Page 10 of The Alpha: Part Two
I can clearly see that they are warring with themselves. Every alpha in the room is torn between wanting to tell her absolutely fucking not and trusting her to make this call. It’s a bad spot to be in. I’m glad I’m not them, but this is one of those rare occasions where my opinion might make a difference.
“Talia,” I start, rubbing the back of my neck, “listen. I’ve been here for a while. I’ve met these assholes. Even Minos watches what he says and keeps people with his omega every second of the day, and he’s the head of the damn council. Please, for once in your stubborn life, let someone guard you. Let one of them go back with you. Let Nathan. He’s the nicest. People like talking to Nathan.”
“She won’t leave with us if Nathan is with me, Seth. After everything she’s been through, she won’t trust him. It has to be me alone.”
We’re going to lose this argument because she’s right, but being right doesn’t mean we agree with her, and being right won’t keep her safe. I know for a fact, especially after looking through all Nathan’s information and talking to Mallory Minos, that Flores would go to great lengths to get his hands on Talia.
“What if I stayed right outside the door, in the hall?” Reid asks. “With Devon? We could stay in the hall and wait for you to come out. We wouldn’t need to be in the room. That would give you room to talk to her in private, but still keep you safe. Would that work?”
Talia’s mouth twitches to the side, but she sighs and agrees. “Fine. But you have to stay in the hall. And you,” she raises a brow at me, “can’t come at all. One glimpse of you will ruin everything and you know it. You can’t be near the hospital, much less in it.”
“I know,” I agree. “As much as I want to be there to get her out myself, I know how dangerous it would be if anybody saw me.” I don’t mention that Desir’ee might not leave with me, and everyone else is kind enough not to, either. “Besides,” I continue, “I want to make some phone calls. If I can get Minos to meet with me, I can explain and maybe that will help.”
“We,” Talia corrects. “We will meet with him and he’ll listen to us. He’ll listen to me. I won’t give him a choice.” Then she goes over the plan one last time before she succumbs to her need for rest.
Nathan does whatever he does and gets into the hospital’s system to see when Desir’ee would be there for her shifts. Tomorrow is her first day back after a three day break, and Talia has an appointment for a sonogram. When she made the appointment, she emphasized that she felt the need to check on her baby after such a long trip from the Eastern territory, and she dropped enough names that the staff was practically falling all over themselves to make her happy. She didn’t mention Desir’ee by name, but Nathan will make sure Desir’ee gets Talia’s chart in her rotation. Once Desir’ee takes Talia back for her scan, Talia will tell her everything and we hope Desir’ee will believe her and leave the hospital with her. If she doesn’t, Talia will give Devon the signal and they’ll take Desir’ee out of the hospital kicking and screaming if they have to. I hope it doesn’t come to that, though.
I’m not optimistic that Minos will meet with me on my own merit. He liked me well enough; but now that he’s been presented with my past, that has obviously changed. Maybe not, though. Maybe it won’t be as bad as I think it will be. Minos looked and sounded almost apologetic, or at least reluctant, during our last conversation. It’s possible that he would have made different decisions if other people hadn’t been watching so closely.
When I wake up the next morning I’m feeling a little worse about trying to meet with, or speak to, Minos later in the day. I can go to counseling or therapy or whatever for the rest of my life, hell, Talia can keep going with me like she does sometimes, but it won’t change what I did to her or how it makes me feel. It doesn’t matter how much work I put in to try to work through it, and I don’t think it matters how much Talia puts in. People are going to think and assume whatever they’re going to, and I can’t change that.
“Pull your head out of your ass, Pratchett. We don’t have time for it.” Kaleb says around his toothbrush, poking his head into my room. Under the assumption that anyone who knows I’m still here is probably watching every move I make, I left the twins’ house. The less attention on their place, the better. The rental I arranged for Talia’s pack is huge. I wanted something that would have room for Desie, and hopefully the twins. I know they will want to be at their place, but I need them to be safe, and Talia’s pack means safe.
I rake my hands through my hair and get up and dressed. Most of what I want to try to accomplish today can be done from the couch or kitchen table, but I’m a little too uptight to work in the clothes I slept in.
After I’m dressed, I leave my shoes by my bedroom door and head to the kitchen for coffee. Talia hands me a cup when I walk into the room. I’m still not entirely comfortable with her caring for me like everything’s okay, but I’ve learned that it’s better for her if I just let her do it. Jasper motherfucking hates it. So does Devon. Jasper’s jaw ticks almost as violently as Devon’s vein throbs every time Talia makes a special effort for me, even if it’s something so small as giving me a snack. Theyextrahate it when she goes to a session with me.
“It’s going to be fine, Seth. Like I said, if he doesn’t want to hear you out, fuck him. He can deal with me. I’d like to see him try to say that his feelings and opinions about the whole thing are more important than mine.” Talia says with a smile.
Kaleb comes in and wraps his arms around her, kissing her neck before he lifts her up to sit on the counter. “Nobody’s feelings and opinions are more important than yours, cupcake.”
Talia rolls her eyes and leans into him. As much as I feel like I’m intruding during moments like these, I am unfathomably happy that this is her life and that I get to witness it. The only things I ever want for Talia are safety and happiness.
During our last few counseling sessions together, we’ve been considering the relationship we’ve grown into. The counselor says we’re fortunate, but I’m sure anyone outside of our unique situation would think our relationship is strange, at best.
Apparently, Talia and I function as dysfunctional siblings. That’s what we call it, anyway. She says I’m the only one who understands why she doesn’t hate me and why she thinks nobody else should, either. I don’t agree with her, but I know, without doubt, that she is the only person who truly understands why I have the problems I have. She was there when most of them were created. If I’m lucky, Desir’ee and the twins will be there to help me work through everything, but Talia understands why I need to.
Everyone else files in for breakfast, including the triplets. Dutch eats all of his eggs and toast, and steals half of Zetty’s before she screeches at him and shoves him away from her. I save him from his own poor choices, grabbing him and another piece of toast from the pan on the stove on my way back to my bedroom.
“The toons,” he whispers not so quietly in his gruff little voice, prompting me to pull up banned cartoons on my phone. We’re only supposed to let him watch enriching children’s educational shows, but that stuff will rot his brain. I watch the good stuff with him. I’m just really careful not to get caught.
We get fifteen good minutes of actual cartoons before Jasper comes looking for him. “Come on, wild boy. Let’s go get you dressed. You and your sisters are going to the zoo this morning.”
Dutch climbs up Jasper’s body and immediately starts yelling about lions. Jasper’s eye only slightly twitches with certain vowels.
“Alex and Trent are taking them?” I ask. I’m worried shitless, but ultimately Jasper and the others have the final say. I don’t think two of them are enough. If my opinion mattered, they’d stay here until everyone could go.
“You might be worse than Devon,” Jasper says, flipping Dutch around to hang over his shoulder. “That’s not a compliment. You both probably have ulcers at this point.”
He’s probably right, but I can’t help it. “Just tell them to be careful.”
Jasper looks at me like I’m an idiot, but says, “I’ll tell them. I know you’re anxious about everything right now, but Trent and Alex can handle it. They’re going to take the backpack harnesses and everything. And they’ll check in a lot. They’ll be okay.” He turns to leave, but pauses at the door. “You could go with them, you know.”
His suggestion floors me since I know he plots my demise often and in great detail. But, I didn’t think of that. I could make my inquiries while I walk around the zoo with the kids, and I’ll be another person there to protect them. Plus, I fucking love the zoo. Especially the lions. “You think so? I wouldn’t be intruding?”
“No,” he says. “I think it’s a good idea. The more eyes on them the better. I’ll tell them you’re coming.” Then he goes to get Dutch put together.
It’s mid-morning by the time goodbyes are said and seat belts are buckled. I make my first call to Minos’s office on the way to the zoo. I offered to drive, but Trent declined and that works just fine for what I need to do. Between him, Alex, and the GPS we’ll get there eventually.
