Page 63 of Shifter Omegaverse AU

The words were right on the tip of his tongue. He wanted to ask if Ruben was sorry for jumping the gun with their family. He wanted to ask if he was sorry for once again stealing the spotlight away from what should have been one of the rare, momentous moments in Rowan’s life but was now just going to be an afterthought in Ruben’s story.

And he knew—truly, he did—that it was beyond childish, but part of him wanted to know if Ruben was sorry for the distance that had grown between them after everything went down in high school. He wasn’t even mad about the competition anymore. It had been an accident, no matter how poorly timed. He just wished that he’d had his brother to turn to afterwards.

Was the same thing going to happen again? He’d been so worried about Ray and Milo, but what was going to happen if things didn’t work out with Ray and Ruben, but Rowan stayed with Milo?

How was it that he was now dreading having to watch his family once again flock to Ruben’s side, while Rowan merely stood on the sidelines, but he also desperately didn’t want to lose his brother?

He didn’t expect Ruben to be able to answer these questions any more than Rowan could, so he said nothing. He simply nodded when Ruben asked if he could have a donut.

When Ruben broke it in half and gave Rowan the bigger piece, he did manage another small smile. Growing up, the rule had been whoever cut the dessert didn’t get to pick the first piece, so they would often compete to see how evenly they could cut things. In high school, Ruben had gotten lazy with his cuts, but Rowan would always let him have the bigger piece.

When had things changed yet again?

Ruben leaned back against the counter, keeping the perfect amount of distance between them so Rowan could lay the strawberries out on a paper towel without risking bumping into him. When he dropped a few donut crumbs on the floor, he stooped over and pressed his index finger against each individual crumb until they were all cleaned up.

It seemed like a lot had changed since they were kids, and a lot more was still to come.

14

Author's note:

This chapter was written almost entirely in the passenger seat while riding on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. I spent the majority of Spring 2026 traveling back and forth to visit my mom, and sometimes the urge to write hits at the weirdest times. On this particular trip, I was luckily not with any family members, so I didn’t have to write any sex scenes with an aunt or cousin sitting nearby, but for you, dear reader, I would have done it.

Milo

Milo wasn’t exactly the most observant person on the planet. Anabelle had once cut off nearly ten inches of hair, and it had taken Milo three full days to notice.

Clearly, something had gone very right between the two brothers, eliciting deep laughs that Milo and Ray had been able to hear through the front door.

When they came back inside, though, the vibe was different. Ruben looked happy as a clam, munching on a strawberry donut, but Rowan seemed…something. It wasn’t quite sad, but it also wasn’t happy. One of Anabelle’s period drama books probably would’ve described him as melancholy or, perhaps, forlorn. Milo would just say he looked kind of bummed.

Milo’s conversation with Ray had gone about as well as it could have. Ray swore up, down, and sideways that he was going to suss out if Ruben was serious about mating. For all of their sakes, Milo hoped he was, but they still didn’t think anything that happened in Ray and Ruben‘s relationship would affect their relationship with Rowan. Yes, things would definitely get awkward if their mate bond didn’t work out, but they were all adults.

Right before they came back inside, Ray had casually mentioned that if things didn’t work out, Ruben was likely going to move away. He had gotten a job offer multiple times from a symphony on the opposite side of the country but had apparently stayed here to be close to Rowan and the rest of the family.

“He told me point-blank that if I didn’t want anything from him, he would probably have to move away because he couldn’t stand the thought of seeing me at the club dancing with someone else,” Ray had said.

Milo thought that sounded a bit dramatic, but from the lovesick looks Ruben kept casting at Ray, maybe it really was like that for him. The two brothers were so different. Rowan seemed to have dozens of walls up around his heart to protect himself but also to keep himself at a distance from everyone else. Ruben‘s heart practically bled through his shirt, and not just with Ray. The brotherly looks he kept giving Rowan were just as obvious and somehow even more intense. And yet, Rowan seemed to miss all of them, only looking at Ruben with a furrow in his brow when Ruben wasn’t looking.

That sort of familial tension and brotherly strife was a problem for another day, though. Milo had a bigger problem to deal with right now.

Their first kiss with Rowan had been tender and sweet, exactly what Milo had been missing for almost two years now. The second kiss had nearly lit Milo‘s hair on fire, and they and their pony were beyond ready for more.

It wasn’t exactly a problem to want more kisses from their boyfriend—which was still crazy to say—but when said boyfriend was touch averse, acquiring kisses had to be done with tact.

Something Milo wasn’t exactly known for.

Obviously, he wasn’t going to kick out their guests, but when Ray made the innocent mistake of glancing at the massive gothic lighthouse clock Anabelle had bought them, Milo announced it was time for strawberries and ice cream and that their couch could only comfortably hold two.

Ray, thank gods, took the dismissal with grace, threading his fingers with Ruben’s and saying they should all get dinner sometime soon. Without even pulling out his phone, Ruben declared he was only free that Thursday night, so after some brief calendar checking for the rest of them, they agreed, and the two love birds went on their way.

After Milo tightly closed and locked the door, they turned to Rowan, using every ounce of self-restraint they possessed not to pounce on the sexy man.

Neither of them had brought hats to the strawberry field, and Rowan’s cheeks were sun kissed, and his gorgeous ginger hair looked streaked with gold. As if to tempt Milo, the ugly fluorescent lights caught and shimmered against some of the lighter hairs on Rowan’s upper lip and jaw. Milo had felt the stubble rubbing against their face only an hour before, and they wanted to rub their cheeks and possibly their tongue over it—

But again, tact.

They could do this. They could be smooth and endearing. They could stick to the plan and start with strawberries and ice cream. Their pony whinnied and pawed the ground in excitement. They were an expert at being endearing. There was no way Rowan could resist their charm if they set their mind to it.