Chapter 12
BECKHAM
You know when something seems too good to be true? That's what my life feels like right now.
It took me a few days after the party to get my head on straight, to stop overthinking and flipping out.
A few things I realized are, these men are my alphas, my pack. And I crave them, want them, and maybe even need them. It honestly terrifies me.
I’ve spent most of my life alone, adapted to being a single omega who didn’t rely on a pack. Was it lonely? Yes, but it worked for me.
I didn’t have to worry about anyone using their power over me, forcing me to do things against my will.
I was always in control of my mind and body.
Now I feel like I’m no longer in the driver's seat, just hovering to the side as I watch a cloned version of myself take over.
Magically, I’ve been able to get sleep in my father’s house. Kind of sad that I have to lock my room up like Fort Knox, but it works.
Even though I haven’t been sleeping in my office at work, I am still staying late every day, catching up on everything I’ve missed in my week hiatus.
Like tonight. I’ve spent the past two hours grading papers. My head hurts, I’m starving, and my eyes are growing heavy. I stare at the words on the page, but my brain doesn’t process.
Blinking, I try to clear my vision, but there’s no use.
My head starts to nod and I catch myself a few times before giving up and resting my head against the desk.
I just need a little nap. Twenty minutes tops and I’ll be able to get the rest of this done and go home.
I’m not sure how much time passes by the time I next open my eyes, but I know it wasn’t twenty minutes. Looking out the window, I see that it’s dark outside.
“Fuck.” I groan, rubbing at my eyes before grabbing my phone to check the time. Midnight? Damn it.
Sighing heavily, I dread the next hour at least of work before I can go home. These papers should have been handed back days ago.
As I’m about to see where I left off, I notice two things.
Looking down, I see that I’m covered in a blanket. I sure as hell didn’t have this before I fell asleep. Did someone come in here and do this? And who?
The second thing is, there’s a sandwich wrapped in foil.
Tentatively, I reach over and take it. There’s a little note tapped to the wrapper. My lip twitches when I read it.
“Be a good boy, and eat.”
It’s not signed, but if I had to guess, I’d say it’s one of my alphas.
Surprisingly, they’re actually doing what I asked of them. They’re giving me time and going slow.
We have a group chat where they check in on me. I’m not sure exactly what to say most of the time, and it’s still really weird. We haven’t had any kind of in-person conversation since the party.
But they’ve been to every one of their classes with me, sitting in the front row watching my every move.
It’s not easy to stand in front of a room full of students and teach when all I can think about is doing dirty, fucked up things with the three young men sitting in front of me.
I’ve had to put vapor rub under my nose so that their scents didn’t distract me. And I’m not proud of the amount of times I’ve had to sit down and teach to hide the fucking boner they gave me just from their heated hungry looks.
They’re killing me. Yet, they haven’t bothered me, haven’t pushed.
And the more time goes by, the more I wish they would. Can you miss something you’ve never really had?
Shaking my head, letting out a little huffed laugh, I unwrap the sandwich, hating the stupid little happy flutter that happens in my heart.
When I take a bite, I can’t help but moan, my stomach growling. Fuck. I didn’t realize how hungry I was.
This is the turkey and swiss sandwich I love from the coffee shop on campus. It's my go-to meal when I’m working.
They noticed? Why am I not surprised?
Once I’m done, I feel good enough to get back to work. By the time I finish the papers, I’m dead on my feet. I’m surprised I managed to stay awake and not crash my car on the way home.
By the time I get my door locked, I’m too tired to take a shower, so I decide to take one in the morning.
The sound of my alarm has me shooting up out of the bed. Thankfully, today I don’t have to be at work until nine. I might have only gotten six hours of sleep, but compared to most of my nights before, it’s more than enough.
After I’m showered, I change and get ready for work.
As I’m about to leave, the sound of my father’s voice stops me.
“Beckham,” my father says, smiling. “It’s nice to see you actually leaving the house in the morning and not coming home at this time.”
“Yeah.” I sigh, rubbing the back of my head.
There’s so much I want to tell him. About Ralph and my suspicions, about what he did to me years ago, about the fact that I only came back to prove it wasn’t my father who was dealing the dirty drugs and that I don’t actually want to be a part of the family business.
I think he senses that piece. The not wanting to be a part of the business. He hasn’t been pushing me lately, hasn’t been trying to get me involved as much as before.
I feel like a shitty son, because I think he just likes that I’m back.
“Thank you for coming to the party last week. It means a lot having you by my side.”
That guilty feeling hits me again. “It was nice. I’m glad I could be there.”
He steps closer, brows furrowed. “Is something going on? You seem a little off these days. And you left for that week. You have me worried.”
“I’m fine dad. Just a lot on my plate with work right now. Some big changes in my life too.”
“Really?” His brows jump. “Like what?”
I swallow hard, not wanting to get into it right now. This requires a conversation, not something in passing.
“I’m seeing someone. A pack. Kind of?” I laugh awkwardly. “It’s complicated.”
His smile grows. “Well I wanna hear all about it.”
“I can’t right now. Got to get to work.” I hate how his face falls. “But, ah, are you busy tonight? Want to go for dinner?”
His smile comes back. “Yeah.” He nods his head. “I’d like that.”
“Awesome,” I say. “Ah, I’ll see you then.” I smile.
“See you later, son.”
The smile on my face is real as I drive to school.
I feel good, for the first time in god knows how long. When I get to my first class of the day, that smile is back when I see a shiny red apple on my desk.
Every morning for the past week there’s been one waiting for me.
Picking it up, I give it a spin before taking a bite, the crisp juices feel cool against my tongue.
With something small in my stomach, I’m able to get through my day until lunch. By the time noon rolls around, I know I need to eat and get some caffeine. I was so distracted by having a good morning that I forgot my coffee. If I’m going to get through the rest of today, I’m gonna need it.
Stepping into the coffee shop, I’m hit by the strong smell of heaven. I love the smell of this place.
As I get in line, someone steps in front of me.
“Excuse me, there’s a—”
A smirking Alaric stands before me, a cup in his hand.
“Here.” He hands it to me.
“What’s this?” I ask, looking the cup over then back up to him.
He lets out a soft chuckle. “You’re a college professor and you don’t know what coffee is?”
My eyes narrow. “I know what a fucking coffee is.” I roll my eyes. “What I want to know is why you are handing me one?”
He lifts a brow. “I think the phrase you're looking for is ‘thank you’.”
Stepping to the side and getting out of the way of the people behind me, I grab Alaric’s arm and pull him with me. The contact has goose bumps breaking out all over my body, a warm feeling filling my stomach.
“Thank you.” I clear my throat, snatching my hand back. “That was kind of you, Mr. Gable.”
Alaric narrows his eyes. “Really? We’re on a last name basis?”
I look around, aware of the fact that this place is filled with students and faculty. “When we’re on school campus, yes.”
He rolls his eyes, taking a step forward, but I take one back. “Alaric,” I warn.
His jaw ticks as he takes a step back. “Just take the damn coffee, Beckham,” he says. “Oh, my bad, Professor Kennedy.” He purrs the last part and my body flushes, liking the way my name rolls off his sinful tongue way too much.
Hold it together, Beckham.
Just because I’m on suppressants, it doesn’t dull my natural omega reactions.
I need to get out of here before I do something stupid, like launch myself at my alpha. My alpha. My fucking alpha. This twenty one year old cocky brat is my alpha. And all I can think about right now is pushing him against the wall and ramming my tongue down his throat.
My eyes widen when he lets out a low rumbling growl. “Fucking hell, Omega.” His nostrils flare as his eyes darken. “I can fucking smell the honey and vanilla rolling off you in waves.”
“Fuck,” I curse. Not wanting to draw attention, I turn around to leave. I make it a few shops down before I duck behind the building.
Once I’m out of sight, I lean against the wall and take a few calming breaths. That's the first time I’ve been that close to any of my alphas in a week.
It’s like as soon as I felt him, his scent invading my nose, all I wanted to do was pull him into my arms, kiss and consume him.
I shove my shaking hand into my pocket and grab my pack of smokes. Just as I light it up and take a drag, letting out a deep contented sigh the cigarette is snatched from my hand.
“What the fuck is this?” Alaric growls, throwing the full smoke to the ground and crushing it with his foot.
“What the fuck, Alaric,” I protest, eyes swimming with annoyance.
“Oh, it’s Alaric now huh? Thought it was Mr. Gable.”
He’s a brat. A fucking brat. They all are. Jamie is just the one who loves to remind the world.
Reaching forward, I grip his chin, towering over him by half a foot. “Listen here, Alpha.” I get in his face, nostrils flaring. Bad idea, his scent invades my nose making my cock go rock hard.
Alaric groans as his eyes flash with arousal, the sound fucking dirty and hot.
“You might be my alpha, but you don’t tell me what to do, got it?” I ask.