I Would Rather Be a Rogue [BL]
Chapter 46: Long-Awaited Peace

Chapter 46: Long-Awaited Peace

Felix took his foot off the pedal, stopping the wheel, and wiped his hands with a damp towel. In front of him, there was a simple, but fairly even vase. Although he was still a beginner, his creations were turning out not too shabby.

Pottery was definitely much more of his forte rather than knitting. He should have switched a long time ago.

Of course, so far, he only got the basics down. There was still plenty for him to learn in terms of sculpting. And after that, there was bisque-firing and glazing... When he didn’t even have a kiln yet! He had already discussed purchasing an old electric kiln from an old potter living in town, but he didn’t want to commit when he wasn’t certain yet whether he was going to continue. That was an extra expense, and if it wouldn’t generate any income...

Felix let out a heavy sigh, and slowly dragged himself off the chair. For now, he had a job to go to.

He entered the staff room around the same time Isla, one of the waitresses working in Crossroads, was finishing getting changed after her shift. She was sitting on one of the high chairs, staring into her pocket mirror, as she smeared a hot pink glossy lipstick all over her lips. She gave Felix a passing glance, and returned to fixing her makeup.

Only to do a double take a second later.

"Say, I’ve been meaning to ask," she smacked her lips, her pale blue eyes, adorned with fake lashes, focused on Felix’s stomach. "Are you pregnant?"

"Ah..." Felix glanced down, at the obvious bulge outlining under his sweater. Well, it wasn’t like he could hide it forever, so he simply admitted, "Yeah."

"Who’s the father?"

"...My ex."

"Wow, that sucks." She snapped her pocket mirror shut, and put her stuff back in her handbag. Now that she was done, she was about to leave, but then she turned back at the door, remembering something. "It’s not that rich hottie, is it?"

"Of course not!" Felix quickly denied. ’That rich hottie’ was naturally Kade. It was bad enough that Felix was pregnant with someone else while being his fated mate, if he allowed for people to have such a misunderstanding on top of that, then he would truly end up dead!

The news clearly made Isla very happy. "Oh! That’s good! You two aren’t dating, then? Do you know if he’s single?"

Felix almost rolled his eyes.

Isla was just a normal human. For her, Kade was just a ’rich hottie’. She had no idea the Alpha was a werewolf, or about the connection he and Felix shared. All she knew was that Kade had been trying to hit on Felix... And now that Felix was pregnant with someone else, she probably hoped Kade would give up, and she could stand a chance!

Not that Felix had minded. Quite the opposite really. He would have LOVED for Kade to bond with someone, anyone, else...

Unfortunately, he had to disappoint the young woman. "He’s no longer in Silverfall, I’m afraid."

"What?! Damn, that sucks... Do you know when he’ll be back?"

"No idea. If he will be back at all." Felix shrugged his shoulders. Then, he finished tying his apron, and went to the kitchen.

As soon as he stepped in, he noticed eyes on him. Eden. Of course the Omega had to be there, and overhear everything! Which could be a good thing, now that Felix thought about it again, as it spared him from having to explain the same thing again. It wasn’t a secret anyway, not anymore.

So, he just shrugged it off, and got to work.

The restaurant was busy, so no one bothered him for most of the shift. Only when they were already closed, cleaning, did Eden approach him.

"Hey, I just wanted to say..." He looked away, somewhere to the side, as he rubbed his neck. "I’m sorry. For how I bothered you about Kade and everything. Now I get why you were so opposed to mating with him..."

Felix was a bit taken aback. He did not expect any apologies. In the first place, Eden didn’t do anything wrong - he was just a bit nosy, that’s all, and if it wasn’t for Felix’s situation making him anxious and distrustful, he wouldn’t have minded so much. So, he just waved his hand dismissively. "It’s fine, I don’t mind."

While Eden wasn’t exactly correct - Felix’s pregnancy was the main, but not only, reason why he didn’t want to recognize his bond with Kade - there was no need to explain. If he misunderstood Felix a bit, that was for the best, far more convenient.

Eden smiled, exhaling softly with relief. "So, when’s your due date?" he asked, gesturing at Felix’s belly.

"Should be sometime in early July."

"Nice! Then, have you discussed the maternity leave with the boss yet?"

"Ugh, no..." Felix pursed his lips, scrubbing the counter. "Can I even get the maternity leave?"

"Eh? Why not?"

"Well, I haven’t exactly been here for too long..."

"Ah. Right." Eden paused for a moment. "Still, maybe you can come to an agreement? Use your holiday hours, or maybe just an unpaid holiday... I mean, I don’t know how you are doing financially, but..."

"...I’d manage." Felix actually still had a lot of savings, thanks to being very frugal, so not getting paid while on the maternity leave wouldn’t be much of a concern. What troubled him more was, "But I don’t know if I’ll be able to return to work after that. I’m alone, after all, so who would take care of the baby?"

He couldn’t just leave his pup with Remi, now could he? Matter of trust aside, would the fox even be able to change the diapers?

"Well, I mean, you can just hire a nanny? Or apply for nursery."

"...Nursery?"

That’s right, there was something like that! Felix had spent his whole life in the pack, and didn’t even go to school - the Moonhill Pack was one of those who liked to separate themselves from humans, thus all the pups were home-schooled - so there were aspects of living in human society that he wasn’t all too familiar with... But he wasn’t so out of touch that he wouldn’t have even heard of nurseries.

Of course, he still didn’t like the idea, leaving his pup in some strangers’ hands, but if that was necessary so that Felix could support them both...

"You would need to check if they accept non-human babies first, though," Eden added, popping Felix’s bubble unaware. "Wolf pups have... slightly different behavioral patterns, from what I know... But there are quite a few rogue wolves and hybrids in town, so it should be okay... Probably. Want me to ask around?"

"Ah? Yeah, if you could, that would be great." Felix smiled. He didn’t quite like the perspective of wandering around Silverfall and looking for a wolf-pup-friendly place! And Eden had some werewolf friends, as far as Felix knew, so it would be easier for him!

"Yeah, no problem," Eden returned the smile. "Let’s hurry and finish it up now, though, cause I really can’t wait to go home!"

They quickly wrapped it up, and half an hour later, they were all out. Felix returned home by foot - there was no longer any annoying Alpha pestering him to go for a ride - enjoying the cool night breeze.

Things were finally starting to look up for Felix. Was he going to get his long-awaited peace?