Chapter 53
Orion
Ipace around my office while my packmates wait for me to start. We need to get this pack meeting done before Hestia is out of the shower.
I don’t know how to begin though.
This will change everything.
“Look, we’re all thinking the same thing, but what are we going to do about it?” Charm finally says, stopping me in my tracks.
“We’ll start our own company,” Magnus grumbles.
“And wait for Hestia to finish her training with another team? Because we certainly can’t ask her to leave the Rescuers when she’s so close to getting certified,” Henri says.
“We’ll have her reassigned to another station in the Fossfells. I’m sure whichever team she gets will let us move nearby so we can stay with her. Everyone here knows us, they’ll see we didn’t take advantage of our position to be with her,” Charm says.
“You’re really ready to accept that we have to quit?” I ask.
“Of course. Unless you’ve thought of another way to openly be with our mate,” Henri says.
They stare at me as if it’s obvious what we have to do.
“No, I haven’t. I just needed to make sure you’re prepared for this. I don’t want to spend another day denying what she means to us,” I say.
Their agreement is a weight off my mind. We’d discussed what to do if our relationship was ever found out, but that was a backup plan. Choosing to reveal our relationship and asking my packmates to quit or be terminated is a bigger demand.
I want to protect them, but I don’t see any other way to do this.
The five of us will take the consequences of breaking the rules.
I’m happy to do so, I’d never want to get in the way of Hestia’s dreams. I only wish I could take on all of it rather than forcing my packmates to shoulder the fallout too.
“I checked and none of the other teams left for the holidays. They should be able to cover our area until HR assigns someone to our station. We’ll figure out our living situation once we see where they send Hestia.
I don’t want to wait another day to do this, so I’m going to contact Alana tonight.
I’ll take care of the call now that I know you all agree,” I say.
“You’re not doing this alone,” Magnus says.
“There’s no need for you to be there, I can explain everything,” I say.
“Don’t be stupid,” Cato growls, his alpha in his eyes.
“This is about our personal life, not the team. We’ll all be there,” Charm says.
“You’re not the only one who wants to protect Hestia,” Henri says.
Magnus cuts me off before I can argue again. “Are you upset that this will affect our careers? We’re adults, we can make our own decisions. It isn’t on you to save us.”
“Of course I’m not happy you’ll lose your jobs! And I can’t do anything about it,” I say.
That’s the crux of the issue. I’m failing everyone, hiding our omega when we should be proudly showing her off, breaking the rules and getting my packmates fired.
“It’s worth it to be with Hestia. We have plenty of money. We’ll be fine, Orion,” Charm says.
“I know. I just wish I could protect you too,” I say.
“Too bad. We’re a pack, we’re in this together,” he says.
I bark a laugh.
I suppose I should accept there are limits to what I can do. Besides, worrying won’t result in a different outcome.
“Speaking of which, Hestia should be here for this,” Henri says.
“She’s pack,” Cato says, nodding.
I sigh and say, “You’re right.”
I didn’t want Hestia to be upset that we’re quitting, but it’s not really protecting her if we’re making pack decisions without her.
“Except we’re not allowing her to quit,” Henri quickly adds.
“No, of course not. That’s different,” I say, and the others agree.
We’re not going to allow our omega to give up on her dreams.
We send Cato up to fetch Hestia once she’s out.
Our omega is fresh and clean when they return, but I notice a shadow in her eyes as I hug her.
“How are you feeling? We had an intense call today,” I say, holding her hips.
“I’m fine. It was a lot of excitement, but everything turned out well.” Hestia smiles, but it’s dimmer than usual.
“Are you okay after using your hiss?” I ask.
“Maybe a little tired, but I’m fine, really,” she says.
I squeeze her hips and decide to take her at her word. I’ll ask her again later if she still seems off.
“If you’re up for it, would you like to join our pack meeting?” I say.
“Oh. Is that what this is?” Hestia perks up. “Really, you want me to join you?”
“Of course, you’re pack,” I say.
“I’d love to,” she says, and smiles a real smile this time.
I kiss her and help her to her seat.
I’ve finally relaxed enough to sit too. I’m still concerned about what’s to come, but everything feels easier with the support of my packmates and our omega by our side.
“We discussed this among ourselves and agreed we don’t want to hide our relationship for two years. It doesn’t seem right. If you’re open to coming forward about our relationship, we have a way to make this work,” I say.
“658 days,” Hestia corrects automatically, but I can see her thinking. “I don’t want to hide our relationship either, but how can we go public now and stay together?”
I tell her our plan to have her reassigned to a nearby station.
“But if you’re moving with me, won’t you be too far from your area to respond to emergency calls quickly enough?” Hestia asks.
“Well…” I hedge.
I thought she was taking this too well. I didn’t spell out the fact that we’ll have to leave the Rescuers. Even if they didn’t fire us, they’d transfer Hestia anyway, and like she said, we wouldn’t be able to watch our area.
“We’ll quit and follow you to your new station,” I say.
“What! I don’t want you to do that,” Hestia says.
“That’s the only way we’ll be able to stay with you. But don’t worry, we’ll find other jobs,” Charm says, rubbing her back comfortingly.
“For now, the best option is for our pack to follow you while you complete your training. We can volunteer our services in the meantime. After you get your certification, I’ll ask the Rescuers to rehire us,” I say.
“I don’t want you to give up your careers for me,” she says, lip trembling.
I pull her into my lap and purr until her scent isn’t as tart and burned.
“It will be okay. We’ve been rescuers for more than a decade, we could stand to take 658 days off.
Besides, as your alphas and your bosses, our goal is to support you,” I say.
“If that means we aren’t the ones training you, we’ll get the best team to take our place.
As your pack, we’ll follow you anywhere and help any way we can.
If you truly don’t want to be open about our relationship yet, we can wait, but don’t feel like you have to hide for our sake. ”
“I don’t want to sneak around anymore, but…” Hestia says into my chest, her hands buried in my sweater.
“We can always join a different company or even start our own. We have plenty of options,” Henri says.
“Yeah, I don’t need someone to pay me to drag them out of a hole,” Cato says.
Hestia laughs and looks around at us.
“You’re really okay with this? I would never ask you to give up your jobs for mine,” she says.
“You’re not asking, we’re offering,” I say firmly.
She’s quiet as she thinks about it, but eventually agrees.
“Good.” I kiss the top of her head. “A successful first pack meeting.”
Hestia smiles, her scent brightening into that perfectly spiced fruitcake. It’s the best smell in the world, and now I’ll never have to wash it off. I can walk around proudly with my omega’s scent clinging to me, and our scents on her so everyone knows she’s ours.
The emergency call earlier made me realize that if Hestia is ever injured, I couldn’t bear the thought of acting like she’s just a coworker. I wouldn’t be able to hold myself together as well as Titus.
And if something terrible happened to her, and she didn’t survi—if I never got the chance to tell everyone Hestia is my omega, I couldn’t—well. If I care that much about her, it’s not right to lie about what she means to me.
“I’m going to video call my supervisor, Alana, now and tell her about us. Do you want to sit in on it?” I ask.
Hestia says yes, and I pass her off to Cato while I get set up.
I sit behind my desk and straighten myself so I look as professional as possible. I don’t want Alana to think we’re taking this lightly even though we brazenly broke the rules.
My pack waits on the other side of the monitor. I’m happy to have them here with me, but I’ll be the one to break the news. I am still the leader of our station, at least for the next few minutes.
I press the call button, and Alana picks up on the second ring, as expected.
“How are things?” she asks immediately.
“We’re doing well. I have a personal matter I’d like to discuss, if you have a moment,” I say.
“Of course. Let me get to my office,” she says.
Once she’s ready, I lay out everything that’s happened since Hestia joined us. Alana’s face remains impassive, and when I’m done, I wait in silence for her response.
“I see. After you helped Hestia with her heat, you reported you would have no issues continuing to work together while maintaining a professional relationship, am I remembering that correctly?” Alana says.
“You are, and I’m sorry about that. My packmates and I thought we could keep our feelings to ourselves,” I say.
“We have no issue with employees dating, presuming there isn’t a power imbalance. That presents too much of a risk of coercion. We have to protect our employees,” she continues.
“I’m aware, and I agree with those rules.
We tried to deny our feelings because we didn’t want to take advantage of our position.
My packbrothers and I are ready to resign, but we want to ensure Hestia’s career won’t be affected by our actions.
My pack takes all the blame, it was on us as her superiors to remain professional, and we didn’t.
However, I want to assure you our attraction was mutual, and we didn’t attempt to pressure Hestia in any way,” I say.