Chapter 16
OLIVER
Teddy spent the walk up the hill to my parents’ cottage clutching my hand.
A few good people of Beauville saw us in the street, including Morris, who was so stunned he walked into a lamppost and nearly hit his head.
By lunchtime, every bear in town would know about Teddy and me, but that didn’t matter anymore.
The only people who deserved an explanation were my parents.
“It’ll be fine,” I told Teddy for the umpteenth time.
“I know,” he mumbled, sounding unconvinced.
“You’ll be eating dinner at their table tonight.”
“I messed up, Oliver. I should make amends.”
“Feel free. But only after my dad apologizes for hanging up on me.”
Teddy chuckled. “I wish I had your confidence.”
As we neared the gate, I lifted his hand to my lips. “It’ll be just fine.”
I did become nervous, but mostly because it was so strange to knock. I’d never in my life had to knock on the door to my childhood home. Teddy shifted from foot to foot.
My omega dad opened with a broad smile on his face. It fell when he took in our expressions.
He glanced from me to Frey and back, his eyes going wide. “What’s going on? What did Hawke do?”
I couldn’t help but snicker at his assumption. My alpha dad had always been a hothead, and even though he’d calmed down with age, when something extraordinary went down in Beauville, Hawke “Chickie” Klondike was just as often the cause of a mess as he was the one smoothing things over.
“Nothing serious,” Teddy hurried to explain. “He’s okay. But we can’t get hold of him.”
My pa tilted his head to the side, looking confused. “He’s working today, but he was going to stop by your place, Frey, because you didn’t show up…”
“I’m so sorry for that, Phil, really. I honestly forgot.”
“We were worried about you. Did he come by?”
“He did. About an hour ago. That’s why we came here.”
Pa frowned. “I don’t understand.”
I squeezed Teddy’s hand, and my pa’s gaze zeroed in on where we were touching. His mouth fell open.
“Dad came to bang on Teddy’s door this morning and found my shoes in the hallway,” I said. “He jumped to conclusions and got mad.”
My pa stared at us, his face blank with surprise.
“We’re mates, Phil. I tried to fight it, but now that Oliver has come back to Beauville, we…” Teddy trailed off and gulped.
I figured it was just as well to get everything out in the open. “I went into heat for Teddy on Friday.”
I felt my alpha shudder next to me. My pa looked like a frozen video call. Then he lifted his hand to his mouth, and his eyes flooded with wetness. He must have done the math in his head. Bear shifter omega, fated mate, first heat…
“Oh my goodness. Are you…?”
“Yes, I’m pregnant. I’m recovering, but I feel great.”
A few seconds went by, during which I could hear my mate’s pounding heartbeat.
“How long have you known?” my pa asked shakily, his glistening eyes pinned on my face.
“Since forever,” I admitted. “I spent my teenage years pining after Teddy. Then I went away for college, and I wasn’t sure. I thought maybe it had been just a childish infatuation. Except I’ve never been interested in anyone else. I came back home, and everything clicked into place.”
A smile spread on my pa’s face, and the tears spilled over. “Ollie…” he choked out, and hugged me.
As I was crushed in my pa’s embrace, Teddy let out a mammoth sigh of relief. Pa turned to him and opened his arms. Teddy had to bend over to hug him back.
“This is wonderful,” Pa managed. “I’m… oh Lord, I’m slobbering all over you. I’m sorry.”
He patted my alpha’s arm and sniffled.
“This is great, Frey. You have no idea how happy I am it’s you. I don’t know if I would have ever trusted anyone else with our Oliver.”
Teddy gave a brisk nod. The expression on his face stole my breath. The most gorgeous, thankful smile adorned his lips while his eyes shone with pride.
“Thank you, Phil.” He cleared his throat and blinked rapidly. “Your blessing means a lot to me.”
“Oh, hush. You’re part of the family. We’re only making it official. So that’s why you didn’t come for dinner! Otherwise occupied.” Pa chuckled at his own joke, and Teddy’s face flooded with red. “But we’re standing in the doorway as if you were here to sell me bug spray. Come on in!”
“You might have to help us with Dad,” I said as we piled into our tiny old kitchen.
My pa paused on his way to the coffee maker and put his hands on his hips. “Why is he acting out? He should be over the moon.”
“I didn’t tell him we’re mated,” Teddy said. “He might have come to the wrong conclusion.”
“Why on earth didn’t you tell him?”
My scary alpha bear looked somehow smaller facing my five-foot nothing omega father. “He recognized Oliver’s shoes in the hallway and heard his voice, and before I could say something, he reached for his holster. I panicked.”
The twin creases I knew so well appeared between my pa’s eyebrows. “He did what ?”
“Maybe it was just a reflex, I don’t know. I doubt he wanted to hurt me in any way,” Teddy hurried to explain. “But I went mute, and he stormed away. He’s not picking up our calls.”
My pa rolled his eyes. “Damned, obstinate alpha. I’ll try to call him myself.”
All three of us were too keyed up to sit down, so we shuffled around in the cramped space while Pa dialed my dad three times in a row.
Except Dad didn’t pick up for Pa either, which made Pa livid. “What the hell does he think he can achieve? Is he determined to stay mad for nothing? Let’s take the car. We’re bound to spot him in his cruiser somewhere around town.”
“Unless he went off in fur,” Teddy suggested.
Pa shook his head. “Not when he’s working, he can’t.”
Just then, Teddy’s phone rang. He picked up immediately.
“Yeah?”
Monty’s voice was so loud, I could hear nearly every word.
“We have a situation. A bunch of cars, trucks, and a huge ass trailer appeared on the road behind the church. I can hear chainsaws going. I’ve seen Chickie’s cruiser on the way up there, but he might need backup. Jordy and I are ready to shift. You coming?”
“Don’t you dare!” I cried before Teddy could reply. “Nobody is going there in fur.”
Teddy flashed me a look. “We might have to.”
I leaned in so Monty could hear me too. “No, you don’t. We’re coming, but we’re driving a car and speaking to those people like civilized citizens.”
My mate regarded me carefully, and I could see in his eyes how he formed and dismissed a counterargument.
“Monty, I’m on my way,” he said, holding my gaze. “Don’t shift. Wait for me to call you back.”
“Sure, man.”
“You’re not going there in fur,” I said as soon as Teddy ended the call. “And I’m coming with you.”
“This might get dangerous, Oliver.”
“Why would it get dangerous unless you and my dad do something stupid, huh?”
“Oliver…”
It was time to spill the beans. “I know who bought the land.”
Now it was Teddy’s turn to gape.
“I know who bought the land, and I’m not letting you storm in there. We need to go and stop my dad from confronting them.”
“How do you know?”
“Calvin told me.”
Teddy looked utterly stunned. “Calvin?”
“He’s friends with them. And no, they’re not developers.”
“But…”
“I’ll explain on the way. Just come on. We can take my parents’ old truck.”
I waved to my pa, who was smiling at me. Was that pride in his gaze?
“You got this,” he mouthed, and winked.
I snatched the key from the hook in the hallway and headed for the driver’s side. Teddy almost bumped into me, then mumbled something unintelligible and walked around to the passenger door. He moved the seat way back and clipped in the seatbelt.
We spent the first minute in the truck in silence. Teddy must have been mulling over in his head whether to be mad at me for keeping information from him.
Finally, he opened his mouth as we swung onto Main Street. “So. Who is it?”
“Laurel Riley. He likes Beauville and wants to have a cottage here for recreational purposes.”
I slowed down to go over the speed bumps at the school.
“He bought thirty acres to build a cottage ?” Teddy asked.
“It might become more of a chalet. He wanted to stay anonymous as long as possible. Fans and paparazzi hunt him down wherever he goes, and Beauville was supposed to be his sanctuary. But then you and every alpha in town freaked out about developers.”
I made the sharp turn to the right behind the church, and the truck began climbing the steep road into the forest.
“How long have you known?” Teddy asked, his voice almost too quiet to be heard over the noise the truck was making on the rough gravel.
“Since a few days before the heat. Calvin swore me to secrecy. I was supposed to talk to Mr. Riley on Monday. My plan was to convince him to meet up with us when he finished his tour in Europe. But he canceled his last concert and was supposedly on his way back to the country.”
“Is he in Beauville now?”
“I don’t know. Seems kinda fast. It might be just his staff preparing for his arrival.”
Teddy merely grunted in reply. I couldn’t check his expression as I navigated the bumpy, narrow road.
“Are you angry with me?” I asked.
“Do you think I should be?”
“Maybe. I didn’t like keeping it a secret from you, but I didn’t think I had a choice.”
“Well, I’m not. But I’m annoyed by the entire situation.”
“I’m sorry,” I piped up. I’d make it up to him later tonight, hopefully with my mouth on his lovely cock.
The forest opened into a clearing, and I slowed to a crawl. The scene before us looked like something from a bad action flick.