Steve looked up, meeting the older alpha’s gaze and nodding. “He’d be furious.”
August let out a giggle that did not match his expression in the slightest. Ryker glanced at him, eyebrows set in a stern line, and August giggled again.
“We’re trying to poach the son of the alpha of the Northwestern pack,” August said, explaining himself.
Steve winced. When August put it like that, it sounded bad. Steve’s father did not tolerate people stealing his people.
“So you see why I can’t technically join your pack?” Steve said. Watching the two alphas across from him, Steve could practically see the future they could have had together slipping through his fingers.
“Yes.” Ryker rubbed his eyes. He took a deep breath. “Yes, I see why that would be a bad idea.”
“I didn’t realize that you thought I was from New York. I didn’t mean to keep it from you.”
Steve hadn’t thought it odd how Ryker and August treated him – it was similar to how his brother’s friends would have treated him back home – but maybe it should have set off some alarm bells that they didn’t know who he was.
Not many people – even established alphas with large packs to back them – would ever risk pissing off Steve’s father.
“We’re not accusing you of that,” August said, no longer giggling. He looked tired. “We know you’re not the kind of guy who would try to trick us. This is just a misunderstanding.”
Steve nodded, relieved that they didn’t think he’d mislead them, but not really able to be happy about it.
“So where does this leave us?” Steve asked, dreading the answer.
Ryker’s answering smile was tight, but his eyes were kind. He leaned forward. “We still want to be your friends-” before Steve could get his hopes up, Ryker held up his hand and continued “-but before we take it any further than that, you need to talk to your father and sort out where you stand and what his expectations are.”
“And make it clear that we won’t accept you into our pack without his explicit permission and approval,” August added.
Their conditions laid out, Ryker and August watched him with matching looks of regret.
It was pretty much what Steve had expected.
“I’ll do that,” he lied. He knew exactly how a conversation like that would go and it was no use. As long as his father was alive, Steve wouldn’t be able to join another pack.
They sat in silence for about twenty seconds, no one quite sure what to say, until Ryker’s phone made a vibrating noise in his pocket. Ryker pulled it out and looked at the message.
“Dylan will be here in a few minutes,” he said, smiling. The skin around his eyes crinkled, making Steve’s stomach flutter. “He’s taking the bus.
“I’ll go get plates and set out the food,” August said, standing up. He clapped Ryker on his shoulder as he walked by. “Do you guys want to find a movie or something we can watch?”
Steve didn’t have to ask if the previous plan for spanking and mutual blow jobs was canceled.
“Sure, Steve and I can do that,” Ryker said. He rose, looking at Steve. “Right?”
Steve had been thinking about going home, but given the chance to hang around he wasn’t going to say no. He’d been thinking that they would politely ask him to leave and not resume contact until he’d resolved things with his dad – which wouldn’t have been unreasonable – but if they still wanted to be friends, Steve would happily take it.
“Yeah, we can probably find something to watch.”
20
DYLAN
When Dylan arrived at August and Ryker’s apartment, he was in high spirits. He’d had a breakthrough in the lab – finally nailing a polycarbonate mix that satisfied all the requirements for the specialized 3D printing machines used by the company funding his grant – and he’d managed to go three whole days without feeling any ill effects from his new status as an omega.
He was still horny every time he so much as thought of his two strapping alphas, but that was only natural. It was miles away from the awful empty feeling that had driven him to fuck himself with a bottle of shampoo.
“Hello?” Dylan called, kicking off his shoes and putting down his backpack. He’d picked up a bottle of wine on his way from the lab, but looking at it now, standing in a penthouse that cost more money than he’d make in a lifetime, he was having second thoughts.
August and Ryker probably didn’t drink grocery store wine.
