Talk About… Trouble (Rockwood Valley Omegaverse #4)

Chapter 19

Devon

H oly shit, I have a pack. The thought kept repeating in my head as if I couldn’t quite grasp that it was true. Yet, here I was sitting out on Shepherd’s porch, watching the sexy alpha chop wood.

Nash, Wren, and Braxton all had work to catch up on, but I was still in the planning stages of this new business adventure.

And it felt awful.

There was this awful guilt eating me alive for not contributing like they all were. I didn’t want to be a kept omega. Sure, spoil the fuck out of me and take care of me, but I wasn’t the type to sit at home and present for his alphas, and keeping house.

“Get over here, firecracker!” Shepherd called out. His large chest was rising and falling, sweat glistening on his flushed skin.

“Coming,” I choked out, trying to will my scent and cock to not betray me.

“You look like you’re in your head over there,” he said when I was close enough to talk normally.

“Well, an ax wielding alpha is over here glistening in the sun, can you blame me?” I deflected with a flirty grin.

He huffed out a laugh. “While that is true. It’s not what’s got you chewing that lip to hell, is it, omega? Talk to your alpha.”

Fuck, the way he talked had my entire body ready to submit. Hell, I’d present for him right here in the pasture.

“No,” I admitted, chewing on my bottom lip again.

“Stop,” he warned. “Don’t make me spank that ass to get you out of your head. I have a feeling you get lost in there a lot and deflect with all this sass.”

Damn, he had me figured out already. We’d get nothing past this alpha.

“I’m not against spanking,” I admitted, not even bothering to flirt this time. He raised a brow and nodded.

“Noted. Now talk.”

When I couldn't make myself get the words out, he put the ax in my hand. I genuinely laughed as it dragged my arm down.

“I don’t have your muscles, alpha,” I pointed out.

“You’ll build them,” he said without backing down. He put a piece of wood on the large stump and walked around behind me. With his larger body engulfing mine, I found it even harder to talk. He guided me in a swing, not doing it for me but making sure I knew how to do it.

He stepped out of range of the ax and gestured for me to go.

“Chop until you can talk,” he said. I knew instinctively he wasn’t going to force me to do it, which was what really made me give it a go.

The first swing missed and embarrassment flooded me, but he simply set it up again and said nothing, his face as impassive as ever.

“Again.”

The second time I managed to hit it head on, but it simply lodged in the top and wouldn’t let go.

Shepherd fixed it again, gesturing for me to try another swing.

This time it split halfway. This beast of a man picked up the half-split log and tore it in two, tossing it in the pile and selecting another. The next was a bit smaller and I swung again, splitting it.

“Again.”

I was starting to hate that word.

Yet, with each swing and split log, my mind settled. My arms shook and sweat had my shirt clinging to my skin, but it felt powerful, incredible.

“You ready to tell me what’s wrong?”

“I hate that I’m not working like everyone else,” I said before I realised I even spoke, the ax hitting the wood and splitting it.

Now that I started, I couldn’t seem to stop.

“I’m sure you’ll say something like ‘your worth isn’t tied to working’ but how is it not? This pack will start to resent me if I am staying at home all day while they work hard.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but I kept going so he simply put another log up for me.

“I’m not the ‘stay home and cook’ type. Honestly, no one wants me to try cooking, I’m terrible. As my family always said, I’m not even a good omega.”

“Ah, there it is,” he hummed, putting another log up.

“Yeah, when I wasn’t a beta, and my first hormone meltdown hit, that was enough for them. This designation was like a personal attack on them and they hated me. I was bullied until the day I fucking left because of something I couldn’t change. But sure, let’s make our child’s life miserable until he hates himself.”

“Do you hate yourself?” Still no judgment, only calm curiosity.

“No, I don’t,” I said as I let the ax fall to the ground. My arms were shaking harder now, my mind oddly detached. “I’m smarter and stronger than they realized. I’m funny and loving, and I have a lot to offer.”

“I agree with all of that,” he hummed as he scooped me up. I didn’t have anything left to protest, I just wrapped my arms around his neck and held on, breathing in his alpha musk that was stronger thanks to the sweat.

He didn’t stop until we made it to the omega suite. He took us both into the shower, stripping us bare before turning it on. The warmth felt amazing on my abused muscles.

“Listen to me. It’s not just a saying. Your worth in this pack is not tied to your monetary contributions. You make us complete, Devon. Just like Wren. We need you both. I love this smart mouth of yours and this vulnerable side. You are sexy, smart, and drive me crazy. You even managed to pull this grumpy alpha out of his solitude.”

“I have barely any savings left. I’ve been on my own and omega jobs aren’t always easy to find or keep. Then you tell them you’re a male omega and it’s like they can’t get you out of the door fast enough.”

“It sounds like you’ve had a lot working against you,” he said gently, lathering up a loofa and starting to clean the sweat from my skin, eventually skipping to his palms so he was touching me. My cock was hard and so was his, but neither of us made a move.

“Yes,” I agreed. “I don’t want to take help from others. This is something I want to do myself.”

“Do you have the means, though?” he asked.

“I do, but it would mean bargain shopping and not helping with the pack fund,” I admitted as fresh tears fell. He had stripped away every one of my defenses and I felt too vulnerable.

“Then do it. We can handle the funds until you’ve got your head above water, then you can add in. We have more than enough and this house was inherited. I don’t need money for bills, firecracker. Plus, I have a feeling it won’t take long for your business to blow up.”

“Wouldn’t that be nice,” I snorted. My head was full of ideas and plans for this rent a date business, but getting people to give me a shot would be hard.

“Give yourself a chance,” he said, brushing my curls out of my face and placing a kiss there.

“Devon? Shepherd?” Braxton was calling out our names. He stopped in the bedroom and laughed. “I was just about to ask which shower I should use.”

“This one,” Shepherd said before lowering his voice. “If you want. I think you could use some beta love right about now.”

Braxton was standing outside the door, I could scent him there. I nodded, but when Shepherd started to leave, I grabbed his hand.

He turned back, saying nothing as he waited.

“Thank you.”

“Always, firecracker. We’ve all got you,” he vowed.

He slipped out of the shower, leaving the room as Braxton stepped in. “Are you alright? Do you want me to join?”

“Yes,” I said, answering both questions. He stripped quickly before stepping into the shower.

“Let me clean off my day while you catch me up,” he urged, grabbing soap and scrubbing at his body, his face open and eager for me to talk.

“I was just in my head and Shepherd forced me out of it.”

Braxton chuckled. “He’s good at that. For a man who was a recluse, he has a way with words of encouragement.”

“Yes,” I said, letting out a sigh as I tried to shake the mood.

“Come here,” he said, pulling me close so our warm bodies were pressed together. I buried my head in his chest, hating how fucking small I felt. “Want to talk about it?”

“Just scared of failing, hating that my family makes me doubt myself even though I’ve been out for years, and feeling weird about not contributing while I get this off the ground.”

“Your family is crazy, something I can relate to. I think the only one around here with normal family is Nash,” Braxton said. “My parents had too many kids, forced us older ones to raise them. My two older siblings left the moment they could and never looked back. I think they resented us for what our parents did, but I couldn’t do the same. I stayed and helped, working two jobs so my siblings could eat until my sister talked me into applying for vet school. I visit still, but it’s harder each time. My parents are super bitter that I went out and ‘made myself better.’ I give my sister money to make sure the kids are fed and have a savings ready for when she turns eighteen. Now I’m rambling. All that was to say that I get the pressure and lingering pain from parental rejection, but they don’t get to take hold of your future if you don’t want them to.”

“Fuck them,” I said, a possessive growl echoing in the shower. He chuckled and gave me a squeeze.

“I appreciate the support,” he said, placing a kiss on my temple. He turned me gently, massaging my shoulders and working some of the tension out of them before doing the same to my biceps. I moaned at the pressure on my tight muscles, melting into his touch as I breathed him in. Chocolate chip pancakes and that comforting beta undertone helped ease the rest.

The water was starting to get cold, so he adjusted it and turned me around, placing a kiss on my forehead.

“How’s that?”

“Better,” I said, meaning it now. “I just don’t want to disappoint you guys by not adding to the pack funds.”

“If you’re working on establishing a business, why would we be upset? It’s okay to rely on us, that’s the whole point of a pack,” he said. The way he spoke, with such calm sincerity had the worries melting even more.

Maybe I could pull this off. Wren was excited to help me plan and if they were willing to give me time to establish an income stream, I should take advantage of it.

“Thanks, Brax,” I said, kissing him softly.

The shift closer to him had our cocks rubbing together and I groaned despite the conversation we just had.

Braxton kissed the side of my neck, nibbling at the flesh there and breathing me in.

“Want me to help relieve some of this stress?”

“I do,” I admitted. It was a vulnerable moment, but I wanted him to touch me still. His hand wrapped around us both, the shower adding plenty of moisture for his hand to glide over us easily. I whimpered as he increased the pressure, twisting slightly as he reached the top.

My hands glided up his chest before pulling him down to kiss me. Braxton’s head cocked to the side as he deepened the kiss, just as breathless as I was. It wasn’t an eloquent kiss, but a panting, needy mix of nips and greedy swipes of our tongues as we devoured each other.

Pleasure was coursing through my veins, my balls tightening as I threatened to explode. It felt too soon, but was also so fucking good I didn’t want to hold back.

“Come for me, omega,” he husked between kisses, hand working us harder. My hips rocked into each twist of his hand, demanding more as my muscles tightened in anticipation.

If the shower wasn’t washing away my slick, I knew it’d be a slippery mess in here. Fuck, he felt so good against me, hot and hard, the exquisite slide of his hands driving me crazy.

“Braxton,” I whimpered out his name as my knees went weak and I came, forcing my hips forward as I exploded, my cum painting his hands, chest, and chin.

My beta’s face went slack with his own release. His own hot cum painted over us both. The moment he slowed down, I pulled his cum-coated fist to my mouth, licking him clean of our combined releases while he watched me with those sexy green eyes of his, a euphoric smile gracing his handsome face.

Braxton was just as broken inside as the rest of us but made it his life’s mission to care for everyone else. He took on Shepherd as much as the alpha took care of him, kept his siblings fed and loved, and now was making sure we were happy as well.

He believed in me, helped me realize as much as Shepherd did that I didn't have to choose pack life or my passion.

Maybe I could make this all work.

As if he could read my mind, Braxton grinned, kissing me one last time before cleaning us up.

Right then I vowed to myself that I’d do the same for him. Our beta deserved the world and I knew just the omegas to give it to him.