Chapter 14 Dalton
DALTON
If anyone had asked me six months ago if I’d ever find anyone but Peyton attractive, I’d have given a firm no.
Peyton was my alpha, my everything. The hardest thing I’d ever done was walk away from the man who meant so much to me.
Yet here I was, watching him kiss an omega, and the fire of that kiss wasn’t for me.
It burned.
Seeing Theo kiss Peyton, seeing the way Peyton’s hands claimed the omega’s hips…
it twisted something sharp in my gut. Jealousy.
Ugly and green and undeniable. For a second, I wasn’t Dalton the Beta; I was just the extra wheel.
The third point on a line that didn’t need me.
Peyton was enough for me. I knew that. But was I enough for Peyton? Clearly not, or we wouldn’t be here.
In the back of my head, I didn’t think I was ever enough for my alpha. It was why I left West Virginia. Left Peyton to hide out at my cousin’s diner like the coward I was because I couldn’t admit to the man I loved I didn’t think I was enough.
I expected to wake up one morning to the news Peyton had found an omega that made him happy, leaving me in the cold, disheartened and alone. I’d be jealous, but I was willing to do what it took to make my alpha happy even if it wasn’t with me.
But then Theo looked at me. He broke the kiss with Peyton, his lips swollen and red, and he didn’t look satisfied. He looked… searching. His eyes found mine, and the heat in them wasn’t gone. If anything, it flared brighter.
“Dalton?” Theo whispered, reaching a hand out toward me.
The jealousy softened, transforming into something else.
Wonder? Relief? It was weird, knowing this omega could give Peyton something I couldn’t—children, a biological legacy—and yet he was reaching for me.
In a weird way, that’s what made this work.
I didn’t have to give up my alpha. I wasn’t sure how a throuple worked.
All I knew was this omega made me feel things I’d only ever felt for my alpha, and he seemed to want me just as much.
Hearing Theo say he wanted to explore those same things with not just my alpha, but me too? That was life-changing. It didn’t erase the jealousy completely, but it made it bearable. It made it worth fighting through.
“What do we do now?” I couldn’t help but ask. I wasn’t even sure who I was asking, but it didn’t surprise me when Peyton took charge. He was good like that. He always knew the right thing to do.
“First, I’m going to go make some arrangements.
With Theo in heat, I’m not going to want another alpha around.
I need to talk to Jace and make sure he knows so he doesn’t come up here to see you.
I’ll go pick up some extra groceries while I’m out.
Theo, you make whatever arrangements you need to cover your store.
Do you have someone you can call to handle the shop without you? ”
“Um yeah, I can call my cousin. He’s covered for me before.
I also have a part-time employee who’d be happy with the extra hours this time of year.
” Theo’s eyes shifted between Peyton and me as if wondering if this was really happening.
My first instinct was to soothe his nerves so I couldn’t help stepping forward, rubbing my hand up and down his back until his shoulders dropped from their tense position.
Looking at Peyton, I caught his proud look as he stepped forward, kissing me.
“Such a good beta,” he said as his lips left mine. My alpha’s praise always made me stand taller. I enjoyed knowing I’d made Peyton proud.
Stepping back, Peyton looked Theo in the eyes.
“While I’m gone, I need to you to make sure this is what you want without all these pheromones floating around the room.
If you decide to ride this out alone, we’ll be okay with that.
But know this, omega; we won’t let you go now that we’ve found you.
You’re our omega and we will be wooing you once your heat is over. ”
As Peyton spoke, his use of the word ‘we’ settled over me.
Most alphas didn’t want anyone near their omegas while they were in heat.
They would tolerate another omega if needed.
The fact Peyton included me wrapped around me like a warm blanket.
The idea that Theo was our omega sank into me, settled around my heart, and I knew we’d be okay, Peyton and me.
Theo wasn’t replacing me. His very presence was making the bond between my alpha and me stronger. It was a revelation.
The door was barely closed before Theo turned to me, his eyes seeking mine. His teeth caught his lip, biting the tender flesh. Reaching out with my hand, I rescued the tortured lip, my thumb soothing the bruised flesh.
“Do you think this is strange? This thing between the three of us?” Theo asked.
“Strange? Yeah. Terrifying,” I admitted, deciding to be honest. “But I’ve never been so sure of anything except Peyton my whole life. If any alpha could make something like this work, it’s Peyton. He’s a strong man, but he’s also smart, gentle, and warm. You couldn’t ask for a better alpha, Theo.”
“You guys have been together for a long time, haven’t you?”
“Yeah, about four years.”
“And you’re seriously okay with this? You don’t feel… left out?”
I paused, looking at where Peyton had just been standing. “Sometimes,” I confessed. “When he looks at you like you’re the center of his universe, a part of me gets scared. But then he looks at me the same way. And you… you look at me like that too. It helps. It helps a lot.”
“I know it’s crazy, but yeah, I’m okay. Theo, I took one look at you and knew I was in trouble.
Peyton has always been it for me. I never looked at anyone after meeting him until yesterday and I saw you.
It was like getting hit with electricity.
It was almost a relief to find out Peyton was just as attracted to you as I was because it felt so wrong to want someone else as much as I wanted him.
Even though I’d left him, finding anyone else attractive felt like a betrayal. ”
“You left him? That’s why you’re here? Why would you leave Peyton if you loved him so much?”
“Because I love him. I thought I was doing what was best for him. I let other people get into my head, making me think he needed an omega more than he needed me. It was wrong. I think I knew that even as I was leaving.”
“Maybe not so wrong if it led you here. I wouldn’t have met either of you if you hadn’t come here,” Theo said.
It was a sobering thought. If I’d stayed in West Virginia, Peyton wouldn’t have chased after me.
It’s always possible I would have come to Sugar Beach for a visit, but maybe not.
Jace had always come to West Virginia since that’s where most of our family lives.
Except for the last couple of years, Jace always managed to head up north in time for our big family reunion every summer.
It was only because the twins were so young that he hadn’t made the trip since getting married.
There was a very real chance Peyton and I would never have met Theo if I hadn’t gotten it into my head that I wasn’t enough for my alpha.
It was ironic to think that I was right.
I’m not enough, but not in the way I had originally thought.
It’s not really that I’m not enough. It’s that I could be so much more than I ever thought with both Peyton and Theo.
Something I was looking forward to exploring as long as Theo was still on board. He still hadn’t made any phone calls.
“So, what’s the verdict? Stay or go?”
Theo stared into my eyes as if looking deep into my soul. I didn’t know what he was looking for, but he must have found it. The next instant he had his phone in his hand talking to someone about opening the shop this morning. It looked like he was staying.