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“Pack bonds, love. You can’t feel whatever that is,” I made a messy hand gesture, “and not have us know it. Don’t like it? Take an aura management class. Pack Bonds 101.”

Theo just nodded and chewed on his lip. Not a great sign. Mackenzie got animated, talked nonstop when her emotions were elevated. Theo chewed on his lip and thought. He took a breath and blew it out.

“I’m still taking low-dose suppressants.”

“Theo?” Mackenzie looked shocked. I was right there with her.

“What’s that about?” I asked softly. I had been basically stretched out at their feet since we’d spread out the picnic blanket. I shifted so that I could stroke my index finger up and down his ankle, hoping he’d get through contact with my aura that I wasn’t pissed.

“I don’t know,” he said around a sigh, “I just… I don’t know.”

“Can I put words in your mouth?” He nodded, so I continued, “You think that two omegas going through heat is too much and you want to make sure Mackenzie is taken care of?”

He shot a guilty look at Mackenzie.

“That’s part of it. I’ve been on suppressants for so long and, male…” he cut himself off and rubbed his eyes before trying again. “I guess part of me is… concerned about having a normal heat cycle.”

“Because you’re a male omega?”

He shrugged.

I snagged another tomato out of the salad and thought for a minute while I chewed. The bite of the vinegar in the dressing went well with my simmering anger. I wasn’t angry at Theo. Slightly annoyed he’d keep this from us. My anger was more at the world that would make such a divine creature unsure of himself because of who he was.

“Okay. I’m saying this as your alpha,” his head came up, and he finally met my eyes, “I’m going to require two things of you.” I counted off one finger. “First, is that you have this conversation with Justice, and us, as a pack. This is just like the baby conversation. We all shared the same opinion that kids were not something we wanted to do, and we each made our own decision about birth control. But we all got on the same page. As a pack. How you manage heat, what happens to your body, is up to you, but it does affect the pack. We should all talk about it.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kept it to myself.”

“Don’t apologize, we’re all still figuring out how this pack thing works. The second thing. Whatever decision you make, you’re going to do it with medical supervision. Justice and I have been concerned. Your last heat on the yacht was too painful and too short, which isn’t healthy. This can be a side-effect of long-term suppressant use.” I sighed now. “There hasn’t been a really good time to bring it up to you. See? We’re all figuring this pack shit out. So. Tell Justice and see a doctor.”

“That’s probably a good idea.”

There was another thing that had been poking at my brain for a week or so. I had gotten an email from Willow, with details about her next heat. I’d said no immediately to being her heat helper. It was absolutely the last thing I wanted to do, but it had illuminated things in our pack’s future.

“Before I say this next part, know that nothing is wrong, and we do not have to do anything about this right now. But I want to put the idea in your head so you two can do your thing and whisper about it and decide how you feel.”

“We have a thing?” Mackenzie asked.

I smiled. “You have a thing, Precious, and we love that thing. You’re like twins developing your own language. It’s adorable.”

“Oh.” I wasn’t sure Mackenzie had realized that until this very moment.

“We have a pack math issue.”

“What the hell is pack math?” Theo asked.

“Packs exist because of omega heat. For heat to be safe and satisfying, an omega needs more than one alpha. And we have our own little age gap pack romance going on here. When Mackenzie hits her glorious stride, we’re going to be old men.” I put on my ‘wicked’ smile, as Mackenzie liked to call it. “Don’t you worry, our knots will still be going strong. But in the near future, we should talk about expanding the pack and starting a relationship with a heat helper.”

“A heat helper? We don’t need help!” Mackenzie protested.

“We don’t, but we do.” I put up a hand to stall any protests. “It’s not unheard of for two omegas in a pack to have their heat cycles sync. For a pack as small as ours, that might be stressful for all of us. Physically stressful. And as your alpha, I want your heats to be fun, safe, and satisfying. Or Justice could be traveling for work. There’s a hundred things that can come up that we can’t plan for. Having an established relationship with someone we know and trust means that there will be no surprises during heat.”

Theo and I shared a look. Mackenzie had been “surprised” during her last heat. He glanced once at her and nodded. He knew exactly what I meant. She hadn’t brought it up, and I was not going to probe her for details today.

Mackenzie rarely talked about her 10 year relationship with Daryl. But it showed up in small and alarming ways. Alarming for us, not for her. She would ask for permission before spending money and was shocked that Justice didn’t want to approve the grocery shopping list. She thought it was funny that we didn’t send her to her nest when we wanted to play video games. She had asked me why I didn’t bring my phone to bed, so I would have something to do while I waited for my knot to let her go.

There were red flags everywhere for us, but Mackenzie was seeing it almost like a cultural difference, not that she had been in an abusive relationship.

“And,” I changed the tone before we tumbled into bad places, “We have a lot of love in our pack. And a stupid amount of money. Theo has always wanted a big pack. We shouldn’t be closed off to the idea. Like I said, we don’t have to do anything about this now. But test the idea out in your head.” Mackenzie looked dubious. I pushed my point. “Like, Mackenzie, picture what it might feel like for you to see an alpha, who is not Justice or me, knot Theo.”