Chapter 43
CHAPTER 43
Amir
M y mom let Alysia leave school early so she could be a part of today. Since Issa hadn’t had a chance to make friends during her years with her family then her former alpha, the only two women who would have attended while she tried on dresses were her sister Cora and the bartender Aryn.
When I told my beautiful beta I’d invited my mom and sister, she’d actually gotten excited and beamed brightly at me. Honestly, I’d been a little worried it would make her anxious with so many sets of eyes on her and so many opinions.
Mom tried to shoo me out the door, saying it was bad luck or whatever. But not like we weren’t already bonded. I had seen Issa in every possible way, had explored and tasted every inch of her body. There wasn’t a damn thing my girl could do that would make me love her any less.
Though I was falling in love with her more every single day.
Shit, I was falling in love with all four of them more every day .
My alphas were amazing men as it was, but watching them with Issa, the way they cared about her, the way they protected her made me adore them all that much more.
“I’m so excited,” Alysia said, clapping her hands together lightly.
“Don’t overwhelm her,” I reminded them quietly.
My family – or at least the women in my family – tended to be forthcoming with the excitement and affection, something that had been new for Issa. She’d been gracious and tried to hide it, but I’d noted how tense she grew every time someone other than her pack tried to hug her.
The sound of a curtain being pulled back preceded the attendant who was helping Issa into the dresses.
And when my girl stepped around the corner, a burst of perfume exploded from me and saturated the air.
Shit. I should have doused myself in scent blockers before we left because no way would the filtration system in here be able to keep my pheromones from setting off any omegas or alphas who might be here, as well.
“Wow,” Alysia said barely above a whisper.
“Issa…” Aryn started then trailed off, her alpha pheromones mixing with my perfume. I knew the alpha wasn’t romantically interested in my beta, but a person would have to be blind to not see how stunning my girl was.
Mom was surprisingly quiet, and when I turned my eyes to her, she was carefully wiping tears from below her lashes.
This was the third dress Issa had tried on but only the first she’d actually let us see. According to her, the other two weren’t right.
But this one?
She’d chosen a satin, floor length gown in a soft rose color. The front dipped in a cowl neck style, showcasing a mere hint of cleavage. And when she turned to get a look in the mirrors surrounding the platform, I got a glimpse of how low the back of the dress dipped.
The material clung to her body in a classy way, making her look sexy yet elegant.
“Are you going to wear a veil?” Alysia asked .
Issa looked at her in the mirror, only then noticing our reactions. A watery smile pulled up her lips as tears glistened in her pretty light brown eyes.
“I hadn’t planned on it. I have an idea for my hair, but I think I might put a flower in it or something.”
“May I show you something?” the beta stylist asked.
“Of course.”
She disappeared and I pushed to my feet, circling the platform to get a full three-sixty view. This was where she belonged, on a pedestal like the fucking princess she was.
Nah. She was a queen. My queen.
“It is taking everything in my power to keep from bowing at your dainty purple painted toes right now,” I admitted as my cock strained against my jeans and begged to be released.
And inserted into my beta.
For the rest of the day.
She wrapped her fingers in my shirt and tugged me closer, bending at the waist so she could press a kiss to my lips before stepping back as the stylist returned.
“I’ve seen worse,” the attendant said with a giggle. She stepped onto the platform and toyed with Issa’s hair before placing something in the makeshift hairstyle.
When she stepped away, Alysia squealed, my mom let out a soft aww , and Aryn sniffled.
The adornment was some kind of comb or clip, was covered in pearls and rhinestones, and was glamourous and elegant.
Just like my Issa. My fiancée.
And in less than a year, my wife.
“It’s perfect,” Mom said, pushing to her feet and raising her phone to take a picture.
“It really is, Issa,” Aryn confirmed.
She was struggling to keep the tears from rolling over her lashes. Just because she was an alpha didn’t mean she didn’t have emotions. Kind of like I was an omega but not small and sure as hell not meek or submissive .
Issa turned back to the mirror and tilted her head to get a better look. “It’s so beautiful.”
Her hands smoothed down the dress and she turned and looked over her shoulder in the mirror.
“Do you think the back is too…flashy? Or skimpy?”
“You look absolutely stunning, Korí . I can’t wait for your alphas and your new fathers to see you,” Mom said, speaking to Issa, not me.
Tears glimmered in my beta’s eyes again as she turned and looked Mom in the eye. “Thank you so much for being here. And for…just being. Being you. And being so nice to me.”
Mom wrapped her in one of those big, smothering motherly hugs and patted her back lightly before letting her go.
“You inherited a family when you fell in love with Amir. We’re not going anywhere. And I dare anyone to come near you when I’m around.”
Aryn huffed a laugh then covered it with a cough when my mom turned a glare on her.
Mom was not only an omega, but was as small as Issa, maybe smaller, though definitely curvier after having four kids and being spoiled by her alphas. But she had that stereotypical Greek temper and would go toe to toe with a grizzly bear over any of her kids.
And that now extended to Issa.
Mom and Alysia pulled from the lot while Aryn waited until Issa and I were safely locked inside the SUV.
As if Abdel and Oscar wouldn’t blast a hole through anyone who tried to hurt either of us.
But she was Issa’s friend and was watching over her like the rest of us. She wanted our girl safe. And, while I didn’t know the alpha well, that definitely endeared her to me.
How could I not love someone who loved Issa?
“I can’t wait for the next year to pass,” Aryn said, ducking to press a kiss to Issa’s cheek. “You’re going to be the most beautiful bride.” She turned to me. “And you are the luckiest bastard in the world.”
She’d told us she had a pack, had even spoken about them affectionately, so this felt more like a best friend warning the fiancé to be good to Issa.
And I loved Aryn even more for it.
“I am absolutely the luckiest man on this planet.”
Aryn gave me a side hug – avoiding rubbing her scent glands anywhere on me – then stepped away with a wave as I climbed into the backseat beside Issa.
“Home or the nail place again?” Oscar asked. There was humor in his voice, even if his face remained neutral.
“I’m not ready to go home yet,” Issa admitted. “But it’s too soon to get our nails done again.”
Since we tended to use the SUV with the guards during our outings, our alphas had been taking their Harleys to work every day. I couldn’t wait to finally get my Thunderbird delivered to the pack house so I could get back to work on restoring her, then finally take my girl on a joy ride.
Of course, the joy ride would either have to wait until Antonio was no longer a threat or would include a guard or one of our alphas.
“Want to go shopping? Or we could have an early dinner? You boys hungry?” I asked Abdel and Oscar.
Abdel shot a scowl at me over his shoulder at being called a boy, especially since he was not only close to my fathers’ age but a humongous, brooding alpha.
“We go where you go,” Oscar answered, glancing at me in the rearview mirror as he pulled into traffic.
“Food sounds good. Something hot and greasy. Bar food or comfort food. I don’t feel like going to a stuffy restaurant today,” Issa answered, snuggling into my side as I tightened my arm around her shoulders and nuzzled my cheek against the side of her face.
“Anywhere in particular?” Oscar asked.
“Nah. You guys pick this time. You have to have a favorite,” Issa said, resting her head against my chest with a wistful sigh .
My sweetheart was happy. I loved moments like this, loved when she was able to simply relax, when we were able to enjoy each other’s company without thinking about that fucking threat constantly looming over our heads.
Her head. Not mine. That mother fucker was after Issa.
And according to her, there was literally no reason for him to be interested in her any longer since her fathers were dead and there was no power or wealth attached to her name.
The only reason he would still be sniffing around her was to control her, to continue his own form of abuse.
Or maybe for revenge.
Cowards like Antonio weren’t brave enough to go after the people who’d ended his opportunity to become some high roller in the criminal world, so he would go after Issa instead. He would punish Enzo and his pack as well as my alphas by hurting or killing Issa.
“My mom owns a diner,” Oscar announced nonchalantly as he guided the SUV down the four-lane road bisecting town.
“Ohhh. Yes, let’s do that,” Issa said, leaning forward and tapping Oscar on the shoulder. “I have so many questions for your mom.”
She smiled up at me and winked.
Both guards were pretty quiet, merely staying in the shadows and answering any questions we shot their way with monosyllabic replies.
And since they were so secretive and closed off, Issa and I had made a game out of teasing them and trying to get them to open up to us, even going so far as threatening to make Ax pull one of them on stage the next time we visited the club.
Oscar had smirked. Abdel’s permanent scowl had grown deeper, and a light growl rumbled from his chest.
The diner was quaint and not very busy. But the two guards ushered us toward the back of the room, putting themselves between us and the windows, exits, or anyone who might so much as pass our table.
Yeah, they were keeping both of us safe, but I could tell it was starting to grate on Issa, like she retreated a little into her old ways any time anyone acted as though there was a constant threat .
Because of the way she’d been raised, the way everyone in her life had treated her before our pack, she didn’t realize how common it was for alphas to be uber protective of their beta and omega, regardless of their gender. It was in an alpha’s genetic makeup to protect those they cared for.
Turning my head, I opened my mouth to remind her this was all temporary, but snapped it shut. She was tired of hearing those words from our mouths, tired of being reminded that her life was currently out of sorts because of the same fuckwad who’d abused her.
It was temporary. I had zero doubt her sister’s alphas would move heaven and earth to track that fucking alpha and end his life.
Then, we could go back to living our own lives the way we wanted.