26. Ulysses
Sleep eluded me to the point I gave up and walked out to the upstairs living room.
I flopped on the couch, turning on the television but keeping the volume low in case the others were sleeping.
A few minutes later, Gareth joined me, looking like a grumpy bear that had been woken up early from hibernation.
When his leg wouldn’t stop bouncing, I finally muted the random show neither of us were watching to face him.
“Something on your mind?” I asked dryly.
Gareth dropped the thumb he’d been chewing on. “You know there is.”
“Maybe it might help if you talk about it,” I suggested.
He just glared at me. “Really, that’s your solution to this? Talking? Gee, thanks, Dr. Phil.”
“If you’re going to be an ass, then do it in your own room. I got here first, and I don’t need your crabby ass making this night even more delightful than it already is,” I remarked and turned the volume back on.
Gareth snatched the remote and turned off the television. “Okay, look, do you really think Yun was serious about leaving? I can’t get him saying that out of my head. Did we push too far? What if he resents us from now on, and this moment haunts us for the rest of our lives together?”
I groaned as I slouched, letting my head fall back on the couch. This was exactly what had been keeping me up. I’d been right there holding him back, not trusting he would look after Rosie, and he called us the fuck out on it.
“There’s no way to know until whatever’s going on up there is over,” I said, raking a hand through my hair. “Fuck, man, out of all the ways I thought our pack would hit a rough patch, this certainly wasn’t it.”
“What?” Gareth demanded, sitting up to look me in the face. “Why would you assume we’d have trouble?”
Shrugging, I looked up at the ceiling. “The four of you have been living together longer and worked out a routine. Then I was finally able to quit traveling, but I wasn’t here more than a few days before finding Rosie.
Now there are two of us throwing a wrench in the ecosystem.
Not to mention fearing resentment for knowing our Omega so much better than anyone else in our pack. ”
“Dude, how long have you been worried about moving into this house?” Gareth pressed.
I flicked a glance his way and was surprised to find worry written all over his face. The man was genuinely concerned about why I’d felt that way. Many only saw the brash, sarcastic side of Gareth, not this man who cared about those who were important to him more than anything.
“It’s not a big deal… people worry,” I argued.
“I think it’s rather normal to question your choice when you get paired with a group of people you don’t know all that well.
Yeah, we’ve been a pack for a decent amount of time, but for me, it’s been weekends and random days here and there.
So yeah, I was worried I wouldn’t mesh the same way all of you seem to so effortlessly. ”
Gareth shook his head with a huff of laughter.
“You didn’t see it because things always went so well with you around, but the four of us didn’t get along.
” He held up a hand to stop me from speaking.
“Let me explain. Yun-Sun’s whole purpose in life before Bailey-Rose was work.
The man was never home, and when he was, he’d set up camp in the library or his room.
Warrick and I probably saw each other the most on a daily basis.
Problem is that our personalities clash in so many ways, it’s a miracle he’s still alive.
Vili did his best to keep the peace, but he was out of the house before the sun was up and went to bed by eight.
That’s why he started to work from home randomly.
It was to keep an eye on things when either Warrick or I had coinciding days off. ”
Everything he said had me rather speechless. I didn’t even know how to begin to piece together what that even looked like. “I don’t understand.”
“Yeah, it took me a few weekends to figure it out myself. Then when Bailey-Rose entered the picture, I knew I’d been right,” Gareth commented.
“The simple fact is that our pack didn’t function the way it should have because you weren’t there.
God, that sounds so fucking cheesy when you say it out loud. ”
I couldn’t argue with that, but it made me curious to hear what led him to that conclusion.
“It started with noticing Yun would set aside work and make sure he could be part of things while you were in town. At first, I thought it was merely out of respect for the effort you were making for the pack. Then I realized you and Yun connect on a level that none of us do. Warrick wasn’t being a pest and always in my business or personal space because you knew how to make him feel purposeful around the house.
Vili didn’t need to be on guard, so his lighthearted side shone through way more to the point of it being infectious.
” Gareth stopped and rubbed the back of his neck as if embarrassed.
“I sound like a damn chick talking about all this. What I’m saying is that the Scent Matchers put us all together for a reason, and it doesn’t work without all of us.
Bailey-Rose just proved all of that with her mere presence.
Nothing has been as smooth sailing for our pack as it has the past week. ”
What he was saying made a fuckton of sense and also shed light on why he was so worried he’d messed up with Yun. If not having me around caused issues, then it’s safe to say that any of us not being part of the pack would create the same problem.
“I don’t think Yun is leaving,” I shared, causing Gareth to let out a sigh of relief.
“There is no way he would leave Rosie before tonight, and I doubt after being intimate with her, there’d be a reason strong enough in the world to make him leave her side.
However, I do think there might be some tension between him and the pack.
Yun was right to challenge us the way he did.
If he believed he could control himself around Rosie, we should have backed him up. ”
“What about all those stories we hear on the news? Alphas crazed with rut raping or hurting Omegas who have volunteered to help them through it?” Gareth challenged.
I thought about that for a moment. “I would have to double-check, but I would bet none of those Alphas were in a stable pack or had a scent matched Omega. It’s like what Rosie was trying to tell us.
Yun-Sun’s first and only concern, no matter what state of mind he’s in, is to keep his Omega safe.
It’s a biological response that’s ingrained in us since the first Alpha was born.
We are protectors and caregivers, and Yun is one of the most noble men I’ve ever met.
Sadly, we failed him… we failed both of them tonight,” I admitted, slamming my fist on the arm of the sofa.
“If we hadn’t stopped Yun, he would have been able to help her faster instead of leaving her there naked and whimpering on the fucking stairs. ”
“God, the way she was perfuming, it’s a wonder any of us kept our heads, but I agree. We did fuck up royally tonight,” Gareth said, dropping his head into his hands. “So how do we fix it?”
Rubbing my brow, I gave him the best answer I could think of. “We don’t. This problem started because we didn’t trust him, so I think the smart move here is to apologize and see what he has to say on the matter.”
Gareth nodded and gave an agreeing grunt, then pushed to his feet. “Well, I guess there’s nothing to do until one of them emerges. Now I just need to find some earplugs so I’m not jerking off every time I hear her screaming as she comes.”
That got me to smirk as I considered how lucky I was to be on the other side of the house. “You could sleep downstairs… might have a better chance of getting some rest. That pillow nest of hers looked pretty comfortable.”
“Right,” Gareth scoffed. “Then I’ll be humping the pillows because they’re all covered in her scent. Damn, I’m so jealous of Yun right now, getting to make all those sounds come out of her. Fuck, I might come just thinking about it.”
With that, it was my cue to leave. “Whoa, man, we’re close, and I’m sure we will get even closer as time goes on, but right now, you busting in front of me after the heart-to-heart we just had is a bit too close.”
Gareth laughed as he rubbed his neck, clearly embarrassed. “Sorry, my mind is all over the place right now and probably said more than I should have. I’m gonna go now. See you in the morning.”
I watched my pack brother trudge down the hall back to his room. “Huh, looks like I was right… talking about things did help. Guess those months of watching Dr. Phil while stuck in the middle of nowhere did help.”
Just as I turned to head to my room, I was caught off guard as an unmistakable scream echoed down the stairs. “Yun!”
Looks like Gareth wasn’t the only one who was going to be suffering from blue balls tonight.