Page 17 of Seduced By Two Alphas

For now, we’d bed down at Casey’s. But come morning, I was going to call Delvin and Joshua Bailey and let them know that Nezat had sent Albert after us. Their server, Shane Phillips, had been one of the men kidnapped. They were probably already keeping a close eye on Shane, but I wanted to update them.

I’d let Lucas and Mikhia know, too. Dillon was no longer of use to Nezat since he was pregnant, but we would need the black panther shifters if we had to go up against the demon again.

We hadn't won the first time. We’d killed his minions, but Nezat had escaped.

Everyone took turns in the shower. Casey was the last to crawl into bed. He settled himself between me and my brother, as if it was now as natural as breathing to him.

This was a hell of a lot better than sleeping on the ground outside. Nothing beat the softness of a mattress over the hardness of the ground.

“I might have a solution to save me,” Casey said into the darkness of the room. I was facing him, my eyes closed, my hand resting on his hip. I’d been halfway asleep until his words penetrated my tired brain.

“What’s that?” I yawned. I didn’t think there was a plan. Nezat would keep coming after Casey until we figured out a way to kill the demon.

“I’m not sure this would qualify as the right reason for doing what I’m thinking about doing, and it might just be the exhaustion talking, but…”

I popped one eye open and looked at him. I could see perfectly fine in the dark and saw the way Casey was chewing on his bottom lip.

“Forget it.” Casey sighed. “It’s a dumb plan.”

“That’s better than our nonexistent plan,” Ken murmured from the other side of Casey. “Hit us with it.”

“I’ve been giving this a lot of thought,” Casey said. “It’s all that’s been on my mind since the movies. Well, before that, but ever since the movies it’s what’s been occupying my mind nonstop.”

My heartbeat quickened. I was tired as hell, but it finally dawned on me what Casey was suggesting. It was what Ken and I wanted, but this felt wrong. “No,” I said.

“But why?” Casey shoved to a sitting position, using my chest as a springboard.

“Because you’ll grow to resent us if you’re only thinking of getting pregnant to get Nezat off your back,” I said.

“And you don’t even know if you can get pregnant,” Ken added. “Well, you can, but if you’re not our mate, not by us.”

“Then you guys think of another way out of this,” Casey huffed. “You saw what I saw that night. Nezat simply vanished, which means he might be able to materialize right here in the room. Is that a chance any of us are willing to take? I’m not. I don’t want to be sound asleep one second and back on that nasty couch being attacked by him the next.”

“You won’t be on that couch in Reverend Goodstocke’s living room because we burned that house to the ground,” Ken reminded him.

“Not my point and you know it,” Casey argued. “My point is he can get to me anytime, no matter whether I’m with you or alone. I could be surrounded by the entire town and he can still snatch me away. You think that hasn’t been freaking me out?”

I’d seen Nezat vanish that night, and the same thought had been lingering in my head since then. No matter what Ken and I did, if Nezat ran out of patience, he could take Casey away from us, and that thought chilled me. I’d grown to love Casey, and the thought of anything happening to him made my bear snarl. But it also made my gut clench into knots.

“Nezat is no longer waiting in the shadows,” Casey said, his voice so small I wanted to fold him in my arms. “He’s now actively sending people after me.”

“Albert came after me,” I pointed out.

Casey slammed my bicep. “Will you two stop doing that? Again, you know what I mean. He tinkered with Albert’s already flimsy mind and turned him into a minion, or whatever Nezat is calling his lackies.” His voice grew soft and small again. “I don’t want him kidnapping me. The first time was terrifying enough.”

Now it was me who sat up. I couldn’t believe I was arguing against this, but my gut told me it was the right thing to do, that Casey would grow to resent us over time. “But that’s not a reason to start a family, Casey. You get pregnant if we’re your mates, and Nezat loses interest in you. But then you’re stuck with us and a responsibility for the rest of your life. Besides, you were the one who said you didn’t want to become a father.”

I wanted him to see logic. To fully understand what he was getting himself into just to get the demon off his back. But most of all, I wanted Casey to want this, not agree to it because it was the only plan. I wanted him to love me and my brother. I wanted him to want a child because he was deliriously happy and wanted to expand our family.

This just felt wrong.

Casey shoved at me. “You two can sleep in the guest bedroom tonight!”

“What did I do?” Ken asked.

“Because we won’t fuck you and knock you up?” I shouted right back at him.

I regretted the words as soon as they left my mouth. It was the truth, but I hadn't mean for the words to sound so insensitive and crude. I could have phrased that better, but the words were already hanging in the air between us.

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