11. Teddy
Chapter 11
S ettling into the couch next to Kelly, I give in and turn my phone back on. I shut it off when I walked out of the community center earlier. Which ok, my bad that Brice called the fucking cops. I mean, I wouldn’t have heard the—I look down at the screen—twenty-five missed calls.
That just seems excessive.
And fifty-two text messages, does Brice have no free time…wait…shit…some of them are from Mom.
Well fuck, why did he have to call them.
I do a quick run-through, Brice starts out as angry, demanding I come back, then asking me to return, then asking if I’m ok. Then Mom, he must have called her when I didn’t answer…Fuck my life.
I guess I appreciate being loved, but fuck, I’m hardly helpless.
Brice can go fuck himself, I call Mom back first. She answers on the first ring, crying into the phone. I hear my dads in the background growling and one of them's yelling at me that it’s about damned time. I can’t tell which one, probably Murph, I don’t really care. Fuck, they’re supposed to be on vacation right now.
“Calm down, Mom, I’m fine. I didn’t mean to worry you guys.” I start, since she seems to be having trouble getting words out. I hear more grumbles and then someone must hit speaker phone because everybody's louder.
Suddenly Murph is on the phone. I don’t know which one is my biological dad, but he’s the pack lead for my family, just another indication that shit has gotten bad if he feels the need to step in. “Son, I love you. Now what the fuck were you thinking leaving with a strange alpha!” he yells down the line, and Sam growls at the aggression in his tone.
Even with it not on speaker on our end, he’s loud enough that the whole room can hear it. I try to stay calm, because yelling back will just incite more anger, and what I am about to say is already gonna piss the old man off. “Yeah, I need to talk to Mom, not you, so give her back the phone.”
There's a brief pause, no one on the other end even breathes before he’s roaring into my ear. “You do not make demands of me, young man! Your mother is inconsolable, do you know how worried she’s been? We get a call from Brice hours ago that you left a bonding ceremony—that we are just now hearing about—with an unknown alpha and a young beta. Then you refuse to answer his calls or text. We don’t know if you turned off your phone, if you’re hurt, if you’re dead in a ditch somewhere. I was trying to find a way to get home so we could come look for you. You know this cruise was supposed to be an anniversary present for your mother, and now the whole thing is ruined. What do you have to say for yourself?”
Kelly curls around my arm, her whole body shaking. Sam's behind me on the couch. I go ahead and hit speaker because I don’t want to risk my eardrums if Murph decides to yell again. “Oh, I’m so sorry if the”—I check the clock on my phone—“five hours I was out of contact was enough to ruin a fucking three week long trip. I’m sorry Brice didn’t tell you that I left with his pack leader’s brother, Sam, who is my chosen alpha, and our beta, Kelly.”
I hear a sharp intake of breath—pretty sure it’s Mom—on the other end, but I continue on, my words dripping with sarcasm. “I’m sorry that his public embarrassment of my new pack is a fucking inconvenience for your vacation. Especially since you weren’t even home during my only break this year and pawned me off on my cousin, who I haven’t seen in years. That is so fucking inconsiderate of me. Now, put Mom back on the fucking phone, or I am hanging up, and she can call me when you all get home.”
There's a brief pause and a beep before Mom comes back, the rest of the voices all faded to background noise, so I'm guessing she took us off speakerphone. She sniffs loudly in my ear a couple of times. “Oh sweety, I’m so happy for you. Are they nice? How many alphas did you get, are they hot? How about the beta, is he sweet?” Kelly giggles into my arm, and since I’m still on speaker mom hears it.
“Oh, is that him, he sounds kind of…delicate. But that’s ok. Hello to my Teddy’s new pack, it’s nice to meet you! I’m his mom, Jessica. You already heard from my Murphy, but Jared and Noah are here too! Say hi!” We hear mumbles in the background of my dads all giving some form of greeting.
“Ok Mom, well, you heard Kelly earlier, she’s our beta, and this is my alpha, Sam.” Sam grumbles out his own hello behind me. “So far, it’s just the three of us, but yes, they’re both hot. I really am sorry that I made you worry. Joseph just started yelling at him for talking to me earlier, and I kind of lost my cool. I didn’t mean to mess up your vacation. I miss you guys.”
“Aww, Teddy. No, you didn’t mess anything up, Honey.” I hear a loud snort behind her followed by a slap and Murphy grumbling. “As I was saying, I am so happy for you. And Kelly, hmmm, does this mean I can expect grand-babies soon?” Kelly lets out a croaking sound beside me and starts coughing, causing Jake to wander over and lay his head in her lap, his big brown eyes staring longingly up at her.
“No, Mom, probably not anytime soon. Everything's still pretty new, you know. We’re taking things one step at a time, but Sam says he’s going to file the official paperwork at the courthouse on Monday. I was going to try to contact the omega center and see about transferring to online classes, so I’ll be here once everything’s official. I didn’t want to bother you on your vacation, so I was going to wait to tell you until you got back. Sorry again.”
Jake lets out a low growl and turns towards the door, backing his ass up against Kelly, and a few seconds later someone starts pounding on the door, again. I hear Joseph yelling on the other side but can’t make out all the words.
“Mom, I love you, but I’m going to let you get back to enjoying time with your mates. It sounds like Joseph and maybe Brice just showed up here, and I need to—”
Mom cuts me off. “Now just a minute. Let Murph talk to them. I can’t believe this; I’m going to have a strong word with Brice’s mother that she lets him pull pranks like this.” The mental image of my Aunt Sandra chiding her thirty-six-year-old son runs through my mind and I snort out a laugh.
“No, Mom, it’s ok. I love you, but this is Sam’s brother. I think he needs to deal with it, and I’m here if he needs me.”
My mom makes a little ‘aww’ noise before telling me she loves me, and that she’ll call once they get home, and I better not be having too much fun to answer.
The pounding on the door starts up again as my dads grumble in the background and I hang up the phone. Joseph’s voice is clearer now. “Get the fuck out here you asshole. You’ve got a lot of goddamned nerve lying to the fucking cops! Do you know what kind of trouble you could get into, man?” This seems to be the breaking point for Sam as he yanks open the front door.
Jake lunges but Kelly grabs his collar, getting dragged off the couch as he tries to get to Sam’s side. She makes a loud squeak of protest and Jake turns around looking abashed. He presses his nose against her face, making sure she’s ok. She pats his head and calls him a good slobber monster as I help her stand back up. Jake goes back to growling at the door but stays protectively beside her as I walk over to confront Joseph with Sam. Brice is standing at the foot of the steps, fists clenched at his sides. He looks…guilty?
“Hey, Brice. Yeah, I was on the phone with my mom…what the fuck man? You knew they were on vacation. You worried her for nothing. You told them I left with a strange alpha? Seriously, you know Sam.”
Brice looks up at me, his chin jutting out. “You weren’t replying to messages, you weren’t answering calls, what was I supposed to do?”
“Well, not lie to my parents for one, not send my mom into a panic. That would be a good start. Maybe wait for me to cool down and message you back, or come get my shit from your place? I don’t know. Regardless, she’s pissed now, and she’s going to talk to Aunt Sandy.” Brice’s face drops as he goes pale at the mention of his own mom.
Yeah bitch, see how that feels.
Fuck, I’m being catty.
What the hell, I’m never catty.
Fucking omega hormones. It’s probably all the crazy shit today and stress.
Brice’s spine snaps straight. “Well, that won’t be a problem, you don’t need to come get your stuff. It’s in the truck. I think it would be best if you cut your trip short and went and stayed at your parents’ house for the rest of the school break.”
This little bitch.
Before I can verbally shit-slap my cousin, Sam steps in. He and Joseph have been silently glaring at each other the entire time Brice and I were talking. Sam slips his arm around my shoulders. “Thank ya, Brice. We sure do appreciate you bringing his stuff over, since it saves us a trip. And it should be enough to tide him over until we can get back to the omega center to collect the rest of his things.” If possible, Brice goes even paler and Joseph’s head snaps towards us.
I see Kelly slip out the door, still holding onto Jake’s collar, as the big dog glares at Joseph—who sees her and lets out a loud snarl. “What the fuck, Sam? Kelly too? Are you just fucking collecting all the goddamned strays now? Shit, man, she’s barely fucking legal. Do her parents even know?” Kelly swallows audibly and tears quickly build in her eyes. Jake snaps his jaws at Joseph, licking his teeth like he wants to take a chunk out of the guy for making Kelly cry. I can’t say I blame him.
Sam turns to his brother, his own snarl rumbling out of his chest. “What we do is her decision, always. As for if her parents know, that’s between Kelly and them and doesn’t have shit to do with you, so keep your fucking nose out of it. Now, I suggest you leave Teddy’s stuff here, take your omega, and get the fuck away from my house before I call the fucking cops for harassment.”
Brice is watching the two alphas, his head swinging back and forth at the conversation, fingers twisted together. He lets out a loud omega whine, and Joseph goes soft as he steps off the porch to join him. “I’m sorry, Honey, but if Teddy wants to stay, we can’t make him leave Sam’s house. We don’t have to like it, but it's his choice”—he turns towards me—“even if it is the wrong one.”
Sam moves between us. “That's fucking it , man, what the hell? Do you want me to be alone forever? Fuck, I thought if anything you would be relieved that I finally found my pack. That I would finally leave you the hell alone with yours. God knows you’ve been trying to get rid of me for ten goddamned years. What the fuck?”
Joseph steps back up, almost nose to nose with Sam. “Yes, I wanted you to find your own pack, but I wanted you to find someone your own fucking age. First you follow me around for years, like you’re going to join my pack that’s almost all eight years older than you, now you’re fucking robbing the goddamned cradle with an omega and beta that are what, fifteen years younger? What the fuck man? This is sick.” All the color drains from Sam’s face, leaving him pale and sickly looking, and I know that Joseph’s words hit on his own insecurities.
I can’t change how he feels about himself, but I’ll be damned if I let this be an issue. Stepping up behind his back, I wrap my arms around Sam and stare down at Joseph. “Nine years isn’t that much of a jump for me.” I swing my glare to Brice. “I’m kind of surprised that Brice is taking your side on this since two of his dads are older. His mom always did have a thing for silver foxes.” My eyes flick back to Joseph, waiting for his reaction to my next bomb. “What’s the age gap there, Brice? John’s…what, twenty-two years older than your mom. If nine years makes your mate so sick, I’d hate to hear how he feels about your dads.”
I enjoy Brice turning green more than I should. But I want this done now, it’s getting too hot out here, and all this stress is making me queasy. I want to get Kelly back inside and back to bed for snuggles soon.
Fuck, I’m sweating like crazy.
Sam’s still pale; I wonder how long that lunch meat was in his fridge.
Kelly seems ok, though.
Joseph grabs Brice’s hand, practically dragging him back towards the truck. I’m relieved when he sets my suitcases on the ground instead of throwing them. Brice climbs into the passenger side, but his eyes follow me as they back up and turn around, leaving in a big plume of dust. I see Jake leap off the porch, stopping in the yard to strut back and forth barking at their retreating vehicle, while Kelly’s arms wrap around both of us.