13. Colby
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
COLBY
M aybe it should have bothered me, the way this alpha and beta were interacting with my omega, but for the first time since we had begun interviewing packs, my omega was clicking with someone.
When we were looking at packs, the presence of betas wasn’t always a big deal, but, because of Talya’s experiences with them, she tended to shy away from packs with them. That was all behind us now. We would not be accessing Pack Listing, so in some ways, this was our last chance at a pack even though that wasn’t why we were here.
Talya leaned back just as the wall of a grouchy man stepped into the room with Kasen in front of him. The newcomers stilled. Ronan’s nostrils flared at the suddenly more potent scents now hanging heavy like a fog while Kasen lifted his face into the air. His eyes darted around the room before he moved closer to Lohtus and Blakely.
“I can help?” Kase said, though the beta’s words came out more like a question.
“Turn the oven off,” Ronan said as his long legs took him across the room in a few quick strides. “Grill. We can start now.”
Lohtus did as Ronan instructed. Blakely shifted his attention to resealing the bags of frozen meat and sliding them down the counter toward Kasen. He waited while Ronan took out a bunch of glass containers that appeared to contain marinated meats.
“Open the glass?” Ronan asked, the question directed at the alpha closest to us.
Ainsley nodded and slid from his chair. I watched, impressed, as the entire side of the kitchen opened up. Large panels of glass and wall folded together, like an accordion, and pushed in either direction, leaving us a wide open view of the fields and closer.
“Wow,” Talya said, looking at the landscape with big blue eyes. My chest gave a pang. I had been so close to losing her.
Ronan headed outside while I turned to see what the others were doing. Emerald hadn’t left the table. He was studying Talya with a soft smile, though I was sure he didn’t realize he was staring. Lohtus, Blakely, and Kasen had shifted their cooking intentions as they rehomed some items in favor of others.
“We were planning to barbeque tonight,” Blakely said, looking up to meet my eyes. A smile touched his lips, then his tongue did, too. “Thought you’d be starving.” He pushed a plate toward Kasen and nodded in our direction.
Kasen froze for a second once he had the tray in his hands. He chewed his bottom lip before taking a breath and turning to look at me. His footsteps were still hesitant, but then he visibly made a decision and brought the plate. He carefully set it on the table in front of Talya and me before he gave me a timid smile and hurried back to the counter.
Yep, maybe I’d have to put him at ease. I watched him for another minute before I looked at the plate. Talya had already picked up a cracker with spread on it and was munching away. My stomach gave a lurch. Shit, I was hungry.
For a moment, I lost myself to stuffing crackers into my mouth even though I still made sure that Talya had plenty. When the plate was almost cleaned, I paused, blinking at it.
Emerald laughed. “Eat the rest. There’s plenty of food.”
I wavered before ultimately finishing off the plate with Talya. Kissing the side of her head, I picked the plate up and left the table, heading toward the main area of the kitchen.
Kasen paused when I got close, his cheeks heating again. Maybe his alphas had it wrong? Maybe he wasn’t worried about what I’d said—whatever that had been. Maybe he was afraid. After all, I was an unknown alpha in his house.
Blakely guided him toward me with his hand on Kasen’s hip. The beta took a breath and approached, his hand held out for the plate. I didn’t let go when he took it, and his eyes met mine.
“I’m too tired to remember exactly what I said last night, but you can relax around me. I’m not going to bite,” I said, the wording meant as both reassurance and a tease.
His eyes widened, and he swayed before sucking in a breath. “I interpreted that betas aren’t always the better option,” he said, “so I wasn’t sure if my presence made you uncomfortable.”
“Ah.” I nodded, trying to remember what that conversation had consisted of. By the time we’d made it to a room, I’d barely heard what he was saying, only noticing his quiet, smooth voice that nearly lulled me to sleep. Something about it said that I was perfectly safe to sleep with my omega. I leaned closer, taking in the way Kasen’s expressive dark eyes widened again. He sucked in a breath, and his patchouli and myrrh scent suddenly sweetened like a spiced cake. He took a step back, still not letting go of the plate.
Despite myself, I smiled. “I trust that you’re not going to hurt me or my omega, right?”
If his eyes got any bigger, they’d bug out of his head. Beside us, the alphas paused, likely at what I’d asked.
“No!” Kasen said, shaking his head adamantly. “Never. I would never?—”
I waved my free hand, calming his words. “Right. Then there’s no need to be worried about my comfort. You and I, we’re perfectly fine. Alright, Kasen?”
He swallowed, and I could almost see the questions bubbling in his eyes as he stared at me. He wanted to ask, but even if I hadn’t been cautioned against speaking about it again, it was far too soon. For now, that was all I was willing to say.
I released the plate, and it nearly tumbled from his grip. My reflexes allowed me to catch it as Kasen jumped, cringing away from it. “Sorry,” he mumbled.
Chuckling, I offered it to him again. When he took it—with both hands this time—I let it go. He didn’t walk away. Instead, he studied me then offered me a small smile. I smiled in return, and he slowly backed away before turning around the counter and breaking our eye contact.
Both alphas were smirking. I leaned against the counter and looked over my shoulder, surprised to find Talya outside with the other three. She was standing near to the barbeque, close to Ronan, her arms wrapped around herself.
She’s cold, I thought. I pushed off the counter and paused. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who’d noticed. I was surprised to see it was Ronan who shrugged out of his long-sleeved shirt and draped it around Talya’s shoulders.
“Grumpy indeed,” I murmured.
Behind me, the alphas chuckled.
“We’ve been wondering what it was going to take to draw Ronan out of the dark places in his head,” Lohtus said.
I kept my eyes on them a few minutes longer, catching the way my omega smiled shyly at Ronan, then the subtle movement of her lips as she thanked him. The gruff alpha watched her with intense eyes, but there was something soft in his expression, too.
“Just an omega,” I noted.
“Just the right omega,” Lohtus corrected.
I turned back to them, now paying attention to their movements. They moved on to chopping vegetables, cooking noodles and potatoes, and mixing things in bowls. Kasen moved between the two of them, bringing them what they needed without being asked and taking things away, either to hold in the fridge or set aside for later. Both frequently glanced up at me, relaxed smiles on their handsome faces.
For a few minutes, I simply admired how the three of them cohesively moved through the kitchen and around each other, sharing small touches, quiet words, and flirty banter. They never forgot that I was there, but they didn’t hide what they were from me.
And what they were was together. The three of them.
I was surprised by the tight feeling in my chest. When you were visiting packs, they always presented themselves a certain way. You could see it. In an effort to appeal to the visiting omega, they put on a front.
These three weren’t pretending in the least. The quick movements weren’t because they were trying to keep their relationship quiet in my presence but because they were eager to find small moments of connection in the midst of their busyness.
“What has you so deep in thought, alpha?” Lohtus asked, pulling me from my thoughts.
I shook my head. “Reflecting, I suppose.”
He smiled, and was it… flirty? “Yeah?”
“Care to share?” Blakely asked.
“We’ve been searching for a pack for a long time, but since Pack Listing was our only resource and the packs that sign up only want an unattached omega, not an omega already bonded to an alpha, those weren’t always positive experiences.”
The three of them watched me with the same expression—surprise.
“Why?” Kasen asked.
I shook my head. “The stories I could tell you. But my reflection was more in watching you three together. Natural environment, you know? There’s no ‘best behavior’ shit. You just are, and it made me wonder… If this was how packs actually presented to an omega instead of putting on a show, how much more smoothly would it go?”
A smile grew on Blakely’s lips. “You’re saying you’d choose us for your pack, alpha?”
He was teasing, yet part of me was willing to say yes. An impulsive decision, perhaps, but when I glanced back at a smiling, relaxed Talya sitting with Emerald as they watched Ainsley and Ronan at the grill… Yes, I thought I would.
“There are a lot of sick packs out there,” I answered instead. “A lot of disgusting alphas.”
“And betas,” Kasen said.
When I looked his way, he was spraying cooked pasta with cold water, cooling it down, so I wasn’t sure if his remark was something internal or in response to whatever comment I’d made last night. I nodded anyway. “Yes, and horrible betas,” I agreed.
He flashed me a quick smile over his shoulder and, already, I could see he was a little more relaxed. Taking a breath, I turned my attention back to the alphas. Once more, there were smiles on their faces as they worked.
“So, what’s the deal out here? Do we work? Get jobs in the town? How do we pay for necessities?” I asked.
Lohtus shook his head, but it was Blakely that answered. “Nah, we don’t do anything official since being a legal employee somewhere would make us easier to find. Having a paper trail and accounts of our presence is risky. We work the land and sell for cash only. Most of our basics are provided for by those who dumped us here. They also take care of the employees who work the farm.” He gestured behind me toward the outdoors. “We oversee them but have very little interaction. Whatever we make from side jobs or selling what we harvest, we use for whatever we want.”
I nodded, narrowing my eyes. There wasn’t one thing about that explanation I liked. Whatever expression I gave them made Lohtus laugh.
“Yes, it takes some getting used to,” he said. “For more immediate necessities, I think you and I are probably similar in build so I’m happy to lend you clothing. I’ll show you to my room later, and you can have at my closet.”
Did I watch the way he licked his lips after the offer? Yep, sure did.
“And Kasen is the smallest of us, so he’ll be happy to lend some clothing to Talya until we can get her a wardrobe,” he said.
“I’ll wash them first,” Kasen offered, “so she doesn’t have to wear my scent. I know how itchy it can be wearing a stranger’s scent after… Uh, finding yourself in a new place surrounded by people you don’t know.” He stopped, his body tense, then blew out a breath before he set glasses on a tray and began pouring lemonade in them. “Sorry. I’m really self-conscious about saying something wrong now.”
“It seems that we’re all here with a common background, even if the event that brought us here isn’t the same,” I said. “Don’t worry about it.”
“No, I know that.” He picked up one of the glasses and looked at me. “It’s just… It’s been a while for me. It doesn’t ever go away, but when I first got here, any little reminder kind of made me fall again.”
I tracked him as he came around the corner and set the glass in front of me. Being careful not to startle him, I rested a hand on his forearm before he could back away. His eyes trained on my hand before he met mine.
“Thank you for that consideration, Kasen,” I said, rubbing my thumb against his skin. His breathing stuttered. “And while I think you’re likely right and there’s going to be something that triggers a reaction inside me, you don’t need to walk on eggshells for us. I’m alright. Talya’s alright.”
He chewed his lip, and my eyes dropped to the motion. Letting it go, his tongue slid over it before the corner of his lips pulled up a little. Somehow, I managed to force my eyes to his.
“Okay,” he murmured, his voice barely more than a whisper. “I can do that. Probably.”
I grinned, letting my hand slide down his arm to his hand where I squeezed briefly before letting him go. Kasen didn’t move for a moment, then he took a quick step back as if he’d forgotten what he was doing.
Giving me a smile, he moved into the kitchen and took the tray of glasses outside. From my vantage point, I noted the way he smiled down at Talya and offered her and Emerald a drink before moving on to the two alphas.
“He’s a good man,” Blakely said quietly.
I nodded absently, observing the way he talked to the four outside. There was a difference in their interactions compared to what was between him and the alphas in the kitchen. It occurred to me that they might be pack, but pack meant something specific here. It wasn’t a complete share, yet there was universal fondness and deep caring for one another. They were a family, exactly what I imagined a pack should be. “He seems it,” I said, which was a little funny to me. I never thought I’d look at a beta again with anything other than loathing, but here we were, and loathing was far from what I was feeling.