23. Steve
Chapter 23
F uck this shit.
Fuck Grandpa, fuck Dad, and fuck Garret with all their building a family bullshit…just fuck everybody, I want Teddy.
Garret’s in the front seat beside me, pouting as we drive towards the tiny town of Oak Flats. What the fuck kind of name is Oak Flats anyway, and why did Teddy’s mom say he was staying here? He should have gone back to the fucking omega center so that I could court him properly. Not this bullshit where he thinks he found a fucking alpha in the middle of bumfuck nowhere. Where the fuck even are we, Louisiana…Mississippi…some shit out in the middle of fucking nowhere…not even sure if they have fucking Wi-Fi out here.
Garret groans beside me. He hasn’t really stopped bitching since I told him I was coming after Teddy. Fuck, I’d rather he didn’t bother to tag along, but he says he has to. Because if I’m going to get my ass handed to me by Teddy’s new alpha, then he wants to be there as backup. I appreciate it, really, but fuck you’d think he could stop complaining since he’s the one that insisted on coming.
At least this time when he talks it’s actual words instead of just muttered grumbles. “Find me some place to get some goddamned food soon, or else. I’m getting hungry over here.” So his earlier bullshit wasn’t hangry, just moody bitchiness. Fuck me, all the nope . I pull over—there isn’t exactly a curb here, so I just hope for the best as we crunch onto the gravel on the side of the road. The GPS shows a diner in town, and a mom and pop type grocery store. Fingers crossed they have a deli or some shit. Not that I would admit it to him, but Garret’s right, I kinda need a little nosh myself.
“Looks like another four miles into town, then we can hit the grocery, grab a few things for while we're here. Sound good?” The only reply I get is more unintelligible grumbling, so fuck it, I’ll take that as a yes. I put the SUV back in drive and check my mirrors…It’s no surprise at all that I see no one on this deserted stretch of highway. Why the fuck would he come out here anyway?
Just as my tires start to grip the asphalt again I hear a loud pop and a hiss. Garret’s side of the SUV settles noticeably. That at least gets some reaction out of him, even if it is all profanity.
Never actually heard the term “horse biting bitch” but I guess after a solid three minute rant he was running out of material. I don’t even bother getting out to check, just search on my phone again for garages in the area.
Of course, there’s only one. Why not?
I hit dial, because we’re gonna need a tow truck, regardless. We both know how to change a flat tire—in theory—but I’ll just let the Alpha Automotive Association deal with it. I pay for the shit, might as well use it. It rings through the front a few times before a feminine voice picks up. “Gabe’s Garage, this is Kelly, how can I help you?”
And fuck me, I wasn’t quick enough to respond.
“Yeah, sweetheart, you can get us a mechanic or somebody in charge to talk to. We’re having some car trouble. Thanks.” Goddamned motherfucking Garret.
There’s a beat of silence before the phone hangs up.
“This is the only fucking garage for forty goddamned miles, you shit. Let me talk!” I slap my brother in the back of the head. We have a silent battle of wills for a few minutes where he glares at me, but at least he keeps quiet while I hit redial. It rings twice this time before a different female voice answers. “Gabe’s Garage, Sal speaking, what can I do for ya?”
“I am so sorry, first of all, my brother was an asshole when we called a minute ago. But regardless, my name's Steven, and we really do need help. We’ve had a flat about four miles outside of town, and need a tow truck, and at least one new tire.”
Sal has a deep and kind of sultry chuckle that makes the hairs on the back of my neck rise as she answers, “Not a problem, man. I’ll pass along your apology when Kelly gets back from lunch. Now, as for your problem, do you see any mile marker signs or anything where you are?”
“Honestly, it’s all flat, with nothing but grass…we may have passed a barn a few miles back.” Her laugh is lighter this time, like she’s genuinely enjoying us being lost. Not that I blame her after Garret earlier. “My GPS just shows us four miles south of town.”
“Ah, yeah, ok, so you passed Springfield about forty-five minutes ago? Yeah, I know where you are. Just gimme your call back number, vehicle make and model, along with the color. I’ll see who I can send out there, shouldn’t be more than fifteen minutes.” She makes a few hums of confirmation as I rattle off my information, before I thank her for her help.
I feel like I should apologize again. “Thanks Sal, I really appreciate it. Oh, do you need my AAA information or can you just get it when we get there?”
“We can take care of that when you get to the office. Kelly handles all that stuff, and she should be back from lunch by the time we get you sorted out. See ya’ in a few.” She hangs up and at least Garret’s stopped glaring at me. Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop the lecture he starts in on again.
“What are we doing here, bro? I know you and Teddy were together. I get that you miss him, but he’s an omega now, and omegas don’t share. You know how Dad and Grandpa are about family. Dad wants grandkids man, we can’t have Teddy if we want to have kids or a real family.” I know all the excuses, but fuck, we’ve been to multiple omega centers trying to find a match, someone we can agree on, and it’s just not happening. Teddy was more than just my friend. We knew we were going to be a pack; we knew we were going to be together.
I can find women attractive, in an aesthetic way. Just like I can find a piece of artwork or a song beautiful, but I’ve never met a woman, omega or beta, that I want a relationship with like I had with him. Hell, I’ve met very few men that I can see having a relationship with like we had. Teddy’s special, he’s mine, my teddy bear, and his designation coming in as an omega just confirmed it.
Not that we’ve seen each other since that happened. Our dad found out, flipped his shit, and forbade us from seeing him again. But fuck that miserable lonely old bastard. I need Teddy. Neither of us have much else to say as we sit here and wait for the tow truck.
Thankfully, it’s only ten minutes, but it’s a hell of a shock when a tall alpha female steps out and introduces herself as Sal. She smells kind of like shop grease and pine, and I’m not sure how much of it is her, and how much is her job. She asks how we’re doing and makes general conversation with us as she gets the SUV hooked up, and Garret and I join her in the front of the tow truck while she takes us back to town. We tell her we’ll be staying in town for a bit, but not the reason why, if she knows Teddy, we don’t want him to find out we're here yet and avoid us. She tells us that the pack that owns the garage is out for their honeymoon, so they aren’t readily available, but she and Kelly work together as temporary office managers until the Gabe of Gabe’s Garage returns.
We pass the grocery store I was looking for just before we turn into the parking lot of the garage. I tell Sal that we’re going to walk down to grab some food while they get the car pulled in. She pushes some papers into my hands to sign, and makes sure I hand over the keys, then waves us off so she can get back to work. I hand the papers to Garret—he’s the paperwork guy. He glares at me, scribbles his name a few times, and hands them back to Sal.
We skip the front office and head straight towards the store. Garret pulls me down the sidewalk, his stomach rumbling is a loud background to the frustrated grumbles coming from his mouth.
It takes us less than two minutes to walk the block and a half to the store, and thank fuck for the heater in here. I didn’t realize how cold it was until I started walking, but winter and I are not friends. The air inside is warm and a sweet smell tickles my nose in the most amazing way. From the way Garret groans beside me, I'm guessing he smells it too. I need to find the bakery in this place and get some of whatever the fuck that is.
Garret practically marches over me, headed down the main aisle—his head swinging from side to side, nose twitching as he searches for whatever's giving off that amazing scent. He stops suddenly, head turned to the right, and I plow into his back before I can catch myself. He’s like a solid fucking wall right now and I just bounce off him, ready to give him hell for stopping so suddenly.
But when I look at his face, all I see is hunger. His pupils are blown, and his nostrils flare as he takes in the source of the scent. There’s a woman down the aisle, omega if I had to guess from the scent, long brown hair pulled up in a ponytail, silver glasses perched on the end of her nose as she scrolls through her phone, adding things to her shopping cart. It feels like iron bands circle my chest, and I can’t breathe.
Garret growls low and deep in his throat and I can relate. The scent coming off this girl smells like spicy cookie heaven, cinnamon and vanilla with a tiny hint of something floral. Who the fuck let an unbonded omega go to the store alone? I know this is a small town, but come on people, safety! Anybody could show up. Case in point as I reach for Garret’s arm, trying to stop him as he marches towards the girl.
And she is a girl, probably a few years younger than us. At most I'd say she's in her early twenties I would say at most. Where the hell is her guardian? I catch up with Garret halfway down the aisle and wrap my arms around his chest, trying to distract him long enough to come to his senses. “Dude, what the fuck! You can’t go around accosting random omegas. Her alphas are probably in this fucking store. Do you want your ass kicked?” His growl ratchets up at my statement about her having possible alphas, and we finally draw enough attention to ourselves that she notices.
She takes us in, a quick up and down, and then lowers her head and scurries away as fast as she can push her cart. Fucking hell. Garret shakes me off and stalks after her. “She’s ours. Can’t you smell it?” Unfortunately, I can smell it. I know exactly what he means. Everything about this scent screams out that it’s mine, and that’s not gonna work for me. I came to this town to get Teddy and no delicious smelling grocery store omega is going to change that. But I don’t want to fight with him right now, so I need to get this shit sorted out.
“Ok, I’ll look for her. You go find us some food. You’re acting a little nuts right now, man. You’ll scare her off if you keep this shit up.” His eyes squint at me, assessing if he can trust me in this, but eventually he just nods and walks towards the end of the aisle where she disappeared. He looks up, taking in the store map signs before nodding back at me and turning away from the direction of her escape. Hopefully, once we get some food in him, he’ll be less feral, and with any luck, she’ll be long gone.
Garret
I know Steve's gonna be pissed, but I can’t walk away from this. I make sure he sees me turn down away from the omega that just rewrote my fucking world, and I go down two aisles before doubling back behind him. I glance down the aisle I left him on, and he’s still there, staring intently at the ceiling. I don’t know what exactly is going through his head, but I don’t care right now. I know he loves Teddy. He’s always loved Teddy, and I’m man enough to admit that there were times when I felt like the odd man out with my own twin.
Maybe I’m being petty, but I just want someone to want me, not my family name, not our family money, not because twins are a novelty…just me. I want to be enough for someone…just once. Teddy’s great. He was almost as close to me as Steve—I would have been happy to be in a pack with him. But I’ve never been attracted to him the way Steve has, and I’m pretty sure the feeling’s mutual. He’s my friend, but I can’t be in a pack with just the three of us.
I let Steve believe that I agree with Pops and Gramps, but the truth is, I don’t really care if we never have kids. I don’t hate children, I just never imagined my life with them. But while I don’t want to lose my brother, I can’t live the rest of my life feeling like a third wheel.
Hurrying through the store, I keep a watch out for the pretty omega. I can scent her, but I don’t see her anywhere. Heading towards the front of the store, I hope I can catch her before she leaves. Even if I can just get her name, I can try to find out more. Maybe somebody at the garage knows her. It’s a small town, everybody knows everybody else, right? I speed walk past the cash registers and see a light brown ponytail disappearing out the door—I run to catch up.
There she is, in the parking lot, just standing on the sidewalk, cart full of bags. I wonder if she needs a ride somewhere.
Shit, the SUV’s at the shop. I bet I could carry all those bags to the shop for her, then offer her a ride once the it’s fixed. Will she think I’m a creep if I offer? Fuck, that sounds creepy even to me. Ok, play it cool.
Still, gotta give it a try. “Hi, um, Miss, do you need some help?” She turns towards me and draws back. She’s bigger than most of the omegas I’ve met, but I’m still a good head and shoulders taller. I stop with several feet still between us. “Sorry, it’s just really cold out here, and well, our SUV’s down at the shop, but we can give you a ride once we get it fixed. That is, um, if you need one? I don’t know how long it’s gonna be, though, sorry.”
Fucking hell, I sound like a babbling idiot.
And she’s staring.
Great.
Her brows draw down, an angry look marring her pretty features. “Sorry, I’m waiting for my pack to come pick me up. And my name’s Kelly, not sweetheart.”
Steve’s right.
I am such a fucking asshole.