Page 68 of The Alpha: Part Three

I am looking forward to fall and also dreading it. We're planning a trip back to the West Coast. I can't wait to see my brothers again and introduce them to Calian. But we're going back for fire season. It was too important to Michael and Ben no matter how much it worries me. I know they're careful and they know what they're doing, but I'll never not be terrified of them not coming back home from a fire. We're staying from the middle of fall until the end of winter. Seth will travel back and forth as he needs to, which will give Brandon the opportunity to come visit Joseph and Cody.

Calian is asleep in his bassinet right now. I just put him down to finish out his sleep for the night. If I'm lucky I'll have a good two hours before he wakes up. Standing at the foot of our big bed, I look down at my guys sprawled out where I left them. I still can't believe this is my life.

I got everything I ever wanted and more. I have a pack of alphas who love me and who I love more and more every single day. I have the most beautiful son, and he will grow up with family all around him who will love and protect him. My life has become so joyful that sometimes it's hard to remember that it's real.

“Come back to bed,” Seth whispers, reaching for me. “We've only got a couple hours left.”

I crawl into the bed, making my way through and over the tangle of limbs until I get to Seth. Snuggling into his side, I drape my thigh across one of his, smiling when Ben curls his body around me from behind. Michael's foot finds its way over to hook my ankle and I sigh. This is it. This is what the rest of my life will be, and I can't wait to live it.

Chapter twenty-nine

Releasingin2026

“I’ve texted ahead to let them know you’re with me.”

She nods, blinking at me with wide eyes.

I can feel my pack pacing just on the other side of the door. I wonder if she can feel them, too. She has to, there’s no possible way she doesn’t. My own skin is prickling with their energy. She’s looking up at me so solemnly. So trusting. This was a bad idea.

“We’ve never had an omega in our home. They’re,” I glance over my shoulder at the piece of wood keeping her safe from the energy and questions waiting for her, “anxious. They’re very anxious.”

Her eyes flick from mine to the door, then back to me and she nods again.

I take a deep breath that moves my chest and shoulders. “I’ll try to keep them from overwhelming you, but they’re…anxious.” They’re far more than anxious. They are scared. They’re nervous. And worst of all, they’re hopeful.

With any luck, I’ll open this door and they’ll behave like the good alphas I know them to be and she won’t be any more alarmed than she already is. The acrid scent of fear isn’t rolling off of her the way it was when she first took my hand, but she is by no means calm or relaxed. If they come at her too strongly or too fast it could startle her. No, it will terrify her. She could bolt. Jesus, if she runs at least one of them will chase her. “Please listen to me. It’s okay to be afraid of them, they’ll understand that, but please,pleasedon’t run. Okay? They won’t hurt you, but they might chase you if you run.”

She very cautiously puts her hand in mine and blinks up at me again as she gives my fingers a soft squeeze.

I drag in another long breath and let it out slowly. So many things could go wrong and every one of them will be my fault. This is the perfect opportunity for an irreversible and horrific disaster. This was a very bad idea.

“I’m going to open the door now,” I say loudly enough that both the trembling omega behind me and the alphas stalking back and forth on the other side of the door can hear me clearly. I pause with my hand on the knob and look back at her one more time before I twist it. “Don’t run.”