Page 12 of The Bear, the Eagle, and their Wombat Omega (Omegas of Animals: SD #14)

Steve

Meeting my mates had flooded me with this sense of home. It was more than I could have dreamed of. How could it get better than this?

But somehow it did. Now that we had marked each other, I felt like I was home wrapped in a hug, eating warm cookies, snuggled up with bunches of the cushy pillows.

I fell asleep, content and safe in a way I’d never experienced before. And when I woke up, that feeling was still there. These men, these alphas, they were both my present and my future. I was beyond thrilled to take this journey with them.

After we ate, I had to go back to my place for a short time to change my clothes and cancel some meetings. There was no way I wanted to work when my mates were here, at least not yet. Everything was so new, and I just wanted to enjoy it.

They drove me, and I was embarrassed at first. They were so successful in their careers and their lives and, while my apartment was much better than the first one I had here, it wasn’t great by any stretch of the imagination. The entire place wasn’t even as big as their hotel suite.

I shouldn’t have been. We walked in the front door, and the first thing Bruno noticed was a picture of my family. Not the tiny space, not the clutter, but a picture of the people who’d mattered most to me at one point. My connection to my family was complicated, but I still loved them.

There were days I thought of putting it away. It reminded me that I was a disappointment to them, and our connection pretty toxic. But at the end of the day, they were still mine, and I was still theirs…just from a distance, now, which was better for everyone.

“You look so cute here.” The two of them hovered over it.

“That’s because I was about eight. Everybody’s cute when they’re eight.”

“Pretty sure I wasn’t cute,” Arkyn teased.

“I think we’re gonna have to have proof of that.”

And as I logged into my computer and redid my schedule, they pulled up picture after picture on their phone to show me they younger selves.

“You’re right. You weren’t cute.” I kissed his cheek. “You were absolutely adorable.”

They both beamed. It was as if a compliment to one was a compliment both. Not a smidge of jealousy to be seen.

“Do you see your family often?” Bruno asked me.

“My family is a long, complicated story. My father is the alpha of the wisdom, and because of that, I had a role to play there that I did not want. That’s how I ended up here.

” I wasn’t going to hide my past from them, but I really didn’t want to focus on the negative right then.

There would be a time and place for that.

“We’re both glad you did.”

Each of my alphas kissed my cheek at the same time. I went from being lonely to being the center of attention, and it was a lot. But it was also cozy, and like it was meant to be this way always.

“Let me change my clothes.”

“I’ll help you.” Arkin stood up with me.

“And if you help me, are we actually going to go anywhere?” Not that I was totally opposed to switching plans around.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” He sat back down.

I did a quick change of clothes, having already showered at the hotel, and then the three of us were off.

I wanted to show them around the city, but also I needed to get the vehicle back from Animals.

We decided that the best way to do that was to do the tour and end at the club for a dinner and drinks.

I was still fairly new to the area. I spent most of my time here working, but I showed them all of my favorite places.

We got coffee at my favorite coffee shop.

We walked around my favorite park. And, being the boring tour guide I was, they saw my bank and the library I used, as well as the bus depot.

“There’s so much culture here. I just don’t know it all yet,” I told them. “I spend a lot of time working.” It had been my entire focus. And now that they were here, and I could show them everything, I saw just how much I missed out on.

“We know how that feels,” Bruno said.

Back at Animals, we walked straight in, the bouncers waving us forward.

“It looks so much different from yesterday,” Bruno noted.

“They do a really good job of setting up for events. They transform it.” I’d seen pictures of past events, and mine was compared to some of the wonderlands they created.

“They did, or did you?” Arkin’s arm wrapped around my waist all possessive-like. Gods, I loved that.

“I think a little bit of both.”

We found a booth in the corner and ordered some food and drinks, just chatting and flirting with each other between interruptions…

of which there were many. The event had outraised their goal, and everyone was excited.

We heard from Zevo, the kitchen manager, the dining manager, the bar manager, a few patrons and, I suspected, a few residents.

I hadn’t spent enough time here to know which people lived on property and who didn’t, but they had their own little community here, almost like their own pack. It was pretty special.

“I think there’s karaoke tonight.” I was a horrible singer, but oh, how I loved karaoke.

“Karaoke?” Bruno looked like a deer in headlights.

Arkyn looked at Bruno. “Should we?”

“Oh, we should.” I dragged them both out of the booth, and we signed up for a silly song about hunting for bears. I had an almost memory of it being a children’s book put to music.

We were off-key, none of us really knowing the melody, but the audience did, and they were there for it. Drunk and sober shifters alike were singing away, some even doing hand gestures. We were a hit.

It was a rush.

“So, a bear hunt, huh?” Bruno’s lips were so close to my ear, I could feel his breath. “What are you going to do when you find him? Are you going to run away, like in the song?”

“Nope. He’s going to be stuck with me forever. And I come with a side helping of eagle.”

The growl in his chest told me it was time to go back to the hotel. We had things to do, just the three of us.

And by things, I meant each other.