Page 26 of The Pack Next Door
“You’d be appalled.” And would want to know more. Everyone stopped eating, staring at me. “Beta men, they’ve started this whole ‘alpha bro’ lifestyle thing. My clients just want to make their houses pretty, but some unscrupulous personal trainers have started doing this whole ‘alpha transformation.’ They get beta men to pay a lot of money, not just to go to a gym, but to swallow a bunch of supplements that are supposed to reveal their inner alpha.”
Mads snorted at that.
“Alphas are born, not made in a gym.”
“Yes, well, when betas became aware of latent omegas, some of them grabbed onto the idea. There’s been a whole thing about it in the newspaper. Illegal testosterone supplementation, steroid use?—”
“Quick way to get a real small dick,” Jace muttered, before gesturing for me to continue.
“Some men have started podcasts talking about it,” I said with a wince. “They’re becoming quite popular, and some are tying the increase of sexual assault to it.”
“That’s not what an alpha does.” Gideon had been silent, but his elbows landed on the table as he leaned forward. “You help people, protect the community from those that would hurt them.”
I threw up my hands, waving him back.
“I know. I try to tell people…” My lips pursed. “Some beta men think that dating an omega will help them bring their alpha out.”
What the hell was that growling sound? Oh, it was all three of them. I looked down to see that Mads had raked his claws across the wooden tabletop, leaving curls of timber in their wake.
“Briar,” Mum said with a frown, “you never told me about that.”
“Because there’s nothing to tell.” I sat up straighter. “I made clear that it was never going to happen, and if anyone persisted, my friends and I sorted them out. There’s a pack of alphas, the Vanguard pack?” A glance at each alpha made clear they didn’t recognise the name. “My friend, Candy, works with their omega, and they made clear they’d step in at any point if I needed protection.”
“No need to ask them for help,” Mads growled, his eyes gleaming silver. “We’ll look after things going forward.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at that.
“If you need me to talk you up to Damien…” He looked confused. “Omega Hart, there’s no need.” I dared a sidelong look at Gideon. “You getting me out of the square when I was feeling overwhelmed will get you on the roster for the dominance fights, I’m sure of it.”
“That’s not why I did it.”
Gideon was so quiet, but there was an intensity to him that was somewhat nerve-wracking. Those golden eyes stared into mine, as if waiting for me to accept that statement, and grew more silver by the second.
“So—”
I was going to change the topic, but Mum cut me off.
“We should eat the pizza while it’s still hot.” She smiled at Jace. “When Briar was a little girl, she’d ask for pizza for every birthday. Not handmade, though. It had to be from Pizza Haven.”
“Maybe you can tell us more about Briar after the meal,” Jace said. He wasn’t looking at Mum, but me.
“When Briar was a little girl,she’d climb up into the fork of that tree.” Dinner was finished, the boxes and plates all taken away, replaced by slices of cake. My body felt pleasantly heavyand tired as she gestured to the tree that sat on the border of the two houses. “Not to the top. The Sanderson boys used to tease her about that. They’d climb right out on that branch.” She pointed to the massive one that spread across the fence line. “But she’d grab a blanket and nestle down in the hollow at the fork.” Mum shrugged. “Should’ve clued me in that she would become an omega.”
“Me and birds both,” I said with a tight smile. There was nothing about me as a kid that indicated I’d transform into an omega, which might’ve been a foreshadowing for what was to come. “They made a nice nest in my blanket, and then I couldn’t bear to bring it down until the babies –hatched.”
“Making a mess of it.” Maggie tutted. “Your grandmother crocheted that by hand.”
“There was bird poop all over it,” I explained to the guys. “Nanna was not impressed.”
“She didn’t talk to me for a week.” Mum waved her hand. “Told me I was raising some sort of wild child.”
“That tracks.” I felt the heat of Mads’ body as he leant in closer. “Briar was pretty wild last night.”
I turned around to see him leaning closer, staring at me.
What in the flirty bullshit was this? Alphas in Moon River stayed well away from me as soon as they worked out I wasn’t the one for them. Didn’t want anything awkward happening when they brought their mates before the entire town. The fact Mads wasn’t doing the same meant my respect for him lessened.
“That was the wolf,” I said with a frown. “Speaking of which.” Looking away from him. “Have your beasts responded to any of the omegas in town?”
