Chapter 97
Chapter Ninety-Seven
~Harlow~
"I apologized, didn't I? You said apologize. What else do you want me to do, get on my damn hands and knees and beg you to forgive me?"
“Well, that wouldn't hurt," I snap back at him sarcastically, and he suddenly drops to his knees. I blink at him as he stares at my huge belly. Any lower, and he will disappear under it, just like my damn vagina, which I haven't seen in two weeks.
Thane stares at my stomach and the stretch marks that now lace my skin.
As if seeing how huge I am now really makes him see exactly what my body contains.
Ten little fingers, ten little toes, and one beating heart that he helped make.
His feelings through the bond tell me he wants to touch it, feel her move.
His apology is long forgotten, mesmerized as he watches my belly ripple as she moves inside me.
His hands move to my hips before running up and across my belly. He rests his hands on the sides of my belly, and her movements stop for a second before it feels like she rolls, my belly moving in a wave beneath his hands, and he smiles, glancing up at me.
Thane leans forward on his knees, pressing his lips against my belly before resting his ear against it. He exhales, and I brush my fingers through his hair. He turns his face into my palm, kissing it.
"Don't cut me out of her life, Harlow," Thane whispers.
"I was never going to cut you from her life, only mine."
"I don't want to be cut from yours either."
"Then prove to me you are worth keeping in it. I am sick and tired of living up to everyone else's expectations, when no one bothers to try to live up to mine," I tell him, and he looks up at me.
"And what do you expect of us?"
"I expect you to listen, to stand behind me because the only damn thing that ever has is my shadow.
And I am tired of running; I am tired of fighting to be heard.
I want to be seen as more than just an Omega.
I expect you to let me be Harlow, expect you to let me make my own decisions. That is all I expect of you."
"You want to make all the decisions?" he asks, and I sigh before shaking my head.
"Not all. I just want to be included in them, especially when they affect me. I am sick of being told to sit and obey, to be seen and not heard. You own this city. You have the power to change things, not just for me, but for her," I tell him, running my hands over my belly.
"We are not objects; we bleed and hurt like everyone else.
But we are taught to never show our pain because we are taught to expect it.
I don't want her to grow up knowing her worth is dependent on her Omega score.
I want our daughter to grow up with a voice, and I want her fathers in her corner when she uses it because that's where I'll be. "
"She won't have to worry about that. You have the serum."
"And if she is born Alpha, Thane? Then what? Problem solved? She will grow up with the same mindset you have, that Omegas are beneath her. That I am beneath her," I tell him.
"I don't understand what it is you're asking of me?"
"I don't want to be your Omega, Thane. I also don't want to be an Alpha. No titles. I want family, everyone equal, everyone heard, everyone loved. I want this city to be safe for her no matter her status."
"You want me to change the laws everyone has lived by since forever?"
"No, you can change them in this city, but in the rest of the world that will take time. Make this city a safe haven for Omegas. You have the power to do that. You're the ranking Alpha here; you have a say in what laws are made because you help make them."
"What's the point of changing the laws here if they won't change everywhere else, Harlow? It will just cause an uproar."
"Exactly! We’d be setting an example. A foundation for change.
That is what your mother wanted. I have spent the last few weeks reading up on everything your mother did, and you know what she lacked?
Her Alphas. Omegas are seen as property, yet your fathers never fought for their so-called property when she took on the councils; when she tried to open the very same facility that you are building in her honor. "
"No, she was equal to them. They gave her their serum."
"Equal only in the sense that she couldn't be commanded by them.
That is all the serum does. If she was really their equal, she wouldn't have needed that serum because they would never have attempted to command her in the first place.
My guess is the reason they gave her the serum was the same reason you gave me yours.
Because they fucked up and needed to earn her trust. And if that is the case, then it is the same reason why I haven't taken it; I shouldn't have to.
I want to be equal to you because you see me as equal, not on the false pretense of being equal under a serum I shouldn't need if you loved me. "
"That's why you haven't taken it, not just because of our daughter?" he asks.
"I need to know I can trust you. The serum stops you from commanding me. It doesn't stop you from controlling me, though. There is nothing stopping you from dragging me back down to that Den; the only difference would be you couldn't command me down there. You'd have to drag me."
"So that's all you want?"
"Yes. And I want the begging and pleading you offered. I am enjoying seeing you on your knees. You may beg for my forgiveness now." I laugh when Thane raises an eyebrow at me.
"I've never had to beg before," he mumbles.
"Well, it will be a humbling experience for you then, so hop to it; I'm waiting," I chuckle, smiling down at him.
"I feel like I am getting the short stick here. I'm the only one being forced to do anything. If I am going to humiliate myself, I want to know what I am going to get out of it," he says, rubbing my thighs.
"A family. If you keep your word," I tell him.
"And if I don't keep my word?"
"Then you better get used to being on your knees because you'll have a lot of begging to do."
Thane laughs and kisses my belly.