“What do you mean?” Miranda finally asked, dumbfounded. She stared at Kyle as if he were a magician who had just performed a trick she couldn’t comprehend.
“I said, I’m not Chase,” Kyle repeated. “My name is Kyle.”
Stark winced when his mother turned to him and spoke as if Kyle wasn’t even there. “What is going on, Stark?” she demanded. “You told me on the phone you were dating an omega named Chase. Are you dating both of these omegas at the same time?”
“What?” Stark cried. “No!”
“Well, what happened to him? He seemed perfectly nice from the way you described him on the phone,” his mother continued. Stark saw the shrivelled expression on Kyle’s face and wished she would just stop talking.
“Mom,” Stark said firmly. “Kyleis the one I’m dating. Forget about Chase.”
Miranda blinked and turned to Kyle, as if remembering he was still standing there. “Oh,” she said. “I see.”
Stark felt a painful pang of sympathy for Kyle, who looked like he wanted to disappear into the floor.
“Well, I’m sorry,” Miranda said to him, not sounding very sorry. “This wasn’t really what we were expecting, but… Tell us about yourself, then, Kyle.”
“Um… okay,” Kyle mumbled. Stark felt horrible. He knew Kyle was already nervous about meeting his parents, and now he was pale and scared, like he had lost all his nerve. “Well, there’s not much to say,” Kyle admitted. “I was born and raised in the lower ring, but when I reached adulthood I was chosen to be transferred to the, um… Old omega breeding facility in the middle ring.”
A flash of horror bloomed across Miranda’s face. “What?”
Kyle blinked, not knowing what to say. Stark stepped in. “What’s the problem, mother?” he asked stiffly.
“Nothing,” she said. “Please continue.”
Stark tried not to grimace. He already knew she wasn’t interested in the rest of Kyle’s story - at least not in a positive way. Behind his mother, his father was standing silently with a tight expression. Stark guessed he wasn’t too thrilled about the whole situation either.
“Um,” Kyle said, looking like continuing his story was the last thing he wanted to do. “Sorry, there’s not really much else… Once the facility got shut down, I got my own apartment - well, Scout, the king’s mate, bought it for me - and I’ve lived there since.”
Stark hated the way his mother’s eyebrows shot up at the mention of Scout buying the apartment for Kyle. He instantly knew what she was thinking but hopefully wouldn’t say out loud - that Kyle was a mooch. Which he absolutely wasn’t. But Stark knew the way she thought, and he hated it.
“I see,” Miranda finally said curtly. “Well, that’s nice. I’m glad you seem to have good friends like Stark. That makes a lot of difference in recovery.”
Friends? Recovery?Stark was furious.
“That’s enough,” Stark growled, stepping forward in-between Kyle and his mother. “If you’re going to keep being rude to my mate, you can leave.”
Miranda glanced quickly back and forth between Kyle and Stark before whispering to her son, “Stark, honey, certainly - “ She paused suddenly, then apparently could no longer control the volume of her voice, as she cried, “Yourmate!?”
“Yes,” Stark said, narrowing his eyes. He raised his own voice firmly. “Not only is Kyle my mate, but he’s pregnant with my child. And if you can’t respect that, you can get out of my house.”
Miranda’s jaw dropped. Stark could have sworn he saw a vein bursting out of her forehead.
“What?” she exploded. “Pregnant?”
“Son, don’t scare your mother like that,” his father muttered sternly.
Stark was shocked at how horribly his parents were reacting to the news - so badly that his father thought he was joking.
“I’m serious!” Stark snapped. A hint of his wolf’s snarl edged his voice. “Kyle is pregnant. I’m his alpha, and he’s my omega. I thought this was going to be a pleasant meeting between my mate and my parents, but I guess I was wrong.” He narrowed his eyes at both of them. “You can leave now.”
“Stark,” his mother began. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I said, you can leave now,” Stark growled.
Miranda’s face flickered with anger for a brief moment before he finally said in a stiff voice, “Fine. I just have one more question.”
Stark narrowed his eyes. He was already fed up with her and didn’t think anything she could say to him would abate his anger. “What is it?”
