Chapter 4 #2
“Um, not really. They did give me a kind of medicated feeling for a couple of hours after taking them. I feel pretty good these days.”
“Not at all like you might be about to go into heat?” Laura prompted.
Ben shook his head.
“Do you get aroused at all?”
Ben blushed.
“I’m sorry, Ben. I’m just trying to make an evaluation,” Laura said. “It’s odd that you haven’t started your heats again. Something must be preventing it, and I have an idea what. But I want to rule out that the suppressants altered you in some way.”
As much as I wanted to stay, I didn’t want to make Ben uncomfortable. “Maybe Colt and I should—”
“Don’t go. Either of you. Stay with me. Please?” Ben asked.
I could tell Colt was as surprised as I was at the entreaty.
“Of course, if that’s what you want,” he said, and we both settled back in our chairs.
“I…do get aroused,” Ben quietly told Laura.
“How often?” Laura asked.
“It depends.”
“On what?” Laura asked.
Ben bit his bottom lip. “On Angus and Colt. If they…say certain things, or act a certain way, it…” He looked down at his lap.
“It causes a physical reaction?” Laura finished for him, and he nodded. “What sort of things do they do or say that make you feel that way?”
“When they use their alpha voices,” Ben said quietly.
Speaking of physical reactions. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.
“Is that bad?” Ben asked. “Did I do something that caused my heats not to come back?”
“No, not at all,” Laura said. “Everything that’s happening to you is quite natural.” She looked at me, and I could read her like a book. I gave her a small nod.
“Ben. I believe you have bonded with Angus, and because you live with him, he’s somehow keeping your heats at bay, although I’m not sure why he’s not having the opposite reaction and throwing you into one.
I’m also not sure why he hasn’t gone into rut, since he obviously bonded with you months ago, at least partially.
” She took a deep breath and continued, “At the risk of sounding like a broken record because I feel like I am always saying this—very little is known about alpha/omega relationships. This is all new territory. According to what we do know, Ben is definitely showing the normal signs of an omega who’s bonded with his alpha.
It’s like he just skipped the heat part. ”
Ben looked upset, and I couldn’t stand that.
“Ben,” I said softly. “It’s okay. Colt and I have already decided we want to mate with you.
Both of us. But if you don’t want that…” I hadn’t considered that Ben might not be interested in either one of us.
What if he wanted some other alpha and regretted the bond I’d accidentally initiated?
He had mentioned an alpha the other day.
Sudden anger coiled deep in my gut, and I clenched my fists in my lap.
Jerking his head up, Ben said, “B-both of you?”
“You don’t like that idea?” Colt asked.
“This is all very sudden. Why don’t you give Ben some time to think about it?” Laura suggested.
“Of course,” Colt said, and I nodded curtly. What alpha was Ben thinking about? Where did he meet this mysterious alpha?
“Go get some rest, Ben,” Laura told him.
The three of us watched him get up and go to his room. A moment later, we heard the door quietly shut.
“Seems he already has an alpha in mind,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.
Colt made a low, disgruntled noise in his throat that made my blood thrum in my veins.
“Don’t jump to conclusions, Angus. Undoubtedly, he’s overwhelmed. I doubt Ben expected either of you to ask to mate him, let alone both of you,” Laura said reasonably. “And I have to say, I don’t understand it. Did you mean he could pick one of you? Because it sounded more like—”
“Angus and I have been involved for a couple of years,” Colt said, meeting my eyes. It was the first time either of us had told anyone. It felt momentous.
Laura’s brows shot up. We’d clearly shocked her. “Two alphas together?”
We both nodded.
“It’s been a slow progression, and we’ve found there are hurdles we aren’t sure we can get over,” Colt said.
Laura thought for a moment. “I see. An omega would round things out nicely. This might explain why Angus bonding with Ben didn’t send him into immediate rut. He was already committed to you.”
Colt gave me a soft look that quickly morphed into worry. “Do you think Ben can form a bond with two alphas?”
Laura sighed. “I wish I could help you, but I just don’t know.
All I can think to say is, go with your gut.
I understand why you brought it up with Ben today, but perhaps you should back up a bit now and spend some time together with him.
Let him know that you both care, and what you want from the relationship. Be forthright.”
“Okay. We’ll do that. Thanks, Laura,” I said. We said our goodnights and Laura headed for her bedroom.
“Do you really think Ben has another alpha in mind?” Colt asked when we were alone.
“I can’t imagine who it would be,” I said, pushing away the strong possessiveness that tried to overtake me when I thought about it.
I squeezed Colt’s hand. “Spend the night with me?” More than anything, I wanted to just be with him.
Ben wasn’t the only one who was overwhelmed by all the talk of mating.
“Okay,” Colt said. He pecked a kiss on my lips.
Twenty minutes later, we lay in bed talking.
After going over the earlier conversation in the living room, we agreed that Laura was right—we had to be completely truthful with Ben.
He was young and innocent and in such a vulnerable position.
His only experience with an alpha had turned into a kidnapping, when Neil Havers had turned him over to a government beta and left the country.
We decided to ask him to go on a picnic the following day so we could relax and have an uninterrupted talk.