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How many gallant Alphas were there even left in the world?
Settling plates in front of her, Max sat across from her. He didn’t have anything for himself, watching her the entire time Devin turned it all over in her mind and ate. He must have known what she contemplated, because he didn’t demand her attention. That alone would have endeared her to him.
Could she really be thinking about this? The answer was always Rey. She would swear it with vicious certainty, but still… Max had stopped within moments of her denial. It wasn’t simple lip-service or some hypocrisy that he wouldn’t allow such things within is territory. He held himself to the same principles.
How many times had Rey ignored her cries to stop, to leave her be? Would she have ever given him a chance to make it right if he had though?
No. Devin would have run all the way home to hide in her old narrow bed in her parents’ trailer before she even considered such a thing. And Beau…
Devin gave a small shake of her head, taking another large bite of her sandwich, not even tasting it. She’d come to care for Beau, but only because of Rey’s love for him, the safety Rey engendered. Devin knew Beau would never hurt her with Rey there, the only reason she trusted him to touch her.
That was a lie. She loved watching them come together, thrilled by the taboo nature of two Alphas competing against one another’s lusts.
Devin followed Max back outside once she finished eating, guided to a patch of soft grass beside a copse of pines. She sat with her back to one of the trees, face tipped up to the sun as the shadows lengthened. Devin spent so little time out in the sun these days, she’d likely burn, but she didn’t care. She let the sun warm her down to her bones, melting her into a taffy soft mass of troubled thoughts.
There was the breath of dismay as Max arranged her against him, silenced the moment he hushed her. Cheek against the steady drumming of his heart, she drifted.
The answer was Rey. Always.
But this was so very nice.
* * *
“Is there anything else I can tell you to help you,” Max asked as they lounged on the couch, the remains of the fried chicken dinner scattered around them.
“Would you lock me away?” Devin didn’t know why she spoke up. The answer was Rey. She didn’t want Max. This was just something new, her interest piqued by that very fact. Not to mention the hormones raging through her body. Instincts had her clinging to the Alpha.
“Never.”
“You’d let me work?”
Max made a low hum, lips canting to the side as he angled a raised brow down at Devin where she sprawled over his chest. “Within reason. I’d want to keep you close.”
“What do you do for a living?” Devin stacked her fists, resting her chin on them so she could meet his gaze.
“Bike shop down the road. We do a few cars, but mostly classics and beat up trucks.” Max curled a lock of her hair around his fingers, giving it a light tug. “I can keep you in the lifestyle you’ve become accustomed to, don’t worry.”
“I’m good with paperwork,” Devin said around a jaw-cracking yawn. “And I’m not worried about that. I don’t need fancy stuff.”
“I like that about you, Devin,” Max said through a low rumble, carding his fingers through her hair to cup her nape. “You’ve got even less pretense than I do.”
“I don’t want kids,” Devin whispered. Shock sent her eyes wide, showing too much white as she sat back with a jolt. Hands cradling the soft swell of her stomach, she mumbled a litany of apologies to the bundle of cells residing there.
“It’s okay, honey,” Max soothed, tugging Devin back against him to scrub at her scalp.
“It heard me.”
“I’m sure it understands its mama isn’t quite ready yet. When it gets here, it’ll be different.”
“You don’t know that,” Devin said, keeping her voice pitched low as she continued to hold her belly, as if to muffle the sound of her voice. “It didn’t change for that Beta you knocked up.”
“She’s a Beta, for one. And it’s not like you hate kids, right?” Max added a gentle purr, calming Devin’s fidgeting.
“No, I just… I don’t know what to do with them. The idea of them doesn’t fill me with joy or longing, nothing like that.”
“I’m not saying you’re going to suddenly become the perfect mama, but I think when you hold your own baby in your arms, it’ll be different for you.”
“What if it’s not?” Devin sniffled hard, fighting back the tears as worry spiraled through her, every horrible possibility playing out at light speed in her thoughts.
