Free Crossbred Son by Brenna Lyons Page B

enjoyed.
    Now he had another thing he wanted to see whenever he opened his locker. Gabe rearranged the pictures of his Hauaa and sister to place the picture of Abby and Michael in the center and at eye level.
    It was a recent picture, obviously taken in a studio designed for Xxanian customers. The lights had been low enough to allow Michael to go without his sunglasses. Still the equipment had captured the blue of his eyes—so close a match for Abby’s—with the flecks of stunning gold his son had inherited from Gabe.
    He was so captivated by the scene that Thomas was next to him before Gabe realized anyone had entered the room.
    Bad form for a Xxanian warrior.
    “Good picture,” his partner intoned.
    Gabe smiled, taking the compliment to heart. “Yes, it is. We’ll have to do another soon.” One with me in it. Of course, Michael would grow quickly. Most Xxanian couples opted for a continuous stream of pictures, due to a Xxanian child’s growth rate.
    Thomas opened his locker and started changing his clothing. It took a moment for the silence to strike Gabe as odd. His partner was something of a chatterbox, always sharing some story about the latest sporting event or what his family had done this time.
    A glace in Thomas’s direction revealed his partner’s stiff posture. Something was seriously off with the human today.
    “Is there a problem, Thomas?” Gabe inquired, the skin over his ridge plates itching in warning.
    His partner shot a quick glance past Gabe then turned back to the buttons on his uniform shirt without comment.
    Gabe followed his line of sight to the picture of Abby and Michael. He swung the locker door shut, second guessing his choice to put a picture of them up, though it made little sense to do so. It was a natural thing to take comfort in the sight of loved ones.
    Stay calm. There has been no overt threat to them. This was Thomas, after all. They’d been partnered for over a year. Gabe knew him.
    Do I? “Might as well spit it out, Thomas. What is bothering you?” The last thing any officer wanted to do was head out with trouble brewing between him and his partner.
    There was a moment of tense silence. Then Thomas looked at Gabe directly, his expression unreadable. “Did you know?”
    “That I had a son? No. It’s a long story. Probably take me half the shift to do justice to it,” he admitted.
    The tightening of Thomas’s jaw said the answer wasn’t to his liking. Before Gabe could question that, he’d continued his questioning.
    “Not that. Did you know Xxanian’s could have babies with human women without...?”
    “Binding?”
    He nodded once, a jerk of his head.
    “No. It’s never been an issue before.” Though there was still some question of whether or not crossbred females could become pregnant to an alpha human male without an infusion of Zhigaaal— Thank you Zondra for that uncertainty! —there had never been question of the reverse.
    Thomas’s expression said he expected more of an answer.
    Gabe obliged him. “Women that are straightforward either want to bind or don’t. If they don’t, they are on pregnancy block. Those that aren’t straightforward typically reek of deception, which we find highly unpalatable. If we fuck them, we use protection of our own.”
    “Which was she?”
    Gabe’s ridge plates stirred at the unspoken implication that Abby had deceived him...or that Gabe had knowingly let himself be deceived. “Straightforward,” he snapped in return.
    “Pregnancy block doesn’t fail, buddy.” The accusation was impossible to miss.
    “No, it doesn’t, but doctors do not always diagnose accurately, either.”
    Another oppressive silence followed. Gabe reined in his instincts. Humans had the most infuriating ability to make a Xxanian Dominant want to strike out.
    “So...she...?” For the first time, Thomas looked uncertain.
    “Abby was told there was no chance she could have a child. She believed it. I knew she was sincere when she said there