Page 59 of The Alpha: Part Two
"No," Mateo clips. "No. We're not going to talk about Elijah Lopez like he's a good guy. He's as bad as Flores as far as I'm concerned."
Seth's entire demeanor transforms as he raises a hand, palm up, toward Mateo and looks at me. "Thank you!"
"Hedidhelp me, though," I grit out as they slap palms. "He kept the worst from happening and he helped with Flores at the end. And now he's going to redo the whole operation Flores built so we can use it to find and save a lot of people. He was a jerk, I'm not denying that. But you can't deny that he helped and is continuing to help. He's not as awful as we thought he was."
Seth and Mateo collectively grit their teeth and roll their shoulders, but they don't argue.
"We've got her back now," Sebastian says. "That's the important thing. And Lopez is already making moves. There were a whole lot of displaced betas over in Long Shop a couple days ago."
Michael's head jerks back. "What were you doing in Long Shop?"
"Lito's."
Michael nods. "That's the only good thing about that shit hole."
"So, now that you're finished yelling at me," I start, but Mateo interrupts.
"We weren't yelling at you, Desie. We have been so worried. We knew something wasn't right, but we had to trust that you'd let us know when it was time to storm the castle."
"I know," I smile at my brother. "But it's over now. And I need you to do something."
"What do you need us to do?"
"Stand guard while Talia has the baby. I'll be helping with the delivery. Amber and Cera can help too since I was going to ask both your packs to help as well. With everything going on, we don't want the baby to be born at the hospital, you know?"
Mateo looks across the room at Dom. "Yeah?"
Cera answers for him, though. "Yes," says, digging her elbow into Dom's side. "Talia will need to meet all of us first, though."
"Exactly," I smile. "Which brings us to the cookout. We'd like to do a big one here so everyone can meet each other."
Mateo rolls his eyes. "With all of us and the nine of them, it's going to be more than a cookout. It's going to be a backyard party that spreads across the neighborhood."
"I know."
"And we think this is a good idea?" Dom asks. "A safe idea?"
"It'll be as safe as it is right now," Lucas shrugs. "Maybe safer since the whole block will get involved inside of an hour."
The conversation turns into a battle plan involving food and plates, ending with me texting Talia to confirm everything with her pack. Corso was right, Trent's excitement about it all is comically obvious. By the time I kick my brothers out of my house, I'm ready to go back to bed and be left alone for a while. Left alone in the middle of my boys.
Chapter thirty-one
Ben
We won’t be able to have the cookout just yet. Talia's pack is all twitchy because Jasper is due to go into heat in the next few days. That's fine, it gives us more time to get everything and everyone ready.
I've never really been around a male omega. I've only known of one or two, and that was from a distance. Honestly, I haven't spent too much time thinking about how it would be for a male to have a heat cycle. Our mom made sure we knew enough about both male and female omegas, that we'd be okay taking care of one if that's how everything turned out for us, but we always knew it would be Desie so we only really gave it one ear. I did, anyway. Michael probably paid more attention and retained more, he's good like that. But now that our family will include a male omega, I'm starting to remember things I forgot I knew.
Mom always said that if you meet your omega, whether they were male or female, you'd just know and what they were wouldn't matter. That's fine and all, but what if a male omega found his pack but they were all males and that wasn't anything any of them were interested in? What then? I don't know what I'd do in that position. That would feel… so…
"What are you thinking about that's making you have that face?" Seth asks. He sits down on the porch steps beside me and stretches his legs out.
"Where are your shoes?"
He looks down at his feet and flexes his toes. "In the house. What's wrong with you? You feel weird."
"You feel weird," I counter, and nudge his knee with mine. "I was thinking about Jasper."
