Kieran, completely lost in the alpha madness, hissed at his brother to display his impressive set of fangs. He tackled Tristan to the bloody floor. The animalistic snarls were thunderous in the high-ceiling room. Once the grand doors closed in their faces, the outside hallway was eerily quiet, making it unknown if Kieran was winning or losing.

Teru took a wobbly step forward. "Wait, he shouldn't-"

A hand gently grasped his shoulder to stop him. Dr. Charles said, "Not only is it dangerous, but it's not your place to come in between a challenge. You'll only hinder Kieran."

An invisible cord tethered his soul to the alpha inside the king's court, pulling him there. "I just want to help."

"Help? You're in shock." He must've thought Tristan's stunt had shaken him up. Only a crazy omega with a death wish would want to interfere. It was frightening, but Teru oddly felt okay. Physically, he was bruised. Mentally, not so bad.

"I think I'm fine." Teru stared at the doors where the brawl was occurring. "Somehow, I knew Kieran wouldn't let him take me."

But he's going to get an earful later!

They heard a splash of water drip on the floor. The two looked at a startled Ravi. Teru had forgotten he was there. Underneath him was a clear puddle trickling from his crotch, soaking through the stretchy pants. It smelled faintly sweet, meaning it wasn't water. Dr. Charles wasted no time picking up the very pregnant omega, cradling him to stop the liquid from leaking further. The vamp wasn't panicking at all, but that was to be expected since doctors had to be calm for their patient's sake.

"Well, that's our cue," he said and hurried in the other direction. Teru hesitated, forcing himself to turn away from the doors and follow them. His nape itched to go back as they rode the elevator downward. When arriving at the maternity ward, he read the signs labeling the different sections-birthing, surgical, laboratory, guest cafe, spa room, nursing station, and private bedrooms for the mothers and their pups. Piano music played in the background.

The smells were something else, too-blood, cleaning chemicals, flower air fresheners, baby powder, and omega. His throat tightened up at the feminine pheromones, all unique with their own beautiful scent. Was this real? This wasn't a dream? It felt like yesterday when he thought the only omega he'd ever smell was himself!

The nurses, who were mostly vampires and a few human servants lucky enough to land a job here, said hello to Teru without an ounce of hostility. The greetings weren't cold. They were genuine, a refreshing experience because everyone else eyed him like a slab of ultra-rare steak. Some were excited when he passed by.

"They're happy to see you," Dr. Charles said over his shoulder. "Many of them have been in the industry for a long time before our takeover. They respect all mothers, including human omegas."

"But I'm not a...mother." It was a little embarrassing to say the parental title.

"Have you ever thought about it?"

Teru recalled the times he played with the Valley Pack's pups. They gravitated toward him often because they could sense his nurturing instincts, but he never considered having any himself. He wanted to hunt and work first. Plus, the fact that he didn't have a partner. Screw Nolan and his douchebaggery.

A servant wearing a pink uniform walked by them holding a swaddled baby, not even a day old. Its chubby face was peaceful as it slept in her arms. The tiny patch of blonde hair was so thin that you could see through the wisps. He wondered what a pup would look like with dark reddish hair and green eyes. A strong longing for something he didn't have throbbed in him, like a wish that went unfulfilled.

Teru realized he had paused in the middle of the hallway to look at the little pup, deep in his own aching daydreams. He caught up to the physician before stopping in front of automatic sliding doors. The digital screen indicated it was for surgery.

He placed Ravi in a wheelchair. "Prep room #3 for a cesarean section. If the king asks, Ravi had a natural birth without pain relief."

"Yes, sir." She started to wheel Ravi through the doors before he grabbed Teru's hand. His chestnut brown eyes stared into his, nervous but pleading.

"Can you be there with me?" he asked in a soft voice. This was the first time he heard him talk. "I don't want to be alone. Liam said he has bad nausea lately and can't come."

Teru was taken aback. He's witnessed female births, but never a male omega one. As they looked at each other, there was a connection between them. He had a similar feeling when he met Liam, too, purring together with interest. Dr. Charles wouldn't get it. Kieran would be clueless. They were two omegas relating to one another, simple as that.

He squeezed his hand in assurance. "Yeah, I won't leave you."

Ravi let go, relieved. She took him away.

"Well then, Teru, let's get sterilized and ready for surgery."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He stood in the corner, watching everything with amazement. This sort of thing wasn't possible for humans in the wild. They wore aqua robes, blue latex gloves, thin caps, and masks. The environment was squeaky clean compared to the cave's dirty floor.

Two nurses scrambled to prepare by putting a needle in Ravi's arm, measuring his blood pressure, and shaving the thin hair on his swollen belly. Dr. Charles asked him if he consented to the c-section. Apparently, Abaddon ordered his harem to give birth naturally unless there was a breach, but Wrath would secretly ask the omegas about their birthing preferences anyway-epidural, natural, or cesarean. Ravi chose the latter months ago. What was an epidural, anyway? These unfamiliar words jumbled in his head.

Since they were vampires, they'd heal completely within hours and the king would never know of the birthing method. It seemed the employees in the room were loyal to Dr. Charles, also wanting laboring mothers to have the option to do what they wanted.

Teru liked this place.

They rolled Ravi onto his side. The physician held a big needle.

What is that for? Are they...they're not going to put that in him, are they? Oh....oh my heavens, they really are. Isn't that painful?

The needle disappeared into Ravi's spine. Scratch that. Teru did not like this place.

"Can you sit beside Ravi's head, Teru? Keep him company. It'll take five minutes for the spinal block to take effect."

He walked unsteadily on the other side of the curtain draped over Ravi's belly. After he sat down on a swivel chair, it was slightly awkward because he didn't know what to do or say. Everyone else was on stand-by, talking quietly to each other about their day.

"Do you ever feel burdened?" Ravi asked him out of the blue.

Teru looked down at him. "By what?"

"Everything."

Teru knew the exhausting feeling well. It was the bane of his existence. "Every day. My mom wanted to pair me off quickly. The pack leader tried to get in my pants when he could. The vampires look at me to bring back a gender they thought was extinct in humans. It's freaking tiring."

Ravi chuckled. "I get it. I felt that way before I was turned, and I still feel like that. It's more stressful since this pointless program failed to produce omega pups, human and vampire. They always say bull crap like 'pray for an omega,' but we all know it won't happen."

"Turned? Does that mean you were human?"

Dr. Charles interrupted them. "Do you feel this, Ravi?" He tested to see if his lower half was numb.

"I do not."

"What about this?"

"No."

"Then, let's have a new pup in thirty minutes' time. Teru, please don't move from that spot. The last thing I need is Kieran strangling me when he sees you passed out. I'm sure he'll be finished with Tristan soon."

"O-okay."

The doctor held out his hand. His assistant knew what he wanted and handed him a scalpel. The smell of blood filled the room. They were literally cutting him open!

"Does that hurt?" Teru asked him.

"Nope, only a little uncomfortable. And about your question earlier, yes, I used to be human. I had a good life in Oregon with my own tea shop. I was set to be married to my high school sweetheart. We planned on marking after the wedding. When the vampires came along, the soldiers burned down my business. They sold my alpha as a blood slave. I was placed here, using me like a breeding bitch for a while. When I was in my late 20's, that assho-I mean, Master, turned me. He was worried I would lose my fertility window if he waited any longer. Here I am, forever this age, never becoming barren. It's a sick world. Did you know Liam was also human? He told me he met you under some shitty circumstances."

He tried to follow along. Tea shop? High school sweethearts? He needed to learn more about Before. Teru glanced at the other vampires. Were they okay hearing this sort of talk from someone in the harem?

"How many pups-?" Was this question too rude to ask?

Ravi didn't mind answering. "As a human, I had two betas. They're long gone, buried at the cemetery here in the city. As a vampire, this will be my fourth. My next three pups, two betas and one alpha, are adults now. They rarely see me since pure-blooded vampires don't feel familial connections as strong as humans do. They let go of my apron strings to be on their own when they became ten, maybe eleven."

Kieran was also young when he left his mother. Vampires matured amazingly fast.

Teru noted the way Ravi stared at him closely, examining his features. "You remind me of someone I used to know," he said sleepily with glazed eyes.

"I do?"

"Hmm, yeah. You look like him, too. That's why I felt comfortable with you. I ddon't normallyy talk tttthis much to sssomeone I just met." His words slurred.

"Ravi?"

"He's fine," Dr. Charles told him from the other side. "Probably feeling a slight high from the medicine. We're almost done."

Teru waited, listening to the careful incisions through womb tissues. He didn't need to look to know it was a bloody mess.

"You did a good job helping him."

This comment made Teru feel bashful. "I didn't do anything, though."

"Oh, you did. He had a difficult time when he lost a close friend long ago and hasn't fully recovered from the loss, so I'm glad to see him open up. I guess there's something about you." A lot of people said the same thing despite being a boring, average human with tons of emotional baggage.

"Teru, do you mind if we talk privately after this before Kieran fetches you? It's regarding your heat."

"My heat?"

A squealing cry sounded in the room. The pup was taking its first breath! Dr. Charles held it up for them to see. All sorts of goop covered its skin.

"Congratulations, it's a girl! This is your first female, correct?" The nurse carefully took the crying pup and went to place her on Ravi's chest.

Ravi turned his head away. His bottom lip trembled. "I'm sssorry, but I wantttt him to dddo it."

"Teru?" Charles asked. "Are you sure? This is important for bonding-"

"I can't!" he yelled. The pup's cries became louder, too.

Without a second to spare, Teru was suddenly holding a naked, slippery pup in his arms, getting his scrubs dirty. His arms didn't know how to hold her as she thrashed around. When he gripped her more tightly, she stopped screaming and looked at him with hazel eyes. Unlike humans, a baby vamp's fangs were already emerging from their gums, a fact he learned from a new romance movie with vampire actors. One of them poked out of her mouth.

A warm feeling made him feel full. Complete. Instinctually, he rocked her gently. The pup had a scent. Peaches. It paired well with Ravi's cherry scent. There was something else; a hint of musk mixed in. She was angry about being taken away from her warm, watery home.

"She's an alpha," Teru said without thinking.

"You have a keen sense of smell. Not even I can smell her pheromones yet."

He returned her to the nurse so they could cut the umbilical cord. Ravi was peeking at her as Dr. Charles tended to his stomach. Though the veteran mother refused to hold the newborn, he couldn't help but be curious about her; it was in their nature.

"She looks like the sire," he murmured emotionlessly, referring to her olive-toned skin and curly brown hair. The sire? Did he mean the father? Perhaps she reminded him too much of when she was conceived, and based on the way Abaddon ran things in his playrooms...

Teru said it before and he'll say it again. That monster was truly and utterly a bastard.

Dr. Charles approached him. "Go undress and wait for me outside. After I finish consulting Ravi, let's have a chat, shall we?"