18. Zayden
Chapter eighteen
Zayden
I wait with Magnus and Levi for Opal in the living room, grinding my teeth when Reed is absent as usual.
“Where is he?” I hiss, fixing my bow tie in the mirror above the mantel.
When did it suddenly get hot in here? This thing is stifling.
We're all in our tuxedos, of course. I had them tailored for each of us, and even Reed wasn't spared since he hates dressing up with a roaring passion.
But I meant it when I said he was attending tonight, and why does he have to be so pigheaded?
Ugh, Alphas…
They're almost as irritating as this bow tie.
“He’ll be here. He’s just sulking,” Magnus replies as he brushes lint off his shoulder.
A sigh escapes me. “I swear. I just don’t know what to do with Alpha at times.”
Magnus grins. “I hear you. Oh, here he is.”
I follow Magnus’s pointer finger, and there we spy the big Alpha looking uncomfortable in his tuxedo as he tries to maintain his lion's mane.
He has a snarl on his face for me and Magnus, and Magnus refrains from laughing.
Reed does look funny as hell in a suit. It's not his usual choice of dress, so Magnus will see fit to tease him.
Reed growls at the Alpha. “Fuck off!”
Yet Magnus can’t stop chuckling, and he covers his mouth, leaving the room.
That tuxedo looks ready to burst at the seams, and the tailor really had a tough time getting his measurements right.
Reed storms after Magnus to put him in his place, but Levi pushes him back. “Let it go, Reed.”
Reed shows his teeth, and I round on him before he bites our pack lead's head off. “He’s right, Reed. But good of you to show up for once. Thank you.”
The Alpha stops snarling, and now his eyes soften when they find me. “I do this for you, after all. No one else."
A frustrated breath escapes me.When is he going to accept that Opal is now a part of the pack?
I intend to spend the rest of my life with her.
Hell, I want her babies.
“That’s fine. But this is Opal’s night in the end, Reed. We’re presenting her to the world as our second Omega and the possible mother of our children.”
Reed groans when I mention the word 'babies', as that's all I ever talk about these days, apparently. Now he closes his eyes, banging his head against the wall, and I feel for the wall…
There's going to be a dent there for sure now.
“I mean it, Reed. Opal isn’t going anywhere, so you best get used to it.”
The Alpha mutters something about refusing to give her his seed, and whatever.
He doesn't have to.
But he needs to understand that this is what I want.
Reed doesn’t trust Opal. That much is certain, but I truly do feel it in my heart.
Opal is the one for me.
She’s the one for us all.
And she will bear my children.
I always felt that fatherhood was my destiny, and I get that it may not be the best time to start a family with all the shit going on in the world, but why can’t I find some happiness in all the muck?
Silence settles over the room as footsteps approach the stairs, and we all hush.
Well, except Reed, who's still grumbling in the corner like an overgrown brat, and I don’t even know why I want a child so much when I already have him.
Magnus appears again, and now the three of us wait at the bottom of the stairs as a goddess in shimmering gold floats down the steps, and my heart stops beating.
Magnus draws a breath, and Levi’s eyes widen.
Wow.
Fuck the ball.
Let’s just take Opal to her nest now.
I’ve never wanted anything more than Opal in that moment, and when she stops at the bottom step, holding out her hand to me, I take it, brushing a kiss over her knuckles.
“Holy fuck, Opal…” Magnus whispers.
Opal smiles, showing her dazzling white teeth as she gives us a spin, and the dress twirls and swishes with her.
“How do you like it? I know it’s a little bold, but…”
Bold?
Has she seen herself?
“I picked gold for Pack Gold,” she says when she sees my expression, and my heart kickstarts back to life.
I think I am falling for her.
Opal truly is the one for us, and I can’t wait to show her off to the whole room.
We’ll be the star couple.
Ella and Brody will be so jealous when they get a look at us.
Opal’s eyes fall somewhere behind me, and then she peers away when she catches Reed’s gaze.
Oh, yeah, right. Reed.
Forgot about him for a moment.
Is he still banging his head against the wall?
Reed stands stock still, a perfect apex predator as he flares his nostrils in Opal's direction.
In that moment, I’m not sure if he wants to kill her or fuck her, and I take her arm, steering her toward the door and far from the Alpha.
I talk to him through the bond. “Careful, Reed. Remember, I am the one who will get her pregnant first. Not you.”
Reed snaps his teeth. “I do not want to give her my seed!"
I snort back. “Tell that to your dick.”
The Alpha peers down at his pants and lo and behold…
Reed is hard for Opal.
Well, he best get in line because Opal is mine.
I will get the first dance, and I will be the first to enter her as I pleasure her in her nest.
Before we exit, Opal reties my bowtie, and it no longer stifles me as I lead her out the door.
Let the night begin.