Page 34 of An Alpha's Commitment

Who was I kidding? I was inordinately touched that my omegas remembered my birthday and wanted to make a fuss.

I pulled them close as they approached my desk with the carefully balanced cake wobbling slightly.

"Careful!" cried Irian, as he and Isca steadied the tray and placed the cake on the desk in front of me.

"Happy birthday!" Johnson grinned, as much for my discomfort as for the anticipation of a tasty sweet treat. It was no coincidence the cake had arrived when Johnson was here... he was always very appreciative of sweet treats and my mates loved showing off their culinary talents.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Did you even know?"

"Nope," Johnson replied, unapologetically. "I never remember that sort of thing. That's what you've got mates for. And two, so there's no way your birthday will ever be forgotten now."

I groaned, covering my face with my hands.

"They're aging me... I wouldn't remember to add on the extra year otherwise."

"I don't think that's what they do that's aging you," he snickered.

I paused. Looked at him from between my fingers.

Did he really say that? Had he really meant what I thought he did?

"No. That's what keeps me young."

Before the conversation deteriorated, Irian gave me a little nudge. He was bouncing with excitement. From the other side of me, Isca watched with a fond smile dancing across his lips, his eyes shining.

"Happy birthday, Talius," Isca said in his melodic voice. Then he added hesitantly, "Your candles are burning low."

I turned my attention back to the cake. Little blobs of melted wax pooled at the base of the candles, small splashes of color bright against the white icing.

"I huff, and I puff, and I..." The flickering pinpricks of light sizzled and snuffed out as I exhaled a long draught of air.

The next thing I knew, I had a warm body seated on each of my thighs. Plump lips met my own in a chaste kiss. Even Irian would behave himself in front of my second-in-command. Isca leaned in and feathered a gentle kiss on my cheek, but I wasn't having that. I took his chin gently between my thumb and index finger and brought his lips to mine. Two mates, two equal mates.

Irian jumped up and hurried out of the room with the tray and returned shortly holding four steaming mugs. The bitter tang of coffee perfectly offset the sweetness of the cake and when we were done there was less than half the cake remaining.

"Do you want to take a piece with you, Johnson?" Irian asked from where he sat perched happily on my knee again. I was finding it hard eating and drinking with the two omegas pressing up against me. I loved having them this close, but I didn't know where to put my arms and still get my food and drink to my mouth. I opted to wait until they'd gone to finish my cake, but Isca saw my predicament and began feeding me mouthfuls, giggling softly as he swiped the crumbs between my lips.

"I'm not sure I'd want to deprive Talius of it," replied Johnson, wistfully eyeing the remaining cake.

"Oh, you'd better have more now then," I mumbled as I chewed.

Johnson helped himself to another piece and finished the dregs of his coffee. As he set his mug back down on the desk, Irian got up and signalled to Isca with an almost imperceptible tilt of his head. Isca understood and disentangled himself from me.

"We'll leave you to your meeting," announced Irian, as he and Isca gathered the remains of our morning tea and left the room.

"How's Isca doing?" asked Johnson, once the omegas had left.

"Amazingly well given what he's been through," I replied. "It helps that he has Irian with him most of the time, but he's really starting to develop some confidence. He's signing up for an online university course and wants to learn to drive. I guess I'll be the one getting a few grey hairs from that."

"He doesn't know how to drive? That's unusual for a country boy."

"That's his old mate's fault. He apparently didn't think omegas should be allowed to drive... he had a lot of other dubious ideas too." I shook my head, scowling.

"But, that sort of segues into something I wanted to talk about." I paused, drew in a steadying breath, trying to find the right words.

"You know how Irian, Isca and I are a threesome, right?"

Johnson nodded, watching me intently.

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