Page 17 of The Alpha: Part Three
After a moment, Talia sighs. “Well, to be honest, I can't think of a better situation.”
“Pardon?” Devon asks, the vein in his temple very prominent.
“If he's staying with us, he'll get the best possible education. And training. He'll get the same training you did.”
Alex sits at the table with a plate full of lunch meats and bread. “You're not wrong, sweet pea. And he won't step a toe out of line with all of us watching him the way you know we will. He'll probably end up COT.”
Devon and Trent both rub at their chests.
“And Joseph and Cody can come over when they're old enough and they can be whatever that is, too. We'll learn how to be the best.” Brandon looks very pleased with all of this.
“You don't even know what a COT is,” Trent mumbles.
Brandon nods. “I don't care. I'll be whatever I need to be. So will Joseph and Cody. We'll learn.”
“I can't say I'm excited about it,” Jasper says. “But I'd rather her pack be strong, and they're obviously her pack. Even I can see that. Who better to make sure they're strong than us?”
“Goddammit,” Devon grumbles. “She's just a baby.”
“And he's just a kid,” Talia goes to stand in front of Devon, leaning against the front of his body even though his arms are still crossed. “A kid without a family or home.”
“Where will he sleep?”
“In the garage apartment,” Corso answers as he, too, comes into the room. “We'll have to discuss it with everyone else, of course, but this is the right thing to do. I don't want Iris to wilt even a little just because we're afraid of the inevitable. Jasper is right, if he's with us we can help him grow into the alpha he should be.”
“We can't put a child in an apartment,” Talia argues.
“You can,” I tell her. “He's used to being on his own. He'll be more comfortable there than in a bedroom in the main house. And all my stuff is there. He can use any of it until he has his own. I'll pay for anything he needs.”
“We will all take care of young Brandon,” Corso smiles.
Devon sighs and finally wraps his arms around Talia's waist. “I don't like it.”
“I know, handsome. But sometimes we have to do what's right whether we like it or not.”
Brandon and I are both quiet on the way back to the house. I don't know what he's thinking about, but I'm still thinking about how that baby felt in my arms. When I park, neither of us moves or says anything for a minute. Someone turns on the porch light and he sighs.
“You can stay with us, Brandon. We have room. You can stay with us until it's time to go.”
He turns in the seat to face me. “Is it always that easy? With Iris's parents? They just decided it was okay. Is it always like that?”
“No, it isn't. But Talia is right. Sometimes you have to do the right thing no matter how much you don't like it. I think you just have to be smart enough to see it and brave enough to do it.”
He nods. “What's COT?”
The corner of my mouth lifts. “Devon, Kaleb, Trent, and Nathan are a COT unit. They're basically council-operated mercenary teams.”
“So, complete bad asses?”
I laugh. “Something like that. You're going to make a good one.”
Brandon sleeps on our couch for the next two weeks. He's helpful and respectful and puts effort into learning as much about the East Coast as I can teach him without being there. He's doing his best to keep everyone from seeing how excited he is about the garage apartment, and Desir'ee is babying him as much as he'll let her. But then it becomes obvious that Desir'ee is going to go into heat any day and Brandon doesn't want to be anywhere around when that happens. Understandably. He very politely informs us that he's going to stay with Cody's family for a few days and blushes all the way out the door. His timing couldn't have been more perfect. Desir'ee goes into heat within hours of Brandon's exit.
From the very start it feels different. It's more intense, and I didn't know that was possible. She keeps running her fingertips across the little puckered scars on Michael's and Ben's hips where their implants used to be and snarling over the fact that mine is still firmly in place. My implant hasn't stopped her from wanting my attention, though, and I'm unbelievably relieved. I didn't realize I was worried that she would reject me during her heat until she didn't.
Right now, she's turned away from me, using my thighs as leverage while she rides me. I've got a gorgeous view of her ass as her hips rise and fall, and perfect access to help guide those movements. Her heat has completely overtaken her and I'm barely hanging on. I want to hang on. I don't mind going into rut now that I have a pack that I can trust, but I love being with Desir'ee when she's in heat. Desir'ee is every single good and perfect thing an omega should be, and being with her is everything I ever imagined being with my own omega would be. It's more than that. I never would have thought to even fantasize about how being with her and our pack would be.
“Ben, Michael,” Desir'ee gasps their names, reaching for them.
