Chapter Thirteen
Things were buzzing in the office a week later. Preparations were being made for the next event, which was being run in a city a few hours’ drive from the den. Liam helped print out booklets, the words a mystery until Ollie went through the material with him. He helped pack supplies into boxes though Jensen put his foot down on carrying the boxes to the vehicles. Liam’s injuries had healed well, only thin scars crisscrossing his stomach remained, but Jensen wanted him to be careful.
The day before the event, something happened that had Ollie, Davyn, and Eve in whispered conversation. Liam hesitated in the doorway when he caught sight of them and went to head back outside.
“Wait, Liam,” Ollie called after him. He turned back around.
“Is everything okay?” Liam wondered.
“Dara, our brother who lives in the Cove, is struggling right now and there’s a lot going on with the wolf packs. Cade wants one of us to be there with him.”
“Max is with him,” Davyn said hotly. “And he has a whole pack at his beck and call.”
“But he doesn’t have another omega with him,” Ollie argued.
Liam hung back by the door. He didn’t like arguments, he rarely came out on the right side of them.
“Anyway,” Eve said, “Cade isn’t coming with us to the event tomorrow, he’s going to the Cove instead. So, we’re down an omega.”
All three were looking at him expectantly. Liam wasn’t sure why. Their gazes grew uncomfortable, so he stared at his hands.
“What do you say, Liam? Do you feel up to working your first event?” Ollie asked finally.
“Me?” They couldn’t want him.
“Of course you,” Davyn said. “You’re an omega, aren’t you?”
Davyn’s blunt tone had Liam hunching in on himself. Ollie glared at his brother, elbowing him sharply, his expression softening to a smile when he looked back to Liam.
“What Davyn means,” he stressed, “is that we could really use an extra pair of hands. You’ve been doing really great here. We feel you’re ready.”
“I don’t… I don’t… I’ve never…” Liam couldn’t quite get an answer out. They couldn’t mean it.
“We’ll have someone by your side the whole time,” Eve promised.
“It’ll be fun,” Ollie added. “Everyone will be so excited, and the atmosphere is always amazing.”
“I guess…” Liam was on the verge of agreeing when something occurred to him. “I guess I should ask Jensen.”
There were a few knowing glances exchanged and Davyn smirked. The smirk disappeared from his face when Ollie elbowed him again.
“And if Jensen says yes?” Ollie asked. The blonde omega was almost bouncing on his feet.
“Then I guess I’m coming with you.”
“Yes!” Ollie punched the air and ran across the room, throwing his arms around Liam. He was still getting used to Ollie being very tactile. It took him a moment before he hugged the omega back.
“It’ll be great,” Ollie said quietly as he let go. “Trust me.”
Liam went to find Jensen, trailing along the road toward the clinic. Since their first picnic, they’d had dinner together twice, gone paddling in the river, gone ‘exploring’ which was Jensen letting him pick a direction and the two of them shifting and spending a few hours checking out one of the many special places in the den. Sometimes, it was as simple as somewhere with a nice view where they could sit together. Jensen would often take Liam into his arms. They’d kiss and touch and explore each other just like they explored the den.
Liam often wanted more, wanted to go further, but Jensen liked to slow things down, going for longer, lingering kisses and touches that had them both gasping for breath.
Stepping through the open door of the clinic, he listened carefully. He could hear the tapping of keys that told him Jensen was in his office. The alpha often wasn’t, spending much of his day outside.
When he reached the door, he raised a hand to knock.
“Come on in, Liam,” Jensen called before he’d even touched the door.
Pushing it open, he didn’t take the other chair in the room, instead perching on the edge of the desk next to Jensen.
The alpha sat back in his chair and smiled at him. “What’s up?”
“Ollie and Cade’s brother is having a hard time. And Cade wants to go to the Cove tomorrow to be there with him. But they have an event tomorrow and…”
Jensen leaned over, pressing one finger to his lips and Liam trailed off, aware he was babbling.
“They want you to take Cade’s place at the event.”
Liam nodded once and waited.
“Do you want to go?”
“I wanted to know what you think.”
“Are you asking me as your doctor or as your…”
“Alpha,” Liam finished.
Jensen sat back, a frown on his face. “Liam, I’m not your alpha. You’re your own person. You don’t need my permission. As your doctor, I can tell you that physically you’re well enough, as long as you don’t overexert yourself.”
“I… I know you’re not my alpha. But if you were…”
“If I were, I’d want to know how you felt. Would you like to go? You’ve been doing so great with the video matches. I’m sure you’d like to stretch your wings a little, see what it’s like to help people find love in person.”
Liam wanted that. He liked making matches. It was fun, sometimes challenging. Ollie had told him being there in person was ten times better. That you could almost touch the emotions, they were so heightened.
“I’d like to go.”
Jensen broke into a smile that stretched from ear to ear.
“Great.”
“You don’t mind?”
“I don’t. But even if I did, that doesn’t give me a right to stop you.”
“Because you’re not my alpha.” Liam felt sad to have to say the words even though they were true.
“Yet.”
The word startled him, and he pitched forward, off the desk and onto his feet. Jensen’s hands caught him, steadying him, and tugging him closer. The alpha brushed a strand of hair from Liam’s face, tucking it behind his ear.
“But if the day comes when I am your alpha, those choices will still be yours, I promise you that.”
Liam’s emotions were a rollercoaster. Jensen telling him he wasn’t his alpha had sent a shooting pain through his chest. But everything he said after… Liam had the urge to pinch himself, to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.
He beamed at Jensen and pushed forward, the alpha spreading his legs, so Liam could stand between his knees, his hands on Liam’s hips. It left Liam looking down at Jensen. The position felt strange, to be above. Nevan would never have allowed it. But Jensen wasn’t Nevan. And here, in the Cove, Liam wasn’t Liam the slave. He was Liam the omega, Liam the matchmaker.
Bending down, he pressed his lips against Jensen’s mouth, moaning softly when the alpha kissed him back. Jensen’s hands slipped down along his hips to his thighs, urging Liam up onto the chair with him. He lifted Liam and closed his knees so that the omega could straddle them with his own. It put them closer, their bodies touching in too many places to count.
He pulled away for just long enough to murmur to the alpha. “I should go back to the office.”
Jensen’s reply was to press another kiss to his lips.
“In a minute,” the alpha rumbled.
A long minute.