Chapter Eighteen #2
Zeller supposed Asher could be forgiven for not grasping the situation. He did not see the menace in Father’s expression, nor the wretchedness in Daddy’s. As a beta, he had never experienced full parental control, so he did not comprehend the weight of Zeller’s disobedience.
“I don’t know what they’re gonna do to me…after this. Just help… Do what you can… Whatever that ends up meaning.”
Asher squeezed his hand. “I love you, little brother.”
Zeller couldn’t bring himself to say it back.
Somewhere in his heart, he had love for Asher, but at that moment, all he could think about was how his brother could have assisted him in leaving months ago but chose not to.
Asher had assumed it would work out in the end—it suited his purposes to believe so—but it was obvious they had underestimated the depths to which their alpha father would sink.
Fleetingly, Zeller wondered if Father might kill him, eliminate the omega son who’d been defiled by a working-class alpha.
The omega son who had once been submissive but now challenged him at every turn.
The omega son who could embarrass him and tarnish his reputation.
The omega son who had gone from being a worthy bargaining chip to being wholly inconvenient.
Daddy shed silent tears as the men next to him loomed stoically.
Zeller huddled close to Antoni as Asher drove away.
“Why did you follow us?” Father asked Antoni.
“I heard Deveron crying from my room. I didn’t know what was happening, and I worried you might need me for something.”
His explanation was enough to appease Father. After all, the butler had been loyal to the family for decades.
“You have always had a soft heart for Zeller,” Father said. “And since you’re aware of everything else we’ve done for our ungrateful omega whelp and his regrettable spawn, I suppose it’s useful that you’re here.”
Zeller stared at Antoni. “What is he talking about?”
Antoni cast his gaze on the ground.
Father and Daddy moved closer.
“Are you okay?” Daddy asked timidly. He reached out, but Father yanked him back.
“He’s fine,” Father said. “Well enough to stumble away from the estate in the middle of the night and do exactly the opposite of what we instructed.”
“To protect my child,” Zeller said with little bite, laying a protective arm across his stomach. He knew he was beaten, but he was trying to remain calm. Yelling and arguing would not help.
“You keep forgetting.” Keyes tapped his lips. “That baby is not yours, is it? Not with you being underage. And having no husband. That baby is our responsibility.”
“I know, but—”
“No buts. We’ve been lenient so far, letting you sulk in your room and avoid meeting potential husbands, not to mention your refusal to accept that we will never allow you to be a single father.
” Keyes hitched his neck and the betas walked over to stand next to Zeller.
“But now that your stubbornness has resulted in this unfortunate escapade, I think it’s time we took our responsibility more seriously. ”
The men prodded Zeller to move toward the SUV his parents had been driving.
“Be careful with him,” Daddy whimpered.
“He’s fine,” Father bellowed.
As the men hoisted him into the car, Antoni leaned in.
“I’ll do what I can,” he whispered.
Those were the last words Zeller heard before he felt the stab of a needle in his arm and the world went black.
***
Beep…beep…beep…beep…
Zeller blinked, the rhythmic pings of the machine bringing him back to consciousness.
Pulling him out of a dream. He’d been walking through a garden.
It was hazy. Bits and pieces of a whole picture.
Valentin was there. He was talking to a little boy.
Their son. Perched on Valentin’s shoulders. Pointing at the flowers. Zinnias.
Zeller smiled. Fighting to stay in the scene even as it faded away.
Beep…beep…beep…beep…
A few more blinks, and he cleared his throat. It was dry. He tried to move his arms, but they wouldn’t budge.
“Oh, good, you’re awake.”
Zeller forced his eyes open wider and took stock of his surroundings. He lay in a bed in a room with stark white walls. There were needles in his arms. Hooked to IVs. The beeping never ceased.
He was in a hospital room.
A beta nurse smiled at him. “Hello there.”
Zeller coughed again.
“Don’t try to speak. I’ll grab you some water.”
The nurse put a straw to Zeller’s lips, and he managed a sip.
“I’m sure your arms and legs feel very heavy,” the nurse chattered away. “That’s because you’ve been out for a while. It’s normal. All that feeling should come back soon.”
Zeller dipped his chin. As the fog cleared, images flooded his mind.
The dark road. Asher. Antoni. His fathers and the men dressed in black.
He looked down at his body.
At his flat stomach.
“What…” he croaked.
“Like I said, you really shouldn’t try to speak yet. There will be time for all that as you recover.”
“No,” Zeller rasped. “Where…baby?”
The nurse’s forehead scrunched up. “Baby?”
“My baby?” he choked out the words.
“I’m not sure what you mean,” the nurse said gently. “Sounds like you might be confused. That’s normal. Let me see if any of your family members are here.” He left the room.
Zeller fought a rising swell of panic.
The door opened and Daddy shuffled in.
“Oh, thank goodness,” he said, sitting down next to the bed. “We were getting worried. The doctors told us you should have woken up hours ago.”
The staccato noise of the machine sped up. Beep beep beep beep beep beep.
Zeller narrowed his eyes. “Baby?” he whispered.
Daddy chewed his lip and looked nervously toward the door. “Hmm?”
Zeller’s gut tightened. His voice shook with effort. “My baby. Where?”
“I, uh, don’t know what you’re—”
Father burst into the room.
“Ah,” he said, placing a firm grip on Daddy’s shoulder. “You’re awake.”
“Where?” Zeller glared at him.
“Where what?”
“My baby,” Zeller hushed out. “Where is my baby?”
Father waved his fingers arrogantly. “I think you might be experiencing some side effects from the anesthesia. You don’t have any babies. Not yet. You’re not even married.”
Zeller’s breath caught.
“You’re in the hospital for an emergency appendectomy,” Daddy chimed in, brushing a thumb over Zeller’s cheek. “It went great. You’ll be home soon, and we can put all of this behind us.”
Mouth agape, Zeller flinched away from his touch.
What was this? Did his parents seriously think he could be gaslight into believing he had not been pregnant? That he was here for his appendix?
“Where. Is. My. Baby?”
“Perhaps we should get the nurse to come back and sedate you,” Father said smoothly.
Triumphantly.
Zeller’s insides grew hot. All the muscles in his body came alive with the force of his anger. And his impotence. His heavy limbs trembled.
“Where is my baby?” he asked again through gritted teeth.
“There is no baby,” Father said, his eyes boring into Zeller’s. “There never was.”