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Still, she had beamed at me, that crisp apple scent potent and tempting as ever, despite the dark circles under her eyes. Though I’d done my best to maintain eye contact, I had struggled because the clothes she wore to teach were skintight.

Usually, that didn’t mean anything to me, and I could control myself. With Bethany… well, there was something special about her.

My pack mates weren’t immune to it either. Every one of us had been obsessed with her for years, but we had all agreed we weren’t going to make a move.

We had resolved against finding another partner, after what had happened with Joey’s mother, and Bethany was a lot younger than us. We were in our late thirties and she was in her early twenties—we were probably coming off as creepy old men unable to take our eyes off her.

Still, there was that deep primal instinct I had to care for her that I had never experienced with another omega. Sure, there was usually a degree of care; alphas thrived on being caregivers, but with Bethany, the urges were that much stronger.

After her lesson, we had taken Joey to a local pizza joint to get some dinner, and she had chattered about how much fun shehad with Bethany. Although our daughter was typically reserved, she and Beth had immediately hit it off. It was the main reason we had encouraged her to continue; she lit up during those lessons.

“You know, I think we will need to get you some more clothes for your lessons soon,” I mused as I lathered a thick layer of cream cheese on my bagel.

“I’ll ask Beth!” Joey declared excitedly. “She showed me pictures of her show leotards, and they aresopretty!”

Just like the omega herself.

“Okay, you can do that when you see Bethany next week, but for now, we need to get you to school.”

Joey pouted at me but hopped off her chair all the same.

Most of my day was spent resting while Joey was at school. It took time to recover from working an ER shift. Even though I was in peak physical condition, I wasn’t exactly young anymore. I couldn’t down three energy drinks to get through a shift without having a killer headache the next day.

I still got to pick Joey up from school, though, and listen to her discuss all she had learned about plant life cycles.

“Are you working tonight?” Cullen asked, hurrying into my home office, his cell phone in hand.

“I am. There’s a game at eight,” I confirmed, another reason I had been resting.

Cullen’s face dropped. “Shit,” he hissed. “It’s all gone to shit!”

“What do you mean, it’s all gone to shit?” I asked, sitting up straighter. The worry in his tone put me on edge. “Is everyone okay?”

Cullen nodded. “Yeah—it’s work. Three staff members called out sick, the beer kegs are leaking, and we’re completely booked out with reservations for the night!” he said, shaking his head.

My eyes widened. Cullen owned a popular restaurant in the city. It had been his passion project, and we had funded it as a pack, but now that restaurant was more lucrative than my medical and Gideon’s legal career combined.

“Fuck—what about the new manager?”

Cullen had just hired a new guy so he could try and be home a little more. When he had made the hire, he had been excited and was making all these plans to take Joey to all her extracurriculars, as he would have more time on his hands.

“The fucker walked out on his shift this morning. Seems like he couldn’t handle the stress of a weekday lunchtime.” He growled as he started to pace my office, tapping away on his phone furiously.

“I’m guessing you need to get down there?” I asked.

Cullen nodded.

“Is Lila available to babysit Joey?”

He shook his head with a grimace. “I already called her. She can’t do it. Is there anyone else we know?” he asked, his face pinched with stress.

I shook my head. I couldn't think of anyone off the top of my head. We tended to be very particular about who we let look after Joey.

“I guess I could take her in with me?” Cullen suggested, but his face made it clear he knew that was a bad option. The restaurant was loud and was open late. Joey would be exhausted and unable to get any rest.

“If I could get out of this game, I would. Unfortunately, one of the assistants is down, so I’m needed.”

“Fuck,” Cullen growled.