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“Aw, where’s the fun in that, alpha?” she teased, fake pouting.
“It’ll give the house character,” Dean offered. He was the only one so far to dip into his paint, brushing blue over his water and focusing enough he hadn’t touched his wine either. My brother was meticulous and definitely the more creative one of us. His would likely turn out half decent at worst.
“Bear… are you color blind?” Ellie blurted out. The omega’s cheeks tinted pink and he looked at his canvas.
“Is that not blue?” he asked, horrified.
“It’s purple,” she said gently before pointing out the colors on his pallet. “I still vote that you do what feels right, it’ll be amazing still.”
He gave her a small smile, ignoring the rest of us. Just in that one singular look I could see that he hadn’t gotten over Ellie in the least. It was full of longing and regret, and now a spark of hope.
From her side, I could feel the confusion and uncertainty that had been plaguing her since he came back into her life. She tried to hide it but she had feelings for him she wasn’t ready to admit. Not fully at least.
When I glanced at Collin he noticed the same. The relief on the poor alpha’s face was palpable. It was a hard spot to be in, worrying about having a mate and finding a new one that had ‘wronged’ the first. But Ellie didn’t hold grudges when they weren’t due. She listened to Bear. That right there was something most wouldn’t have done.
“Damn, Ezra!” Collin accused. “You’re over here complaining it’ll look like shit. Are you kidding?”
“Shut up,” Ezra muttered, flicking paint at Collin who gasped. There were several long beats of silence before Ezra burst out laughing, everyone else joining in. Collin narrowed his eyes and tapped his paintbrush in hot pink paint, flicking it at the other alpha so he had a polka dotted face.
“The alphas of the group, ladies and gentlemen,” Ellie said drily, though she and Bear were leaning against each other as they lost it. Both of their wine was gone, so I took the opportunity to refill along with everyone else’s. I was hellbent on tonight going well.
“We need music,” Dean said when they’d stopped flicking paint at each other. “Someone hit a playlist.”
“Bet,” Ellie said, immediately pulling up a ‘nineties hits’ playlist that started with “Barbie Girl.”
Dean started to complain but Collin cut him off with a hand on his arm. Bear and Ellie had already started using their paint brushes as microphones, ignoring the fact that paint was flicking as they exaggerated their movements.
Ellie slipped forward on her stool, painting her chin aqua blue.
“Whoops,” she giggled, doing the same to Bear. “Look, now we have matching goatees.”
“The others need one,” he pointed out. “One pack, right?”
“Oh, you two are trouble together,” I accused, off my seat and backing away as they both moved forward. Bear’s swipe missed but Ellie used my distraction to dab the blue on my chin as well.
“Ha!” she said triumphantly. No one else bothered to fight them. Good thing none of us had full beards or that might have gotten out of hand.
“They’re so fucking cute together,” Collin said with a low chuckle.
“You’re a lucky alpha,” I said, giving him a pointed look. To be fair, the wine and shots had helped us dance right past awkward and into an easygoing hangout. Ellie was having a blast and so was Bear. The rest of us were far more sober but I wasn’t having any less fun. This was the kind of night that would keep us strong.
Most packs would have crumbled under the curveball life threw at us. Hell, most omegas wouldn’t be happy at a new omega taking the attention of their alpha.
Yet here we were, covered in paint, happily buzzed with wine, and taking him into our pack like he was one of our own.
The workers came in and collected our paintings when we finished an hour later. I’d have to come back and pick them up when they were dry but I could already picture the colorful collage that Ellie suggested.
I had a feeling even Collin wouldn’t complain when it came down to it. Even Bear’s that had crazy colors was done well. No one had done an awful job thanks to the pre-drawn lines.
Getting Ellie and Bear in the car wasn’t easy but we managed to stick them in the back with Collin to watch over them, Ezra taking the middle seat while Dean and I sat up front.
“That went well,” Ezra noted in a hushed voice. I almost asked why he was whispering but somehow Ellie and Bear had fallen asleep, heads resting on their alpha. They were good together and seeing Ellie happy again was everything. She’d been panicked from the moment he showed up in town, whether she tried to hide it or not.
“It did,” Collin agreed. “Thanks, Atlas.”
“Anytime,” I said, smiling to myself as I merged onto the highway.
This was the kind of beta I’d wanted to be… one who helped bring his pack together. I was more than just the outgoing twin, the guy not afraid to flirt.
