Another Chance |Ao'nung x Neteyam|

Chapter 7: The Fierce Forest

Jake bursts into the marui, lips a thin line and eyes burning. "Do you want to stay?"

Neteyam startles, dropping the beads he was sewing onto a new loincloth. "What choice do I have?"

"You can come home." Jake flops down next to him, brows furrowed.

Neteyam waits a breath, hope tugging at his heart. "But Ao'nung is my mate."

Jake immediately takes his hand, squeezing gently. "Do you love him?"

"No, but he's kind," Neteyam replies quietly. "He was pushed into this, too. He wanted to wait, his mother just told him to complete his duties right away."

"What they did, on earth, is considered a crime." Jake laces their fingers, fiddling with his son's soft fingertips. He squeezes each one tenderly before shaking his head. "I had no idea they would do this."

Neteyam watches his father play with his hand, resting his other one on the bottom of his bump, thumb tracing circles on the warm skin. "I will stay for the sake of our people."

"You know I cannot stay with you."

Neteyam clenches his eyes shut, wrapping his arms around himself loosely. "It's alright. I will have my little one."

"Jesus, boy," Jake sighs, rubbing his forehead. "You're too kind for your own good. It's okay, son. You can come home and nobody will be able to say anything. Ronal broke our agreement."

"But dad if I go home, I will never have a mate."

Jake sighs softly, shaking his head. "I hate that you're being reasonable. Fine. But I'm sending Lo'ak to stay with you. This is ridiculous."

Neteyam perks up, blinking quickly in disbelief. "Lo'ak?"

"He's been pestering me to let him come, anyway," Jake chuckles. "Your mother doesn't really like that idea."

"Who would be Olo'eyktan?" Neteyam tilts his head, flattening his palms against his bump, rubbing gently.

Jake bites the inside of his cheek and shrugs. "Probably Tuk."

"She's fourteen."

"Are you saying I'm old?" Jake snorts, flicking Neteyam's forehead. "I've got a good hundred years left in me, boy."

"Unless you insist on chewing out other Olo'eyktans." Neteyam smirks, scrunching his nose.

Jake pulls back, as if offended. "And I did it in front of the entire village. Don't look at me like that. I'd do it again."

Neteyam chuckles softly. "I know you would. I'm grateful, obviously. It's a little embarrassing though."

"And why is that?" Jake crosses his arms, golden eyes trailing along his son's body, memorising every little detail, not knowing when he'll see his oldest again.

"I'm twenty-four, dad." Neteyam steps up to him, taking his hands gently. "Almost twenty-five. And I've got my own baby now."

"I still can't believe this whole male pregnancy thing," Jake murmurs quietly, letting Neteyam tug his hands onto his bump. He immediately begins caressing the warm, hard roundness, drawing satisfied purrs from Neteyam. "It's just not a thing on Earth."

Neteyam grins, poking his tongue out. "If you didn't chose mom, you could have been like me."

Jake shrugs. He was, indeed, himself an omega. "I know. I brought you some things from home. Your siblings made most of them for you."

Neteyam's eyes light up; he grumbles under his breath when Jake lets go of his stomach and follows after him, caressing the skin himself instead. They walk to his ikran, still longing on the beach, successfully terrorising the Metcayina away from the spot for the day.