Chapter Fifteen
Kai sat down on the sand with Cade and Dara, a little taken aback by how serious the two omegas looked.
“Is something wrong?”
“No,” Cade replied. “There’s just something we wanted to talk to you about.”
“Oh? What’s that?”
“Joe and Axel.”
Kai didn’t quite know why, but he blushed at the words.
“What about them?”
“About you and them,” Dara replied.
“Me and them? Like, how I’m going to visit the Weir with them?”
“How would you feel if you couldn’t go with them?”
Oh.
“Do they not want me anymore?” He could feel his lower lip start to tremble and a sense of panic setting in.
“I think they’re very happy that you’re going with them.”
Kai could have cried with relief.
“Oh, that’s good,” he managed to choke out.
“Yeah, it is. Because the three of you have a connection, right?”
That was a harder question to answer. “I… they’re mates so they…”
“We’re talking about you and them. All three of you.”
Kai fell silent for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts.
“When I’m with them,” he said, his voice a whisper, “I feel right, like I belong. I haven’t felt that way in a long time.”
He felt almost guilty for voicing it. “But I know that Joe and Axel are together, that they’re mates, and I’d never try to come between them.”
“This isn’t about coming between them. This is about understanding your place within that relationship.”
“They’ve asked me to come to the Weir with them. I’m so happy about that. I was scared to be left behind.”
The omegas exchanged a look before Cade spoke. “You know, not all matings are between two people. Some matings, some special matings, are between three.”
Kai had heard some mention of that in the den, but he’d been afraid to ask, afraid to hope.
“I don’t want to push my way in somewhere I’m not welcome. Or somewhere I don’t belong.”
“Then why not take part in the Choosing?” Dara asked.
Kai froze. “I thought it was just for wolves.”
“There’s no rule that says that.”
“But… what if they don’t choose me?” He didn’t think he could handle the rejection.
“You need to trust what you feel, Kai,” Cade said, taking his hand. “You need to trust both you, and Axel, and Joe to know your own hearts. And we can help. That’s our role here, to point people in the right direction.”
“And you’d point Axel and Joe in mine?”
Dara grinned. “I don’t think we need to. You’re north on their compass, Kai. They’re already two steps ahead. Why do you think they invited you to the Weir?”
“Because I cried when I heard they were leaving?”
Cade reached over and pressed a kiss to Kai’s cheek. “And that’s why you need the Gathering. To help you be sure of what you already know. Trust the process, it’ll steer you right.”
“I hope so.”
It was fair to say Kai was nervous. Not the normal stomach-twisting nervousness. This was a whole body, head to toe, skin-tingling nervousness that had him fidgeting constantly. They’d had the Presenting, where he’d stood up and Seth had told people who he was, while he’d stared at the ground, wishing it would swallow him and hide him from all the eyes watching. Until he’d looked up and found Axel and Joe side by side, their gazes on him. It made the rest of it easier to bear, knowing that they were there.
He’d been surprised when Joe had been presented too. To him, it made no sense. Joe had Axel, Axel had Joe. They were already mated. When he’d mentioned it to Cade, the omega had thought for a moment before replying.
“Joe and Axel’s being together has been a struggle because both of their pack alphas were against their mating initially and separated them. I guess, for Joe, having Axel choose him is them saying to the world that they belong together, that they’re no longer hiding their relationship from anyone.”
It made sense the more Kai thought about it. And it helped for him to have someone other than himself to think about. He was growing more certain that the other omegas were right and that Axel and Joe would choose him, but he still couldn’t silence that nagging doubt inside him. It didn’t help that an alpha from another pack had taken a liking to Kai, despite Kai doing his best to avoid him. The omegas had intervened on his behalf when the alpha persisted and before Axel could start something he might regret.
The day of the actual Choosing came and, impossibly, he was more nervous than he’d been at the Presenting. Axel and Joe took him for a walk beforehand, Kai sandwiched between them, their arms around him. It felt good, it felt safe. It felt right.
When the time came to end the Gathering, Kai watched as Joe stepped forward and Axel chose him, to cheers from the crowd. Kai was last, being an outsider, and got to watch the others being chosen. There were two fights, which Kai found hard to look at, though the chosen in both cases seemed happy with the outcome.
And then it was his turn. Nervously, he stepped forward, both Dara and Cade giving him reassuring smiles. Even Seth, who was hosting, gave him a knowing grin.
When the time came for anyone who wished to claim him to step forward, Axel and Joe moved together, without hesitation. Relief flooded Kai and he went to step forward, to go to them.
“I challenge that claim.”
The words didn’t register at first, and it was only Seth’s hand on his elbow that halted him.
He looked for the speaker, his heart sinking when he saw who it was. The alpha who’d been pestering him. Anxiously, he looked to Joe and Axel. A challenge meant a fight. Would they fight for him?
Axel was whispering something in Joe’s ear. Joe nodded taking a half step back. He met Kai’s gaze, giving him another smile.
“Are you all sure you want to stake your claim?” Seth asked, turning to the other alpha. “It’ll be two against one in a challenge fight.”
“I can take them,” the alpha said with confidence. “That omega is mine.”
‘That omega’. The words had Kai shuddering. He wasn’t a that. That was how the hyenas had talked about him. He was an object to them, something to make them money. What was the alpha looking for? Not money. Power, maybe? Cade had said there were benefits to an alpha mating with an omega. And power was one of them.
Kai glanced up to find Axel watching him. He nodded when their gazes met, no hint of uncertainty or fear on his face. His confidence was different to the other alphas, quieter. It felt more real. Kai put a hand over his heart and smiled at Axel, getting a grin in return.
“Don’t need two of us to win this fight,” Axel said simply, moving to stand in the center of the circle. Seth gently guided Kai back to stand at the edge.
“No need to worry,” he assured him. “Axel could take this guy blindfolded. He’s all talk.”
At first, it didn’t seem so, as the two alphas sparred, matching each other blow for blow.
“Show offs,” Seth muttered at one point.
And then Axel seemed to shift up a gear, suddenly moving faster, his punches stronger.
“That’s the way,” Seth said.
The other alpha couldn’t keep up, stumbling back, all his attention on defending himself. Finally, he fell backward, landing hard on the ground. He held both his hands up.
“I concede,” he yelled. “I concede.”
The fight stopped just like that. Axel reached out a hand, pulling his opponent to his feet. Joe crossed the circle to join him, and they both looked to Kai.
“And the challenge is won by Axel of the Weir and his mate, Joe, of the Cove and River Den. Congratulations.”
As Seth brought the Gathering to a close, Kai started walking toward Joe and Axel. They’d chosen him. They didn’t have to but they had. Axel had fought for him.
When he reached them, they pulled him into a hug.
“We tossed a coin,” Joe murmured, “to decide which one of us would fight first.”
“You were going to fight for me?” he asked.
“Of course,” the beta said, pressing a kiss to Kai’s cheek. “I told you, we belong together. I wasn’t going to let some upstart alpha steal you away.”
“Thank you,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to Joe’s cheek and then to Axel’s. “I’m really glad you chose me.”
“There was never any doubt,” Axel said. “We just wanted to show the world as well as each other.”
“What now?” he wondered.
“Now, we go take care of my wounds and get some rest. Tomorrow, we go home.”
Arm in arm, they walked back along the path toward the house they were staying in. People stopped to congratulate them as they passed. Most of them seemed to know Joe and Axel, and all of them seemed happy for them.
“Good fight,” someone said, clapping Axel on the shoulder.
“It was, wasn’t it,” the alpha agreed, grinning. “Worth every hit I took.”
Kai glanced at Axel’s face in the moonlight. The alpha looked happier than Kai had ever seen him. He glanced over at Joe. The beta’s smile was brighter than Kai had seen before. For a moment, he wished he was standing in front of a mirror. He knew he looked as happy, if not happier, than they felt. It was the start of something.