“I..what?” The man all but roared. “What does he need protection from? What the fuck is that about? Whoare you?”
Behind me, Paul’s distress level was rapidly dropping and I heard a faint yawn followed by a sigh. “Please don’t swear, Father. Sylas doesn’t like it.”
And that, in case anyone was wondering, was when the manurereallyhit the fan.
Chapter Five
Paul
When I first woke up and found myself facing Sylas’s backside, naked except for a pair of skintight black boxer briefs covering his butt as he faced down my bellowing father, there was a split second when I thought I was dreaming and not in a good way. Of course, once I woke up and realized it wasrealand my father was threatening to haul me away, things promptly got much, much worse.
Remembering all too well the abuse he’d heaped on me the last time I had refused to cooperate, I bit down on my tongue to keep my mouth shut, silently screamingno!in my mind. To my absolute shock, a calm, soothing voice -Sylas’svoice- came in response, assuring me that I was safe and urging me to try and calm down. Truthfully, I was so shocked that I promptly forgot I was scared.
“Now,” I heard Sylas say firmly, his voice steely. “You are intruding and I am asking you to leave.”
The incredulous look on my father’s face had me fighting back a fit of giggles. No one but no one talked to the Senator from Texas like that. Except, apparently, the nearly naked Alpha who was braced between us.
My father wasn’t a small man by any means, nor was he unwilling to use violence to get his way. I drew in a sharp breath as he raised one fist and took a threatening step toward Sylas but my protector gave a sound that I almost thought was an amused snort and my father froze, slowly dropping his fist and letting his fingers unclench as his face turned an unhealthy shade of red.
He stumbled backward, reaching for the doorknob with the hand behind him, his face still tomato red. “The Director will hear about this,” he hissed unpleasantly. “Thepolicewill, too!”
Backing out the door, he turned and ran. Sylas stepped over to reclose the door, taking care to lock it before turning concerned eyes on me.
“Paul? Are you okay?”
I shook my head with a small laugh. “I don’t even know. Am I still sleeping?”
Sylas cracked a smile and walked over to sit beside me, apparently oblivious to our near-naked state. “I take it that that was your sire?”
I sighed. “My father, yes.” Once the adrenaline began to wear off, fear set in. “Sylas, you should probably go before he gets back with the police. He’s not a good person to piss off.” I forced a laugh. “There’s a good chance that he’ll blame you when he finds out I’m pregnant and try to ruin your life.” I groaned.
Instead of grabbing for his clothes, Sylas just shook his head. “He’s welcome to try. He never even asked if you were okay.”
I shrugged. “Yeah, that’s kind of how it is. He usually pretends I don’t exist so I don’t know why he was even here.” Except, I probably did. “Unless he wants more money.”
Sylas’s brow crept up. “Excuse me?”
“You really should go,” I reminded him. “This isn’t going to be pretty.”
“I’m not leaving you to deal with him unless that’s really what you want,” Sylas said firmly. “You seemed frightened of him and he didn’t seem concerned about your wellbeing.”
“Really?” I blinked. “You would really stay and help me?”
“I will,” Sylas said with a warm smile. “Now, we should have a few minutes. Why don’t you give me the story?”
Blowing out a breath, I slid out from the covers and walked over to the dresser for some clothes. If I was going to be committed, it wasn’t going to be in my undies. “It’s not a great story,” I warned. “He’s been a United States Senator for over thirty years. Twenty-two years ago, he had an affair with my Dad, the one who raised me.”
I pulled a soft t-shirt over my head and reached for my skinny jeans with a dry laugh. “Turns out that he’s an ABO denier.” At Sylas’s blank look, I explained. “Someone who thinks Alphas, Betas, and Omegas aren’t real? Just a way to drain resources from theregularpeople?”
“Weird but okay,” Sylas muttered.
I nodded. “Anyway, since he doesn’t believe Omegas are real, he also didn’t believe he could get his boyfriend pregnant.”
“Let me guess,” Sylas said dryly. “He was wrong?”
I snorted a laugh. “A little bit. Anyway, apparently he paid support to my Dad, but kept me a secret from everyone. I didn’t even know who he was until I was fifteen and my Dad was killed in a car accident.”
I swallowed against the lump in my throat. “Without any family, the social workers pulled my birth certificate and took me to his house one night with all my stuff. It, ah, didn’t go well,” I said weakly.
