a good idea?
Why the hell hadn’t I fought harder when Hudson decided to return to his own apartment rather than staying with us?
Sure, that was part of our agreement, that he was welcome to stay at his home and we would pay all his living expenses.
That isn’t enough for me.
Yet, I’m the one who’s been adamant about dissolving the bond the moment it’s safe enough for Hudson. As in after he delivers our child.
Selfish. I’m a selfish fuck.
A stupid selfish fuck at that.
This fucking car won’t go fast enough. Or rather, the traffic isn’t moving fast enough. If I could just get an opening on the highway, I can push the damn gas pedal to the floor to get to the hospital faster. As long as I didn’t kill me and Desmond in a fiery crash.
“What could have happened?” Des asks from beside me, though it sounds more like he’s talking to himself, wondering aloud rather than actually asking me my opinion.
I stay quiet and focus on avoiding rear ending the asshole currently doing ten under the speed limit in front of me.
Whipping around the sedan, I finally make it to the right exit and speed toward the hospital.
Fuck. I want to park outside the ER and simply run inside, but that’ll end up in my car getting towed or ticketed, neither of which I want to deal with right now.
Instead, I drop Desmond at the door, then find the closest parking spot I can. I don’t bother walking, simply take off at a run, slipping periodically when my dress shoes don’t offer any traction on the pavement.
Des is talking to Alex in hushed tones near the door when I finally make my way inside.
“He’s with the doctor. He asked me to step out,” Alex says, shoving his fingers through his hair. The way he looks, he’s obviously done that particular move a few times and hasn’t had any sleep.
He looks haggard, exhausted, distraught.
“He who? The doctor or Hudson?” Isn’t it our right to be in there with him? He’s our omega. The baby he’s carrying is ours.
“Hudson asked me to wait outside.”
“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath.
Had it been the doctor, I would have bullied my way right back into the room. But I feel as if I’ve treated Hudson so shitty, he has every right to demand some privacy.
“How long will it take?” I ask, shoving my hands in my pockets to keep from fidgeting…
Or punching a hole through the wall.
Alex shrugs, glancing in the direction of double doors where I assume Hudson is currently laid up.
The three of us start up this odd pattern of pacing. One will pace while the other watches the door. Then the next paces while the other will sit in a chair closest to the double doors.
After close to an hour, a nurse approaches. “Omega Harden has requested his alphas.”
Omega Harden. Did he give that name or did Alex?
And why the fuck does that feel so goddamn right.
Omega Harden. His alphas.
Mine.
Mine.
Fucking mine.
That simple statement from the nurse cements a decision in my head and heart – if he’ll still have us, I want Hudson permanently. I want to keep that bond intact.
And we’ll find a way to ensure one of us is either home with him all day or off work at a reasonable hour so he doesn’t spend every waking moment alone.
I want him to stay with us after our child is born. I want him to raise the child with us.
I want to have a formal bonding ceremony or wedding to announce to the world he’s ours as much as we’re his.