13. Sergey

13

SERGEY

I spend the morning exploring my new home. It’s strange to think of Anchorage in that way, but it’s undeniable. The new branch of my business will be here and my fated mate lives here too.

I can’t help but smile every time I think about him.

For breakfast, I try a local place on the polar bear shifter side of town. I wander around Merchant Avenue for the rest of the morning and into the afternoon, browsing the expensive shops and checking out what the other polar bear shifters are wearing. They check me out too. Wherever I go, people stare at my gray hair.

It’s the same when I venture to the penguin shifter side of town to check out the tuxedo shops where everyone gets their clothing for Pebble Gifting Season. Only instead of staring at my hair, everyone focuses on my huge shoulders. They know I don’t belong among them.

I wonder if I belong anywhere in Anchorage.

Eventually, I grab some food from a grocery store called Emperor Fine Foods and head back to the hotel. I’ve only been gone for a few days, but I already feel homesick. I call the one person in the world I can count on, no matter what happens: my alpha dad.

He answers on the second ring.

“Hey, Sergey. How is everything going?” he asks.

“Good! I have a lead on a forge I might be able to rent, and I met with a bunch of welders last night who are interested in learning the spellwork.”

“That’s great news.”

In the background I can hear the voices singing and the rhythmic bang of hammers. When I started my business, Dad dropped the medical practice he built from the ground up to help me. He’s the physician who sees all my patients before their first fitting and follows up on their care. Recently, we’ve hired a second guy who does the traveling when a patient can’t come to us, but Dad is the primary doctor I work with.

“Is that Sergey?” Another voice says. That’s my omega dad. He ran the business end of my alpha dad’s practice back in the day, and he dropped everything to help me start my business too. He has a degree in Medical Healthcare Administration and a knack for numbers that kept us afloat those first few years.

“Yes. Let me put him on speaker,” my alpha dad says.

For a moment, all I can hear is the cacophony of the welding until a door slams shut.

We paid to get their office sound-proofed for a reason.

“Sorry about that. I forgot the door was open. You were saying you found a forge? Is this one owned by the Gentoo?” my alpha dad asks.

“No. It’s the Ivanov forge.”

There’s silence on the other end. Sometimes I forget that they both grew up in Anchorage because they rarely talk about it, but they must both know what the Ivanov forge is.

“Isn’t that forge closed off to anyone without Ivanov blood?” my omega dad asks.

“Part of it. But I guess there’s a reception area they used for Pebble Gifting Season that’s not secured like the rest of it. And some of my welders will be Ivanovs, so they can use the other part of the forge.”

“You’re hiring the Ivanovs?” My omega dad’s voice is calm and collected. If I hadn’t seen him deal with my stupid teenage mistakes with perfect poise, I wouldn’t detect the slight edge to it. I’ve seen him fire an employee who embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars while staying as cool as a cucumber.

“I’m hiring Dominic Ivanov and his sister. They’re the ones who exposed that illegal fidelity necklace operation. I haven’t decided if I want to work with the rest of them.”

“Well, I think it would be best if you didn’t,” my alpha dad says.

“I agree. It’s important to think about this from a public relations perspective.”

I hold back a laugh. Of course my omega dad wants me to think about this from a public relations perspective. I suppose it’s good someone is caring about that sort of thing. My success has been entirely reliant on the support I’ve received from my dads, and I know that.

“There’s one other thing,” I say, not sure I want to say this over speaker phone. “Is anyone else in the office today?”

“No, sweetheart. Dale is working from home.” my omega dad says.

Dale is our accountant and payroll manager.

“I found my mate,” I say.

There’s a gasp. I’m certain it’s my alpha dad. I can’t imagine my omega dad gasping for any reason. If the apocalypse happened, he would simply purse his lips and say, “Well, that’s unfortunate.”

For the longest time, I resented how composed he was until I went into business with him. Then I understood the power of his emotional regulation.

“He’s a Gentoo. Not the kind of Gentoo who’s still practicing the religion or anything like that. He’s a burlesque dancer. And he has a kid.”

“Really? Does that mean we’re grandparents now?” My alpha dad asks enthusiastically.

I smile. Leave it to my alpha dad to show his full support before even meeting Heller.

“Not just yet. The situation is tricky. He isn’t normally the type to date. We… spent the night together, and it was obvious to me that we’re fated, but I think he’ll need more time to process everything.”

I hear a kissing noise that is very likely my alpha dad kissing my omega dad because that’s how he was too, once upon a time.

“It’s good you’re giving him time. That was one thing I appreciated about your alpha dad. He didn’t push me. He just let the natural connection between us run its course.”

“Okay.” I was already planning to be patient. I don’t think a guy like Heller would tolerate being pushed into something he isn’t ready for.

More kissing noises. As a kid I hated this. As an adult, I respect it. My dads genuinely love each other in a way that’s uncommon in long-term relationships.

“We’re happy for you,” my alpha dad says. “And we can’t wait to meet him. But we understand it may be a while before he’s ready to meet us. Can you believe it? We’re about to be grandparents!”

More kissing. Heller has no idea how elated his future in-laws are that he has a child.

“Heller’s kid is half polar bear shifter,” I tell him.

The kissing stops.

“Really?” my alpha dad asks.

“Yes. I guess there are several mixed shifter species couples in Anchorage. Some of them will be working at my forge.”

My alpha dad lets out a joyful laugh. “Wow. Isn’t that something? Can we meet them?”

“I don’t see why not. Cy and his mate Ben remind me a lot of you. I think you’d like them.”

My dads ask me all kinds of questions about my new friends. They’re so excited, and why wouldn’t they be? I should have called them the moment I met Cy and Ben. I guess it didn’t feel real at first.

“When do you think you’ll come home?” My omega dad asks. “I hate to ask because you’re juggling a lot right now, but there are three fittings next week, and two of them are on the same day.”

“My flight is on Saturday.” Which feels like a lifetime away, but I have a lot to do. Today I spent exploring the city. Tomorrow I’d like to visit the forge and look into getting an apartment.

“Then we’ll see you then. Goodnight. We love you,” My alpha dad says.

“I love you too. Talk soon.”

Once I get off the phone with them, I pull out the business card Dominic gave me last night. I input his number into my phone and send him a message.

Hey, this is Sergey.

I open my work laptop and catch up on some emails while I wait for his response. After five minutes, my phone dings.

It’s good to hear from you. How is Anchorage treating you?

Should I be honest? Anchorage looks at me like I’m an alien, no matter where I go. I opt for neutrality. My omega dad would be proud.

I can’t complain. Exploring Merchant Avenue was fun. I’m looking to rent an apartment in town since it looks like I’ll be here for a while. Do you have any recommendations?

Technically, I don’t have to ask him that. I could go looking myself. But I’d like to make friends with Dominic Ivanov. He seems like a good, honest man.

We’re eating dinner with a friend named Otis Snow tonight. You should come. He has several rental properties in Anchorage.

I don’t know how I feel about getting invited to Otis’s house without his knowledge, but it will give me more time to get to know Dominic. That’s a plus.

Thank you. What time? And what’s the address?

At least I’m not eating takeout tonight.