Chapter Eleven
Seth
“Everything changed so fast.” I turned my glass slowly between my hands, still processing those changes and unsure if I could believe they had actually happened. “I don’t even…”
“He’s our mate.” Indy’s voice held perfect assurance.
“True, but that’s the only thing I’m sure of.” I sipped my scotch, mulling. “We don’t know anything about him besides the fact he’s a wolf and he’s ours.”
“A gorgeous wolf.”
“That’s also true. Fast and sleek and with the thickest fur.” Closing my eyes, I pictured him running ahead of us, tail shorter and bushier than I’d expected. “I never saw him coming.”
Indy lifted a finger and the bartender brought him a refill of his drink. “No, me either. I’d like to say this will please my fathers, but I’m afraid it’s going to have the opposite effect.
“Maybe the right thing to do is to take this one step at a time. We are both expected to return after the weekend and move forward with mating one of the acceptable omegas.”
“Right. And your point is?”
“We can’t do that because we’ve already met our mates.” I paused, the weight of the moment pressing down on my shoulders. “Plural. And if I thought walking away from you was impossible, walking away from both? Impossible.”
We sat in silence for a few minutes while the club went on around us. In the mirror over the bar, we could see the guests dancing and drinking and… “Is that a giraffe?” Indy asked, pointing straight in front of him at the reflection.
“Oh. Yes, I guess it is. Lucky the main floor has a high ceiling.”
“I know shifting is allowed, but most places, even owned by shifters, don’t allow that indoors. It’s wild. How do they keep from getting everything destroyed? Have you seen those hippie chimps anywhere?”
I scanned the view in the mirror. “No, but from the way they were talking, I gather they planned to ‘tune in and tune out’ or something like that?”
“What on earth?”
The bartender came back with a bowl of mixed pretzels and nuts and set it in front of us. “It’s an expression from about fifty years ago. Means, I think, ingest cannabis and relax. Or magic mushrooms or something.”
“Oh. Thanks. This place does allow everything,” I said, handing him my empty. “Just a soda please this time.”
“Sure.” He set the glass under the counter and plucked a tall slender one from a shelf behind him.
“But no, no smoking of anything. Not even vaping inside the club or on the grounds. We can’t stop the partiers from doing it on their own, but we don’t need to encourage them to be any wilder than they are.
And the dragons are enough of a fire danger.
” Filling the glass halfway with ice, he held it under a fountain nozzle and filled it.
“Here you go. Coming!” And he was gone down to the other end of the bar.
“Interesting place,” Indy said. “Glad they are careful about fire, though.”
“I never thought about dragons. Have you ever met one?”
“Nope.” He picked up his drink and took a sip. “But it would be fun. Let’s keep an eye out.”
“I never have either. What a night, huh?”
“Yes.” Indy nodded. “And back to what we were saying. One step at a time sounds like the best way to go. Right now, we need to let our omega know what he’s stepping into with us and what he might be facing.
He probably comes from a nice wolf pack with a supportive family who accepts him for what he is. ”
“Then why isn’t he on his pack lands?” I asked. “If it was so great there, wouldn’t he still be there?”
“Maybe. But he might have wanted adventure. Either way, we’re both a package deal and possibly a nightmare. Two alpha fathers who expect us to each have an omega and forget about one another. Bram needs to know we get it if we’re too much of a good thing. Putting us back at square one.”
I winced. If our mate didn’t want us, what would we do? “That would be worse than square one because until tonight, we were ‘only’ worried about not staying together, missing each other, and trying to be good alphas to unnamed omegas who deserved better.”
“Little things like that.” He chewed on his lower lip. “It seemed like a worst-case scenario until we found our omega. I’m not sure I could survive giving both of you up if it came down to it. Like if our fathers decided only one of us could have Bram and the other would be back to a random omega.”
“I hadn’t thought of that option. Maybe he should be with you. At least I’d know the two dearest to me are happy.” I was fairly certain it would kill me slowly, but I could die in the knowledge they had one another.”
Indy met my eyes in the mirror. “Has a parasite invaded your brain?”
“What?”
“Do you think for a moment that I could be with Bram, much less be happy, knowing you’re alone?
” He planted his palms on either side of my face and turned me toward him, leaving our reflected selves to handle their own issues.
“Seth, I could never be happy unless you were happy too. And even just having met Bram, it’s the same for him. My joy is tied in with both of yours.”
I brought my hand up to caress his cheek. “He’s nice, isn’t he? I mean, I can already tell. He has such a great smile and kind eyes.”
“Yes, he does.”
I kissed him. My mate who I’d known almost all my life.
His lips were sweetness, his mouth sensual heat.
We’d kissed so many times, but it was always like the first time.
All the fire and love. And now we had a chance of things going in a much better or much worse direction.
My unicorn threw his head up in a show of courage—which always hurt a little.
But Indy’s tongue twined with mine, and our arms wrapped around one another.
We clung together for a long while, drawing strength from each other until someone walking behind us joked, “Get a room,” and broke the moment.
At least I hoped it was a joke. I’d seen people doing a lot more than kissing on the way in.
But we laughed and straightened our clothes. “All right.” Indy cleared his throat. “Why don’t we let our omega lead? He can be in the driver’s seat and whatever he wants, we will somehow make happen.”
And that was what we decided to do.