Chapter 10 #2
"Share. You mean... all three of us?" Harper repeated the word like he was testing a foreign language, his voice rough with disbelief, his brow furrowing as he tried to process what I was saying.
"That's exactly what I mean." I held his gaze without flinching, letting him see that I was completely serious.
"I won't be fought over. I won't be a prize to be won.
I won't tear myself apart trying to choose when I don't have to.
This isn't traditional. It's not how things are supposed to work.
But nothing about this situation is traditional.
" I gestured at the three of them, at Gumbo floating in the distance, at my cabin perched above the bayou like something out of a fever dream.
"An Omega with three Alphas. Pack structure." Remy's voice was wondering, his accent thick with emotion, and he leaned forward with something lighting up in his amber eyes—recognition, maybe, or hope.
"Packs are normal. One Alpha, one Omega—that's what most folks do.
" I kept my voice steady, matter-of-fact.
"But more than one Alpha to an Omega? That's where it gets rare.
Two Alphas sharing an Omega happens sometimes—not common, but it happens.
Marguerite had friends over in Terrebonne Parish like that.
Two Alphas, one Omega, thirty years together.
Happiest people I ever saw." I let that sink in, watching their faces.
"But three Alphas? That's old ways. The kind of pack you read about in history books or hear whispered about in bayou stories.
Most people go their whole lives never seeing one because they keep it behind closed doors.
." I shrugged, meeting each of their eyes in turn.
"Doesn't mean it can't work. Just means we'd be something rare.
" I let the word hang in the air between us.
"I've read about it. Historical accounts, before things changed.
Three or four Alphas to one Omega wasn't unusual back then.
" Silas's voice was quiet, thoughtful, his pale eyes meeting mine with something that looked almost like respect as he tilted his head slightly, considering.
"The old ways faded, but they didn't disappear entirely.
" He added, something almost wistful in his flat tone.
Harper was silent, his dark eyes fixed on me with an intensity that made my stomach flip. I could see him wrestling with it—the traditional Alpha instinct to possess, to claim, warring with something deeper, something that wanted me badly enough to consider the impossible.
"Harper." I said his name softly, and he flinched like I'd touched him, his whole body jerking toward me. "I know this isn't easy. For any of you. But I need to know if you can do this." I waited, watching the battle play out across his features.
"If it means being with you, I'll learn.
I've spent my whole life alone. If sharing you with them means I get to have you at all.
.. I'll learn." He finally said, his voice rough and low, his jaw tight but his dark eyes holding something like hope as he glanced at Remy, at Silas, something complicated passing over his face before he repeated with more certainty, "I'll learn. "
"Remy?" I turned to him, watching the way his throat worked as he swallowed.
"Chere, I've shared less and lost more. At least this way, I'm not running.
At least this way, I'm choosing to stay.
I can't promise it won't be messy. But I can promise I'll try.
" His smile was crooked, self-deprecating, and he reached up to run a hand through his honey-blond curls in a nervous gesture that made him look younger, more vulnerable, his amber eyes earnest and bright.
"Silas?" I looked at him last, and found him watching me with that unnerving stillness, his pale eyes holding depths I couldn't begin to fathom.
"I've never had anything worth sharing before.
If this is what it takes to be part of something.
.. to be part of you... I'll adapt." His voice was barely above a whisper, and for just a moment his controlled facade cracked, letting me see something raw and vulnerable underneath—a loneliness so deep it made my chest ache.
He nodded once, sharp and certain, sealing the promise.
Something warm bloomed in my chest—hope and terror and something else I wasn't ready to name, all tangled together in a knot I couldn't begin to untangle.
"Good. Then here's what happens next." I picked up my whiskey and took a long sip, letting the burn steady my racing heart, then set down the glass and looked at each of them in turn.
All three of them leaned in slightly, waiting, their attention fixed on me with an intensity that should have been overwhelming.
"I want to know each of you. Really know you, not just the surface stuff.
So we're going to do this properly. One date.
Each of you. One-on-one time where we can actually talk without—" I gestured at the tension still crackling between them, the air thick with competing scents and barely leashed aggression, "—all of this. " I circled my hand in the air.
"Dates. I can do dates. I'm excellent at dates." Remy's grin was spreading across his face, his charm creeping back now that the worst of the tension had broken, dimples appearing in his cheeks.
"No performances. I want the real you, remember? Not the show." I pointed at him sternly, holding his gaze until his grin softened into something more honest, more vulnerable.
"The real me. I can try." He nodded slowly, ducking his head in acknowledgment, a faint flush coloring his cheekbones.
"Harper, you're first. Saturday. Pick me up at six. Take me somewhere that means something to you." I turned to him, watching his dark eyes widen slightly with surprise, then kindle with something that looked like determination.
"Somewhere that means something. I... yes. I know a place. Saturday at six." He repeated, his voice rough but gaining strength, his massive hands unclenching slightly as he nodded, already planning.
"Remy, you're after. Following Saturday." I turned to him next, watching the way his expression shifted from anticipation to nervous energy.
"A whole week to plan. No pressure or anything." He laughed, running his hand through his curls again, his amber eyes bright with a mixture of excitement and fear.
"Silas, the Saturday after that. I know you're not comfortable with... social things. So you pick what we do. Whatever feels right to you." I looked at him last, softening my voice slightly, giving him permission to be himself.
"I'll think of something. Thank you. For understanding." His pale eyes held mine, and I could see the wheels turning behind them, processing, planning. His voice was quiet, almost vulnerable, and something in my chest ached at the gratitude there.
"That's three weeks of dates. During that time, you three are going to figure out how to be in the same room without wanting to kill each other. I'm not going to babysit territorial disputes. Clear?" I sat back and looked at all of them, crossing my arms again and raising an eyebrow in challenge.
Three nods. Three murmured agreements. Three Alphas, deferring to an Omega.
"We should probably... talk. The three of us. Without you there to referee." Remy said, glancing at Harper and Silas with obvious reluctance, his jaw tight with the effort of suggesting something so clearly unpleasant.
"That's your business. Work it out however you need to. Just don't show up on my doorstep bleeding." I stood, signaling the end of the meeting, and gathered the folder and notebook and phone from the table. "I'll look through all of this tonight." I held up the evidence they'd brought.
They stood too, the three of them moving with varying degrees of grace.
Harper unfolded himself from his chair slowly, his massive frame rising with deliberate care.
Remy bounced to his feet with nervous energy, unable to stay still.
Silas simply appeared to be standing, no visible transition between sitting and upright, like a magic trick.
"Saturday. I'll be here at six." Harper said my name like a promise, those dark eyes holding mine with an intensity that made my knees weak.
He reached out like he was going to touch me, his massive hand hovering in the air between us, then stopped himself with visible effort, his hand falling back to his side with a soft thump against his thigh.
"Saturday." I agreed, and let myself smile at him—just a little, just enough to watch the hope flare in his dark eyes like a match striking in the darkness.
They left in the same order as before—Harper first, with that lingering look over his shoulder that made my stomach flip, his boots heavy on the porch steps.
Remy next, throwing me a smile that trembled at the edges, his usual swagger subdued.
Silas last, pausing at the edge of the trees where the shadows waited to swallow him.
He turned back, and for once, his expression wasn't carefully blank.
There was something raw there, something almost afraid, something that made him look younger and more human than I'd ever seen him.
"Thank you. For giving us a chance. For giving me a chance. I won't waste it." His voice carried across the clearing, rough with emotion, and he held my gaze for one heartbeat, two, three, before melting into the shadows like he'd never been there at all.
I stood on my porch and watched the darkness settle over the bayou, Gumbo finally emerging from his hiding spot to float in the shallows near the dock, his amber eyes gleaming in the fading light.
"Well. I just agreed to date three Alphas at once." I said to him, my voice shaky with something I couldn't name, and sank into my chair like my legs had given out.
He rumbled, low and thoughtful, a sound that could have been judgment or agreement or simple indigestion.
"Yeah. I don't know what I'm doing either." I reached for my whiskey and drained the rest of it in one long swallow, the burn barely registering against the chaos in my chest, and set down the empty glass with a clink that sounded too loud in the quiet.
The moon rose over the bayou, painting everything silver and shadow, and I sat there thinking about three different scents and three different pairs of eyes and the way it had felt when each of them said yes.
Terrifying. That's what this was.
I couldn't wait to see what happened next.