Chapter 1
Jaq
Present Day
I stared at the little plastic stick in my hands. They were trembling so much that I finally gave up on being able to focus and set it on the counter. I gripped the edge, my white knuckles contrasting nicely with the white marble. I blended in well. My pale skin that never seemed to tan no matter how much time I spent in the sun was just one of the traits I inherited from my omega father. If only I could just disappear into the walls, let this palace prison of mine swallow me up.
How could this have happened? How could I spend my whole life trying not to be like my father, only to end up in the exact same situation that had resulted in me?
“Fuck,” I said, pushing myself away from the little plastic stick on the counter. It mocked me.
I should have set a timer. Three minutes. The box said it took three minutes to find out if my life was going to change so dramatically. More dramatically than it ever had before. And I should know about dramatic changes. I had had a lot of them when I was a young boy. I can’t even remember what age I was when my life changed for the better. Mostly. My brother—half-brother, but don’t ever let him hear it stated that way—demanded that I get equal treatment, even though I was the bastard son of his alpha father, the King of Asach. I was a mere afterthought, an accident. I was from an omega who never should have given birth to me. The result of an affair.
Yet my half-brother, the second legitimate son of the king and king’s consort, Thomas Lerrad, had insisted that I was to be treated just as he was.
The king and king’s consort catered to his demands. Mostly.
From that point on I was given a room at the palace, my own wardrobe, and I was accepted to the same school as my brother.
When I was old enough and rebellious enough, or maybe just dumb enough, I had my name changed. I no longer carried just my omega father’s name. I wouldn’t dare take on my alphafather’s surname, though. No. I went with Kingson, so everyone would know—as if they didn’t already know—that I was the king’s bastard son. Not good enough to be a prince. Not even good enough for an official title.
Though the new king, my oldest half-brother, gave me a title a few years ago when he had been named king, I hadn’t returned to my home country once my other half-brother married into the royal family of Swena. I had made my home here. Sort of.
Had I really stayed for Thomas, or was it a certain other prince that kept me here? The same prince who was fifty percent of the reason that I was in the predicament I was now in, staring at the little plastic stick, wondering what the hell I had been thinking. How could I have made such a colossal mistake?
I wished I could chalk it up to a one-time thing, but God knew I’d had more than one night with Erich. Countless one-time flings had occurred over the past five years. It was casual, fun. Nothing serious. Except my heart had been lost long before this moment. It started off as casual, fun, no big deal. Somewhere along the way it went wrong.
A few minutes had to have passed by now. I flipped the plastic piece over. Was there going to be one or two lines? Was I going to be happy or sad about the outcome? I had no idea.
I took a deep breath and opened my eyes to find… nothing. Blank. No lines at all.
I grabbed for the box, flipping it over twice, searching for the instructions. A folded piece of paper dropped from the box, and I picked it up. I tore it open, the thin paper flimsy in my hands, and I worried I’d tear it. The small text was hard to read, and I had to squint to find the right section. English. Where were the English instructions?
What did blank mean? Pregnant? Not pregnant? Twins?
No. God, no. It better not be twins. Twins did run in Erich’s family, though. Fuck.
I fished in my pocket for my phone. I hated calling my brother for things. He was so busy. Now that he was the king’s consort, his days were scheduled down to the minute. I should know, I was technically employed as one of his advisors and also his children’s nanny. I knew he would answer. He always did. I didn’t have any other omega I could talk to, and really, I didn’t need word of this getting out to anyone.
“Thomas,” I said once he answered. “I need you to answer a question and don’t ask any follow-ups. I’ll give you more details later, but just answer me one question. Can you do that?”
“Of course. What is it?”
Thank fuck for his ride-or-die attitude. This was why I followed him from our home country to here. He was my best friend. I’d do anything for him.
“If a pregnancy test has no lines on it after, you know, you pee on the thing, what does that mean?”
He was quiet for a moment. I knew there were probably a thousand questions running through his mind.
“It probably means it was defective, or maybe there wasn’t enough urine. Usually the box has two in it. Are there two tests?”
“Yes,” I said. The remaining test was still wrapped in the protective foil. I tore it open.
“Take the other one. That one probably won’t be defective.”
I sighed. Okay. Why hadn’t I thought of that? Why had I called my brother and involved him at all? That was dumb. Not the dumbest decision I’d made as of late, but just another one in a long list.
“Thank you,” I said. “I’ll talk to you later, Thomas. I promise.”
