1. Calliope #2
"The Center called yesterday," Garrett states as he starts laying the cards out on the table, one by one. "They’ve released a few new Omega profiles that align with our pack’s legal and financial standing. I think it’s time we started considering our next steps.
We’ve been a three-man, one-Beta structure for long enough to establish a baseline, but the goal has always been a traditional hierarchy. "
The air in the kitchen thins as I look down at the cards.
Each one has a small, scent-locked strip on the back and a list of biological compatibility markers on the front.
They look like resumes for a job I haven't realized is currently being advertised.
I feel a cold, familiar dread begin to coil in the pit of my stomach, the old ghost of my previous packs, where I was 'almost family' until the real thing arrived.
"It's just a look, Callie," Sloane says, catching the way my hand tightens on my coffee mug. He reaches across the table and squeezes my forearm, his thumb rubbing small circles into my skin. "Doesn't change anything. We talked about this, remember? You’re not getting pushed aside."
I force a smile, the muscles in my face feeling stiff and artificial. "I know. I'm fine, Sloane. Really. It’s exciting. We’ve always said the pack felt like it had room to grow."
I lie, and the worst part is that I know Idris sees it.
He watches me over the rim of his coffee cup, his eyes narrowed in my direction.
He doesn't offer a loud reassurance like Sloane. He just watches, his silence weighing more than Garrett’s words.
The thing is that the idea of an Omega really is exciting, but it’s always been the Omega of the pack that wants me gone.
Before Sloane, I couldn’t keep a pack to save my life. Each one welcomed me until an Omega arrived, then slowly rearranged itself around a hierarchy where I no longer fit.
Garrett taps one of the cards, his finger landing on a profile for an Omega named Theo Mehra.
"This one in particular caught the evaluator's eye. High compatibility with Sloane’s protective instincts and Idris’ temperament.
A very soft, very traditional Omega. He’d need a steady environment.
A place where the roles are clearly defined.
" Garrett looks at me then, his smile kind and entirely devoid of heat. "You’d be a huge asset in helping him settle, Calliope. Your patience, your domesticity... you’re perfectly suited to support an Omega through the transition.
You could really make this work for us."
Support. Asset. Helper. Each word lands cleanly, leaving me beside the table with my coffee cooling between my hands while Idris and Sloane remain part of the match and I become part of the preparation.
"I'm sure I can help," I say, my voice sounding distant to my own ears. I look at the scent card for Theo and even though it’s just a name and a set of data points, I can already see him in our house.
I can see him in the sunroom, nesting in the light.
I can see him between Sloane and Idris in the big bed, is things settling among mine until the room begins to look as though he has always belonged there.
Sloane stands up, his chair scraping loudly against the floor.
He walks around the table and wraps a heavy arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his side and kissing my cheek.
"I love you, Callie. Don't go getting in your head about this.
Nothing on a piece of paper is going to change whose bed you sleep in. "
He means it. I know he means it. But as I lean into his strength, I catch Idris’ gaze again. He’s still watching me, his expression unreadable, his jaw tightening as he pushes to his feet. Idris pushes to his feet as Garrett mumbles something about security and slips out into the hallway.
I watch Garrett’s disappearance for a few moments before feeling my other two Alphas sit on either side of me, Sloane’s heat pressed up against my side as Idris directs my attention to him. “Tell me you understand your place here, princess.”
“Idris, I’m fine.”
“And that’s not the answer to my question.”
I let out a small huff, hating myself for my insecurities.
“Alpha, I just…” I stop and rephase my words, knowing they’d march over to Garrett right now and shut down this Omega thing if I asked.
“I want this and Theo looks really nice if that’s what Gar—I mean, we pick.
I just…” Tears well up in my eyes as I breathe through it.
“I need you to promise me that if feelings change, that you won’t lie to me. ”
Idris frowns, tilting his head to the side. “Sweetheart, you’re not fucking replaceable. Adding someone doesn’t mean you get left behind.”
“Idris,” Sloane mumbles from behind me, silencing the Alpha.
“Callie, baby, look at me.” I twist a little, Sloane offering me a full smile as his hand moves to run over the bite in my shoulder.
“You aren't going anywhere. No Omega, Alpha, or anyone else is going to change that. And if anything inside this pack changes, you hear it from us before you have to find it alone. No one decides your life in another room,” he growls the last word. “And Idris is going to be yours too the moment you’re ready.”
I let out a heavy sigh just as Idris presses a kiss to my temple. “Whenever you’re ready, princess. Now, eat your eggs, Calliope," Idris says, his voice a low, controlled command. "You're going to be late for your first lecture."
I finish eating in silence, feeling better.
The silence only breaks when Sloane walks me out to my car, my Alpha leaning on the side door of my sedan, his massive frame making the compact car look like a toy.
He pulls me into the circle of his arms one last time, burying his face in my hair.
"I can smell the gears grinding from here.
It's just paperwork. Garrett likes his folders and his traditions, but this house belongs to us. All of us."
"I know," I whisper into his chest, clutching the lapels of his leather jacket. “And I do want this, Sloane. I really do.” I stuff my face tighter into his jacket as my scent blooms a little, earning a laugh from him.
“I know you do. I can imagine finding you in his nest, just the two of you curled around each other. The kitchen disasters as you lose yourself in baking. Or just the quiet minutes where you and him seek us out to let go.” His purr starts up.
“Whichever Omega we find is going to be perfect and he’s going to be perfect for you and you’re going to be perfect for him. ”
Sloane pulls back enough to kiss my forehead, then the bridge of my nose, and then takes my lips tenderly, his tongue swiping across the seam.
I lean into the embrace as his hands wrap around my back, sliding down to cup my ass.
He squeezes and then releases me. "Now go.
Teach those kids about Keats or whatever it is that makes you look so brilliant and terrifying behind a podium. "
I manage a laugh before climbing into my car and pulling off onto the main road, my mind drifting to the idea of an Omega in our home, in my home.
At the first red light, I realize I’m still holding my shoulder where Sloane’s bite rests beneath my coat.
I lower my hand to the wheel before the car behind me honks.