Page 40 of Follow Your Instincts (Fairview City Omegaverse)

Lachlan

M y two obsessions were giggling behind me on the stairs, but I could hardly focus. My mind was shifting incessantly between replaying Ben’s hard cock pressed against me, and the terror of letting Maggie be in the same room as that shithead Todd Phillips.

Maggie’s strength of will was incredible, as was her moral compass, but I wished she would just be selfish and protect herself. Or maybe I was the selfish one.

I sighed, and my mind spun back to Ben’s sly smile when he was stretching me on the mat.

Had that been intentional? Did he know I was irrationally jealous of every person he’d ever been with before, except for Maggie?

Is that why he’d brought up that guy he trained that morning?

And if so, why didn’t he just say something? Why didn’t I?

I looked up, surprised to find myself in the kitchen. Lucas was chopping zucchini. Ben and Maggie were still whispering and giggling to each other as they wandered into the room. Maggie kissed Lucas on the cheek before following Ben into the living room.

“You okay, Lach?” Lucas asked.

“Huh? Yeah, I’m good. I mean, no, I’m not.” I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts and focus on what was important. Maggie. Not how I felt about my packmate.

Lucas laughed. “Okay, sure. Wanna try that again?”

“How was Maggie’s appointment?” I asked instead. “She said the doctor cleared her for ‘light jogging’ and now she’s colluding with Ben for… extracurricular activities.”

He started slicing an onion. “Yeah, that’s true. The doctor said she’s healing right up. I do remember the jogging comment. He said as long as it doesn’t cause sharp pain, or make her too uncomfortable, she’s good to go.”

I sighed.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Lucas asked. He saw too much, as always.

“Yes, of course,” I said quickly. I looked over my shoulder towards the living room to make sure Maggie wasn’t in earshot. “I’m just slightly terrified of losing my excuse to keep my distance. I’m not sure if I can trust myself not to come on too strong.”

Lucas gave me an understanding smile. “Hey man, you got this. She’s so ready for you, for us, to be something she can count on. All you gotta do is not mess it up.”

“Thank you, so helpful,” I said dryly.

Soren stomped up the stairs from the garage. He stormed in, looking murderous. Maggie came bolting into the kitchen when she heard the door close.

“Did you see him?” She asked immediately.

“Phillips? No. It was that Sergeant Broad asshole. Harcourt called me into her office, and he was there. Told her you’d been called in to testify in Phillips’ hearing.

She called me in since she knows you’re staying with us,” he said.

“He fucking… sniffed me on the way out to the bullpen. Said some bullshit about ‘hoping my Alphas were keeping you happy.’”

Soren met my eyes, and I read his uneasiness there.

“I fucking hate that creep,” Maggie said. She had crossed her arms tightly, and I could see her fists clenching.

“This is exactly why you shouldn’t go to this hearing,” I said. “Not only are you approaching your first heat, you’ll have to be in a room with Phillips and another man that clearly doesn’t respect you, either.”

“She has to go, Lach,” Soren said. “They’ll drop the case without her testimony.”

I exhaled sharply. Soren drew Maggie into his arms. She didn’t relax right away, but I watched our Beta stroke her back until she slowly wrapped her arms around him.

“You’ve got this, baby girl,” he said into her hair.

“And we’ll be there for you every step of the way, right? ” He glared at me over her head.

“Of course,” I said. “And it’s not that I don’t think you’re capable, I just hate the idea of you being exposed to danger of any kind.”

Maggie peeked out at me from Soren’s arms. “I just want him not to be able to hurt people. If he’s a cop, he’s got a way bigger chance of hurting someone the way he hurt me.”

I nodded. “And that’s why you’re a much better person than I. Of course, we’ll be there to support you.”

Ben had come into the kitchen. He was watching me with a strange look on his face, something that might have been pride. I caught his eye, and our moment earlier flashed in my mind. I flushed bright red and turned back to Maggie to try and hide it.

“What about Greta? Have you found a way to connect her and that Alpha, Paul, to Todd?” Maggie asked. “Especially since we’ll hopefully be getting his ass fired in two days, I’d love to also get him arrested.”

“No luck,” Soren said. “They’re not registered as a pack. Which isn’t illegal if you’re a club owner, but is very illegal if you’re a cop. So if we can prove Phillips is involved with this pack, and get Greta to connect them to the robbery…”

Maggie hummed in frustration. “That’s relying a lot on the testimony of a terrified woman.” She turned and pointed at me. “I am NOT a terrified woman, so don’t even start with me,” she said.

I raised my hands in surrender. “I wasn’t going to say a word. ”

“If I can link Paul Henchcliffe and Todd Phillips, it’s a start. Or Greta’s dirtbag cousin, Stephen, and either of them. He’s gotta be involved somehow,” Soren said.

“In other news, I followed up with the NON IT security team,” I said. “There’s been no detectable breach, so the information about Maggie being at that Omega Center had to have been shared by an individual.”

“Fucking great,” Maggie said. “I bet it was Jess, then. Can we look for a connection between her and Todd?”

“Of course,” Soren said, nodding.

“Maybe I should go talk to her, try and get her to admit to something,” Maggie said.

“Absolutely not,” Lucas said, surprising everyone. “Sorry, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to go back there, where Todd’s already hurt you, especially when he’s being backed into a corner by this hearing.”

The worst thing you could do with a feral Alpha is back them into a corner. I nodded approvingly at Lucas.

After a moment, Ben cleared his throat. “So, as much fun as all this detective stuff is… what are we going to do to celebrate Maggie’s recovery?”

“I’m making a stir fry,” Lucas said. “But I don’t think that exactly counts as a celebration.”

Maggie pulled out of Soren’s arms and snuggled up to Lucas. “I think that sounds delicious.”

“Yeah, yeah, we get it, he’s a hunky chef,” Ben said impatiently. “Can we, like, go somewhere after dinner? Go do the dancing equivalent of a light jog?”

“What would you like to do, baby girl?” Soren asked.

Maggie’s face fell slightly. “If it’s okay, I’d like to save the celebration until after this hearing. Hopefully it’ll be in honor of my healing ribs and that asshole being fired.”

“Of course,” I said and held out my arms to her. She looked surprised for a moment, then came into my embrace. “How about dinner and a movie? ”

Maggie’s head was resting in my lap after dinner. We’d put on a fantasy film everyone had seen a thousand times and she was nodding off within the first twenty minutes. I’d bundled her up in a blanket and was playing with her auburn ringlets, winding them around my fingers.

Ben was sitting next to me. I was so aware of his proximity that it was almost painful.

The inches separating his leg from mine felt too close and too far, all at once.

I hadn’t looked him in the eye since our conversation in the kitchen.

It was humbling to have two people in my life with the ability to reduce me to a blushing idiot.

At least with Maggie, I knew she was somewhat interested in me, too.

“Do I need to report myself to pack HR?” Ben whispered, leaning towards me.

“What?” I said, confused enough to forget I wasn’t supposed to be looking at him. I turned, and his lips were right there . I wrapped my hands more firmly in Maggie’s curls, and she sighed in her sleep.

“I am sorry about earlier. If it made you uncomfortable. I just feel like I sexually harassed you and I don’t know how to fix it,” He whispered awkwardly.

“You sexually harass everyone,” I said. “You didn’t… we don’t have to talk about it. I’m not upset.”

“Yeah, that’s convincing,” He said sarcastically.

“Ben,” I said, turning to look at him again. His eyes were sad, and there was a line between his brows that I wanted to smooth away. “You didn’t upset me. I promise. If you had, I would tell you because you’re my pack.” I tried to smile. “So please do not call HR.”

“Promise?” Ben asked. “You know I won’t cross any more lines if it bothers you. I’m not that kind of person… right?”

The doubt in his voice sent a pang through my heart. Impulsively, I grabbed his hand and squeezed it, interlocking our fingers. “I promise. And no, you’re not that kind of person.” Before I let myself think too hard, I planted a quick kiss on the back of his hand before releasing it.

“Love you too, Lach,” Ben whispered. Then he settled back into the couch, leaving me to try not to read too much into those words.