Chapter 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Fletcher

H ow was I supposed to protect my husband now? That thought rang through my head as the woman in the bookshop went on about the efforts of Gideon’s fans to find out what had happened to him. I could keep Gid hidden from Goode, but with millions of people potentially mobilized and searching, I wasn’t sure even a remote house on a cliff would be enough.

“Don’t worry,” Artemis said once the woman had gone back to work and the two of us were able to whisk Gideon away to one of the tables in the middle of the travel center’s mostly empty dining area. “Gideon writes under a pen name. His fans don’t know who he really is, right?”

He addressed that last question to Gideon directly. I felt more than a little worry in him.

“No one knows my real name,” Gideon said, like he was trying to talk himself into being calm. “Well, a few people know my real identity, mostly for legal and financial reasons. But only a very, very few.”

It had always seemed safe enough before. Now, I wasn’t so sure.

Artemis felt the same way. I could feel it from him, but it was also painted vividly in his expression and in the way he reached across the table to take one of Gideon’s hands and one of mine. “It’s going to be okay,” he said.

The frustrating thing was, I believed him. I wasn’t frustrated because Gideon would be okay. That was all I wanted, all I’d ever wanted. I was frustrated because I trusted Artemis as my alpha. That visceral feeling of confidence in him and certainty that life would be better if I just gave everything over to my alpha was as foreign to me as the other side of the world.

It should have settled me, but Artemis’s waves of affection and sympathy and reassurance, and the way Gideon glanced between us, just seemed to make everything harder. I was fighting my growing, instinctual love for one man because of my deep, longstanding love for another.

“Nothing is going to be solved right now,” Gideon said quietly, as if he wasn’t sure he should interrupt whatever silent communication was going on between me and Artemis. Or as if he didn’t have a right to speak up in the first place. “We should probably finish our shopping and just go home.”

Artemis and I broke eye contact. Dammit, I hadn’t realized I’d slipped into gazing at him like I could read the secrets of the world in his eyes in the first place. I cleared my throat, then turned to face Gideon, who was seated beside me, and slid my arm around his back.

“You’re right,” I said, forcing myself to relax. “We have lots of things working in our favor to keep us protected. The cliff house is remote, and once we get back there, we won’t have to leave for days or even weeks.”

“If we get enough supplies,” Artemis said, an attempt at humor in his eyes. “I thought you were starting the shopping.”

I winced a little. How was I supposed to tell him that I’d started, but worry and the intensity of our bond had distracted me to the point where I had to move physically closer to him so I could think? How was I supposed to explain that to Gideon?

“I got a start on it,” I said, pretending nothing was wrong. “Why don’t we all finish it together? I need your input on what we should get anyhow.” I glanced at both Gideon and Artemis.

“Can we get some of those pink snowball snack cakes I like?” Gideon asked buoyantly as we all stood. “I can only ever find them at places like this, and even though I know they’re bad for me, I’m suddenly craving them like nobody’s business.”

I didn’t think anything of Gideon’s comment, but I felt a sudden pull of curiosity from Artemis. It wasn’t ordinary curiosity either. There was a wealth of excitement and affection in his feelings. Even the way he watched Gideon as we entered the supermarket section of the travel center was curious and strangely joyful.

I definitely wanted to know what was going on with that, but I had a job to do, and now I felt like I had very little time in which to do it. I wouldn’t feel safe until the three of us were far away from people in our temporary home. I wasn’t even sure I’d feel fully safe then.

Grocery shopping took longer than any of us thought it would. We had to think about what food would store for long periods and how much of it we could pack into the SUV. Some of the things we needed were perishable, but even assuming we could get the generator and then the fridge up and running, it was a tiny fridge. We had to prioritize and bargain for things we thought were more or less important.

At least money wasn’t an option. I was able to take out a bunch of cash that would both pay for groceries and keep us going for a while, in case we needed it using some of my alternative bank cards.

The nice part of shopping with Artemis and Gideon was that the three of us got along really well. Gideon and I had been married for years, but even though we’d only known Artemis for a matter of days, he fit seamlessly into the rapport Gid and I already had. Maybe it was the bond, although that didn’t explain why Artemis and Gid got along so well, but we just clicked.

I noticed that Artemis had somehow grown even more protective of Gideon after we paid for our purchases and loaded it all into the collapsable wagon to take to the car. He practically hovered around Gideon like he was spotting some sort of world-class gymnast.

“Would either of you mind if I went and looked at the cows?” Gideon asked as we left the main building of the travel center and headed toward the SUV. “I haven’t seen cows in ages.”

I glanced over to the wide, sloping field off to one side of the travel center. Sure enough, a large herd of cows were hanging out in the distance, minding their own business. That made me smile. Cows didn’t give a shit about anything going on around them. I wished I could be like that.

“We should really get home,” I said, glancing longingly at the cows and rubbing the back of my neck.

“I can take him to have a look if you’re okay with loading up the car,” Artemis told me, offering me the car keys.

“Yeah, that would work,” I said, taking them.

There was that implicit trust in my alpha again. I guess I was glad that there were benefits to the bond instead of it just being a massive inconvenience.

Artemis handed me the keys, then he and Gideon walked off to see the cows. I smiled at the way Artemis took Gideon’s hand and at how Gideon threaded their fingers together without giving it a second thought. Even as much as a week ago, Gideon would have cowered away from any alpha who came near him.

Actually, it was interesting to me that Gideon had handled the other alphas at the travel center so well. Maybe having Artemis around gave him an inherent sense of being protected.

A sense I’d never been able to give him.

That thought sent a punch of nausea through me. What’s done was done, though. I had no business feeling both jealous of Gideon’s growing attachment to Artemis and guilt at the bond we’d formed.

There was nothing for it but to pull the wagon of supplies over to where we’d parked in a remote section of the parking lot and to load them. I didn’t know how I felt anymore. I was maxed out on emotions to the point where everything had just converged and then flopped.

“Do you need a hand there?”

The offer startled me, but it also came at a good time. I was fumbling two of the bags of groceries, one of which had just torn, and was trying to shove them into the back of the SUV as the hatch drifted slowly down. Tensing at the sudden interruption could have made me freak out, but when I turned and saw an older, balding omega heading toward me, I dropped my defenses a little.

“Yeah, I guess I could use some help,” I said.

Wow. Those words coming from me were proof that everything had changed.

The older omega chuckled and picked up his pace. He started by pushing the SUV’s hatch up so it locked into place, which I hadn’t done right before.

“Looks like you’re stocking up for a long haul,” the omega said, taking another bag from the wagon and loading it into the car. “Where are you off to?”

The back of my neck prickled. After what we’d just heard about all the Tristan Freehold fans trying to discover what happened to him, I had every right to be cautious.

“We’ve got a cabin in the woods,” I said as vaguely as possible. “We’re heading there for a bit of a getaway.”

I stuck to the truth as much as possible, since I wouldn’t have time to share any story I concocted with Artemis and Gideon, should they be asked.

“I understand,” the omega said, a look in his eyes like he actually did understand. “It’s nice for those of us with unconventional partnerships to get away from the ordinary folks for a while.”

I paused halfway through loading a bag and blinked at him.

“Oh, sorry,” the omega said. “It’s just that I see your wedding ring and I’ve been keeping an eye on the three of you, not in a creepy way, mind you, as you’ve trundled about the center.”

Alarm shot through me and my heart started beating faster. I shifted the bag into the SUV, then cautiously reached for another .

“I don’t really know what to say about that,” I told him, again sticking to the truth as closely as possible.

The omega chuckled. “I’m Randy, by the way,” he said, holding his hand out to me.

I loaded the next bag, which happened to be the last, then shook his offered hand, saying, “Fletcher.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Fletcher,” Randy said with a happy smile.

I was wary of strangers almost all the time, but nothing about Randy screamed danger to me. He was a grey-haired, slightly paunchy omega…who wore two wedding rings.

He must have noticed me staring. “I’m married to two alphas,” he said, his smile not faltering a bit.

That simple sentence felt like someone shining a spotlight on me. “I, um, I’m just married to Gideon,” I said, a little like a deer in that spotlight.

“Is he the alpha or the other omega?” Randy asked.

I had no idea why I felt okay about being honest with Randy. I just kept staring at his two wedding rings, even after he let my hand go.

“He’s the omega,” I said. “We’ve been together for years. Artemis, the alpha, is new.”

“Ah, new love,” Randy said, as if we were talking about something in an old movie and not the sort of thing some people would sneer at. “I was together with Owen for five years before James came along. But when the love bug bites, there’s not much you can do about it.”

I was still so stunned I wasn’t sure what to say.

“How are you married to two alphas?” I asked, blinking rapidly. “I thought polygamy was illegal.”

“Ah!” Randy said, then gave me a sly, naughty look. “It’s illegal for the majority of the population, but it’s allowed if all three parties in the marriage are bonded. ”

For the second time in as many minutes, I felt like I’d had the wind knocked out of me. “All three of you are bonded?” I asked, hope causing my heart to beat faster.

“Yep,” Randy said, love beaming in his smile. “Believe me, we were as surprised as you are. This was back in the wild days of our youth. Owen and I were just a little, well, you don’t need to know the details, but James wasn’t the first third we played with. We had one hot, amazing heat with him, and next thing I know, I woke up feeling two alphas in my head.”

My jaw dropped. Like, literally, as cliché as that was. “I didn’t think it was possible to bond with more than one person.”

Randy snorted and waved the idea away. “Of course it’s possible. Granted, it doesn’t happen every day, but it’s definitely possible.”

I was speechless with possibility. Maybe there was a way Artemis, Gideon, and I could all be together without anyone feeling left out.

I deflated a second later, refusing to let myself get my hopes up. Bonds were so incredibly rare to begin with. If Artemis and Gideon hadn’t bonded already, would they ever?

“Sorry if I’ve stepped on some toes or said something I shouldn’t have,” Randy said with a sympathetic look. “I take it the three of you aren’t married? I mean, all of you together.”

“No,” I said, sighing. “I didn’t think it was possible. And so far, only Artemis and I have bonded.”

Randy’s sympathetic look turned into him patting me on the shoulder. “Don’t give up hope yet. It’s rare to bond with someone instantly, though you and I both know it happens. Owen and I were together for two years before our bond happened, and I swear that only came about because I got pregnant with our daughter, Denise.”

“I’m glad you were able to bond,” I said. More than that, I was glad I’d run into him.

“Give it time,” Randy said, patting my shoulder again before stepping back. “I watched the three of you together. Biological bond or not, the three of you clearly share a bond of the heart. Everything else will fall into place from there.”

I said goodbye to him, thanking him for giving me a lot to think about.

And it was a lot. I’d been walking around with the assumption that things were the way they were, I’d bonded with one man, and that that would inevitably leave the other out. But what if that wasn’t true?

I finished securing everything in the back of the SUV, folded up the wagon and stored that as well, then shut and locked the car. Once that was done, I headed off to the fence at the back of the travel center, where Artemis and Gideon were chatting freely while gazing out at the field of cows.

“I didn’t mind that part, really,” Gideon was saying, full of enthusiasm and cheer. “I always liked the animals, even though the alphas in the community were responsible for anything serious with them. My omega and beta siblings and I were responsible for feeding them, though.”

“What about milking them?” Artemis asked.

I couldn’t help it. Hope had taken over in my soul, so I interrupted with, “Leave it to you to ask about milking.”

Artemis’s reaction was immediate. Warm, fuzzy sheepishness pulsed through our bond at me. His face went pink as well, and he and Gideon exchanged an amorous look.

“Not that kind of milking,” Artemis said, clearing his throat and looking around to make certain no one was near enough to overhear.

Gideon laughed. It was my favorite sound.

He then fell into an incredibly naughty look and said, “Okay, don’t ask me how I know this, because I wasn’t supposed to see it. The People might be old fashioned in a lot of ways, but we still use modern machinery and things for our farming. That includes milking machines.”

I smiled before he’d even told the story. He’d actually told me before, and I thought it was hilarious.

“Once,” he went on, looking guiltily up at Artemis, “I went out to the barn to get a bit of peace and quiet, but my oldest brother, Luke, was already there. He’s an alpha, and he was about seventeen at the time. I heard the milking machine on and groaning, so I went to look. Fortunately, I stayed hidden, because Luke had attached one of the milking sleeves to his cock. I swear, he must have had about four orgasms in the time I hid there, trying not to laugh as I watched him.”

“Was it a Mammulator 6000?” Artemis asked, completely serious, his face turning a bright shade of red.

Gideon gasped at him. “Yes!”

I slapped a hand over my mouth to stop my laughter even before Artemis cleared his throat and said, “I did a fantasy sometime last year, and that’s what the omega used. Trust me, four orgasms while hooked up to that thing was amateur hour. The suction is unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. Of course, it probably helped that the omega had me bent over a table and was fucking—and you definitely don’t want to hear the rest of that.”

“No! No, I do!” I said, tingling with arousal as Artemis’s wicked memories shot through the bond at me. Hell, just the idea that he would want me to fuck him at some point had me glittering with possibility.

Fortunately, Gideon seemed to think it was hilarious. He couldn’t stop laughing. “The two of you,” he said, snorting as he glanced between us. “You should see your faces.”

I was so glad no one was around to overhear us, not even Randy. The silly, sexy conversation felt special to the three of us. It was something that could bring us together, nasty though it was. And more than anything, I just wanted the three of us to be together.

“Come on,” I said, taking the lead as Gideon and Artemis continued to laugh. “Let’s get you two knuckleheads home and store all this food. We have a generator to get running, too.”

We headed to the car, and for the first time since our ordeal had started, I felt like we might be okay.