Page 5 of Mating With My Grumpy Alphas (Hollow Haven #2)

Rhett

T he Tumble Mug was busier than usual for a Thursday evening, the bar hummed with conversations and the click of pool balls from the back room. I pushed through the door looking for Hollis, who’d texted me an hour ago asking if I wanted to grab a drink and “talk about things.”

I had a pretty good idea what “things” meant, and I wasn’t sure I was ready for that conversation. But Hollis had been good to me over the years, and if he wanted to discuss the new omega who’d been occupying entirely too much of my mental space, I owed him that much.

What I hadn’t expected was to find Wes Thatcher and Elias Wren sitting at a corner table, both looking like they’d rather be anywhere else.

Great. Just great.

I considered turning around and leaving, but Wes had already spotted me. He raised his hand in a half-hearted wave that looked as reluctant as I felt.

“Rhett,” he called out. “You waiting for Hollis too?”

Too . That little word carried a lot of implications I didn’t want to examine. I walked over to their table, noting the way both men looked uncomfortable in a way that had nothing to do with the bar’s atmosphere.

“He asked you to meet him here?” I asked, settling into the empty chair across from them.

“Said he wanted to discuss ‘community integration,’” Elias said, making air quotes around the phrase. “You?”

“‘Talk about things ,’” I replied, using the same tone. “‘Things’ being suspiciously vague.”

Wes snorted. “I’m starting to think we’ve been set up.”

The three of us sat in awkward silence for a moment, each processing the implications of Hollis summoning all of us to the same place at the same time. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what we might have in common that would require discussion.

“So,” Elias said finally, his voice carefully neutral. “How’s everyone’s week been?”

“Fine,” Wes and I said simultaneously, then glared at each other for the synchronization.

“Mine’s been interesting,” Elias continued, apparently determined to push through the awkwardness. “Met some new people. The new omega who’s working at Pine & Pages seems to be settling in well.”

There it was. The elephant in the room, dressed up in polite small talk.

“Willa,” Wes said, and something in the way he said her name made my alpha instincts bristle slightly.

“You know her well?” I asked, trying to sound casual and probably failing.

“We’ve talked a few times. She seems to have some background in wildlife photography, though she’s reluctant to discuss it.”

Of course she’d talked to him about photography. The environmentalist and the omega with artistic interests. It made perfect sense, and I hated how much that bothered me.

“She’s had some challenges adjusting to the new environment,” Elias added. “Mentioned some wellness concerns during our conversation yesterday.”

I looked at him sharply. “You had a wellness consultation with her?”

“She accepted some scent tea for anxiety management,” Elias said carefully. “Nothing invasive or presumptuous. Just basic omega support.”

Scent tea. Personal, intimate, the kind of thing that required trust and comfort. The kind of thing I definitely shouldn’t be jealous about but absolutely was.

“Must be nice,” I muttered, then immediately regretted how petty that sounded.

“Is there something you want to say, Rhett?” Wes asked, his voice carrying a warning edge.

“Just that it’s interesting how everyone seems to be finding reasons to spend time with the new omega in town.”

“And you haven’t?” Elias asked mildly.

I thought about the heating repair I’d volunteered for, the way I’d brought pastries and lingered longer than necessary, the coffee mug incident that I’d replayed in my head a dozen times.

“I fixed her workplace heating system,” I admitted grudgingly.

“How generous of you,” Wes said dryly.

We glared at each other across the table, territorial instincts starting to surface despite our attempts at civilized conversation. This was exactly why I preferred working alone, why I’d avoided pack dynamics and multiple alpha complications my entire adult life.

“Gentlemen,” Elias said, his healer’s voice cutting through the tension. “I think we need to address what’s actually happening here.”

“Which is?” I asked, though I knew exactly what he meant.

“We’re all interested in the same omega. We’re all circling around her like territorial animals. And Hollis clearly thinks we need to discuss how we’re going to handle that without being complete disasters.”

Hearing it said out loud made it impossible to pretend this was just friendly community concern or professional courtesy.

“Maybe we should establish some ground rules,” Wes suggested. “Make sure we’re not making her uncomfortable by competing for her attention.”

“What kind of rules?” I asked suspiciously.

“No undermining each other. No trying to sabotage someone else’s interactions with her. Basic respect for whatever connections she chooses to build.”

“And if she chooses one of us over the others?” The question came out more vulnerable than I’d intended.

Elias and Wes exchanged a look that I couldn’t quite read.

“Then we respect her choice,” Elias said finally. “But maybe we don’t assume it has to be either-or.”

Pack dynamics. The thing I’d been avoiding thinking about since the moment I’d caught her scent and felt my world shift sideways.

“You’re talking about sharing,” I said bluntly.

“I’m talking about letting her decide what she wants instead of forcing her to choose between us,” Elias corrected. “Some omegas prefer multiple alpha support. Others don’t. It’s not our decision to make.”

“And you’d be okay with that? Sharing?”

Wes was quiet for a long moment, staring at his beer bottle. “I’ve never considered it before,” he said finally. “But I’ve also never met an omega who made me question everything I thought I wanted.”

Yeah, that about summed it up.

“She’s been hurt,” I said quietly. “By her previous alpha. Badly enough that she moved halfway across the country to get away from him.”

“How do you know that?” Elias asked.

“The way she reacts to alpha attention. The way she flinches when you get too close too fast. The way she holds herself like she’s expecting to be criticized or controlled.”

Both men nodded in recognition. They’d seen it too.

“So we take it slow,” Wes said. “We let her set the pace. We prove we’re different from whoever hurt her.”

“And if she doesn’t want any of us?”

“Then we respect that too,” Elias said firmly. “Her healing and happiness matter more than what we want.”

I was about to respond when the bar door opened and a familiar figure walked in. Tall, expensive clothes, the kind of confident bearing that came from old money and private schools. Several conversations died as people noticed who’d entered.

Cassian Black. The man everyone in town was treating like an environmental villain, here to destroy their protected woodlands for profit.

The man I’d known as Cass in college. My study partner, my drinking buddy, the guy who’d spent spring break helping build houses for Habitat for Humanity instead of partying in Cancun.

He spotted me almost immediately, his expression shifting from wary to surprised to something that might have been relief. He made his way over to our table, ignoring the hostile looks and whispered comments from other patrons.

“Rhett,” he said, stopping beside our table. “I heard you were still in town.”

“Cass,” I replied, studying his face for traces of the man I’d known fifteen years ago. “Didn’t expect to see you in Hollow Haven.”

“Business,” he said simply, then glanced at Wes and Elias. “Mind if I join you? I’m not exactly welcome at other tables tonight.”

I could feel the tension radiating from my companions.

To them, this was the enemy. The corporate shark who wanted to destroy the watershed for a luxury resort.

But looking at Cass’s face, I saw something I recognized from our college days.

The expression he used to get when his father pushed him to do things that went against his conscience.

“Have a seat,” I said, ignoring Wes’s sharp look.

Cass settled into the remaining chair, and I could practically feel the hostility from nearby tables increasing. Whatever he was doing in Hollow Haven, he wasn’t making friends.

“So,” he said, attempting casual conversation. “What brings three upstanding citizens together on a Thursday night?”

“Community discussion,” Elias said diplomatically.

“About the new omega in town,” Wes added, his tone carrying a subtle warning.

Cass’s eyebrows rose. “The one working at the bookstore? Willa Rowan. She’s quite talented. Photography background, I believe.”

How does he know about her photography? The question must have shown on my face because Cass shrugged.

“I saw some of her work at an environmental summit. Powerful stuff, she has a good eye. I was surprised that she didn’t go further with her work. I heard in town that she’s been having some adjustment difficulties.”

“Adjustment difficulties?” Wes’s voice had gone dangerous.

“New environment, multiple alpha scents, suppressant complications. Common issues for displaced omegas.” Cass’s tone was matter-of-fact, almost clinical. “I hope she’s getting proper support.”

The protective anger that flared in all three of us was probably visible from space. Whatever else Cass might be, he was clearly paying attention to Willa’s situation in a way that made my territorial instincts sit up and take notice.

“She’s getting all the support she needs,” I said firmly.

“Good.” Cass smiled, and for a moment I caught a glimpse of the man I’d known in college. “She seems like someone worth protecting.”

He used to be a really good guy, I thought, watching him deflect the hostility of the other bar patrons with practiced ease. I can’t match the man he is now with the one I knew back then.

“What are you really doing here, Cass?” I asked quietly.

His smile faded, replaced by something more genuine and much more tired. “What I have to do,” he said. “What I should have done a long time ago.”

Before I could ask what he meant by that, he stood up and tossed a twenty on the table even though he hadn’t even ordered a drink.

“Drinks are on me,” he said. “And Rhett? It was good to see you again. We should catch up sometime.”

He left the bar as abruptly as he’d arrived, leaving the three of us staring after him.

“You know him,” Wes said. It wasn’t a question.

“College roommate,” I said. “Good guy back then. Always stood up for people who couldn’t stand up for themselves. Guess that’s changed.”

“People change,” Elias said quietly. “Usually not for the better when money and family pressure are involved.”

“Maybe.” I watched through the window as Cass climbed into an expensive sedan parked at the edge of the lot. “But something about this doesn’t feel right. The Cass I knew wouldn’t destroy habitat for profit. He’d be the first one chaining himself to trees to stop it.”

“Fifteen years is a long time,” Wes pointed out.

People are complicated, I thought, watching the sedan disappear down the road toward the edge of town where I’d heard he’d rented a house. And everyone in this bar thinks they know exactly who he is and why he’s here.

“So,” Elias said, clearly trying to redirect our attention back to the original conversation. “About Willa.”

Right. The reason we were all here. The omega who’d managed to catch the attention of three very different alphas and one mysterious businessman with unclear motives.

“We take it slow,” I said, echoing Wes’s earlier words. “We let her decide what she wants. And we don’t make her life more complicated than it already is.”

“Agreed,” Wes said.

“Agreed,” Elias echoed.

She was worth the effort. I was still thinking about coffee mug collisions and the way her scent had made me forget how to think straight days later. Whatever this turned into, she was worth figuring it out.

Even if it meant sharing. Even if it meant working with two other alphas who clearly cared about her as much as I was starting to.

Hollis, you magnificent matchmaker , I thought, finally understanding why he’d arranged this meeting. You knew exactly what you were doing.

As we finished our drinks and prepared to leave, I found myself thinking about pack dynamics and territorial compromise and the possibility that maybe, just maybe, some things were worth being flexible about.

Some people were worth changing for.

And Willa Rowan was definitely one of them.