29. Loch
“Yeah, I think you’re right,” Loch said, then glanced into the living room. “Where’s Deke?”
Ollie looked over his shoulder, back the way he came, then to Loch again. “Showering. I told him I needed to talk to the three of you. I’m sure he’ll go look for the others when he’s out. He’s missed them. Not that he’d admit it.”
“So, what’s up?” Binnie asked, looking at each of them in turn. “What did I miss? Why so serious?”
Only Binnie could see mating marks on three of his friends and act like it was just another day. He was always the laid back one, the diplomat, the one who remained calm in any crisis. Even so, the alpha seemed far more relaxed than when he’d left. Not just relaxed, but…happy even.
“How was your holiday?” Loch asked, his gaze cutting to where San was currently dropping loud, sloppy kisses on the omegas.
Binnie’s cheeks flushed. “Good. I think we…came to an understanding.”
“Does this understanding have anything to do with the hickey behind your ear?” Saint asked, smirking.
Binnie snorted. “Oh, please. I left for a week and you three got married,” he said, shaking his head.
Loch and Saint smiled, but Ollie frowned, creases forming between his brows. “Let’s go to the library.”
Loch’s stomach plummeted. He exchanged worried glances with the other alphas, grateful to see they were equally on edge. Binnie nodded towards the door, then took the lead, taking them down the long main hallway to the last doors on the left.
He threw the double doors open with an unnecessary flourish, allowing them to enter before shutting the doors behind them. Loch remembered glancing inside the room when Binnie had first given them the grand tour. He hadn’t given it much thought. Now, standing in the center, he could truly appreciate what a marvel the room was.
Unlike the study with its wood paneling and leather chairs, the library was a two-story fairy tale with carved plaster walls and a domed ceiling painted with fat babies with wings, surrounded by gold trim. There was a spiral staircase leading to a second-floor balcony, complete with those sliding ladders you could use to reach the top shelves.
There were books on the ground level as well, ladders too, but it seemed more like it was a space for reading the books found upstairs. In the center of the room sat four Queen Anne chairs in a white and blue toile fabric. Binnie gestured to them once the doors were closed.
Ollie sat first, looking like they were attending a funeral. Loch sat across from him, Binnie sat beside him. Saint took the final chair then folded his arms across his chest. For a long moment, the four sat awkwardly, the air between them unnaturally heavy.
Everything felt charged, electric. Like one ill-timed spark could set the place off. They’d spent years in foxholes together, metaphorical and otherwise, without this level of nerves. Loch wanted—no needed—Ollie to say something, anything, to cut down on some of the agitation bubbling up inside him. The heaviness of it made his stomach churn.
Ollie was the calm one, the rational one. Binnie was the diplomat, but Ollie was the planner. The one who easily saw a problem from every angle and had a solution before most of them even knew an issue had come up. But something was on the beta’s mind. His face was expressionless, but he had his hands stuffed in the pockets of his kale green hoodie, his leg shaking so hard Loch could swear he felt it through the floor.
The others could feel it, too. This…unspoken something. But nobody wanted to start, even though it was obvious they had to. They needed to talk about it. Whatever it was.
Binnie finally broke the silence. “So…you mated with the baby alpha?”
Ollie glowered at him. “Obviously,” he said, tone terse.
“And how do we feel about that?” Binnie prodded carefully.
Ollie’s lips twitched into something almost like a snarl, but then he huffed a breath through his nose. “I feel fine about that.” He pushed his fingers through messy hair, leveling his gaze to Loch’s. “But Deke is stressed out about it, so you will not be pestering him with questions. Got it?” He looked at each of them. “I mean it.”
Loch bit back a smile. When had Ollie grown so protective of his younger alpha mate? Before the bite or after? Loch wasn’t sure what Ollie was afraid of. Did he think the others would be upset with their relationship? Why would they be?
Even with the age gap between the beta and alpha, Loch had never seen two people more suited to each other. Deke was an extrovert who had no problems going after what he wanted. Ollie could probably live as a shut-in forever and never feel the need to step outside. If Deke hadn’t attached himself to the beta, Ollie would have stayed alone and miserable forever.
“Why’s Deke stressed?” Binnie asked at the same time Saint said, “Why do you look like that then?” before glaring at each other.
Loch rolled his eyes. It would have been amusing if Ollie didn’t look ready to fight someone. He leaned forward. “Why is Deke stressed? Did he not…want to mate with you?”
That seemed highly unlikely but Loch couldn’t imagine another scenario in which Deke would be upset with Ollie. It had been clear to the others from day one that Deke was head over heels.
“No, that’s not it,” Ollie said, shoulders drooping before he flopped against the back of the chair. “He thinks I didn’t want to mate with him.”
Well, that was a much more plausible scenario. Ollie had been three hours away from leaving forever when Deke’s rut hit. Granted he didn’t live that far away, but he’d made his feelings about them and Cerberus very clear. He’d been leaving them, leaving Deke…forever. And now, they were mated. For life.
If it were anyone else, Loch could see how Deke might believe they were angry. But nothing angered Ollie. He was unflappable, really. Sure, he got sad or irritated or even frustrated, but never angry. And he certainly wouldn’t be angry with Deke.
“Did you want to mate with him?” Saint asked, dragging Loch from his thoughts with his serious tone.
Ollie shrugged, expression distant. “I…must have?”
Binnie’s brows furrowed. “What the fuck kind of answer is that?”
Loch watched a flush crawl up Ollie’s neck to his cheeks all the way to the tips of his ears, his voice barely above a whisper. “I…begged him for it. I must have wanted it. Right? I’m not upset about it. At all. I adore Deke. We understand each other. Seriously. I don’t feel nervous or angry or resentful. It feels…right for us to be together. But when I was…begging for it, it was like I couldn’t stop myself. I knew what I was doing, but I just couldn’t control myself.”
They all stared at him, mouths agape. What the fuck did that mean? He couldn’t control himself?
Binnie leaned in, placing a hand on his shoulder before recoiling with a grimace. “What’s with your scent?”
Saint practically broke his neck to look at Loch. Ollie didn’t seem to notice. He gave a shuddering breath. “I don’t know. It’s…different? Something about Deke is…different,” he muttered. He stared straight ahead, his brain checking out for a few seconds before he shook his head, sitting up straighter. “No. His late presentation is just wreaking havoc on my system? Right? Right? That’s all it is.” His voice grew quiet again. “That’s all it can be.”
Saint looked at Ollie. “He changed your scent?”
“I-I don’t know,” Ollie said, frustrated. “During his rut…things weren’t…normal. I just said that.” He paused like he wanted to say more but was struggling to find the right words.
“Weren’t normal how?” Loch asked, once more exchanging glances with Saint, warning him to stay silent.
Binnie was literally on the edge of his seat, his confusion as evident as his excitement. If he leaned any farther forward, he was going to fall out of his chair.
Ollie hesitated, chewing on his bottom lip until blood bubbled from the raw flesh. Finally, he said, “Deke had zero control during his rut. Literally. His alpha overtook him entirely. He doesn’t even remember most of it.”
Loch caught Saint’s gaze once more, acknowledging the similarities.
“And I was…not myself either, obviously,” Ollie finished, deliberately vague as his skin grew hot.
“We’re gonna need more than that,” Binnie said. “You wouldn’t let us get away with that bitch-ass answer.”
Ollie made a noise of frustration, jumping to his feet to pace. “I remember everything,” he started, looking anywhere but them as he practically skipped around the library. “Everything. But I had no control over myself. Not what I said. Not what I did. None of it.”
Loch wasn’t sure what to say. Ollie shook his head. “No, that’s not right. I had control but no…inhibitions. I didn’t act like a beta.”
“What does that mean, exactly?” Binnie asked. “None of us know what that’s like for you normally.”
“I’m just…me. But this time, I wasn’t acting like me—like a beta.” He looked at Loch, his voice barely above a whisper. “I acted like an omega,” he whispered.
“Shit,” Saint muttered.
Ollie caught his gaze, like he wanted to get the words out before he changed his mind. “Not just an omega but a desperate one going through a pretty intense heat.”
They all stayed silent, not sure what might make the situation better. Ollie dropped back into his seat, clutching the sleeves of his hoodie in his fingers. “And I can’t explain why or how. Even someone who’s beta-o like me doesn’t have heats or beg for knots and babies.”
Loch’s heart pounded, his mouth dry enough for his tongue to stick to the top of his mouth. He looked at Saint, relieved to find him looking back with a stillness he found comforting. Ollie was their planner, their voice of reason. What did a pack do when their beta was broken?
“But you did?” Saint asked. When Ollie shot another dirty look at him, Saint gave him a patient look. “No judgment. I swear. I’m just looking for clarification.”
Ollie just gave a jerky nod.
When Binnie noticed Loch and Saint weren’t having more of an outward reaction, he gave them a hard look. “What gives? Why do you two look like you knew this would happen?”
Ollie gave them a sharp look. “Did you? Did you know? Do you know something?”
Loch glared at Binnie, then shook his head. “Of course not. How would we?” he assured them. “It’s just that my rut was weird as well.”
Ollie’s spine straightened, brow furrowed. “Weird how?”
Loch hesitated but finally said, “I had an experience similar to Deke’s. My rut was nothing like it’s been in the past. I don’t remember much of it, but Fenny looks like he was hit by a bus.”
Ollie hesitated then lifted his shirt. “Like this?”
Loch swallowed the baseball-size lump of sand in his throat at the sight of Ollie’s skin. Like Fen, Ollie’s torso was littered with bites and bruises and huge discolored hickeys, some nearly faded and some fresh.
What the hell was going on?
“Yeah, just like that,” Loch said.
“So…what does this mean?” Binnie said. “Loch’s alpha was tuned into Deke’s alpha’s frequency or something due to, like, proximity or something?”
Saint shrugged. “Could be, I guess. Fenny’s room is much closer to Ollie’s room than both mine and Seth’s rooms. Could be why you and Ollie were affected but not us.”
“I wish it was that simple,” Loch said, shaking his head. “My scent is different. Just like Ollie’s. That’s not a proximity thing. That’s a pheromone thing. A DNA thing. Something has changed in us on a molecular level.”
Ollie chewed his lower lip, then met Saint’s concerned look head on. “So nothing weird happened to you at all? Either of you?”
Saint shook his head. “No, no rut for me. Just Seth’s heat—which, admittedly, lasted a few days longer than normal, but that’s hardly unusual given his body went so long without a heat cycle and is only now trying to get back into a rhythm. He’s only had one other since he came off the suppressants.”
“So, maybe it is just a proximity thing,” Binnie said, trying to infuse some hope into his voice.
Nobody truly believed that, but Loch wasn’t going to push the issue. He would let it play out over time until they reached some answers.
“I understand that alphas can push omegas into heat and other alphas into ruts, especially during presentation,” Ollie said, clearly not willing to do the same. “But no alpha—not even a dominant alpha, if that’s what Deke is—can change a person’s secondary gender.”
Adrenaline shocked through Loch as he stared at his friend. The others did the same, reeling.
Finally, Saint asked, “Is that what you think he’s done?” It was clear he was trying to keep his voice calm and steady. “Do you think you’re an omega now?”
“Don’t say it like I’ve lost my fucking mind,” Ollie snapped. “You weren’t there. You didn’t experience what I did.”
“I’m not doubting you. I’m just looking for clarification,” Saint said, holding up his hands in surrender. “I’m just not sure what we’re saying. We’re your friends, your pack. Remember?”
Ollie dug his palms into his eye sockets, heaving a breath through his nose before saying, “Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.”
Binnie leaned over and patted his shoulder. “Are we saying that Deke’s presentation as an alpha altered Ollie’s secondary gender and turned Loch’s alpha from recessive to dominant?”
“That’s…not a thing, though,” Loch said. “Is it?”
“Outside of mythology?” Ollie retorted. “No.”
“Well, hold on now. Maybe not,” Saint said, frowning as he sat back in his seat.
“Maybe not what?” Binnie asked.
Saint shrugged. “Maybe it’s not only possible in mythology.”
Ollie stared at him for a solid thirty seconds before growling, “Say. More. Words.”
“Relax,” Saint said. “I’m just…gathering my thoughts.”
“Well, hurry up,” Ollie snarked, huffing a breath through his nose.
“I grew up in the desert…” Saint started.
“You grew up in Vegas. You ran away to the desert as an adult,” Binnie clarified.
“Do you want to hear this or not?” Saint snapped, his own irritation starting to spike.
“Go ahead,” Loch said, giving Binnie a quieting look.
“There are a lot of stories out in those desert towns. Some are, like, urban legends. Some are creepy pasta. But some are real. They’ve just been made so grandiose that the real stories turned into fairy tales over time. You know?” Loch nodded, just to keep the conversation moving. “It’s hard to say which are which, but there was one story that I heard over and over again. The one about an alpha of alphas. An alpha who could legitimately alter his pack’s DNA, who could change betas to omegas, alphas to omegas, could literally breed anyone or anything.”
Saint stopped talking, like he was waiting for one of them to jump in. But Loch had no idea what he was talking about.
They all just stared at him.
“Seriously? This isn’t ringing any bells for any of you?” Saint asked.
They exchanged glances before Loch said, “Clearly not. Why don’t you tell us?”
“An enigma. What if Deke is an enigma?” Saint asked.
Ollie’s eyes widened, and he was already shaking his head. “That’s not a real thing. Like you said, it’s some bullshit story passed down through generations like the boogie man…or a superhero, I guess, depending on how you feel about it. There’s no proof that anything like that ever existed.”
“How would there be?” Saint asked. “They say there’s only one born every hundred years or so.”
Ollie shook his head again. “One a century and yet there’s no record of one anywhere. It’s an urban legend, Saint.”
Loch tried to wrap his head around the possibility of such a person ever existing. It sounded fantastical, but so was a beta becoming an omega and an alpha switching from recessive to dominant. “Maybe we need to look into it.” When Ollie started to protest, Loch said, “We need to at least consider it.”
“Consider what?” Ollie asked. “That my new mate is a goddamn mythological being? Nobody has ever seen one.”
“Nobody’s seen gravity either, but we know it exists because we can feel its effects,” Saint countered. “You two certainly seem to be feeling the effects of Deke’s presentation. I think we all are on some level.”
“What you’re implying is insane,” Ollie muttered, expression bleak.
“Is it insane, or are you maybe just not ready to talk about what it could mean for all of us long term?” Loch asked gently. “And what it could already mean for you specifically?”
If the roles were reversed, Loch might need some time to come to terms with being mated to someone who had altered his secondary gender, accidentally or on purpose.
“We could get Deke a DNA test. Ollie and Loch, too. Then we could move forward with a clear picture,” Binnie said, ever the diplomat.
“What?” Ollie snapped. “No way.”
They all looked at him, surprised.
“Not knowing the truth won’t stop it,” Loch said gently.
Ollie scoffed. “You think I’m afraid of being an omega? Let’s just go down this insane fucking rabbit hole for a minute. “Let’s say my new mate is this…enigma. An alpha so powerful he can alter the genetics of others. What do you think will happen when the government realizes he exists? When breeders realize he exists? Do you understand how fucking dangerous it would be for him? For us? Especially Loch and me? They’d lock us all in cages and poke us with needles.”
“But you said you don’t think it’s possible,” Saint reminded him, his confusion etched in the lines between his brows. “If you don’t believe it, where’s the harm?”
“It’s too great a risk,” Ollie growled.
Loch exchanged glances with Binnie and Saint. “Why?”
Ollie settled his hands over his abdomen. “Because if it’s true, if Deke is this…enigma…then I just spent the last ten days in heat with a dominant alpha in rut without protection.”
“You think you’re…” Binnie trailed off, staring at Ollie with wide eyes.
Loch’s heart hammered against his ribs, a million scenarios tumbling through his head, each possibility more terrifying than the last. If Ollie was…pregnant… Loch almost couldn’t fathom it, but if he was and it was Deke’s, they were going to have to keep it all very quiet. Ollie was right. If the government found out, they’d snatch all of them, study them like lab rats. Even the baby.
Ollie’s breaths came faster like he could read Loch’s thoughts, his hands rising and falling over his stomach with each one, his eyes suddenly wet. “We’ll know soon enough. And then we’ll have our answer. We’ll know whether or not Deke is this…enigma.”
Loch wanted to reassure him, but before he could even think what to say, Deke’s voice came from the doorway beside them.
“What’s an enigma?”
TO BE CONTINUED…