Rhys

My hands trembled as I paced restlessly through the corridor, my mind consumed with thoughts of what could possibly be happening to Kayden inside that room. Not even Miller, standing quietly beside me, could calm the relentless racing of my heart.

"What the hell is happening right now?" I muttered under my breath, throwing my hands up in frustration for what felt like the hundredth time.

It had been twenty minutes since Leo forced us out of the examination room, and every passing second only made the anxiety clawing at my chest worse.

Each time the door opened and Leo stepped outside, I immediately tried to stop him and ask questions, but he ignored me every single time before disappearing back into the room again.

"He is probably running tests right now, so I need you to calm down," Miller had said after Leo walked out for the fifth time without giving me a single answer.

I heaved a deep sigh, gritting my teeth every few seconds as I fought the overwhelming urge to burst through the door and demand to know what was happening with Kayden.

Because we were fully bonded now, I could feel fragments of his emotions through the bond, and every single thing reaching me was filled with anxiety, fear, and something else that twisted painfully in my chest. Disappointment.

"Do you think something crazy is happening in there?" I finally asked, turning toward Miller.

Unlike me, he looked calm, almost as if he fully trusted that Leo would resolve whatever was going on inside that room. It was not as though I did not trust Leo either, but that was not the problem.

What terrified me the most was what he could possibly say once those test results came back.

What if the tests showed something was seriously wrong?

What if this had nothing to do with pregnancy?

What if something else was happening to Kayden and I could not protect him from it?

"I need you to calm down, Rhys. Kayden is going to be fi—"

His words were suddenly interrupted by the ringing of my phone.

"One minute," I muttered as I pulled my phone out of my pocket to check who was calling.

A deep frown immediately formed on my face the moment my grandfather’s name appeared boldly across the screen.

Rami Calder.

What the hell was he calling me for?

I stared at the screen for a few seconds without moving. Right now was the worst possible time for him to contact me when my mind was occupied with far more important things that did not involve him.

Before the phone could finish ringing, I declined the call.

A second later, it started ringing again.

I groaned in frustration and glanced toward Miller, who was already giving me a concerned look.

"It is my grandfather," I said flatly.

"Rami Calder? Why is he calling you? Is it because you are back?" Miller asked.

"That man still thinks I am obligated to answer his calls after the mess he caused weeks ago," I spoke through gritted teeth before turning off my phone completely and shoving it back into my pocket. "I am not interested in whatever he has to say."

Miller nodded slowly in agreement. "I honestly do not think he deserves your attention right now."

Just as he finished speaking, the examination room door finally opened.

I immediately rushed toward Leo the second I saw him.

The frown on his face was still there, written clearly across his features, but at least this time he was not walking past us.

Instead, he looked directly at both of us and motioned toward the room behind him.

"Come inside," he said quietly.

I rubbed my hands together gently, trying to ease the tightness building in my throat as Miller and I walked back into the room behind Leo.

Kayden was now sitting upright on the examination bed, pillows supporting his back. The moment he saw me enter, a small smile appeared on his face, weak but still enough to make the tension in my chest loosen slightly.

Before I could ask the dozens of questions burning inside my head, Leo suddenly pointed toward me.

"I need you to release your stabilizing pheromones," he said in a calm, professional tone. "Kayden’s autonomic responses are still elevated, and the bond resonance from your scent will help regulate the dizziness, nausea, and hormonal imbalance his body is currently struggling with."

I did not waste a second asking questions.

The moment the words left his mouth, I immediately moved toward Kayden and sat beside him on the bed. I wrapped my arms carefully around his body before releasing my pheromones slowly into the room.

Almost instantly, the scent of pine spread through the air, and Kayden relaxed into my arms.

"Are you alright?" I asked softly as I kept my arms around him.

Kayden shook his head slowly, looking uncertain and overwhelmed, as if he still could not fully understand what was happening to his own body.

My eyes immediately lifted toward Leo, who was pacing around the room with his tablet in hand. He stopped near the counter, his gaze fixed on the screen for several long seconds before finally looking back up at us.

"So, I ran a few rapid tests," he began while glancing down at the tablet again.

Then he stopped talking entirely.

I shifted impatiently beside Kayden, waiting for him to continue. The suspense was driving me insane because at this point, I was desperate to know what the hell was happening to him.

"What is happening?" I demanded the moment the silence stretched too long. "Leo, stop doing that and just tell us."

He released another deep sigh before pinching the bridge of his nose briefly.

"Patience, Rhys. I need a second to explain this properly," he said before scrolling through the results displayed across the screen.

A few seconds later, he finally cleared his throat and looked directly at us.

"The test results confirm that Kayden is pregnant."

The words hit me so hard that for a moment, my brain completely stopped working.

Pregnant.

Kayden was actually pregnant. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

I tightened my arms around him instinctively while Leo continued speaking in his calm medical tone.

"Because both of you completed a full bonding cycle during Kayden’s heat, your pheromones and genetic material synchronized at an accelerated rate," he explained. "In male omega physiology, conception occurs through internal reproductive tissue that develops temporarily during peak heat cycles. Normally, implantation takes longer to stabilize, but the bond between the two of you appears unusually strong."

He glanced back down at the tablet before continuing.

"Kayden’s hormone levels are already significantly elevated. The fainting episodes, emotional instability, body temperature fluctuations, nausea, dizziness, and sudden scent sensitivity are all early signs of successful implantation. His body is currently undergoing rapid endocrine and physiological adjustments to support fetal development."

Kayden stared at him silently while processing everything.

Leo’s expression softened slightly.

"The pregnancy is still very early, but from what I am seeing so far, the implantation was successful and stable. That is why his body reacted so violently today. The stress at the airport combined with the hormonal surge overwhelmed his nervous system."

I looked down at Kayden immediately, my heart pounding so hard it almost hurt.

He was pregnant.

We were going to have a child.