2. Sloane
Sloane
Callie has been rinsing the same lunch plate long enough that the water has gone cold. I lean against the kitchen doorway and watch her turn it beneath the tap while Garrett reviews Theo’s profile at the table behind her.
Every time Theo’s name comes up, something in her face opens before she remembers to hide it.
She wants the soft parts of this—the extra warmth, the growth, and an Omega who might fit into the spaces she is already imagining for him.
She is also waiting for us to look at him and decide she was only keeping that space warm.
Every time Theo Mehra’s profile has come up, something in her face opens before she remembers to be careful.
I know that look. I know every version of it.
She wants this. She wants the soft parts of it, the growth, the extra warmth in the house, the possibility of an Omega who might fit into the corners she’s already imagining for him.
That’s the part that keeps twisting in my chest. She wants an Omega. She just doesn’t want us to look at him and decide she’s easier to move than our expectations.
“Theo’s profile really is my favorite,” she says, rinsing soap from a plate before setting it in the drying rack. Her voice is cautious, but there’s something real underneath it. “His notes look good. The low-light preference makes sense with the scent card, I think. It’s nice. Soft, but not weak.”
Garrett looks up from his laptop with a small, approving smile. “I thought you might respond well to him.”
Her hands slow in the sink before she reaches for another plate. I’ve memorized the card because she keeps touching its edge whenever she thinks no one’s watching. From the profile alone, Theo seems gentle enough to fit here and wounded enough to make every protective instinct in the house wake up.
“I think we all might,” she says quickly. “Sloane and Idris liked him too.” She twists toward him, her hair slipping from the scrunchy. “You spoke with the evaluator yesterday, right? What did he say?”
Garrett taps his pen once against the legal pad. “He said that Theo’s a traditional Omega. He’ll need some quiet spaces so he can integrate. Once we meet, if he does choose us, we’ll have to be ready. I’ve already set up the first meeting with Bellwether. Friday afternoon.”
Calliope stills. “Friday?”
There she is. The quick lift of her face, the spark in her eyes before she has a chance to bury it. Hope gets to her first, and for one second, my chest loosens because that’s my Callie. Soft and generous and already making room for someone she hasn’t even met.
“Yes,” Garrett continues, “and if he accepts, he’ll be moving in over the next week. Everything needs to be perfect.”
Callie turns back to the sink, but her gaze drifts toward the hallway as she starts listing rooms, linens, light levels, and every corner of the house that might give Theo somewhere quiet to breathe.
“The guest suite might be too large for a first nest,” she says. “At least at first. The sunroom gets the best afternoon light, but the smaller sitting room off the east hall stays warmer at night. If he likes enclosed spaces, the reading nook might actually be better.”
“I can switch the guest suite to the scent-free linens,” she continues, already reaching for the next plate.
“And I can pull out the blue blankets from last winter. The soft ones, not the heavier wool. Maybe move the jasmine closer to the window? Unless that’s too much scent. I can check the profile again.”
Garrett’s smile warms by a fraction. “That’s exactly why this will work. You’re always so dependable, Calliope. An Omega like Theo will need that. Someone steady enough to make the house feel ready before the rest of us overwhelm him.”
The plate slips in her hand, enough for the porcelain to knock against the side of the sink with a small, wrong sound.
I push off the doorway as Callie recovers immediately. She sets the plate in the drying rack and reaches for a mug like nothing happened. “Of course. I can do that.”
Garrett doesn’t seem to notice the way the light goes out of her face but the way his words landed cut a little too deep for my liking.
Garrett closes one folder and reaches for another. “I have a call in ten. Callie, when you get a chance, would you make sure the scent-free set is still in the guest linen closet? No rush. I just want to know what we have before Friday.”
“Sure,” she says too quickly. “I’ll check.”
My jaw tightens.
Garrett glances at me then, his expression mild. “Sloane.”
“Garrett.”
He manages a nod, almost as if reminding me where I stand in the hierarchy of this pack, just below him.
It worked six months ago when we became what we are but it grates on my nerves when he pulls rank.
Like now, with this whole Omega thing. Friday wasn’t the plan.
The plan was to have a discussion but I’m not going to fight with him on that, especially when Theo really does seem perfect.
“I’ll be in my office if Bellwether sends anything else through.”
Callie nods without looking at him. The second he’s gone, she starts scrubbing the mug in her hand like the ceramic personally offended her. I cross the kitchen behind her, slow enough that she can hear me coming.
“You’re over-rinsing that one, sweetheart,” I say, my voice low.
“The tea stains are stubborn.” She doesn’t look back. “Idris likes his Earl Grey strong, and the tannin just clings to the ceramic.”
“There aren’t any tea stains left.”
Her hands falter for half a second before she keeps going. I reach around her and turn off the faucet. “No, baby,” I murmur, my chest brushing her back. “Breathe for me. There you go. Now, I need you to tell me what’s going on because I thought we fixed this. What’s bothering you?”
Her breath catches as she stares down at the mug like it might tell her how to answer.
I take it from her carefully, setting it in the drying rack before I take the sponge too.
Then I brace my hands on the counter on either side of her, holding her there with my body without making it a trap.
I want her to feel the weight of me, the solid, unmoving truth of me.
I want my scent to cover the polished edge Garrett’s words always leave in the room.
She doesn’t turn around at first.
“That isn’t fair,” she whispers, slowly leaning back against my chest. Her entire body seems to relax as I wrap one arm around her waist, my lips dipping to the bite on her shoulder.
She lets out a small gasp, completely giving in.
“I want this, Alpha. So much. I really do.” Her shoulders loosen just enough for me to feel it.
“I’m not trying to be awful about him. Theo seems sweet.
His profile is…” She stops, and when she breathes again, the sound is shaky. “I really do like him.”
I hum against her skin. “I know you do.”
“That’s what makes it worse.” Her fingers curl against the counter. “I can see him here. I can see myself wanting him to be comfortable. I can see all of it, and then Garrett says something like dependable and suddenly I’m not part of the wanting anymore. I’m just the person who gets things ready.”
I look toward the hallway and feel my temper pull hard against my ribs. Callie stiffens against me before I have moved, so I keep my arms around her and let the anger stay where it is.
“You can want him and still be scared, baby,” I say against her skin.
“I saw your face when he was talking. We both know he’s harsh with his words but I hate how they make you feel.
I’ll talk to him okay? You’re not here to just make room for Theo.
You’re going to be his and he’s going to be yours. We’re a pack, remember.”
Her shoulders shake once, barely. “I don’t think he’ll take my place,” she says. “That’s the thing. I don’t even know him, and I already don’t think he’d do that.”
I turn her gently, waiting for her body to agree before I move her fully. When she faces me, her eyes are glazed over with unshed tears, her mouth pressed into a line she probably thinks looks composed.
“What scares me is that no one has to take it,” she says, and the words come slowly now.
“Sometimes people just give it away because that’s what makes sense.
Because he’s the Omega. Because I’m good at helping.
Because I don’t make a fuss. Because I say I’m fine, and everyone believes me because believing me is easier. ”
The words hit harder than I’m ready for. I cup her face, thumbs brushing the warm skin beneath her eyes. “Then I stop believing you when you say it like that.”
Her breath catches again.
“I don’t mean I ignore you,” I say, because I can see the flicker in her eyes. “I mean I pay attention. I ask again. I don’t let a careful smile do the work your mouth’s too scared to do. That’s on me, Callie. Not just you.”
“Sloane.”
“No.” My voice comes out rougher than I mean it to, so I make myself soften before I go on.
“Listen to me. I remember all those nights you woke up in a panic because you thought I’d leave.
I remember helping you put what they did into court documents.
Baby, I’m not letting that happen again.
” I lean in until my forehead rests against hers.
“You’re not earning your place by making one for him. ”
Her hands come up slowly, fingers curling into my shirt. For a second, she just breathes against me, and I let her.
“I know Garrett probably didn’t mean it like that,” she whispers, but there’s no strength in it.
I don’t answer right away, because that’s the part I don’t know how to hold.
Garrett would say he didn’t mean it like that.
He’d say he was complimenting her. He’d say he trusts her.
He’d say someone has to think practically about integrating a vulnerable Omega into an established pack, and Calliope is steady enough to help.
He’d make it sound reasonable because he’s good at making everything sound reasonable.
But I felt her flinch.
The worst part is that I’ve seen them together in the quiet moments, when Callie climbs into his lap and lets him hold her. Even if he isn’t her Alpha in everything, she’s still his Beta.
“I’m not asking you to trust Garrett’s wording,” I say.
“I’m asking you to trust me. And if my words ever stop matching what I do, you call me on it.
If this house starts making you feel small, you tell me.
If you can’t tell me, you tell Idris. If you can’t get the words out, you grab my hand and put it right here. ”
I take her hand and press it flat over the center of my chest.
Her fingers flex against me.
“I’ll listen,” I tell her. “I swear to God, Callie, I’ll listen. Whatever that means—if we have to say no to the Omega. If it means I pick up and follow you somewhere…”
A tear slips before she can stop it. I catch it with my thumb, anger and love knotting so tight in my ribs I can barely breathe around them.
“You’d really leave?” she asks. “If I couldn’t do this?”
“In a heartbeat.” I tug her a little closer.
“But I don’t want you thinking your only choices are stay and disappear or run and lose everything.
” I slide my hands down to her waist, pulling her even closer until her body fits against mine.
“We’re not there. We’re in our kitchen after lunch, talking about an Omega with a nice profile and probably very specific blanket opinions. ”
That gets the smallest laugh out of her. “I do want this,” she says again, like she needs me to believe that part most of all.
“I know.” I brush my thumb along her waist, slow and steady.
“You’ve been imagining him here since Garrett set the card down yesterday.
In the sunroom. In the reading nook. Sitting with you while you grade because he doesn’t want to be alone but doesn’t want the whole house looking at him either.
Your scent goes all sweet when your eyes lose focus and then my mind fills with fantasies I can only hope play out at some point. ”
Her face heats a little, a smile spreading across her face that tells me she’s thought about it too.
“Jesus, stop smothering our Beta,” Idris chuckles from the entrance, ruining the moment. Callie peeks over my shoulder, her smile widening a little before she starts wiping her eyes.
Idris stalks over and steals her from me, his purr immediately starting up through his chest. I glare at his jealous ass before his hand slips around the back of my neck, my lids fluttering closed in response. “Fuck, I always forget how good you are at that.”
Calliope snorts. “It always does make me feel better. I have some schoolwork to grade before getting back to campus… I—”
Idris cuts her off, pressing a soft kiss to her lips.
I have to fight to open my eyes again, his purr nearly undoing me.
“Come find me later, princess. I have a present for you.” Her brows lift in confusion as I cough to cover up a laugh.
I completely forgot the bastard went to Twisted Kinks last week for new ropes. “You’ll like it, I promise.”
She lets out a little squeal as I reach down to squeeze her ass, Calliope leaving the kitchen in much better spirits than before lunch.
I wait until I know she’s far enough away before leaning back against the kitchen sink.
“Idris, there has to be a reason why Garrett’s so adamant about this placing.
We’ve been talking about it for a while but why now? What’s the rush?”
Idris shrugs, playfully shoving me aside to get to the dishes Calliope left.
“Maybe he’s tired of watching us loving up on Callie and wants something of his own?
” He lets out a small sigh when a growl slips from my lips.
“Sloane, I already talked to Garrett about the way he’s been saying shit to Callie. He says it’s not meant to harm.”
“And you believe him? She flinched today.”
“No, I don’t but I also don’t know what the next step is without making everything fall apart.
At first, I thought it was easy. Just tell Garrett we’re not ready for an Omega but Callie is so fucking happy.
She already cleaned out that reading nook and she’s already made a list of new plants to buy.
Garrett might be twisting what she’s doing but she wants this, you and I can’t take that from her. ”
He places the dishes in the drying rack before reaching up to cup my face in his hands, wet suds and all. “She comes first, always. And when she’s out of the room, we talk to Garrett and make sure he’s on the same page.”
“And if he’s not?” I ask.
Idris cups my face in both wet hands. “She comes first. We speak to Garrett before Theo arrives, and we make him answer the question he keeps avoiding.”
“Which question?”
“Whether he sees Callie as part of the new pack or as the person responsible for building it.” Idris kisses me once, then reaches past me to shut off the faucet Callie left running.