24. Kellen

Chapter twenty-four

Kellen

I am confused.

My Omega spends all his time in the Rogue's nest now, his own forsaken and forgotten, and I am completely at a loss.

I don't know what to do with myself. My purpose has been swept away from right under my feet.

I built that nest just for my Omega. My blood, sweat, and tears went into its four walls, yet he no longer wants to spend any time in there.

Now he has decided to stay in the Rogue's room twenty-four-seven, and I have fallen into a state of depression.

Did I do something wrong? I tried to be a good Alpha, but he no longer wants to see me.

All he wants to see now is that Rogue, and she will pay.

She stole my Omega from me.

Now it's just me alone in Brody's nest. I hug various pillows, pretending they are my sweet, ginger-haired Omega.

His scent lingers everywhere, and it's all I have left of him now.

That temptress took him.

My Omega.

Mine.

All gone.

The door to the nest opens, and I jerk upright, heart hammering throughout my chest. "Brody?"

"No, just me."

Alastor appears next, and I pout, throwing myself back down on the pillows as I drag the quilts over my head.

"Go away."

Alastor snorts, "Go away? Brody's nest is a neutral zone. We're all welcome here."

"Yeah, well I still built it. Brody wouldn't even be here if it weren't for me. I was the one who made you both see sense. I made you see that an Omega would be the best thing for us."

And I did, too. I'm the softie of the pack—the big red retriever. While I may not be the smartest, I have the biggest heart out of my brothers.

They're assholes.

Completely heartless.

"I remember. I also remember how I had to correct your grammar on the application form."

With a growl, I rip the blankets off my face, glaring at him from across the nest now. "I told you I'm dyslexic. Not my fault. You're just a jerk!"

Alastor smirks, and it seems he was just trying to get my goat.

The prick.

He steps into the nest, hovering above me. "Get up."

"No."

With a sigh, he tugs the quilts away, and my growl echoes off the walls of the nest.

"Give them back!"

They still have Brody's scent after all.

"Brody is just down the hall, Kellen. You act as if he died."

Well, he did in a way.

The moment he forsake me and ran to the Rogue's side, he was lost to me.

I failed him as an Alpha.

My Omega no longer wants to know me.

Alastor kneels as I hug two pillows, pouting at the wall, and I really am a big child.

I wear my heart on my sleeve. It can't be helped.

"Has it not occurred to you that this could be a good thing?"

I stare at him aghast, showing my teeth. "How is it good that my Omega would prefer to spend time with a Rogue rather than me?"

He growls, kicking his leg out, and his foot winds me now. I'll get him back when I stop choking on my own air.

"Prick. It's not about you. Stop being so self-absorbed and grow the fuck up for once. Our Omega has his own little pet. This could work in our favor."

"How?"

He smirks, and those green eyes blare like a Go sign at a stoplight.

Freak.

"Because then we may just be able to get our own taste of her. Of both of them… Just think about it. Two Omegas."

I pout like a petulant brat again. Most Alphas brood, but I full-on pout like I'm a five-year-old who didn't get the robot toy he wanted at the arcade.

My parents still won't let me forget that one.

Maybe I do need to grow up. I'm supposed to be an adult now.

"I don't want two Omegas. I only want Brody."

Alastor snarls, "You're pathetic, but fine. Whatever. More of her for me, I suppose."

I give him a snarl of my own, sitting up to meet his scowl. "You would forsake our Omega just for a little taste of pussy?"

His sneer stretches. "You have smelled her, right, Kellen?"

I have. She does smell pretty fantastic, but my heart belongs to Brody…

"Just consider it, Kellen. Also… have you ever thought about what they're doing to each other in that room?"

No, I have not.

I was too heartbroken.

But now I can't help but picture what they're doing, and something alights inside me next as I imagine Brody between her legs, licking her slick clean off her pussy, and a growl starts at the base of my throat.

"Finally. You're starting to see sense. Welcome to adulthood."

He pats my back and I snap my teeth at him.

The door opens yet again, and I whirl around, hope rising in my chest. "Brody?"

Theo's glum face appears as he pushes the door wide open, and once again I pout and flop down on the cushions, facing the wall away from them.

I just want to be alone.

Unless they turn into Brody any time soon, then they can fuck off.

"What the hell are you both doing in here?" the alpha snaps, and I sulk further.

Alastor makes a sound of amusement. "Kellen was sulking ..."

Theo doesn't need further explanation as he shuts the door and steps into the neutral zone. "Yeah, about that. I think we need to talk."

Now he has my full attention, and my ears prick up like a real retriever when he spots a squirrel.

Theo speaks through the pack bond, and it seems he doesn't want anyone to hear our conversation.

Brody should be a part of our bond. If it weren't for that Rogue, we would have probably already bitten him into the pack.

It's just not fair.

What could have been…

"So, Brody has a new obsession," Theo notes through the bond. "Does it not strike any of you as odd?"

I sense Alastor's thoughts running a mile a second, yet mine, however, halt.

I'm stumped.

While I'm aware that some Omegas can become obsessed with their own kind, I'm still unsure why Brody would like that Rogue.

She is everything wrong with this world.

A killer.

She killed a full-grown Alpha and a cougar.

What if she tried to pull a knife on him?

My teeth clench.

I would tear her apart.

Alastor shrugs. "I don't see a problem. She is pretty enticing. Why not just give him what he wants?"

Theo scowls at him. "What he wants? Or what you want, Alastor?"

The green-eyed creep doesn't even try to hide his smirk and the bastard.

He really would risk hurting our Omega's feelings for a sweet piece of pussy.

Brody is his Omega. That's all the sweetness he needs.

He will break Brody's heart.

"So?" Alastor replies. "Don't even act like you two haven't thought about her that way too. She did look pretty tempting in your shirt the other day, Theo? Don't you agree?"

Theo bares his teeth. "Watch it, Allie. You're on thin ice as it is after I found you in that closet with her."

Alasor chuckles . "I told you. I was stopping her from killing Felicia."

"You had your knee pressed to her pussy!"

Wait… he what?!

I peer around at Alastor, and the fucker wears a shit-eating grin.

He's proud.

Proud that he broke Brody's trust.

"And she liked it, too," Alastor decides to say out loud for no reason other than the fact that he's a smug prick.

He just wants the whole world to know what he did to her.

Poor Brody…

Theo exhales, rubbing his forehead. "Be that as it may, we need to switch tactics. The pamphlet says that we must see to our Omega's needs."

None of us have anything to say to that. It seems we all see it.

His needs are being met. He's besotted with that Omega, and I'm surprised I even know what besotted means.

But I'm still in denial.

I don't care.

I just want him back.

"Brody likes that Omega and we must respect his wishes."

We all fall silent in the bond again. I can sense Alastor's smugness, and I won't give him the satisfaction of knowing he was right before.

"But it will pass, and then we can just get him a new pet. At the end of the day, we cannot let him get close to that Rogue. She is unpredictable and dangerous, and we need to be careful. Lucky for us, it's just infatuation for now."

Me and Alastor stare at Theo for some time, and is he so sure about that? I know deep in my veins that I love Brody.

We've known each other for less than a week, but I knew it was true love the moment I gazed into his big brown eyes.

Alastor snorts. "What if that infatuation turns to love? What do we do then?"

Just as I feared…

What if Brody loves her more than me one day?

I don't think I would ever recover.

Theo snickers. "And what would you know about love, Alastor? Tell me."

Alastor smirks at the challenge. "Likewise, boss."

Theo's jaw tics at the gibe, and now the two Alphas stare each other out.

One day, those two will go head to head in an epic battle for dominance, and I just hope our pack can truly recover.

We were already hanging on by a delicate thread before Brody arrived.

We're all monsters and we know it.

But maybe, just maybe, Brody can be the thing that saves us.

So, we may just have to grin and bear it. He likes the Rogue and there is nothing we can do to dissuade him.

It would only drive him away further.

But I'll be damned if I'm not going to sulk about it a little longer.

The big, petty child that I am.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there," Theo says out loud, and now he turns his back on us, leaving us to sulk in the nest.

When the door clicks shut behind him, Alastor looks at me, raising a brow.

But I don't want anything more to do with him.

I just want to be alone.

He leaves at last. "When you finally put on your big boy pants, Kellen. Come and find me."

I glare at the door long after he's left, and he really is a heartless bastard.

He can go and suck on a lemon.

My thoughts go back to Brody.

But alas, he is spending all his time with that Rogue.

Just what do I have to do to earn back his affection?

Hopefully, the answer will come to me before it's too late.