Cozy

Ivan's POV

No one knows about Zander's bearer. Whether he was born from a female or male or omega or even a beta woman, it's shrouded in mystery.

That information is held under a tight grip, locked away so securely that even the most invasive tabloids haven't been able to dig it up.

All anyone knows is that Zander's alpha father—the sixth son of the Vale patriarch—died, leaving his only heir behind.

And that's it.

Which is why I'm currently freaking out.

I mean, like everyone else, I assumed his bearer was either dead or erased from the picture. It never occurred to me that Zander actually had… a family. A home. A father who was still very much alive.

And now, here I am, sitting at his dining table, feeling like a deer caught in headlights as I watch a scene that is so domestic, so normal, so utterly foreign to everything I've associated with Zander.

Because right now?

Zander Vale, the powerful, untouchable CEO, the brooding Alpha that commands a room with a single glance, is currently getting smacked upside the head for not buying extra bathroom supplies.

"You know better than this, Zander! A guest, and you didn't even tell me? What were you planning to do, let him use your ratty old towel?"

Zander grumbles under his breath, rubbing his head, but he doesn't argue. Instead, he lets himself be shoed away, begrudgingly following his father's orders like a rebellious teenager caught sneaking in past curfew.

I would laugh if I wasn't still processing the entire situation.

Now, I'm alone.

With Jeremy.

"Water?"

His voice is warm, gentle in a way that immediately puts me at ease, despite my nervousness.

Jeremy is older—mid-fifties, maybe? He has the kind of soft, inviting features that make you want to tuck him into your pocket and protect him from the world.

He doesn't have the sharply groomed perfection of a high-class omega from high society. Instead, he looks sun-kissed and real, with a few wrinkles around his eyes, a smattering of freckles, and a kindness that feels genuine.

"Yes, please." I say, my voice smaller than I intended.

He pours me a glass of water, then takes the seat across from me.

For a moment, we just sit there, the sounds of the island drifting in through the open window—the distant crash of waves, the hum of insects, the occasional burst of laughter from somewhere nearby.

Then he speaks.

"Seeing how stunned you are, I take it you were completely blindsided."

He chuckles, and I can't help but give a small, sheepish nod.

"Yeah." I admit. I'm also really, really nervous.

He tilts his head, studying me with a curiosity that feels both playful and knowing.

"I suppose it's understandable. I am officially dead, after all."

I nearly choke on my water.

Jeremy laughs at my reaction, completely unbothered.

"Zander and his father made sure of that," he continues, leaning back in his chair. "The Vale family… they're not good people. What you'd expect from wealth of their degree, really. And me being from here…"

He trails off, but I get it. In some way.

Zander's other family—the ones who sit in gilded halls and business towers, who move money like it's air and treat power as their birthright—would have never accepted someone like Jeremy.

An omega from a tight-knit island community, untouched by their politics?

Yeah.

They would have buried him. Which makes me worry about my own future, I chose not to think about it.

"What's really surprising," Jeremy says, his golden-brown eyes twinkling, "is your presence here."

I blink. Me?

"It must mean he really, really trusts you."

He leans forward, resting his chin on his palm as he grins mischievously.

"And here I am, rambling, when I should be welcoming my new son-in-law."

I nearly fall out of my chair.

"We're still dating!" I rush to clarify, my ears burning.

Jeremy shrugs, looking completely unbothered.

"If you say so."

Oh god. I can see where Zander gets his smug attitude from.

The conversation shifts naturally after that, easing into something more comfortable.

Jeremy is… easy to talk to.

Despite my initial nerves, I find myself relaxing, drawn in by his light humor and genuine warmth.

Before I know it, he's digging through an old wooden box, pulling out faded photographs and small keepsakes.

"Ah, here we go. The good stuff."

He hands me a picture, and I stare at it for a long moment before bursting into laughter.

It's Zander.

But not Zander as I know him.

This isn't the polished, powerful CEO, nor the brooding untouchable Alpha that commands every room he walks into.

This is a fourteen-year-old boy with a scowl on his face, hair sticking up in every direction, standing knee-deep in a muddy field with a completely destroyed shirt.

"What… happened here?" I manage between laughs.

Jeremy grins.

"He tried to fight a pig."

I nearly die.

"A pig?"

"A very stubborn pig," Jeremy corrects. "One of the locals bet him that he couldn't catch it. Being a hotheaded, prideful young Alpha, Zander thought he'd have it under control. Let's just say… the pig won."

I clutch my stomach, laughing so hard my ribs hurt.

Zander? Losing a fight to a pig?

Oh, I'm never letting him live this down. Is this why he has an incessant love for pork foods?

"There's more." Jeremy smirks, flipping through more pictures.

A younger Zander covered in paint.

A mud-streaked Zander sulking in the rain.

A picture of him asleep on a porch swing, curled up like a cat.

He looks… so different here.

Not the perfectly composed, ruthless businessman.

Just a boy.

And something about that makes my chest ache.

"He was a pain in the ass growing up," Jeremy says, fondly. "But he's always been a good boy, even when he tried to act like he wasn't."

I look down at the picture again, running my fingers lightly over the faded edges.

It's strange.

I thought I knew everything about Zander.

But now, sitting here in this cozy home, surrounded by stories of his childhood, listening to the man who raised him laugh about his stubbornness, his misadventures, his failures—

I realize how much of him is still a mystery.

I want to unravel it all.

"You're beautiful, by the way," Jeremy says casually, as if dropping that statement out of nowhere.

I nearly choke.

"W-what?"

"I can see why he's so smitten with you." Jeremy winks, standing up and stretching. "Now, let's see if my useless son bought the right ingredients for dinner. If not, I'll make him fight another pig for it."

I can't stop laughing.

Zander, you're never going to hear the end of this.