Chapter Sixteen
Ty
In the restroom hallway, Penn was shaking, his gaze darting all over the place as Freid and I hurried over to put our arms around him.
“I don’t want to go back to my pack. Please don’t make me.”
I hugged him to my chest. “We aren’t going to make you.”
“Not ever,” Freid said.
“But you said you were going to take over.” His eyes were round and scared.
“What?” I asked, not understanding.
“You were going to fight them and win and become alpha leaders.”
“Oh no.” Freid pressed up against him, the three of us in a close huddle. Penn’s back remained stiff and straight.
“You thought we’d make you move back to your past pack?” I asked.
“You said so.” He pouted.
“We only threatened to take over the pack to get them to leave,” I said. “We would never make you go back there. You’re our soul mate, sweetheart. We would protect you with our very lives.”
“We would never make you do anything against your will. Or ever let anyone hurt you,” Freid said.
Penn’s arms came up to embrace us both. He buried his head in my chest, trying to pretend he wasn’t silently sobbing.
It broke my heart to see that, to wonder how tortured he’d been as a kid and young man. Freid and I exchanged pained looks over Penn’s head.
“You’re with us now, omega ours,” Freid said softly, never taking his eyes from mine. “It’s a brand-new world.”
“A new life,” I added.
“Come on.” Freid took his hand. “I can see if a booth is open. Let’s go over there and talk and calm down.”
Penn let himself be led. Sure enough, we found an open booth and Penn sat next to me. Freid slid in across from us.
Penn wiped at his face then put his arms on the table. “Can I get a drink?”
“Of course,” I said. We flagged a server and ordered drinks and two large orders of fries. The fries at Animals were to die for.
“Can I get ranch dressing, please?” Penn asked in a small voice.
“Of course.” The server smiled.
“Penn, was that sort of behavior what you had to deal with all your life?” I asked.
Looking down at the table, he nodded. “Even worse, too.”
“Worse?” Freid frowned.
“I was one of a few omegas. The rest were either babies or very old. I got the brunt of alpha bullying nearly every day.”
“That’s why you were so scared when we came flying into the kitchen here that first day we scented you.” I was beginning to get a clearer picture of what Penn had been through.
“We had no idea,” Freid said. “We must’ve come on like two Mack trucks.”
“I thought you were going to attack me.” Penn ducked his head. “It was a programmed reaction.”
Freid reached for Penn’s hand. I put mine on top of theirs. “We really handled that badly,” he said.
“But now I know.” Penn took a deep breath. “You were excited because you’d been waiting so long for me.”
“That’s no excuse. We could have approached you with some better manners.”
“It’s okay. You were both so nice.”
I let out a snort. “Dude, we chased you into the parking lot, right to your car.”
Freid shook his head at him. “Poor baby.”
A small smile formed on Penn’s face. “I guess that’s true.”
The fries came. And the ranch dressing. And a pitcher of beer. Comfort food and drink. We let go of each other’s hands and dug in.
I was still a little upset, too. “I want to go hunt down all the alphas who ever hurt you and beat them up.”
Freid tilted his head at me. “Exactly my thoughts.”
“But you won’t, will you?” Penn looked worried again. “Please don’t leave me. Ever.”
“We’ll never ever leave you,” I said.
“Never ever-ever,” Freid said.
“I love that you’re my protectors.” Penn let out a long breath then picked up two fries at once, dipped them into the ranch, and shoved them into his mouth. “Oh fu—wow, those are so good.”
“Animals’ fries are the best in the city,” Freid agreed.
Penn shoved more, with dressing, into his face.
Finally, we all eased up, the tension dissipating.
Freid and I picked up fries, dipped them, and fed them to him in between his own handfuls.
He eagerly took them, licking the salt and dressing from our fingers.
Which could have been innocent enthusiasm—but wasn’t innocent at all.
I was getting hard and had to stop to save myself embarrassment. Freid and Penn laughed.
Penn told us both a little more about his former pack.
His teen years were the worst, but it never actually stopped even into adulthood.
The bully alphas teased him relentlessly, made inappropriate sexual comments, and always tried to get him to sleep with them.
When he declined, the comments and teasing and put-downs worsened.
“Sometimes they chased me, threatening me.”
“Dare I ask if they ever caught you?” Freid hunched his shoulders as if bracing for an answer he didn’t want.
“Yeah, but they always stopped short of physical harm. Although, one time, I thought a couple of them would cross that line. They caught me and tied me up and left me in the trunk of a car all night.”
Both our mouths dropped open at the same time.
“They let me go the next morning, but I was terrified. They laughed it off, blaming me for not being able to take a joke.”
“Did you tell anyone?” I asked.
“Who could I tell? My foster family was worse. I was alone.”
He had truly been all alone. Our omega. Our mate. No one should ever be treated that way.
“We’ll never ever let you be harmed or mistreat you. That’s our solemn oath.” I looked at Freid and he nodded.
“I can feel that already in our bond,” Penn said. “You are alphas, sure, but I don’t think of you in the same way as I do those others. You’re different. Special. My mates.”
“And we love you,” Freid said.
“More than anything,” I added. “Never forget.”
“I know. I love you both so much.” He took a deep breath, picking up an empty fry basket. “More, please?”
“Anything you want, mate,” I said, putting my arm around his shoulders.
Freid flagged down the server.