“I don’t even know what gender my child is,” Zinn said mournfully. “And no one other than my brother ever acknowledged that I’d been pregnant or given birth.”
“Your parents just pretended it never happened?”
“Yes. Pretty sure they thought if they persisted with the fairy tale long enough, I might believe it.”
“And they had the doctors remove your appendix. They must have had to pay off a lot of people to keep it all quiet.”
Zinn appreciated that Calder didn’t question the validity of his story, as outlandish as it sounded.
“They use their power and influence to break people. Like they tried to do to me. Even if they never saw it that way.”
Zinn talked about his brother and Antoni. “At some point, I figured out that Antoni was the one who helped my parents find an adoption agency. And I’ve always suspected that Asher knew more about what happened than he let on. It’s his part in all this that hurts the most. We used to be close, and he tried to make amends after the baby was born, but I couldn’t forgive him for not helping me before then.”
Calder took a careful sip. “No wonder you’ve been so reserved,” he said mutedly. “After everything you’ve endured.”
Zinn wanted to cry.Calder understood. “Every morning is a new day I don’t know where my son is. He’ll be eight soon, and I don’t know his name.”
The alpha sat still, his eyes on the table. Finally, he said, “I realize your heat is over, but I really want to hold you right now.”
“Good.” Zinn maneuvered his way onto Calder’s lap. “Because I really want you to.”
“Pesky lingering hormones.” Calder tried to chuckle.
Zinn gazed at him seriously before brushing his fingers along his jaw. “It’s not the hormones.”
Calder embraced him tightly. “I’m incredibly sorry for everything that happened to you.”
“Thank you.”
After a few beats, Calder asked, “How did you end up at Felton’s two years ago?”
“Sometimes I think the better question is how did I survive in my parents’ house for five more years after they took my baby.” He kept his arms around Calder, but his voice sounded far away. “It’s hard to remember the person I was before then, optimistic and naïve. I’d bitten my tongue more often than not to be the son they expected. But after that, the whole façade shattered. I didn’t even try to play the game anymore.”
“You left on your twenty-fifth birthday?”
“As soon as the law allowed. Sometimes I’m surprised my parents didn’t emancipate me before then. I assume they forced me to stay because they didn’t know what else to do, and my alpha father’s default is to control, control, control.” Zinn squeezed his eyes shut. “Even on that last day.”
“We always act in your best interests! You’re just too stubborn to see it! We indulged you too much, and then we had to clean up your mess!” Father shouted. It was the closest he’d come to admitting there had been a baby. “You’ve defied our will at every turn, made yourself ridiculous to our friends and every potential husband.”
“I did what I had to do. You stole my son from me. And made me a prisoner in this house.” Zeller’s voice shook.
“You were never our prisoner. You’re our child,” Daddy piped in meekly. “It’s our job to care for you.”
“If stealing my child and then lying about it is your brand of caring, I’ll take my chances.”
Zeller picked up his suitcase—thankfully, his parents had not tried to claim he wasn’t entitled to his clothing—and opened the heavy front door of the estate.
“If you walk out, we’re not helping you get set up on your own,” Father threatened. “Omegas need alpha husbands. Single omegas are an abomination.”
“What you did to me was an abomination. And I never expected your help anyway. I don’t want it.”
“How will we get a hold of you?” Daddy asked quietly.
“Are you going to tell me what happened to my son?”
Daddy looked at the floor.
“You don’t need to get hold of me. Because I have nothing to say to you. Ever.” Zeller took out his phone and put it on the table in the foyer. No use giving his parents a tracking device.