Chapter Twenty-Five
Riley
The first week at the compound went smoothly. Colin seemed to actually trust me now that we were here. I knew he’d expected me to bail before we ever got here. But of course I hadn’t left him.
Colin wanted to try out the omega meeting, and I decided to walk with him down to the clubhouse. It was a cool evening, and it felt nice to stretch my legs and breathe in the fresh mountain air.
“You should try the alpha meeting while I’m busy.” His voice was suspiciously pleasant.
I frowned. “Why?”
“Why not?”
I put my arm around his waist. “Do you think I need to brush up on my alpha skills?” I smirked.
“It’s not that. But I think it might be nice for you to talk to other people who are going through exactly what you are. I can’t see it from your perspective, so I don’t know that I’m a good enough sounding board.”
“Maybe I will.”
He looked pleased. “Good. I know you have concerns, but you never let me see them.”
“Who said I have concerns?”
“We’re having a baby. If you didn’t, something is really wrong with you.” He laughed. “And I definitely have issues I need to vent about, but I don’t want to do that with you.”
“Why not?” I scowled.
“You know why.”
“I think you should be able to tell me anything.”
“I tell you almost everything.” He sighed. “Some things I prefer to remain a mystery.”
I smiled and kissed the side of his head. “Fine, I’ll go spill my guts to my alpha buddies.”
We walked into the building and split off from each other. As I rounded the corner and headed toward the room where the alphas were meeting, I came face-to-face with Pierce.
“Hey,” I said, feeling a little tense after how unfriendly he’d been the other day.
He looked agitated and sweaty. “Hi.” His voice was curt. He glanced nervously over his shoulder as if he wanted to bolt past me.
I wasn’t sure why he seemed so nervous and uneasy. “Are you okay?” As I peered at him closer, I noticed he had a cut on his cheek.
“I’m… I’m fine.” He flinched when I held out my hand toward him.
When a tall, burly guy came around the corner in a hurry, something about the guy’s aggressive demeanor caught my attention. It hit me suddenly that Pierce had been trying to get away from the guy.
Pierce wasn’t exactly my favorite person, but his obvious fear tugged at my protective instincts. I made eye contact with the other guy and realized he was an alpha. Instinctively, I took hold of Pierce’s arm and pushed him behind me.
The alpha narrowed his eyes and licked his lips. “Butt out.”
The fact that he wasn’t even trying to hide his aggressive behavior was a surprise. “I don’t think so,” I said quietly.
“This is between the omega and me. You don’t need to get involved,” the alpha growled.
“I told you I don’t want anything to do with you,” Pierce muttered.
“That’s not nice. We had some good times together.” The alpha licked his lips.
I felt Pierce shudder behind me. “Fuck off,” he snapped.
The guy took a step forward, his face flushed with angry arousal.
I held out my hand and tensed my muscles. I hadn’t been in a physical fight since high school, and I didn’t really want to do that now. But the guy was being way too aggressive toward Pierce. “It’s pretty clear Pierce isn’t interested. I think you need to go.”
“Oh, really?” The alpha snorted. “Are you gonna make me?”
“If I have to.” I hoped I sounded confident. I wasn’t a wimp, but the other alpha outweighed me by around thirty pounds.
“I should tell your omega what a piece of shit you are,” snarled Pierce.
“You wouldn’t dare,” the alpha growled.
“Come near me again, and I will.” Pierce’s voice wobbled, and he sounded breathless.
The alpha gave me a furious glance. “I’ll remember this.”
I leaned toward him. “You should go.”
He scowled, but then he shook his head and stomped off the way he’d come.
I slumped a little with relief as Pierce slid out from behind me. He leaned against the wall and looked like he was going to puke. I decided the alpha meeting could wait till another night.
“Let’s get some fresh air,” I said quietly.
He wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his sleeve and nodded. “Okay.”
We walked out of the building, and I kept my eyes peeled for the asshole alpha from earlier. We walked along the gravel road in silence for a while.
“Thank you,” he said softly.
“You’re welcome.”
He kicked at a stone. “I’ve never had an alpha stand up for me.” He glanced over at me. “Why did you do it?”
I frowned. “Why wouldn’t I? It was obvious he was bullying you.”
He swallowed loud enough for me to hear. “I know him from my other life.”
“Oh.”
His voice wobbled. “Did Colin tell you about me?”
“A little.”
“Great,” he hissed.
“I don’t care about your past.” I sighed. “Colin likes you, and that’s good enough for me.”
He gave a hard laugh. “Yeah, right.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Think what you want.”
He was quiet, and then he grabbed my arm. “I’m sorry. What I should be saying to you is thanks.”
I shrugged. “You’re welcome.”
He let go of me and pointed toward the little house we were in front of. “This is me.”
“Will that guy leave you alone?”
“I think so.” He sounded slightly uneasy.
“Can’t you tell anyone here and have him tossed out?”
“Then his omega would be alone.” He shook his head. “I can’t do that.”
“But, what if he comes after you again and no one is there to help you?”
He snorted. “Then I guess I get fucked and knocked around a little. Oh well.”
“What?” I recoiled. “That’s not okay.”
He lifted his chin. “Don’t worry about it.”
I frowned. “You could come stay with me and Colin.”
He looked so shocked it almost hurt. “What?”
“You’d be safe.”
He took a step back, looking rattled. “I’ve never met an alpha like you.”
“We’re not all bad.”
“Out of respect for how kind you were to me tonight, I won’t argue.” He laughed dryly and headed for his house.
“Night, Pierce.”
“Good night.”
I made my way back toward the community center deep in thought. Since meeting Colin, I’d certainly had my eyes opened to a lot of stuff I didn’t even know about my own kind. It was unsettling to see alphas being so arrogant and disrespectful to omegas.
I sat outside the building and waited for Colin to come out of his meeting. When he came through the doorway, he looked surprised to see me.
“You didn’t have to wait for me.” He smiled at me.
My heart ached just looking at him. I wrapped him in my arms, and he laughed against my shoulder. “I wanted to be sure you got home to me safely,” I said softly.
“Of course I’d be safe.”
I held him a moment longer, smoothing my hand over his baby bump. When I let go, I grabbed his hand as we headed toward our cabin. He glanced over at me a few times.
“Is everything okay?” he asked quietly.
“I had a little run-in with another alpha tonight.”
“What?” His voice went up. “At the meeting?”
“I never made it to the meeting.”
He frowned. “I’m confused.”
I laughed stiffly. “I was on my way, and I ran into Pierce.”
“Oh.” He sounded puzzled. “I thought you said you had a run-in with an alpha?”
“I did. There was some jerky alpha harassing Pierce, and I stepped in.”
“You what?” He widened his eyes, looking shocked. “Seriously?”
“Yeah.” I grimaced. “It was weird.”
“Is Piece okay?”
I shook my head. “Physically, yes. But emotionally he’s a fucked-up individual. He won’t tell that alpha’s omega because he doesn’t want the omega to be alone.”
“Huh. That’s kind of twisted but sort of honorable.”
“I asked him what if that alpha assaults him, and he was really emotionless about it all.”
Colin sighed. “Yeah. He’s a mess.”
I put my arm around Colin’s shoulders. “You should set him up with one of your alpha bodyguard friends. Then he’d always have security with him and he’d be safe.”
Colin laughed. “That would work great, if Pierce didn’t detest all alphas.”
“Yeah. That might be a problem.”
Colin touched his stomach and gave a sharp intake of breath. “Ouch.”
“Is it the baby?”
He nodded. “It’s been so active today.” He grinned and stopped walking. “Put your hand on my stomach.”
I did as he said and felt a hard bump against my hand. “Wow. It’s like the baby is doing yoga.” I closed my eyes and felt the little movements against my palm. “Hey, Garrett. How are you doing?”
“They say babies can hear us talking to them.”
I bent down and spoke directly to his belly. “This is your alpha daddy. I’m looking forward to meeting you.”
Colin winced but still smiled down at me. “He kicked when you said that.”
“Really?”
“Yep.”
“So cool.”
“Just two more weeks till we all meet face-to-face.” He patted his round belly. “I can’t wait. I can’t wait to be able to sleep on my stomach again and lift weights.” He grunted. “Oh, and beer. God, I miss booze so much.”
I chuckled and spoke to his belly again. “When you get here, Garrett, we’ll take your other daddy out drinking, okay?”
Colin grinned. “I look forward to it.”
We started walking again.
“I’m going to make you a nice big salad when we get home,” I said.
“A salad?” Colin groaned.
“Yep.” I made sure I sounded firm. “You need to eat healthy.”
“I’ve been doing that. But I’m sick of salads.”
I ignored him. “I bought some avocado and shredded cheese for you. Oh, and I made the ranch dressing fresh.”
He sighed. “Are there sunflower seeds?”
“Yep.”
“Croutons?”
“Of course.”
“Can I have some chicken on it?” He sounded a little less resistant to the salad idea now.
“You know it. I got some grilled chicken.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
“I also made you raspberry Jell-O.”
“You made Jell-O?”
“It’s really easy. I got whip cream and some dark chocolate chips to put on it.”
His eyes lit with excitement, but then he frowned. “Wait, is that eating healthy?”
“It’s way less fat than ice cream, so yes.”
He stopped walking and he wound his arms around me. It was hard to get close because of his belly, but we did the best we could. “You’re so good to me.” He kissed me softly.
“You’ve got the hard part.”
“I won’t argue that.” He laughed.
I cupped his cheek. “I’m so happy I get to have you.”
He lowered his lashes. “I’m the lucky one.”
“After seeing and hearing some of the stories I’ve heard since coming here, I think we’re both the lucky ones.”
“Agreed.”
“Our alpha-omega relationship is how it should be. We’re equals.”
“Yes.” He looked pleased.
I kissed him, and then I said, “How about we go home and get our salad on?”
“Let’s do it.” He smiled, smacking my ass. “Maybe later we can get something else on too.”
I sighed as we started walking again. “My little horny omega. What would I do without you?”