16. Alastor

Chapter 16

Alastor

" A cat?"

"That's right," Brody replies over a sip of tea.

I rub my chin, concocting a master plan in my head.

Yeah, I'll get Ella a cat. Any way to get back at Kellen.

He spends all day constructing her nest and he has even started camping out in the room, so I obviously need to up game.

And getting the Omega a cat may just do the trick.

Apparently, she is obsessed with cat videos, and Brody let it slip that we had actually planned on getting him a cat before she came into our lives.

I'd forgotten about that, to be honest. I guess our priorities changed.

Back then, we were more concerned about keeping her away from Brody for his sake, but now all that has changed.

We have her here not only for his sake but for all our sakes now. Even Theo’s, even if he is an asshole.

He got his job back at the prison, and I think he just did it to get away from Ella.

The Alpha can't stand the sight of her. Only because she reminds him of how awful he is.

He is wracked with guilt and good. That is why I saw fit to take his position from him.

I'm the new pack lead now, and I plan on keeping the title for as long as I can.

But I did it for Ella's sake mostly.

Because I knew it was the only way I could get her to come home with me when I found her in the underground.

I'd fight both my brothers if it made her feel safe.

"Remember not to turn it into a competition," Brody warns.

"Oh, I can't make any promise there, Brody."

"Alastor…" Brody says, placing his cup down.

I chuckle, hiding my smirk behind my cup. I can't help being evil. It's just who I am.

"Ella is starting to notice."

"Notice what?"

He sighs. "That you two are always competing... That you're all competing."

"Well, it was you who gave us the challenge in the shop. You can't play with fire like that, Brody. Me, Kellen, and Theo? We're all too dominant for that. We've been that way since we met."

"Which is a shame, really. God, you're so lucky I’m here. You're lucky we’re both here. It’s okay, Alastor, because we're going to fix all three of you."

Now it's Brody's turn to look smug as he takes a leisurely sip of his tea again.

They're going to fix us? I'd like to see them try.

We're beyond fixing.

The most we can do is tolerate each other, and it still amazes me how we ever formed a pack to begin with.

No one else wanted us as we were all too much to handle, but I often wonder if I would die for my Alphas.

It seems I would rather push them in front of a bus and save my own skin rather than see eye to eye with them, and perhaps Brody is right.

We are broken. I suppose old habits are just hard to break, but we must have bonded at some point.

Training was hard and rigorous, and there was a small time when we did look out for each other.

It was about a year after we met. At around age nineteen. When our instructor had us camping in the woods for weeks.

There, we had to rely on each other, and it's a wonder we survived.

Things were easier then. We weren't dominant. That shit didn't start to manifest until we were all twenty-three.

We were all born within a few weeks of each other too, so maybe it has something to do with the positioning of the stars upon our births, I don't know.

Finishing my tea at last, I get up and swill it beneath the tap before I place it on the drying rack, and I can tell that Brody approves.

Before Brody, it was always me who cleaned this place, so it's nice to have someone around who understands my need for cleanliness.

Theo isn’t so bad, but Kellen is a messy bastard.

His various Viking horns pile up in the sink, and the fucker needs to drink his mead somewhere else.

Perhaps once he's done with Ella's nest, he can go and build himself a time machine and go back to Viking times.

He'd fit right in.

But then I remember how stupid he is, so there's no way he would ever understand the math required to build such a contraception.

Oh, well. Looks like we're stuck with him.

At least he spends all day building the nest, so I don't have to look at his freckled face.

Right now, drills sound through the house, and I am getting sick of the ruckus.

It's like living on a building site, and his shitty singing voice is driving me nuts.

"Well, I'm off," I announce, going to grab my keys.

"Where?" Brody asks.

I meet his spectacled face with a smirk. "For a cat, of course. Anything to wipe the smug look off Kellen's face."

Brody sighs as I shut the door behind myself, moving around to my beat-up old truck.

Theo's is nowhere in sight. That's because he is working at the prison.

I pull out of the drive, then hit the highway. There's a pet shop in the city I always stop at.

They always have kittens inside the window.

I'll just pick whatever one reminds me the most of Ella.

***

I kneel before the pet shop window, watching those balls of fluff on the other side of the glass.

Two are wrestling while another takes a sip from a bowl of water.

One kitten patters up to the window, and its big blue eyes remind me of someone…

They're the same baby blue shade, and it looks like I found my kitten.

"Hey there, fella."

I stroke the glass pane, and the kitten tries to sniff me through the window. When I move it back and forth, it tries to capture my finger with its paws, and I laugh.

A group of Beta women watch me strangely, and I raise a brow. "What?"

Have they never seen an Alpha play with a tiny cat before?

Well, they really haven't lived.

There's a reason why I prefer cats to dogs; they're far cleaner and bury their shit.

Not like dogs. Not like Kellen…

He leaves a fresh log in the toilet every morning, and he needs to learn to flush.

I've made up my mind. I'm getting the little blue-eyed kitten.

"Time to take you home."

***

I carry a small box with holes back to my truck, and the cat won't stop crying inside.

Poor thing. Its pitiful sounds even wrench my heart and I'm heartless…

"It's okay, little guy. You'll be home soon."

"Meow."

"I know, but it'll be over soon."

As I reach the truck, I place him in the passenger seat and buckle up the box.

I still receive strange looks from Beta women, and what is with them today?

Alphas can like cats too.

"Seriously, what?" I say to one woman.

She's just getting out of her car. I thought Betas hated us Alphas right now, given how they are all protesting in the streets, but the women today look particularly interested in me.

That's when it hits me. The cat.

Women of all designations have a soft spot for men who love animals, and I shake my head, getting in my truck.

I thought they all looked at me funny. Well, they can eat their hearts out because my heart already belongs to someone else.

Hence why I am getting her the kitten.

The kitten in question is still mewing, and when I start the engine, he only gets worse.

Must be scary. A giant has practically stuffed him inside a box, and he has no idea what fate has in store for him now.

All good stuff, I can assure you.

Ella may have killer instincts, but she would never hurt a cat.

Okay, maybe bigger cats aren’t so safe, as I recall the puma she killed in the woods, but this little guy is safe.

I look at the passenger seat again. He sticks a tiny brown paw out of a hole in the box, and I spy that mysterious mitten at once.

Those claws look sharp.

He’ll fit right in at home with us.

"Soon, my friend, I promise. Then you can meet your new mom and dad."

His new mom and dad being Ella and Brody, of course.

I’m more of a funny uncle.

Finally, I drive off, leaving the smitten Beta woman on the sidewalk as I head back home.

I can't help but smile when I think of Ella.

She'll be so excited.