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Dane laughed, bright and boisterous. "You have no clue what to do when people care for you, do you?"
Elias blushed, glancing down at his lap. "Ian spoils me, but three people doing it feels strange."
"Well, you're going to have to get used to it because we're not going anywhere," Levi cut in.
The intensity in their locked eyes through the rear-view mirror left him breathless. "You might have to keep telling me that."
Levi grinned. "I'll say it every damn day if you need me to."
Elias pressed a hand to his forehead. These men were too much, or maybe just enough. He returned Levi's smile with a hesitant one of his own, surprised he'd made such a one-eighty in his mood. How did they do that to him? He liked it.
"I've been saying that for years," Ian said, sounding put out about it. "And I'm not as forgiving as they are about your health. You're done taking those too-strong suppressants, you hear me?"
Elias forced himself to look into Ian's fiery saffron gaze, facing it head on. What he said next was so full of fuzzy feelings that it shocked him, too.
"Then you guys have to mate with me during my heat."
Ian's eyes blew comically wide, pupils expanding. "W-what?"
Elias, face burning from the roots of his hair to his collarbone, doubled down as he sat upright. "I said; mate me. I hope you booked a secluded rental."
Ian visibly swallowed. "I-uh… Yes, we, uh, yes."
Elias laughed, delighted at the rare show of embarrassment and hesitation. Ian was a headstrong person with outspoken opinions despite his sweet nature, but this was out of character. Levi slapped his hand against the wheel with a laugh after glancing over at Ian's tomato face.
"You act like you've never had sex before," he said, reaching over to shove Ian in the shoulder, jostling him.
"He brought up mating out of nowhere!" Ian protested.
"Doesn't make your embarrassment any less embarrassing, man," Levi replied.
Dane yanked Elias back to his side with a raunchy smile, showering him with kisses. "I'm ready when you are, Kitten. Show me those claws you're so scared of."
Elias shied away, groaning. "Don't make the nickname weird. It's actually kinda hot."
"Oh, so you like being called my kitten?"
"You're making it weirder!"
Dane leaned closer as Elias tried to back away, leaving him with nowhere to go in the confines of the car. "It's only weird because you're thinking of lewd things. Tell me, what's burning in that sinful brain of yours?"
He stretched his neck to keep his lips away from Dane's even while clenching his thighs together, complaining. "Ian, tell him to stop until we get there."
"No can do," he replied, tongue-in-cheek. "Suffer for all the stress you put me through. Keep bugging him, Dane."
Elias yelled in protest while all three alphas laughed, breaking the tension. He understood that this wouldn't be the end of the subject, particularly with someone as anxious as Ian, but he chose to move on. August's voice ran through his head every time an anxious thought chased itself in circles in his brain.
Lacking control of a situation doesn't mean it's bad, it only means you're uncomfortable and that might help you.
Yeah fucking right.
Chapter Eighteen
They pulled into the gravel drive of a sprawling ranch-style house with white siding and barn red shutters. The color made the character of the place pop, as did the bursting flower beds of marigolds, sunflowers, hydrangeas, and hanging wisteria. There was a woman sitting in a rocking chair on the wrap-around porch, already smiling at the SUV despite not being able to see inside. Elias' eyes shone as he pushed open the door and climbed out, shedding blankets as he went.
Dane grabbed them before they could hit the ground, stuffing them back inside as Elias tumbled into the balmy air. Bugs buzzed and preened through fields of lavender as far as the eye could see. It's what the pack farmed and sold to the upper provinces, and they enamored him with their vibrant color. He swore the grass here was two shades greener than anything he'd seen before.
"Hello and welcome," the woman called, blue eyes sparkling.
