Page 24 of The Alpha: Part Three
“You said you were going for a drive.”
“We did go for a drive,” Michael smiles.
Seth isn't impressed. Neither am I.
“You lied,” I frown.
Two sets of identical brown eyes snap to mine. “No,” Michael says, no longer smiling. “We just didn't want you to worry or be upset.”
I look at Seth standing so stiffly, still looking over them to make sure they're alright. “We're upset, Michael. We're worried. You should have told us.”
Ben sighs. “You would have wanted to go, and we couldn't let you. It wouldn't have been safe.”
“You went,” I counter. “What if something had happened to you? How would we have known? You would have just not come home.” Ben looks away from me and Michael rubs at the back of his neck.
Seth pauses abruptly, a cold wave of dread passing quickly through his bond. “You would have left us. For what?”
Michael sits on the edge of the dresser, looking at the floor. “It had to go. It caused so much hurt and damage. It almost destroyed us, Des. We had to destroy it.”
“What if something had happened, Michael? Seth and I wouldn't have any idea. What if you had been burned? What if the building fell on you? What if someone was there waiting for you? Anything could have happened and you were willing to leave me alone.”
“Desie. Listen,” Ben says softly, walking around the bed to pull my hand into his. “Nothing happened to us. We're okay.”
The scent of gasoline and soot is strong enough to make me gag. I hate it. I've always hated for them to smell like fire. It makes me think about every terrible thing that could happen to them, even things that have nothing to do with fires. “But it could have, Benjamin. You were willing to leave us.”
“It's no different than fire season,” Michael adds. “It's no different than when we go out on assignments. We always come home to you. We're alright. We needed to do it. We couldn't let it stand. Please try to understand.”
“I understand,” Seth says, his voice choked. “I do. But you should have told us. We would have gone with you. Don't do that again. If it's something important to you, we'll work through it; but don't keep us in the dark. Just because you didn't technically lie to us doesn't mean it doesn't feel like you did.”
Everyone is quiet for a long minute, then Michael walks over and puts his hand on Seth's shoulder. “I'm sorry.” He looks over at me. “I'm sorry.”
“I'm sorry too,” Ben says, bringing my palm to his lips.
Forgiving them is as natural as breathing. They have made many mistakes over the years and they're always quick to admit they were wrong and just as quick to apologize. Seth nods at Michael and then everything is okay.
“Go take a shower,” I wrinkle my nose at them. “You can't come to bed smelling like that.”
~
I'm going to kill them if they don't let me breathe. I know that Seth is worried, and I am well aware that Ben and Michael have been waiting for the opportunity to watch me like this for as long as I can remember, but I can't turn my head without hitting one of them with my hair. The only time they're more than a few feet away from me is when I'm at work, and even then one, two, or all three of them are there keeping watch.
I get it. I really, really do. After Flores took us, and with Seth's traumatic history, it's only natural that they would be this protective. This isn't sustainable, though. Seth has been consistently called into WCC meetings or calls, and the twins are growing restless with nothing to do but watch me. They haven't gone back to the station. The captain won't let them come back even to do paperwork or wash the trucks until they've been cleared medically and psychologically. Neither Michael or Ben have ever been very inclined to seek medical advice and they'd rather eat a pile of rocks than talk to a therapist, so they're obviously not in a rush to try to get cleared for duty.
Still, they're driving me crazy, and not in the way I'd like. I'm seven weeks into this pregnancy and I have begun to trade out the hormones that make me throw up for the ones that make me want to have sex. I don't know if every omega feels this way, but I'm beginning to think this might turn into something that feels like one long heat cycle without losing myself to it. It is either going to be very fun or very frustrating.
“Ready to go home?” Ben asks, leaning over the counter of the nurse's station. Michael and Seth are standing up and stretching in front of the row of seats at the end of the hall. “We were thinking pizza for dinner.”
My stomach growls at the thought of it and Ben laughs at me. “Let me finish these inputs and we can get out of here. Want to call it in?”
“We thought you might like to eat in the restaurant. Get a table. Order drinks. Get an appetizer or two.”
I bite at my bottom lip and weigh sitting in a booth with the twins and Seth for a couple hours against picking up a couple pizzas on the way home and then spending the rest of the night in a cozy naked tangle with them. “I think I'd like to pick it up on the way home, if that's alright with you guys.”
The corner of Ben's mouth lifts as his nostrils flare. “It's more than alright.”
Michael calls in the order while I finish my inputs and gather my things. There are lots of small smiles and lingering touches on the way to the parking garage, and as soon as Seth folds himself into the back seat with me I climb into his lap. He grips my thighs and pulls me tighter against him, not satisfied until his erection is pressed firmly against me.
“I'm not fucking you going down the road,” he purrs. “Well, I want to. But it's not safe. I'm going to kiss you and then you're going to slide over there and put on your seat belt.”
