Chapter 8 Jorge
Jorge
It’s hard not to doom-scroll to see if new articles about our pack have shown up online. To see what people are saying about us. I know that it shouldn’t matter and that most of it is just people talking shit because that’s what people do, but it’s still hard to stop once I start.
I still can’t put the image of how scared Mathew was from my mind, how pale, how tight his grip on my hand was as he was trying to stay strong. I’ve never seen him terrified before. Usually, other people are scared of him, not the other way around.
This situation could have been a lot worse. It could have been the Hearts who revealed it. It could have been one of Mathew’s previous ‘clients’ who revealed it. Another organisation could have used the information to blackmail him. None of that happened, luckily.
Instead, the reason all of this came out was because a random person thought they could make a quick buck with the pictures. It was, if you could describe it that way, revealed for greed, not for any more nefarious reasons, ‘just’ money and maybe a bit of fame.
In some ways, that makes it easier to deal with, because now, a lot of other people no longer have the power and ammunition to use his status against Mathew in the future.
In other ways, this makes it harder to deal with, because we’ve now got to look over our shoulders even more, for such a banal reason as greed.
Vera barges into the living room, flushed cheeks, her hair bouncing around her face. “Look at this! Look! Look!” She jumps onto the couch next to me and shoves her phone into my face.
The screen is a black and white blur, I can’t really make anything out with my nose pressed against the screen.
“Xavier was called into work because they thought it could be a difficult birth, but it all worked out fine. The mum was just a little nervous.” She keeps moving next to me in her excitement and I pull her into my lap, taking her arm so I can take a better look at the screen.
“Here.” She starts swiping through the rest of the pictures. “He sent me close up pictures of each of the pups.”
Their sweet black with white heads are so cute. Some of them have white on their muzzles, other have a white stripe running from their nose to their forehead and one of them has a fully black face but looks like he’s got a white goatee.
Vera leans her head back against my shoulder and looks at me, her eyes soft. “You don’t like dogs?”
I grin, kissing her cheek. “I love dogs. And these are very cute. But does that mean you didn’t meet up with Xavier’s pack?”
She sits up straighter, more serious. “I met with his Alphas. It was just Xavier who wasn’t there.”
“And Miles, from what I’ve heard.” Derrick had not been amused when he found out about Vera ordering Miles to drive Xavier to the clinic.
“Well, it was an emergency. And we had the rest of the team. And he wasn’t gone for very long.” Then her voice quiets. “I trust Miles the most. I knew he would keep Xavier safe and that he wouldn’t do anything risky to get there and back as quickly as possible.”
Ah, fuck, she’s so cute.
I wrap my arms around her tightly and bury my nose in her neck. She’s not only confident, but also thinks of other people, trying to protect everyone around her. So cute!
“How did the meeting go?” I keep her close, not wanting to let go just yet.
“All according to plan. It was mostly to check in with them and make sure they were still on our side. Not that I worried much about it, but I still wanted to be sure. They’re kind of important during the raid.
” She lets out a long breath and then turns slightly so she can lean against my shoulder.
“It’s getting close and closer. This will be the first time we’ll all be involved in a big operation like this. ”
“Yeah, not like last time. Though, you managed to turn it into one back then just fine.” I give her a soft kiss.
Last time, when Mathew and Riley went to the research complex, Vera and I were supposed to go see a movie. That didn’t happen as Vera got ‘distracted’ on our way there and followed and rescued Luca instead. It was supposed to be an easy night, but it turned out to be much more complicated.
“You know that I didn’t plan it.” She pretend-pouts, blowing out her cheeks, making me grin. “It just happened like that.”
“I know. I know.” I kiss her again. “I was just teasing.”
I was upset in the moment, mostly because I was scared we’d lost her, but when I found out why she’d slipped away, I couldn’t be angry with her anymore.
Rescuing our pack mate and eight kids from the clutches of the Hearts was way more important than a movie date.
And also much more effective at keeping my mind off the danger Mathew and Riley were in.
Vera is so excited about the raid, even though I’m pretty nervous about it.
I’ve never been involved in a mission or operation before, and would have liked to have kept it that way. But I also can’t not do anything when they’re going to take down the brothel where Mathew and Luca used to be kept.
At least this time, I want to be there with them, help them as much as I can, even if that’s staying in the background and taking care of the kids and things like that. I don’t need to be on the front lines, that’s for the rest of the pack, I’m happy to stay in the background.
And, something that I never expected before we found Luca, I won’t be the only one.
It did feel weird to be the odd one out in the pack, the only one not always with weapons at the ready and seconds away from slitting people’s throats —though Caleb isn’t as trigger-happy either, but he also doesn’t seem to be too bothered if blood gets spilled.
But with Luca around, at least there’s now two of us, two people who prefer to stay in the back and away from all the violence.
I guess this means we can watch the kids if the others are out for work. I don’t know if that makes me feel any better about the future, but it’s a fun mental image.
Even though it’s plenty warm enough, it’s still nice to fall asleep on the couch with Vera on top of me. The setting sun bathes the living room in a warm yellow glow and the people talking and walking around the house make for soothing background noises.
Everything combined makes it really hard to stay awake.
Vera lets out a small sound, turning her head slightly, before stilling again. She’s fast asleep, all sprawled out on top of me.
There’s movement in the doorway, and I catch Mathew looking at us, he’s leaning against the doorframe, a soft look in his eyes. He lifts his phone and I’m about to move to try and hide my face, when he raises one eyebrow.
One of my arms is caught at my side, against the couch, and the other arm I’ve got around Vera, to make sure she doesn’t slide off me. If I move either of my arms, I’ll wake her up.
I shoot Mathew a glare as he takes multiple pictures of us, his face lit up with joy.
Well, okay, if it makes him that happy, I guess it’s fine.
He’s been so stressed lately that I’ve not seen him smile that happily in much too long.
He puts his phone away and comes over to us, picking up a blanket that’s over a chair he passes and then he carefully drapes it over us, making sure not to disturb Vera.
“You two look so cute.” He leans over me, his lips a fraction from mine, as he keeps his voice as quiet as possible. “I can’t wait for you to sleep with two babies on top of you. A happy family. I’ll be taking so many pictures.”
“As long as you keep it to pictures, it should be fine.” I also keep my voice low, but with how Vera is draped over me, I don’t expect her to wake up any time soon.
Mathew slides to the floor, leaning against the couch in a way that he can see both our faces at the same time. The way he looks at us, that soft gaze, the sweet smile, how the yellow light catches on his piercings, he looks so gentle, nothing like the ruthless guy that I know he can also be.
In some ways, Vera and Mathew are exactly the same and in other ways, they’re total opposites.
They’ll both protect anyone they care for to the best of their abilities, they’ll do anything for those they love.
And people listen to them when they give orders.
But while Vera looks small, soft and adorable, Mathew’s tall, sharp and looks vicious.
And even in that regard, they’re actually the same.
Vera’s a kitten with very sharp claws. While Mathew is an apex predator with an unexpectedly tender side, like an alligator. They look one way but also have an unexpected opposite side to their personality.
“What’s making you smile so much?” Mathew touches my cheek, his whole focus on me, a heady feeling.
“You two are so similar, even if you look totally different.” I move my head, trying to catch his finger, but he quickly pulls away, grinning.
“Well, I guess that means this pack has a ‘type’ when it comes to Omegas they like.” He leans back slightly, taking a deep breath as he shrugs out of his suit jacket.
“I think it’s almost time for dinner, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to get up again.
Tired.” He turns so he’s with his back to the couch and leans his head back against us, sprawling his long legs in front of him.
“It’s been a long day.” I look at both Omegas. “It’s probably a good idea to take a nap.”
“Hmm, hmm.” Mathew closes his eyes, his face relaxing more. “It’s nice and warm in here.”
“Yeah. And pretty quiet too.”
“Yes, that too.” His voice slows down and I watch as he falls asleep right then and there.
Before Vera and Caleb arrived, he’d never have fallen asleep in a vulnerable place like this. Never. Hell, he’d make sure nobody was on the upper floors when he slept in his bedroom. He trusted his team but he still didn’t want them around when he slept.
Even when I stayed over, he wouldn’t sleep for more than an hour or two at a time. He did seem to be able to sleep better with me there, but he’d still not feel safe enough to sleep through the night. I’d often stay awake, just to try to get him to sleep longer.
But since the pack has formed, he’s gotten comfortable enough to fall asleep on the floor in the living room, right in the open, while there’s extra security inside and outside the house because we’re in danger. None of that matters, because of the pack, he can just sleep wherever now.
Things really have changed, even if it doesn’t always feel like it.