A Broken Contract (Alpha's Secret Regret)

Avery Hawke

"Who told you to call him that? He's not your uncle!"

Newsflash, fucker! Avery stood watching father and son.

The little boy looked so confused by his father's hostile tone.

It was the first time Avery stood a few feet close to Nickolas Reign since he began his project here.

The child started to speak again.

"He's..." but trailed off.

The look on his father's face must've terrified him to silence.

Innocent eyes moved from Nick to Avery to his mother.

"Did he ask you to call him that?" Nick asked.

Avery wanted to join the heart to heart when Sara spoke.

"No, he did not! He calls Jake and Rich uncle too. Did you tell him to call them that or did they?"

Her tone matched the hostility in her ex's face. Avery found this more pleasing than anything else he'd encountered this past week.

"Jake and Richard ARE his uncles!" Nick countered. "Those two are closer than a brother could ever be. Surely, you understand these things, Sara."

"Well, Avery's close to us too," Sara returned spitefully.

As they spoke, he felt a rising need to say something. After all, they were talking about him, weren't they? Add to that was the fact that this was an opportunity to make the precious son's acquaintance.

He started to move closer as he asked,

"Everything okay?"

The question was meant for everyone, but he was more interested in Nick's response.

The male gave a bitter laugh before pinning him with eyes so fierce, Avery felt his soul leave his body. It was like standing face to face with a beast. A predator. Well, duh!

Were those eyes grey or green? He found himself thinking they were very different from his mother's. It occured to Avery that his hand was now on his waist where he kept his gun. He'd also stopped walking. When did he stop walking? "Everything's fine, Avery," Sara said with a sigh. Her voice was like a life line as Nick's eyes held his still.

Maybe later, he would laugh at himself for almost pulling a gun at the guy.

As their gazes remained fixed on each other's, he found that he was blinking uncontrollably. If he looked away first, his eyes would right. themselves. But he refused to that because he was not a loser.

With sheer force of will, he forced one foot in front of the other, and stood close enough to extend his hand.From NôvelDrama.Org.

"You must be Nickolas Reign. I'm Avery Hawke..."

He would have added "Sara's boyfriend" somewhere in that introduction. But was there any need to risk it when the guy already knew?

His hand quickly grew tired from hanging there, waiting for the handshake, which he actually dreaded Seconds later, his eyes lost the battle and dropped to the floor. Then darted about before resting on Alex Judging from how the child sat in the backseat, Avery knew he felt his father's anger.

"Alex baby, I'll see you Monday evening, okay," Sara said to the child. "I'll call you. Be good."

"Can I talk to you for a moment?"

The alpha's voice forced Avery to look his way. That request was meant for Sara. The relief that flooded through him made him want to kick himself.

He moved away awkwardly to give the two some privacy.

***

Nick POV

"I believe we talked about this, Sara. I don't want you bringing any strange male scent near our son."

The sergeant could hear me. I made sure of that.

"No, I don't recall that conversation. Even if I do, I'm pretty sure I didn't agree to such a thing," she said.

"Also, Alex is leaving with you. I'm not seeing him till Monday. And you don't hear me complaining about you bringing any strange female's scent near him, do you?

"That's cuz I won't." As I said this, I

recalled that she saw me with

Cassie last night. I wanted to tell her that whatever was going through her mind

was wrong. But how do le explain that situation without saying 'I was engaged to be mated as at

last night.'

"I need to go. Please move your car out of the way," she said.

"Sara."

I held her arm to stop her from walking past me. With my hand on her bare flesh, I almost forgot the situation before me. An overwhelming urge to increase that contact set in.

I could've sworn she felt it too from how she softened when my thumb moved gently to caress her arm.