ONE
Logan
Ilie wide awake, staring at the ceiling in Lake’s room while my men sleep peacefully next to me. Lake is curled up in between Ev and me, his firm ass pressing up against the side of my thigh. Normally, that would be enough for me to start sporting wood again. Especially lately, when I suddenly have a hair trigger like a teenager.
But my mind is all over the place, and I’m not even sure if anything short of Lake’s mouth would get it hard right now. Or Ev’s, obviously. That man’s mouth can work wonders.
Ev is on the other side of Lake, facing him with an arm draped over his stomach His mouth is parted slightly as soft snores escape. His leg is snaked in between Lake’s so that his foot is touching my calf. It seems like subconsciously he needs to make sure he has a connection to both of us.
I really wish I could sleep. I’m switching back to the night shift starting tomorrow, and I know I will be working long ass hours, but I can’t stop thinking about what happened last night.
It blows my mind how relaxed Lake was about the whole thing. I mean, my dick got stuck in his ass, and it’s not even phasing him. The genius analyst who dissects every little thing and analyzes every detail is shrugging it off, telling me we just have to accept it.
And yeah, ok, I won’t lie. It felt fucking amazing. Lake’s ass had a death grip on my cock that brought new sensations I never even knew were possible. Plus, it made me feel so powerful. Possessive. I hadn’t thought too much about me having Alpha genes up until meeting Lake. I didn’t feel any different, so I didn’t really know why it mattered.
At first, most of the changes seemed more psychological. I’d been way more protective of my men than I’d ever been to one of my past girlfriends. With Lake’s confirmed pregnancy, that protective instinct was at about 1,000. I’d also felt more possessive of both of them, but especially Lake. If I was away from either of them for any of length of time, I didn’t just miss them. I had a painful physical reaction to their absence. I didn’t know what the fuck that was about.
But I was able to push most of that to the back of my mind. And then, I fucking knotted Lake. It felt so right that it freaked me out. I don’t want to turn into a controlling asshole, and yeah, logically, I know knotting Lake doesn’t necessarily mean I will, but we all heard stories about how big of jackasses the old Alphas were sometimes. I don’t want to become that.
The science behind it is also driving me crazy. Ev was always better at science as a kid than I was. Well, let’s be honest, he was better in most subjects at school than I was. It was never my top priority when I never knew where my next meal was coming from. Even when Mr. C essentially took me in, I only did enough to graduate. I also knew college wasn’t for me anyway.
But still, I know enough about biology and evolution to know this doesn’t make complete sense. I have to talk to Lake tomorrow to see if he can call the guy in charge of the Omega Project. Maybe he has some answers I can’t come up with at 3 am.
“Babe? Are you still awake?” I look over to see a very sleepy-looking Ev propped up on his elbows, squinting at me from over Lake’s sleeping form.
“Yeah, sorry. I didn’t wake you up, did I?”
“I don’t think so, but you were thinking pretty loud over there. So, maybe you did. Are you ok?”
Ev stretches one of his arms over Lake, who is still dead to the world. Apparently, having my knot in his ass wore him out. I smile and reach out, grabbing his outstretched hand and resting it in mine on Lake’s side.
“I’m fine. I’m just thinking about tonight.”
Ev’s eyes darken. “Yeah, I’ll be honest, that was a surprise. What’s got you stressing specifically? You didn’t hurt Lake. If anything, it settled him in a way I never expected.”
“I know. It’s not that. There’s a lot of things going through my mind. I’m a little freaked by what other changes I might experience, you know. It’s also bugging me how quickly it’s happening. Like, I don’t know a ton about evolution, but is it typically this sudden?”
Ev snuggles in closer to Lake, making him closer to me. His dark hair is a mess, with the shorter pieces on the side sticking out wildly. It’s fucking adorable. “Honestly, I have no idea. Do you really think this is all science?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, Logan, we’re seriously talking about the possibility of being fated mates, right? There’s no science behind that. Sure, scientists might try to explain it, but I’m pretty sure their theories are all bullshit.”
I squint at Ev, trying to figure out what he’s telling me. “So, what, you think, like, magic is involved?”
Ev purses his lips and scrubs his face. “I don’t know, man. When you say it out loud, it sounds crazy. But some of this is just unexplainable. I know the gene is a biology thing, but there’s clearly more to it. Just something to think about, I guess.”
I don’t really know what to make of what Ev is saying. I never put too much stock in science fiction or anything magical before. I also don’t think it’s completely impossible either. As a cop, I’ve seen a lot of crazy shit in my day. Some of it isn’t easily explained away. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out there’s more out there than we believe.
Underneath us, Lake stirs. “Why are you two speaking over me? It can’t possibly be time to wake up yet.”
Chuckling quietly, I kiss the top of his head. “It’s not, Little Bird. Sorry we woke you. You can go back to sleep.”
Of course, he doesn’t listen. Instead, he turns around and pushes himself to a sitting position with a groan. He must be pretty sore from last night. He blinks sleepily before his golden-brown eyes fix on mine. “What’s going on? Are you still worried about last night?”
“A little. My mind was just wandering.”
Lake watches me seriously. I know he’s thinking so I stay quiet. Ev has also sat up and is quietly rubbing Lake’s arm. His other hand is still in mine. Suddenly, he holds out his hand, palm up, like he’s asking for something. “Hand me my phone?”