Page 9

Dean

“ Y ou’re a gamma ? I didn’t see that one coming. I knew your omega was muted, but I didn’t think it was to that level,” Jonas said to Grif as I leaned into him, curled on the sectional, his scent going salty with worry.

“That’s what the tests say.” Grif’s shoulders slumped as he paced, our drinks forgotten on the coffee table in our living room.

We were all still in our suits, though AJ had on the jersey with Grif’s number that he always wore to our games.

“Grif, you know we don’t care, right?” My chest tightened at his anxiousness. I worried, too. It wasn’t him being a gamma that concerned me. It was his test results. Because I knew how to read these.

Part of me wanted Grif to go off everything now. Things could go sideways so quickly. We could find him a new career, but we couldn’t get a new him.

Who knew what other damage he’d done to his body?

“I’m so glad to hear that.” Grif exhaled sharply but didn’t stop pacing, hands behind his back. “She also said that with my hormone levels, I might be back to omega soon. Something about living with omegas can cause that to happen.” He shot me a fond look. “And I should consider if I wanted to be a gamma or an omega in my file.”

AJ’s head cocked as he rubbed his dark goatee. “Would it make a difference? Aren’t gammas under omega law?”

I put up a hand. “Hear me out. People rarely ask gammas questions, since most have haunting pasts. Gammas vary so much, so a lot of things can be brushed off as gammas, right? It could be your best chance of keeping your job, playing up gamma unpredictability and their oddball danger response.”

“I don’t have any unpredictable behaviors or reactions, though.” Grif leaned against his piano, running a hand through his hair, anxiety lacing his rainy scent.

Jonas snorted. “Because giving Verity your jersey at the game was so omega-like?”

“It could be. Omegas being possessive of their alphas and all that. You know we have a game on my birthday.” I smirked. If she was free, I wanted her there. Maybe she could sleep over.

“Your playing changed after the overdose. You’ve always been a brawler, but you became fiercer, quicker to act,” Jonas told him.

“We need a plan. A quick one,” AJ added from the ottoman. “What do you want?”

“For everything to stay the same? Actually, I’d rather come out on my own terms than collapse during a game or have it become a scandal. I didn’t think this would be the year we’d do this. I was sort of hoping it would never happen.” He looked away, and sadness came through our bond, his scent going salty.

“I know, Boo-Boo,” AJ soothed. “After we get the pack contract, can we bond, release a statement that we’ve mated, and then announce it? Get ahead of things so we can start taking care of you? I worry about your health.” He stood and wrapped his arms around Grif.

“I guess? Though I’d like to talk to Coach before we go public with it,” Grif admitted, leaning into AJ. “I worry about getting fired.”

“They can’t legally fire you because of your designation. If they do, that’s what lawyers are for.” AJ stroked his hair.

“That’s a good idea–talking to Coach. Part of what made staying with the Aces so hostile, well, besides Beau, was how the coaches and staff felt betrayed,” I told them.

My goalie coach especially. The Aces hadn’t fired me, but playing with my bully, and the hostility, motivated me to bond with Jonas so I could move to the Knights.

“We’ll need to tell Stu, too. He might even have ideas on how to do this,” Jonas added.

“Okay, so we’ll tell Stu first, then finalize our plan. Next, you can talk to Coach. Probably after you have the pack contract. Then you can come out however Stu thinks is best. Maybe loop in Knights PR and HR at some point.” AJ nodded as if making a mental list–which he might be.

“Or however you want. Maybe you want a press conference. Or do an interview,” I interjected.

AJ grinned at Grif. “You could do an exclusive interview with the Creative Collective omegas in my building. They can do a photoshoot of you with alpacas in hockey jerseys. Have you seen the picture of Verity in the bathtub with the goldfish? It’s up now, and it’s art. ”

I was thinking about a major news outlet, or the SportsBeat reporter that was always around, but that could be fun, too.

Oh, I’d seen the bathtub photo. It would be better without clothes.

“I did, and I love that idea.” Grif’s brows furrowed. “Are you okay with this? Because it could cause backlash for all of us, not just me.”

“We’re a pack.” Jonas stood and put his arms around Grif. “We got through Dean being outed. And you know, we’ll get through this, too. We stand together.”

“Absolutely. It’ll be better to come out on your own terms.” I joined them using our bond to send as much love to him as I could.

“There is one thing we haven’t talked about,” Jonas said slowly. “How does Verity fit in? She should know before you go public, Grif. Especially if you think it might affect anything.”

A whimper escaped my throat. “She won’t leave us. She wants an omega. And kids. And a dog.”

“She can walk the dog, because I’m not,” AJ mock-grumbled. “You can’t honestly think she won’t be okay with it. Verity and Grif were talking about a wedding in a garden. While she might need a moment, she won’t leave.”

Verity and Grif talked about a wedding? Happiness filled my heart. Maybe I could be a flour boy and hand out tiny heart-shaped loaves of sourdough bread to everyone as they waited.

“Hey, it’s okay, Jellybean. She’ll be fine with it. Also, she, um, she sort of knows.” Grif ran his fingers through my hair.

“You told her before us?” Jonas frowned and rubbed his bare chin.

Grif shook his head, letting go of me and plopping down on the couch. “She guessed. At that point, I didn’t know I was a gamma. I have no idea how she knew.”

“Well, she was with you when you reacted the way you did.” I joined him on the couch and put my head on his shoulder.

“She is fucking smart. Isn’t her sister a gamma? Has anyone given any thought to how fucked we’re going to be when there are little genius baby omega Veritys running around?” Jonas sandwiched me between him and Grif.

Be still my heart. If only I could be so lucky one day.

I looked over to AJ. “We should be afraid of the super alphas she and AJ could make.”

AJ’s eyebrows rose. “We’re making babies now?”

“She’s attracted to you. Or did your dick down her throat not tell you that?” Grif smirked at AJ.

“She sucked your dick? It was the night Grif gave her his jersey, right? I knew it.” I grinned at AJ.

AJ shrugged as he sat on the arm of the sectional and put an arm around Grif. “I don’t kiss and tell.”

Those two would have super alphas. She and Jonas would make adorable troublemakers. We were vastly underestimating the kids Verity and Grif would have. The very tall kids. All our kids would be amazingly athletic, too.

“While I can’t wait to bond with AJ, I want Verity, too. I want to add her to the pack. Bond with her. Raise kids with her. And I won’t be able to wait until June,” Grif told us earnestly. “How can we make that work given she’s raising Mercy? Do we move them both in? Though we only have one guest bedroom. While I’m sure Verity won’t sleep much in her bed, she should have her own space. Do we keep two households and I alternate where I sleep until Mercy turns eighteen?”

I tried to smooth away the worry in his face with my hand.

“We could give Verity the upstairs guest room and turn the upstairs office into a room for Mercy, even though it doesn’t have a bathroom,” Jonas offered.

“That would work,” Grif added, rubbing his red beard. “Though we’ll need some house rules to accommodate a teenager.”

Jonas nodded. “Like a clothes in public spaces rule.”

Ugh. Not that. But if we were housing a teenager, there needed to be boundaries.

“I… I could give up my office for Verity, given it’s next to Grif’s room, and has a bathroom,” AJ said slowly, squeezing Grif’s hand.

Oh. That would work.

“You’d give up your office?” Grif gave him a kiss.

“I never use it. I’d rather work out here.” AJ shrugged. “I’m okay with her moving in sooner rather than later. Though she does not get to redecorate the common spaces in pastels and twinkle lights.”

We should do that next time he went on a business trip. We could get lots of throw pillows in cute shapes, whimsical blankets, and a variegated fuzzy rug.

Oooh, and cutesy tea towels and kitchen decor. Maybe a fancy teapot?

The possibilities were endless. Like a pretty stand for her cupcakes and cake pops.

“She needs an enormous bathtub,” I added, remembering her lamenting not having a bathtub at her place to drink wine and read books.

“With grips or bars so she can get in and out easily,” AJ added.

“What about making her pack?” Jonas eyed AJ.

I raised my hand. “Fuck, yeah.”

“Sure. I want Grif to be happy. Also, she’s not terrible. I’d have a kid and spend a lifetime with her.” AJ shrugged again.

Not terrible? It was difficult not to snort. Those two texted a lot. Was AJ in love with her? I mean, he did just say he’d have her babies. I loved how he’d gone from hating Verity to wanting a life with her.

We talked for a while longer, trying to work out as much as we could at this time of night.

“You want to go to bed, Boo-Boo?” AJ murmured, stroking the back of his neck.

I could smell the anxiousness in Grif’s scent, feel it in our bond. My dearest husband desperately needed to go to bed–but not with AJ.

Not yet.

“Firstsies.” I grinned and tugged on his hand as I stood. “You’re mine, Gumdrop. The alphas can wait.” Not only did I want my husband, for once, I was the one who knew exactly what he needed.

“If you insist, Jellybean.” Grabbing me by the collar of my shirt, Grif pulled me to him and gave me a searing kiss. Wisps of my perfume came out as my blockers wore off.

“Oh, I do.” I met his eyes with mine, and tugged on his hand again, sending sheer unbridled lust through the bond.

“Well, then.” With a lusty gleam in his eyes, Grif stood.

AJ waved him off. “You know where I am. Jonas and I should go over some stuff, anyway.”

“AJ, you should call Verity. Her matchmaking grandma wants her to mate with a pack of doctors. She was hiding from her earlier because obviously, that’s not what Verity wants,” Grif told him.

Verity mating with people not us? No. I didn’t like that idea at all, and I growled a little.

“Same, Dean. A pack entirely of doctors? No.” AJ chuckled. “I’ll call her.”

“We’re going to my room tonight.” I pushed Grif into my room. Closing the door behind me, I flipped on the switch that lit my room, which was done mostly in red and orange fairy lights. “Shirt off.”

I stripped mine off and threw it onto the floor. Then I drew the heavy curtains, closing off the magnificent view of the city my corner room offered me.

“You’re in charge tonight, Jellybean?” Grif smirked as he took off his shirt. My bite mark on his pec had faded. Omega bond marks didn’t leave a silvery scar like alpha ones, but the bond itself was still there.

“Yes. Well, for now.” I grinned as I climbed the ladder that led to my loft nest.

“You want me up here with you?” Grif’s voice wavered as he looked up at me.

“Come on.” I waved him up. While he sometimes joined me in my nest, it was mostly up at the cabin. Here, we usually fucked–and snuggled–in his room.

This was my safe spot, my cozy, quiet place. I’d decorated my loft nest in the same reds and oranges as my room, but it wasn’t tall enough to stand in. Pillows, stuffies, blankets, and things stolen from my packmates filled the loft.

As he climbed up the ladder, I pushed the button on the wall that turned off all the lights but the ones up here. I closed the curtain that blocked it off from the rest of the room. Tugging his hand, I pulled him into the nest with me.

We laid down together, nestling under the soft and cozy blankets. Putting my head on his chest, I ran my fingers through his hair and said nothing. No, as I purred, I let the scents of all my favorite people comfort him, along with the cozy glow of the lights.

I watched as the tension drained out of his face, smelled as his scent changed back to normal, and heard his heart rate slow.

For a long while, we laid there, quiet, bodies entwined. It reminded me of all the times we’d done this as kids–or at university–usually in a blanket fort.

At some point, we stopped making blanket forts. I didn’t drag him into a nest with me just for cuddles. We snuggled on the couch or in bed–but that wasn’t the same.

This was exactly what he needed tonight. No matter what he called himself, how often we forgot, deep down, he was an omega, and liked snuggly, safe places. Just like I did.

He sighed deeply and looked over at me with his big green eyes. The ones that tugged at my heart that first day we’d played hockey when he almost cried because he didn’t know he needed his own gear, unlike the league he’d been playing in. Since his parents hadn’t stayed, I’d done what any other small child would do. I took him by the hand, brought him to my mom, and demanded she fix it.

Those eyes that grew wide the first time he came over to my house after practice. His parents were happy that he’d made friends. There was never any jealousy or anger, only a little wistfulness that they couldn’t do it themselves. If anything, they were happy my parents could give him so many opportunities.

I’d share everything with him.

Those eyes were full of anxiety on the first day of our exclusive prep school, when he’d gotten a ‘scholarship’ so he could attend with me. I’d later learn that most of the scholarships Grif got to attend school and camps with me or to cover his hockey fees were actually my parents, knowing we needed to stay together.

Those eyes that gleamed when we’d made a top collegiate hockey team together.

Those eyes became misty when we realized that for us both to achieve our PHL dreams, we’d have to be apart for the first time in years.

Those eyes teared up in that private clinic when he’d torn my heart out balefully admitting why he’d taken an entire bottle of heavy-duty blockers in an attempt to get rid of his omega out of fear of being outed like I’d been.

Those eyes lit up as he proposed to me in front of an entire fucking stadium after winning the PHL championship for the Hurricanes.

Those eyes melted my soul when we married in front of all our family and friends back in Boston.

My hand cupped his face. His beard softly scratched against my hand. “Feeling better, Gumdrop?”

“Much.” He scrunched his nose, face pressing into my hand. “I miss our epic blanket forts.”

“Me, too. We can still build them. You know, when I awakened my mom said she wasn’t surprised, considering how many blanket forts we’d built.” My thumb stroked his cheekbone.

We’d build them all the time–to eat an after-practice snack, study for that test, watch movies, make out, or simply try not to be overwhelmed. It was our special place where we could block everyone out.

Grif laughed, his deep chuckle filling the nest. “I don’t think you ever told me that.”

“We can make a space for you. I know you’ve always said you didn’t need your own nest, but I also know why.”

I’d never forget his expression when he awakened. There’d been so much fear. His identity, his future, had been so wrapped up in hockey. He fought against his nature, hard, because he was afraid of what would be left of him if that were stripped away.

He winced, and I pressed my forehead to his as if I could quiet his thoughts.

“It’s a good idea. It just makes it all real.” He sighed, eyes closing.

“I know. Think about it. We should tell my mom before it goes public. She’s always been Team Grif.” Also, she had a lot of contacts, and we’d need all the help we could get. That joke about omegas knowing the strangest people was completely true.

“She doesn’t know? I mean, we’d never talked about it, but I thought you told her. Especially considering the gifts she gets me.” His green eyes blinked as his nose wrinkled in confusion.

“I never told her, but I’m sure she guessed.” I planted a kiss on his nose to unwrinkle it.

He turned on his side to face me better, but our legs were still tangled. “True, and you’re right. I should tell a parent or two.”

“Oh, you should–and Sissy.” Because we’d never hear the end of it if he didn’t.

“Very true.” His arms wrapped around me as he dragged me so I laid on top of him.

“I love you so much. I’ve been where you are and I’m here for you every step of the way. We all are.” Like they’d been there for me.

“Thank you. Because I… I’m so out of sorts, Dean.” His voice grew ragged. “I wasn’t expecting any of this. What if I come out as an omega but still have health problems? Or if my career ends at its peak? What if–”

My lips met his, trying to both silence him and quell his fears as I poured love through our bond. “One thing at a time, Gumdrop.”

He stilled under my kisses, his scent losing its bitter saltiness and once again just being rain with a hint of sweetness.

“Can you purr for me some more?” he asked, snuggling into me. Grif never got his purr.

I gave him a kiss. “Anything for you. Gumdrop. Anything.”