Chapter 13
Thomas
“Babe, you're being creepy.” Nolan’s soft chuckle sounds from behind me as he wraps his arms around my waist. He presses a kiss to my shoulder, then leans his cheek against it.
“I am not,” I mutter, placing my hands over his, where they rest against my stomach.
“You watched her most of last night, then again since you woken up.”
Yesterday was a whirlwind.
For the past three months, we’ve all been miserable, each of us dealing with Violet’s leaving in different ways—Aiden being the one who took it the worst.
There were a few times I couldn’t help but wonder if our pack was going to make it. I felt Aiden drifting away, and it killed me because I felt like I lost more than just Violet. I didn’t blame him or resent him for how this affected him, I understood because I felt the pain too.
That didn’t make it any easier, though.
The only thing that's kept me from going down a dark path was Nolan. Even though I know he was hurting, he took care of us, stayed strong and hopeful, and kept me from getting sucked under.
Then, yesterday, we were graced with the miracle we were all hoping for. Our Omega came back. And she wasn’t alone.
The pure and utter joy I felt at not only seeing, touching, and smelling her, but then also finding out we were going to be dads was indescribable. It took everything in me not to get down on my knees, hug her at the waist, and sob like a baby in both relief that she was back and joy that she’s pregnant.
We were positive Sylvia scared her off. Not knowing any of her information, like her last name or where she was from, made it feel like we were looking for a needle in a haystack.
Aiden even resorted to breaking into the cabin to try and find any information he could get on her, but the silent alarm was triggered, and the cops came and dragged him away.
Thankfully, we knew the cop, Jerry, and he let Aiden off with a warning.
He was tempted to go right back there, but Nolan stopped him. I think he only listened because he didn’t want to cause Nolan any more pain than he was already in. I could see the guilt in Aiden’s eyes every time he saw Nolan and me together. He wanted to be with us—to hold us, kiss us, and just be together, but he couldn’t. We don’t resent him for feeling like that.
I just pray that with Violet back things will change.
I miss my man. I miss touching him, tasting his lips, feeling him inside me.
These two men mean the world to me, I love them more than anyone else in the world. But there’s room for our Omega. Violet is what we needed, we just didn’t see how much until she was gone.
“Can you blame me for wanting to watch over her?” I murmur. “I feel like if my eyes aren't on her at all times, then the moment I look away, she’ll be gone again.” An aching feeling forms in my chest.
Fear of losing her again has been growing since the moment we came home last night.
We hung out at her cabin with her friends for the day, and when it got late, we were more than ready to sleep over there because there was no way the three of us would leave her. Not after just getting her back.
The devil himself couldn’t drag me away.
Thankfully, Violet suggested we come back to our place as she felt like the cabin was a little bit crowded for the seven of us.
I know Aiden and I both appreciated her offer to come over because as much as we like her friends, being so close to another Alpha right now was starting to irritate us, even if they are all good women.
Nothing against Jenny, but our Alpha instincts were screaming at us to grab our Omega and run—to bring her home and lock her away so she could never leave us again. So no one else could have her.
Knowing Jenny is so close to her, probably fulfilling that Alpha role for Violet for a while now, has jealousy building inside me, and by the look in Aiden’s eyes, he feels the same way.
Violet might not have noticed, but having another Omega around her Alphas, caused Violet to battle her own tinge of jealousy. It was subtle, probably not something anyone else noticed, but because I couldn’t keep my eyes off her, watching her closely. I saw it all.
Anytime Rylee laughed too hard or smiled too wide at something one of us said or did, her eyes would flash, and she would lick her lips as she stared at her friend, jaw ticking.
The way I wanted to puff my chest out with pride, knowing that my Omega was jealous over us, was not even funny.
“I know,” Nolan says softly, his thumb brushing against the bare skin of my stomach. “I’ve thought about adding a lock to the door and locking it while she slept.”
“Not a bad idea.” Aiden’s voice has us looking over.
My cock twitches as I take him in. God, he’s so damn sexy. His hair is a mess, sticking up all over the place, and he’s only wearing low-slung pajama pants.
“Morning,” he greets, eyes flicking between the two of us, sounding unsure. “You hungry?” he asks us.
I blink at him in surprise. “Ah, yeah, I could eat.” This is the first time in months he’s slept in and stayed for breakfast, let alone offered to make anything.
Normally, he doesn’t get much sleep and is up hours before us, working out in our home gym in the basement.
He looks over my shoulder towards Violet, pain etched across his face before he lets out a sigh of relief. “She’s still here.”
“Were you expecting otherwise?” Nolan asks.
Aiden drops his eyes to Nolan. “Yes,” he replies honestly. He holds Nolan’s gaze for a moment before stepping forward.
I hear Nolan suck in a breath as Aiden reaches up and brushes his fingers along Nolan’s jaw. “We need to talk,” Aiden says softly, leaning in to press his lips against Nolan’s.
My heart hurts at the sound he makes; it’s almost a sob mixed with a sigh of relief.
Aiden has hardly touched either of us in months. I hope he knows just how much Nolan needed that.
“I love you,” he murmurs against Nolan’s lips.
“I-I love you too,” he whispers, squeezing his eyes shut, no doubt trying to keep the tears from falling. I place my hand on his lower back, rubbing my thumb in a comforting motion.
My eyes are glued to Nolan’s face, so it surprises me when Aiden grips my chin. My gaze snaps over to him, widening as I look into his sky-blue eyes. “I love you,” he growls before crashing his lips down against mine.
I moan, my cock hardening as it presses against my sleep pants. Fuck, I need him.
Our kiss is messy, needy, and it feels like coming home.
“If you keep doing that, you're going to surprise our Omega by making her wake up to a very interesting situation,” Nolan chuckles, but I can hear the arousal in his tone.
Aiden breaks the kiss. Grabbing the back of my head, he presses his forehead to mine. “Fuck, you're right,” he concedes, both of us breathing heavily. “Come on.” He steps away, and I miss him already. “Food and talk.”
Nolan and I watch Aiden’s back as he leaves, heading down the hall and into the kitchen.
“Thomas,” Nolan whispers.
“I know, baby.” I pull him into my arms. “I know.”
“I don’t want to get my hopes up, but I have a good feeling that things are about to get so much better.”
“Yeah.” I smile down at him, kissing his lips softly, tasting Aiden on them. “I think so too.”
We leave Violet to sleep and join Aiden in the kitchen.
The whole time he’s making breakfast, he says nothing. We sit and wait, Nolan casting me looks of worry, wondering if he thought wrong before.
Now, Aiden takes our empty plates and places them in the sink before turning around to face us.
“First, I want to tell you both how fucking sorry I am,” he starts. My spine stiffens, seeing the emotion in his eyes. “How I’ve treated you both these past few months was wrong. You didn’t deserve my coldness, my anger, or my distance. I took everything hard and didn’t know how to cope with what I was feeling. I knew you both were feeling something similar, but I felt like I’d just be dragging you down, adding more to your plate. Then I started slipping into a depression I was sure I wasn't going to come out of. All the negative things I imagined in my mind. That you both were better off without me, that it wasn’t a wonder why Violet left; she was also better off without me.”
He sighs heavily, running a hand through his blonde locks. “It wasn’t right of me to let my own self-doubts and negative thoughts come between us. You didn’t deserve any of it. And I’m so fucking sorry. I just... fuck,” he sighs, moving to stop in front of us on the other side of the table. He places his hands on the wood, leaning over and hanging his head. “I felt like I was drowning. Every day, it was like my soul was screaming, crying in pain for her—this dreadful cloud looming over me the whole time. I couldn’t breathe or think. I just felt lost, hopeless. So, I put all my time and energy into other things to try and distract my mind. It helped a bit, so I clung to it rather than coming to the two of you for the support I know you both would have given me.”
He raises his eyes to look at us. “And the kind I should have given you.”
“I felt a lot like you did; I’m not innocent in this either. I think most of all, we both should be apologizing to Nolan.” Nolan shifts in his seat, looking down at his hands. “He’s the one who has been nothing but amazing, doing everything he could to keep this pack together.”
“Of course I did,” he says softly, lifting his eyes to meet ours. “I love you both. You’re not just my pack, but you’re family. My lovers. I would never go down without a fight, and even then, I’d keep going.”
We all just share a moment, the realness of everything hanging heavy in the air.
“We can’t focus on the past. The guilt is only going to eat at us and prevent us from healing and moving on,” Nolan says.
“I’m going to make it up to you—to both of you,” Aiden promises, his eyes flicking between us.
Another moment passes between us before Nolan speaks again. “What we need to do is work on being a family again. We have an Omega to worry about, to take care of and pamper. Not only an Omega, but a baby,” Nolan laughs happily, a smile spreading across his face, and my heart feels like it’s going to burst.
“Fucking hell,” Aiden chuckles, pushing off the table to stand up straight. “We’re going to be dads.”
“Fuck yeah, we are.” A grin of my own takes over my face.
Aiden’s face falls slightly. “Is anyone else afraid this is too good to be true?”
“Terrified.” I nod.
“But thrilled,” Nolan adds. “This is everything we’ve ever wanted. An Omega, a baby, a pack, and a family.”
“The perfect Omega,” I murmur, looking over my shoulder in the direction of the bedroom.
“She is perfect, isn’t she?” Aiden asks.
“Guys. We just got her back. Please do not scare her away or overwhelm her. This is all new to her. We take things slow, get to know her, court her,” Nolan chastises in warning.
Our eyes snap over to his. “Slow?” Aiden scoffs. “No, babe. Nothing slow will be happening here. I’m going to be glued to that girl's side.”
“Same.” I nod in agreement.
Nolan sighs, closing his eyes. “You two are going to be the death of me,” he says before opening his eyes. “At least she will have me to help keep her sane.”
“Okay, she’s slept enough. I need to see her,” Aiden says, starting around the table.
“Same.” I jump up to join him but pause when we see Violet standing in the kitchen entrance.
She's fucking stunning, her blonde hair piled on top of her head in a messy bun, and she’s wearing... is that my hoodie?
Holy shit, she stole my hoodie. Fucking hell yeah!
“Morning.” She smiles shyly.
She really is here. Where she belongs. And now we get to have a do-over for how the morning after her heat should have gone.
Our lives are about to change in some very drastic ways, but holy hell, was I ever excited for every single one of them.