“Point just proven.” He pressed a tender kiss on my forehead before stepping away. “I’ll be just outside on the back deck. If you need anything, come find me.”
I nodded as his palms slipped from my face, leaving me hot and cold at the same time.
He gave me a small smile, eyes crinkling at the corners, before turning to join his mother on the back deck.
Chapter 30
Evander
The moment the back door shut behind me, I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. The air outside was getting cooler and quieter.
I hated leaving Kasey for even a minute, but my mom’s look said this conversation wasn’t optional. It had been bad enough to leave the Omega on his own when he was so unsure of his own footing.
Mom folded her arms, leaning against the railing like she needed the support. “Evander,” she began, voice low. “What exactly is going on in there?”
Many things,I thought, scrubbing a hand over my jaw. “So, you met Kasey.”
“Yes. And as sweet as he is, why is he in your home? The same home you have sworn that you’d never bring an Omega into unless it wasyour Kasey.”
“Yeah, about that…” I glanced at her before returning my gaze to the yard. I knew if I looked at her, I’d cave and tell her everything. Although, I was going to tell her anyways. Mothers just always had that way. Omega mothers were the best at making their Alpha kids spill their guts.
“Evander… please tell me you didn’t bring him here just because he looks like that boy you’ve been obsessed with for years.” Her voice wasn’t accusing; she was just tired. Worried. The kind of worry only a mother could carry.
I didn’t answer. My shoulders sagged under the weight of it. I couldn’t lie to her; I never could.
She let out a long, heavy sigh. “Do you think that boy in there is him?”
“Heishim.” The words came out low, certain, carved from something deeper than logic. All I was missing was the blood test, which was scheduled for later today, results as early as tomorrow afternoon. Proof. Confirmation of what my gut already knew.
I glanced at her, then looked away, unable to hold her gaze. “Did you see him?”
“I saw,” she said softly. “But son… sometimes we see what we want to see. That boy you— we—lost isn’t in that house of yours.”
I exhaled sharply, pacing once across the deck before turning back to her. “I’m telling you he’s the boy. I know it. I feel it in my bones.”
“Evander- “
“No.” My voice cracked, and I hated how raw it sounded. “You didn’t see him the way I did. You didn’t see his face when he looked at me the other day when I found him.”
I dragged my hand through my hair. “He has a birthmark. The eyes. The same way of tilting his head when he’s confused. The way he rambles. It’s him. Iknowit is.”
“What if you’re wrong?”
My jaw tightened. “But what if I’m not?” I countered.
She stepped closer, her voice gentler now. “And what if he isn’t? What then? Are you going to send him back? Tell him he’s not who you hoped he’d be? Evander, that would break him.”
Her words hit harder than she knew. Because she was right. Because I’d seen the way he clung to me. Because I’d felt the tremor in his hands when he thought he’d done something wrong. Because hope, mine or his, was a fragile thing. And I wasn’t sure either of us could survive it shattering.
“He’s…he’ll stay with me no matter what.” I was attached to him and sending him back broke a piece of me that I didn’tknow I had. “But you aren’t listening,” I tried to keep my voice steady. “I’m not imagining things. I’m not chasing ghosts.”
She watched me with that look that always made me feel twelve again. “Then tell me what youaredoing.”
“I’m caring. With high hope but caring because that boy deserves someone to care for him. He’s been broken, Ma. Turn down into a million tiny pieces. That place is awful. I’ve seen it, and that boy there wouldn’t survive if he was kept there a day longer. So, I would have taken him either way.”
“Ev…you have a big heart, but I’m worried about you.”
“I’m being careful.” Not really. Careful to not hurt the Omega that was in my life now, no matter what happened. “But what if he is that boy? What if he was that close all along and no one bothered to think about it as an option.”
