AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Alphas don’t have two omegas. It’s never happened before.” Denial was my only option right now.
“There’s never been an alpha like me before,” Wolf growled, putting a little bite into his words. It wasn’t enough to dominate me, just enough to get my attention, as if he needed me to hear him. See him. It sent a zap of electricity through me, shocking my heart into beating faster.
“This morning, I may have run, but it wasn’t away from you or Ava. I would have told you that if I’d had the words. I just needed to feel my freedom for a moment. I knew you were safe and your pack was watching you.”
He didn’t look slighted at my silence, or that he’d declared himself my alpha and I hadn’t reciprocated. Maybe it was enough for him, for now, to just tell his truth and have me hear him.Was that possible?
The intensity in his eyes, though, had me shifting my attention to the rest of the group before he stripped me completely bare. I swept my gaze over them. Ryder was hardly breathing as he leaned in, his arms rested on his crossed legs. As if he was watching a cliffhanger episode of his favorite TV show. River had leaned back onto his hands. His expression shuttered, as he carefully watched us. While Nick had curled around Ava and now studied me with a wistful expression.
I’d watched them today, and my defensiveness of Ava from our first meeting last night had gradually dissipated. My senses had become sharply honed over the years at the Palace. I knew what ill intentions looked like, tasted like. Even the shadowed kind. I didn’t sense it from any of these men, towards Ava or me. There were plenty of messy emotions, especially between Ava and Ryder, but I could tell both the twins loved Ava deeply. Wolf was an open book, despite his wildness. He had no artifice and his intentions were clear. Nick was as smitten with Ava as he had been from the moment he laid eyes on her. If he was a cartoon character, he’d have giant hearts for eyes. It was sweet.
Watching them now, sitting under the stars together, this moment felt momentous somehow. As if it was the start of something beautiful and powerful. The thought that they might be mine, too, was a world made of cotton candy clouds and chocolate waterfalls. A dream. If only I could let them in and see if I could live there. I wished it were as easy as it sounded.
Wolf noticed my change in focus towards the other guys.
“Does anyone have a problem with two omegas in this pack?” His low growl gave them no option to deny we were a pack.
Nobody said anything for a moment. Each waiting for the other to speak first.
“Nick? I assume you’re okay with it. You seem friendly with both Cary and Ava,” Wolf asked, seeming impatient when no-one responded.
“You’re asking me first?” Nick’s head jerked up quickly. He seemed surprised, and a little overwhelmed. It was at odds with his earlier confidence when he introduced this discussion. He suddenly looked young and unsure.
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I ask you?” Wolf demanded. His brow furrowed, and he looked genuinely perplexed.
“Um, I’m a beta. I know Maia and Lexie’s pack both have betas in them, but they were in established relationships with their betas long before they became a pack.”
“What does being a beta have to do with anything? You feel like pack so you’re pack and you get a say in pack business.” Wolf huffed, as if it was obvious and shouldn’t require an explanation. Then his face fell, and a hint of vulnerability crept into his voice. “Do you not want to be pack either?”
“No,” Nick almost shouted. He put his hand up in front of Wolf, as if to stop his next words. “I mean yes, I want to be pack. Ava and Cary felt like home from the moment I met them, in different ways. If this feels like a pack to you all too, I want in.”
Nick talking so easily about me being home had a glow settling in my chest. I envied how simple it was for Nick and Wolf. To just want something and decide they were all in. Ava had broken through the wall between us last night, but it turns out we’d made that one out of tissue paper. The rest of my walls felt bolted in place, and would tear something inside of me if I tried to rip them down. Nick had somehow slipped past, though, without even trying.Had he found a secret door?
Wolf just nodded at Nick once, indicating it was done, and turned to the twins. They were sitting side by side, looking completely at home in the shadows. River frowned and seemed to wrestle with himself. His focus turned inward as he mentally examined all his parts to see what would fit in this new dynamic. He turned to his twin and River’s frown fell away as his face softened. It was clear he’d do anything for his twin.
An entire conversation seemed to happen without words between the two, before River turned back to us. “I don’t know as much about packs as all of you seem to do. But I can’t deny we both feel a draw to you all, too. If that’s a pack, we have no problem with it or having two omegas in it. Ava is ours. If she’s also yours, that just means more people to protect her.”
He hesitated again before he turned to me and addressed me directly. I forced my eyes to stay on him and not shy away, but my breath was being dragged through a field of boulders. When he spoke again, his words came in a careful, considered tone. They held weight. “I’m just not attracted to you, Cary. You don’t feel like mine, and I need to be upfront about that. Ava is it for me. She’s my true mate. You feel like a pack brother, though, so I’m happy to be here for anything else you need.”
I felt the tension in my body ease and I let out the breath I’d been holding. River, not being my alpha, was fine with me. I didn’t feel like he was mine, either. I could work with pack brother. A faint hope glimmered within the void in my chest. That I might be a part of something in this world after all.
“I’m good with that,” I told him honestly. He let out a breath too and looked relieved. He shot me a tiny, lopsided grin, and it was startling given how stern he’d been since I met him. It changed his entire face and made him seem more approachable. He must have been worrying about our dynamic, too.
His twin hadn’t spoken yet, though. I flicked my eyes Ryder’s way and met his curious stare.
“I agree with River. If the way we feel drawn to you all is pack, then you’re a part of that, Cary. Even if you’re not mine the way Ava is. Although, unlike my brother, I’m open toanythingyou need. That includes sharing, as long as Ava is okay with it.”
I mulled over his words for a moment, feeling intrigued. Sharing Ava with one of them, or even being with one of her other mates for her pleasure, hadn’t occurred to me. I don’t know why. In my mind, it had been one or the other, and I would always choose Ava. What Ryder was suggesting would take a lot of trust and open communication. The idea hooked inside me and stirred up embers I didn’t know existed.Would she be into that, though?
Ryder had one eyebrow cocked as he took me in. Almost in challenge. “Ava has been mine since the moment I scented her. I’ll give her anything she wants,” I told him honestly, but kept it deliberately vague. Ava would be my guide on this. I wouldn’t let anything mess up my chance with her, or distract me from her.
I deliberately didn’t look at Wolf. He was different. More than the other guys, in a way I couldn’t examine right now. My heart shied away from poking that wound. I focused instead on what I needed to achieve my goal of protecting Ava and the other omegas.
If I was going to be a part of this pack, it couldn’t be as the person my father and the Palace had forced me to become. I couldn’t live that half life any longer, not if I was going to be who Ava needed now that she was free. I had to figure out a way to do it that let me finally drop the mask and breathe. That allowed me to get to know the man underneath.
“For me, right now, what I really need is training. I want to learn how to defend myself and protect her. I got my ass kicked the last time I tried. Learning to fight has never been an option for me. I need that to change.” It was the only way forward for me. If they denied me, this would not work.
“Ava mentioned you’re injured and I’ve noticed you wincing when you move. She said you took on four alphas to shield her and her friend,” River said.
