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Joey’s mother had wanted us to wait on her hand and foot. While we’d treated her amazingly, gotten her gifts, and taken her on vacations, nothing was ever good enough for her.

At first, we’d bent over backwards for her, doing everything in our power to make her happy. But over time, we realized that there was no limit. Nothing would ever be enough for her. Eventually, she decided to chase richer alphas who could give her more.

“Something tells me that Bethany would be fun to spoil,” Gideon admitted with a small smile. “It would certainly be abattle. Did you know, she’s insisting on picking Joey up from school tomorrow?”

“She’s supposed to be resting. Doctor’s orders!” I huffed. I would know, consideringIwas the doctor!

“You try telling her that.” Gideon smirked.

Cullen shook his head, though he was wearing what I could only describe as a fond expression. “I will get plenty of food from the restaurant and make sure she’s got anything she could need here.”

“That’s a good idea,” Gideon said.

Everything in me wanted to grab the omega and lock her in a room so I could take care of her and let her heal in peace. There was no way I was actually going to do that, because that was mildly psychotic, but alpha instincts were a bitch. It was in our nature to care for omegas. And caring for Bethany was quickly becoming my obsession.

We were all quiet for a moment.

“I want to ask her on a date,” I admitted.

I was sick of waiting, of trying to restrain myself. I couldn’t remember the last time I wanted anything as much as I wanted her, and I didn’t want to hold myself back anymore.

Both my pack mates sat up straighter. “You mean…” Cullen trailed off.

“I’m curious about what this is. I know we agreed it was a bad idea, but are we kidding ourselves? All of us are crazy protective over her?—”

“We are also very protective of Joey,” Gideon pointed out.

I glowered at him. “That’s different and you know it. Care to explain why you came back stinking of arousal last night after taking her home?”

Gideon growled, roughly running a hand through his hair. “Because she’s stunning! There’s no question about that. I’m not blind.”

“She’s also good for Joey,” I argued.

Cullen sighed. “So, you want to go for it?” His expression was anxious, but there was a hint of something else…maybe hope?

I nodded. “I do. I really fucking do, but I don’t want to do it without you guys. We do it as a pack or not at all.”

Cullen thought for a moment, downing his glass of whiskey. “Well, considering I can’t control myself around her, you know I’m in. This may be a terrible idea, but I can’t see us resisting for much longer.”

“Gideon?” I asked, turning to him. My heart was in my throat. If he agreed, then all bets were off, and we would do our damn best to woo the omega many years younger than us. Maybe we were thinking with our cocks, but there was something magnetic about Bethany that I couldn’t ignore anymore.

Gideon sighed. “Give me a few days to think about it.”

That wasn’t a no.

He was going to break.

I just knew it. It was only a question of when.

Chapter 19

Beth

Iwas lucky that Joey was such an easy child. My first day back babysitting for her, she greeted me with a huge smile as I picked her up from school and offered to take her to a drive-through for a little after-school snack.

Joey’s school was private, and fancy as fuck. There was no normal school routine. They broke for the summer in mid-June, and even then, Joey would remain in a summer program until mid-August, when she would get three weeks off with her dads. They had a whole litany of adventures planned for then, but for now, it was me and her.

We spent the afternoon relaxing in front of the TV, playing a video game where we were giant stuffed animals that beat the living snot out of each other. Then I helped Joey with some of her schoolwork. She currently had a reading assignment, so she sat next to me, reading from her book while I listened and occasionally helped her.