18. Teddy
Chapter 18
W e didn’t make it as far as I wanted to on Tuesday.
It looks like Wednesday’s going to be a bust too.
Fuck.
I’m glad Kelly and Steve are doing ok, at least if her message last night is any indication.
I mean, she could have stabbed him overnight and had Jake help her bury him in the backyard.
I want a hug.
Nothing against Sam.
He gives great hugs.
But I like hugging Kelly because I feel like an alpha with how small she is against me.
And she smells good.
I’ m pretty sure I love her too, not that I’ve told her yet.
She makes everything so much brighter.
Long car trips suck even worse on the second day. The company is fine, but all I want to do is curl up and sleep. Because between the hum of the engine and the movement, I was blinking like crazy before we'd even been on the road for an hour. It’s probably worse for Garret since he’s riding alone. I wish Vee and Kelly had both been able to come. Not that any of the alphas will be able to help pack up my nest, and I wouldn’t let Kelly lift heavy boxes. But she should totally meet Sarah.
Oh, shit…Sarah.
She’ll have my fucking head when she meets Garret.
Then she’s going to have his head.
Or some other body part.
It’s probably a good thing Vee didn’t make the trip.
But she’d have loved to meet Kelly.
Sam hums beside me for a few minutes, probably thinking I’ve already dozed off. He’s not completely wrong. My eyes ache, desperate to stay closed, and I hear the faint strings of some old music that seems to be a cross between rock and country…maybe The Eagles, maybe Skynyrd.
Before my mind can finish ‘name that tune,’ the ringing of a phone jolts me fully awake. Sam reaches up to the dash where his cell is docked and answers the call. Garret comes over the line. “Hey, I ran out of coffee about four hours ago. My GPS shows a spot about ten miles down the road. I’ll need to make a pit stop there, if you want to join me to stop and stretch. Otherwise, I’ll catch up to you on the road.”
Sam looks over at me, and I nod. A bit of a flex does sound good, and it’ll be nice to hit the bathroom and get something cold to drink. I’m not supposed to have much caffeine, but I can order a decaf frappe, or some sort of smoothie. Just something to help my eyes open up. If I can’t have the caffeine, I’ll take the damned sugar fix.
Sam turns off the radio as I sit up and try to shake the sleep from my eyes. “You know, if you need to catch a nap, that’s fine. It’s been a while since our last stop, and we still have a long-damned way to go.” He’s right. It’s starting to get dark. We’ve been driving for almost ten hours already just today, but I know we were hoping to make this damned trip in two days, not three.
Pulling out my phone, I check the GPS. Right now, it’s set to the omega center since I don’t even know where Garret and Vee’s place is. When we stopped for lunch, Garret said he would call his landlord once he got back on the road, and I’m curious if we’ll be heading over there tonight when we arrive. It’s not a terrible plan, but it does mean this trip is going to take longer if he and Sam have to spend the day loading up furniture.
A few minutes later, we follow Garret into a little shopping center on the side of the highway. There’s a Starbees there and my body jerks at the thought of all the caffeinated goodness I’m not supposed to have. Maybe I can order online and then Sam won’t know. But then I’d get the added bonus of guilt along with my caffeine buzz.
Shit.
Fine, whatever. I’m at least getting half-caf.
Anybody who doesn’t like it can fuck off.
Not that that’s really an issue with any of my pack. Sam doesn’t have a problem with me drinking coffee. He won’t be happy about it because it’s not good for me, but he wouldn’t actually say anything to me. He’s the most mother-hen alpha I’ve ever met. And I appreciate that, I do. Sometimes it’s just…I don’t want to be taken care of. I’m supposed to be the one taking care of them. They’re my pack, and I don’t think this is an omega thing.
Wait?
Is it?
Is that why I want to make sure Sam, Kelly, and Vee have everything they need?
Garret to a lesser extent, he isn’t really mine except that he’s Kelly’s.
Maybe it’s because she’s mine, and he’s hers, so by extension…
Fuck, I need caffeine.
Scrubbing my hands down my face to dislodge any remaining sleepiness, I step down from the truck when we park beside Garret. Sam’s voice comes from closer to the building. “Ok, let’s try to get back on the road in the next fifteen minutes. Get yourself stretched, bathroomed, and caffeinated, then let’s get the fuck outta here. We still got a long way to go, and I don’t really relish the idea of sleepin’ in the cab of my truck tonight. I’d like to try to make it to L.A. so we can crash at y’all’s apartment instead of another damned motel room.”
He sounds surly and irritated, and I’m not surprised when people step out of his way so he can pull open the door. It does make me wonder briefly if I did something to upset him, but my thoughts scatter when Garret puts his hand on my shoulder and gently nudges me towards the entrance.
Sam is already at the counter, grumbling under his breath when we walk in. So at least his mood isn’t directed at me specifically. His voice gets louder as we near the counter. “Listen, I don’t care what it is, just gimme the biggest coffee you have.” The beta barista behind the counter looks from him to Garret and me as we step up behind our alpha, and I put my hand on Sam’s shoulder.
Garret touches his other shoulder for a moment. “Sam, go take care of what you need to. We got this.”
The beta huffs a bit as our big alpha turns and heads down the hallway marked with the bathroom sign, and Garret steps up to the counter. “Ok, we will have…” He looks towards the hallway Sam disappeared down. “One trenta vanilla sweet cream cold brew, with an extra shot.”
At my raised eyebrow, he turns to me. “He needs the sugar right now as much as the caffeine. He looks like hell.” He’s not wrong. I didn’t notice it in the darkening truck interior, but Sam doesn’t look good right now. I wonder if he just doesn’t like car trips or if he’s worried about something, like his brother. He refuses to call and ask if everything’s ok, and the message I left for Mom hasn’t been returned yet.
Garret’s voice pulls me from my thoughts. “Also, one trenta salted caramel cream cold brew…and, what did you want Teddy?” Stepping up to the counter I scan for anything new, but nothing really springs out at me, so I just go with something I know I’ll like. “Yeah, a venti mocha frappuccino.”
Now it’s Garret’s turn to eyebrow me . “Ugh, fine…decaf. Happy?” He nods at me with a little hum of approval and hands the barista his debit card. Tapping his shoulder, I point towards the hallway that Sam disappeared down, and he nods again before going to stand by the end of the counter to wait for our drinks.
Sam must still be in the bathroom, and instead of wandering around, I decide to just wait for him to come back. Soon a warm body steps up behind me, and it’s strange that our drinks were ready that fast…or that Garret is standing so close to me. Then the scent hits and it’s none of my pack. Whoever presses themselves against my back smells like rotten fruit, and I have to swallow back the bile that rises in my throat.
I’m not small, but I’m not an alpha either, and when a hot sweaty hand lands on my neck, I snarl at the asshole who’s too far into my personal fucking space. Unfortunately, we’re down a hallway, and the only doors lead to bathrooms or what I’m guessing is a locked door since it’s marked as ‘Staff Only’.
“Now, now, Omega. Don’t you know you shouldn’t be out here alone? But I guess omegas usually have a sweet tooth. Did you sneak off on your own to get a treat, boy? I might have something sweet for ya.” Internally I cringe, externally I try to shrug the hand off before turning to face the putrid smelling fuck behind me.
His hand comes back to my shoulder, pinning me against the ‘Staff Only’ door. “Don’t be like that, Omega. You look like a sturdy fella, someone we wouldn’t have to worry about breaking nearly as easy…” His words trail off, the threat left unsaid.
Shit.
I fucking hate being an omega.
Fucking red-neck asshole.
Pushing my shoulders out, I try to dislodge him without actually having to come in contact with any more of his nauseating smell that’s probably already clinging to my shirt. But he hangs on, pressing me harder against the door, pulling himself up taller.
He’s not much bigger than Vee and Garret height-wise, but they’re still bigger than I am. Still, he’s wider than them, with broader shoulders and a bigger stomach. He’s the first alpha I’ve seen to actually have a beer gut, and he’s putting off dominance like crazy, trying to get me to submit. It doesn’t feel the same as when Sam does it, and my skin crawls with the need to bow my head to this fucker.
The door opening behind him causes his head to swivel around, but it’s just another barista, a small beta coming out of the women’s room. She looks shocked to see us back here, but scurries away when he growls at her. His attention returns to me. “Where were we, omega? You gonna play nice and come join my pack’s table out there. I’ll get you a treat. And then you can give us one.” He’s squeezing my shoulder hard now as he stares down at me.
I almost melt in relief when I hear Garret coming down the hallway.. “—an you check your phone? I haven’t heard from Steve or Kelly yet, and I’m starting to worry.” He’s staring at his phone, his thumb running over the screen, a cardboard drink carrier in the other hand.
His head finally comes up as he registers my lack of answer, and his eyes turn hard immediately. “Sir, I’ll ask you once to step away from my omega.” The asshole standing between us squeezes my shoulder hard enough to hurt before turning towards my pack mate.
“He’s not yours.” His head lifts in the air, taking in the scent of our surroundings. “He don’t smell like you, and he ain’t marked. So scurry on out of here, little alpha, before you have more trouble than you can handle.”
Garret looks between the two of us for a minute before he opens his mouth and shouts, “Sam, hurry the fuck up man, we need to go!”
The asshole holding me smirks, turning back to face me, and dismissing Garret, who he must think plans on abandoning me. The door directly beside me opens. “Sorry, I’m tryin’ to send a text and my fingers are too—” Sam looks up from his phone, and I never clocked how tiny it looks in his big hands. Yeah, texting probably is a problem with a normal qwerty keyboard. I make a mental note to get my pack lead a stylus next time we go shopping.
The growl that rips out of Sam sounds like someone’s let a tiger loose in the hallway. His nostrils flare as he takes in the scene we make. Me trapped against this door by this asshole, his hand wrapped around my shoulder, thumb tracing the edge of my shirt collar, and Garret standing behind him with his phone now pressed to the side of his head, his face set in angry lines. “Get your fucking hand off my omega before I remove it for you. Permanently.”
The asshole squeezes my shoulder tighter, and a small whimper of pain slips free as he turns his face to my alpha. “We were just having a friendly little chat. He was gonna come play with my pack for a bit, but then you can have him back. No real harm done.” He smiles again, his yellow teeth and rotten breath making me nauseous.