Caught by the Mad Alpha King-Chapter 371: Call from Ethan

Chris had settled into his role better than he wanted to admit.

Most of the administrative side of Saha ran through him now: paperwork, approvals, budgets, and the endless polite violence of governance. Dax had also "sprinkled" urbanism and planning onto his plate because Chris had the background for it and because Dax loved watching competence happen in real time.

A year and a half later Chris discovered that "sprinkled" had been a lie and that Dax had simply handed him an entire department with a smile.

Dax was a terrible coworker and an even more terrifying boss. Not unfair, but relentlessly demanding. He expected everything delivered on time, and if it wasn’t, you had better have the justification ready. The king wasn’t stingy with resources, which meant he didn’t tolerate excuses that could be solved with money, manpower, or authority.

Chris was currently reviewing an urbanistic plan for the extension of three rural areas and losing his mind.

Not because the plan was impossible, but because the people who drafted it had apparently never visited a rural area in their lives. The road widths were optimistic. The utility lines were an afterthought. Someone had proposed a "community lake" in a region that struggled with drought like it was a decorative fountain problem.

Chris had his pen between his teeth, redlining the margins, when his phone buzzed.

Ethan.

Chris answered immediately.

"Ethan," he said, sharply. "Talk to me."

There was a breath on the other end, and Chris knew that breath—Ethan bracing himself like he was about to step into traffic.

"I need to tell you something," Ethan said.

Chris sat up straighter. "What happened?"

Ethan exhaled. "Caelan called me an experiment."

The pen slipped from Chris’s fingers and hit the desk with a small, stupid sound.

For a second, Chris didn’t speak. The office went quiet around him. The plan on his desk blurred.

"...He did what?" Chris said, and his voice came out too calm.

Ethan’s answer was immediate, like he’d rehearsed it so many times it had turned into a bruise.

"He implied the baby would be an abomination," Ethan said. "Said I wasn’t ’legitimate.’ The usual imperial garbage, but... worse."

Chris’s throat tightened with fury so clean it felt like ice.

Then the word "baby" actually registered.

Chris went very still at his desk, pen hovering above an urbanistic plan he suddenly couldn’t see.

"Ethan," he said carefully, "what do you mean, baby?"

There was a pause, almost confused, like Ethan had assumed Chris could read minds through the phone.

"I’m pregnant," Ethan said slowly, like it was obvious. "With Sirius’s child."

Chris didn’t respond.

Mia was pregnant too. Fine. Mia did chaos like it was cardio. Mia would probably name the baby something that sounded like a weapon and call it self-care.

But Ethan?

And Sirius?

Chris stared at the wall like it might explain what was wrong with Ethan’s taste.

"—With Sirius?" Chris finally managed, voice pitching up just enough to betray him. "With Sirius?!"

Ethan’s silence was the closest thing to a yes.

Chris leaned back in his chair, one hand flattening on the desk as if he needed proof the world was still solid.

"What is wrong with you," Chris whispered, horrified. "Is Palatine water poisoned? Did you hit your head? Did someone swap your common sense with decorative palace air?"

"Chris," Ethan warned, tired.

"No," Chris cut in, then immediately lowered his voice again because he realized he was about to become the hysterical one. "No, I’m sorry. I’m..."

He swallowed hard.

He was shocked. He was furious. And underneath it all, something else curled tight in his chest... fear.

Pregnancy wasn’t a cute storyline to Chris. It was being at the mercy of biology and doctors and politics and your own body deciding to rewrite you from the inside.

It was the reason he wasn’t pregnant yet.

Not because he couldn’t be. Because the idea terrified him.

He forced himself to breathe.

"Okay," Chris said, cooling his voice on purpose. "You’re pregnant. You’re safe right now?"

"Yes," Ethan replied. "Sirius is... handling it."

Chris’s jaw tightened at the name again. "He’d better."

Ethan exhaled. "That’s what I said."

Chris rubbed a hand over his face. "How far along?"

"Early," Ethan said. "But confirmed."

Chris went quiet for a beat, the fury returning in a cleaner line.

"And Caelan said that to you knowing," Chris asked softly, "that you’re carrying the Crown Prince’s child?"

"Yes."

Chris’s voice went very calm. "I’m going to destroy him."

Ethan gave a dry little huff. "Get in line."

Chris didn’t laugh. He couldn’t. Not with his pulse doing this and his mind already imagining Ethan in a palace full of people who would look at him like a headline.

"Listen," Chris said, voice controlled and dangerously calm. "I don’t care that you used my name. You don’t do that lightly. And if you think Dax wouldn’t do worse than anything you said, you don’t know my husband at all." He paused, breath tight. "But if Sirius doesn’t take responsibility..."

"He marked me," Ethan cut in, flat. "With my consent."

Chris stopped.

There was a beat of silence where Chris’s brain very obviously tried to recalibrate.

"...Okay," Chris said finally, carefully. "Good. Consent. Great. Love that."

Ethan sighed like he’d been bracing for judgment. "Chris."

"I’m not judging," Chris lied instantly, then exhaled and corrected himself. "No. I’m judging a little. Not you. Him. And your taste." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Ethan made a small sound that could’ve been laughter if he wasn’t exhausted.

Chris’s voice dropped, more human for a second. "You know what? I have no right to judge your taste."

A pause.

Then Chris added, because he couldn’t help himself and because humor was the only way he knew to keep fear from swallowing him whole:

"...Was it the six-pack?"

Ethan didn’t answer immediately.

Chris could practically hear the hesitation on the line and felt something like vindication rise through the panic.

"Oh my god," Chris whispered. "It was the six-pack."

"Chris," Ethan said, warning again, weak, but there.

Chris huffed. "I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m..." He swallowed hard and forced himself back into control. "Ethan, Sirius better grant your every fucking wish..."