Chapter 33 Dustin
Chapter thirty-three
Dustin
I step into the office to find Stefan and Kade both nursing glasses of whiskey, the amber liquid catching the afternoon light streaming through the window. It's barely past noon and they're already drinking. The sight makes me stop in the doorway, one eyebrow raised.
"Seriously?" I ask, gesturing at the glasses.
Kade doesn't even look apologetic, just takes another sip. Stefan at least has the decency to look slightly sheepish, his injured hand wrapped around the glass with obvious difficulty.
I close the door behind me and move further into the room, taking in the scene.
Stefan is slouched in one of the chairs across from Kade's desk, his injured leg propped up on a small stool.
The bandages are fresh, changed sometime this morning by the doctor who came back to check on both him and Ashton.
Kade sits behind his desk, looking every inch the commanding Alpha even in casual clothes.
"How's your leg?" I ask Stefan, genuinely concerned despite my teasing about the whiskey.
Stefan shifts in his chair, grimacing at the movement. "I could be better. Doctor said the bullet missed anything vital but tore through muscle pretty good. Going to be a while before I'm back to full strength."
"And Ashton?" Kade asks. I've been worried about the other Omega since Stefan showed up with him last night, that protective instinct extending to someone who clearly needs help and clearly, that same instinct is riding Kade hard.
If he had only been in the guest bedroom earlier this morning to see what I had…
Stefan's expression softens fractionally when Kade mentions Ashton's name, a tell he probably doesn't realize he's showing.
"He was sleeping when I checked on him before coming in here, so like, what…
a few hours ago? Doctor said yesterday that the ribs will heal on their own as long as he rests, and the stitches you put in held up better than expected. "
"How is Ashton?" Kade corrects, emphasizing the present tense.
Stefan blinks at my Alpha, confused by the clarification. "What?"
A slow smile spreads across my face as I lean against the edge of Kade's desk. "Perfect after Solana hand-fed him breakfast."
Both Stefan and Kade turn to stare at me, their expressions identical masks of shock.
"What?" they say in unison.
I can't help the grin that widens at their reaction.
"She was adamant that Ashton eat. Made him a whole plate of eggs and toast, insisted on taking it to him herself.
When he wouldn't eat and just kept saying he shouldn't be here and didn't want to impose, she climbed right onto that bed and fed him by hand. "
I watch Stefan's face as I describe the scene, seeing emotions flicker across his features too quickly to fully identify. Surprise, concern, something that might be jealousy, and underneath it all, a possessiveness he's probably not even aware of.
"She tore off pieces of toast and held them to his lips until he ate them," I continue, enjoying the telling more than I probably should.
"Fed him every single bite, one piece at a time.
And here's the thing, they both loved it.
Ashton stopped resisting after the first few bites, just leaned into it.
And Solana looked happier than I've seen her all morning. "
Kade just shakes his head, taking another long drink from his glass. "Of course she did."
"I never thought there'd be two Omegas in my house," I admit, the reality of it still sinking in. "But..."
"This is just temporary until I figure out what to do next," Stefan interrupts, his voice firm. "I won't bring any more trouble here than I already have."
Kade sets his glass down with a soft click, his full attention on Stefan. "But you haven't exactly brought trouble here. No one is looking for Ashton, save his father, and Charles knows you have him safe. We have an entirely different problem with Solana's heat around the corner."
Stefan frowns, clearly not following where Kade is going with this.
"I would have brought my men in to make sure the ranch ran smoothly while we were out of commission," Kade continues, his tone businesslike.
"I had everything arranged so Solana could go through her heat without worrying about the outside world.
But now I'll be asking you to help coordinate things instead. "
"I can't be here while she's in heat," Stefan says immediately, his whole body going tense. "That's not... it wouldn't be appropriate."
I laugh, the sound coming out more bitter than I intend. "You already are here. Did you not catch how sweet she was this morning? How she insisted on making you and Ashton breakfast despite being in preheat? How she defended your right to stay when we tried to discuss logistics?"
Stefan's jaw clenches, his hands tightening around his whiskey glass. "Why the fuck are you guys okay with this? She's your Omega, going into heat, and you're just fine with me and Ashton being here? That's not normal. That's not how this is supposed to work."
Kade leans back in his chair, his expression unreadable. "Because it's her choice, not ours. And she explicitly told us that you were to stay. I can put aside my Alpha instincts to ensure that she's happy. Can you?"
The challenge hangs in the air. Stefan stares at Kade, something like understanding dawning in his eyes mixed with confusion and denial.
"So you don't want me here?" Stefan asks, his voice carefully neutral.
I lightly punch his arm, the gesture more affectionate than aggressive.
"You're so fucking dense sometimes. Of course we want you here.
You're my stepbrother. I've wanted you in my life, in my pack, for years.
I'm just saying that things got a little more complicated because Solana isn't pushing you out. "
Stefan opens his mouth but I keep talking, needing to get this out before he can deflect or change the subject.
"I tried kind of asking her about it this morning," I continue. "Mentioned how Omegas are usually territorial during preheat, how most wouldn't want other Alphas or Omegas around. She had no idea where I was going with it. Just said having you here feels right."
I pause, making sure Stefan is really hearing me.
"However, I do know that if you just up and disappear after her heat, she'll think she did something wrong.
That she somehow drove you away. We can have that conversation later with both Omegas present, but for right now, we have to focus on her heat. And you and Ashton."
"He'll heal," Stefan says, his tone dismissive.
Kade's expression sharpens. "Sure, but that's not what Dustin was talking about."
Stefan shifts uncomfortably in his chair, his injured leg clearly bothering him but his emotional discomfort probably worse.
"He's not my Omega. I know you guys have your situation with Solana, but Ashton and I aren't like that.
I work for his father. I'm supposed to protect him. That's all this is."
Kade lets out a low growl that makes the hair on my arms stand up. It's not threatening exactly, but it's definitely a warning. "Let's stop the bullshit. It's just the three of us in here, okay? There's no one to perform for, no one to convince. Just us."
He stands, moving around the desk to lean against it, closer to Stefan.
"There's no doubt in my mind that Ashton is more than a job to you.
Whether you take that step forward is your own choice, but don't motherfucking lie to me.
That Omega is yours. Just like how I know, in some strange twisted way, Solana is too. "
Heavy silence falls over the room as Stefan stares at Kade like he's just spoken a foreign language. I can see my brother processing, see the denial warring with something that might be hope or fear or both.
"She's..." Stefan starts, but seems unable to finish the sentence.
Kade crosses his arms over his chest, his posture radiating authority. "Solana smells like a whole fucking bouquet right now. She's unmated and days, maybe hours away from a heat. Any Alpha worth his salt would have had her plastered against the wall, ready to take her regardless of her choice."
Stefan's face flushes with anger. "I would never do that. She's your Omega. Yours and Dustin's. I would never—"
"Exactly," Kade interrupts, his voice sharp. "You would never. And that restraint, that control you're showing? That's not just good manners or respect for boundaries. That's biology."
A realization hits me suddenly, pieces clicking together in my mind. "You've mentioned a few times when Ashton was close to his heat, before he went away for them, that you were constantly picking off Alphas for trying to get with him. Said it was like they were drunk on his scent."
Stefan nods slowly, confusion flickering across his face at the apparent change in subject.
"Those Alphas lost control around Ashton because he wasn't theirs," I continue, the theory forming even as I speak it. "Because there was no bond, no claim, nothing telling their instincts to back off. But you never lost control. You protected him from others but never tried to claim him yourself."
"Because that would be wrong," Stefan says immediately. "He's my employer's son. He trusts me to keep him safe, not take advantage of him."
Kade's expression shifts into something that might be satisfaction.
"If you were any other Alpha, I don't care how good your control is, you'd do the same to Solana that those other Alphas tried with Ashton.
You'd be fighting me right now for access to her.
You'd be challenging my claim, trying to assert your own. "
Stefan opens his mouth to argue but Kade continues, his voice taking on that Alpha command that makes even me want to straighten up and listen.