39. Leo

Time freezes as Rian and Belle come downstairs hand in hand, and my mug stops halfway to my lips when I spy the pink blush on Belle"s cheeks.

Rian"s heat finally finished this morning, and the first thing he did when he woke up? He rushed straight to her room.

And we haven"t seen him since.

Jeremy and I left him to it.

After all, we respect Rian"s wishes.

He never stopped talking about her once during his last wave, and no matter what Jeremy or I did, he could never be satisfied.

I even had half a mind to call up Troy and tell him that his Omega needed him, but then I thought better of it.

It"s best that Troy stays out of the picture for a while.

But sooner or later, we all need to talk.

It"s pretty obvious that Belle is going to be a part of our pack from now on, and Troy better get used to it.

Damn. I can"t look away from either of them.

Neither can Jeremy.

Who would have thought that the sight of two Omegas would be so appealing?

My Alpha stirs, wishing to be a part of their union, but I keep my distance.

Belle seems in much better spirits now, and it looks as if spending a morning with Rian was exactly what she needed.

Jeremy and I disposed of that bastard"s body.

Or more like we chopped him up into bite-sized pieces and then fed him to a pack of dogs.

I only blame myself for what happened to her.

My Alpha had initially caught wind of that intruder, but the moment Rian went into heat, I"d forgotten all about him and tended to his needs instead.

My mind still can"t wrap around the fact that he"s an Omega.

An actual fucking Omega…

And if I play my cards right and be a good boy… then I may just end up with two Omegas.

But it"s obvious that Belle is Rian"s girl now.

I can spy how possessive he is of her, but I don"t want to overwhelm Belle either.

She"s still shy and afraid to meet anyone"s eye.

"Sleep well?" Jeremy asks, and there"s no missing the humor in his tone.

My heart almost stops beating when a red tinge takes over Belle"s cheeks, and I have never seen anything more precious.

It attracts something primal in me. A need to protect, and I just want to reach out to her and pull her close.

Rian is one lucky bastard…

He places her down at the table, and now the three of us fuss about her, making her breakfast.

Whenever she runs out of orange juice, I"m right by her side to refill her glass.

Unfortunately, my good mood vanishes the moment Troy stumbles through the door, reeking of beer, smoke, and piss.

Belle tenses at his sudden arrival, and my hackles rise as I keep my eyes on the threat.

Troy is not in the right frame of mind, and there is seriously something wrong with him.

But at the moment, all I care about is keeping her safe.

The Alpha doesn"t look at any of us. Not even Rian as he passes through the kitchen, and I finally relax when he exits the room.

Rian ignores him, only focusing on Belle.

Belle returns to her breakfast, and a smile tugs at my lips when she fills her face with scrambled eggs again.

My eyes fall on the doorway, and then I make up my mind, deciding to follow him.

He locks himself in his room, and I bang on his door. "Troy. Open up."

No response, and I knock louder.

It takes me back to all the times Troy used to bang on my door, so it"s the least I can do.

Our friendship has been rocky these past few weeks, but he was still always there to pull me out of a funk.

So, I will at least check in on him.

The door finally opens, and I meet his bloodshot eyes.

"What the fuck does an Alpha have to do to get some sleep around here?"

I ignore his remark. "What happened to you?"

The Alpha shrugs, but just as he goes to shut the door again, I shove my foot inside.

"Get lost, Leo. You got what you wanted. I"m out of the picture. Rian chose her over me…"

I shake my head. "No. He didn"t. Why does it have to be you or her? Why can"t he have the both of you?"

Troy doesn"t say anything. He just merely gazes at the floor, and I go on.

"Look. I know we haven"t seen eye to eye much lately, but we"re still brothers. You pulled me out of a depression numerous times. So I am going to do the same for you. Just… don"t torture yourself… I think you could come to love Belle yourself one day…"

There"s no missing the longing in the Alpha"s eyes, but he is just too stubborn for his own good.

He refuses to accept that beautiful Omega and the fact that she is now a part of Rian"s life.

Rian has finally found his purpose.

He now has someone to protect, and we must honor that.

Troy is afraid of the government. He thinks they will come and take Rian away, but so long as we work together, we can protect them both.

He hasn"t lost Rian just yet.

But if he keeps acting this way, then he may just very well lose him in the end.

His behavior has already affected our pack bond.

Rian cut off Troy"s connection, and now there is static where his distant thoughts once were.

Tentatively, I reach across, placing my hand on his shoulder. "Just think about it. We"re all our worst enemy. But happiness is just within your grip. You just have to be brave enough to reach your hand out."

Troy narrows his eyes. Then he groans, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Look, Leo… I"ve got a raging hangover right now, so I just want to be left alone, all right?"

I nod. "All right. But just think about what I said."

"Yeah, I"ll bear it in mind..."

He shuts the door in my face, and I glare at the wood for some time. Then I hear him muttering to himself, and then it sounds like he passes out on the bed.

His snoring confirms my suspicion, and now I turn around and leave him to his hangover.

The choice is his.

I just hope he makes the right one before he does something he"ll surely regret.