As I thumped down the stairs, I wasn’t sure what I was expecting but it sure as hell wasn’t Tibby standing in the middle of the kitchen with her arms crossed as she glared up at Theo, who had his familiar stubborn expression planted firmly on his face. Bacon sizzled and popped in the pan behind them.
Cobb was sitting at the counter on his laptop, clearly trying to ignore the showdown that was happening in front of him.
I sighed, that bacon was definitely going to burn.
CHAPTER 16
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“We’ve already had thisconversation, Theo.” Tibby’s tone was sharp, and she looked like she wanted to stab me with the tongs that were clicking in her hands. She’d come downstairs a few minutes ago, humming as she began to pull things out to make breakfast...though it was closer to lunch than breakfast at this point.
Aria had dressed and left an hour ago, saying something about a meeting at the SF Prosecutor’s office. I’d tried to say something to her when she’d emerged from Tibby’s room smelling like strawberries and sex but one amber-eyed glare from her had promptly shut me up. However, I still couldn’t help but try to talk to Tibby about it. I was worried that they were jumping into things too fast just because of what I was pretty sure was a scent match.
I felt the pull too, I’d nearly forgotten my own name when I’d gone to knock on the door and I’d heard Tibby’s little moans from the other side. The level of pheromones that were leaking under the door was no joke either, but one of us needed to keep a level head in all of this, and that person was going to be me.
“Are you sure about all of this?” I’d asked her as she put bacon onto the pan and it immediately began to sizzle, “there’s a lot going on around you right now, and I don’t want you making big decisions when under duress. I’m worried that it’s going to hurt all of you in the end.” I didn’t add,and me, at the end even though I really wanted to.
Tibby turned to me, her expression already clouding over from the floating happiness that had been present when she’d entered the kitchen.
“We’ve already had this conversation, Theo.” Tibby crossed her arms over her chest, “Recently too.” She reminded me.
I couldn’t believe that it’d only been twenty-four hours since we’d gone to pick Tibby up from the academy, there had to be a limit to how fast things could happen...right?
“I understand, but in order to protect my packmates and you, I’m just asking you to slow things down....”
Judging by Cobb’s snort, I’d just walked right into a minefield. Which was fair, I supposed, once Cobb and I had moved on from being friends, it had been full-speed ahead.That, I reminded myself,had also ended with hurt feelings all around, so forgive me for being careful.
Tibby opened her mouth, no doubt to pin me with a scathing remark, but surprisingly another voice cut her off.
“Theo, knock it off.” Matteo’s growl rumbled through the kitchen. The normally affable alpha was glaring at me as he stomped his way over from the stairs and took a step between Tibby and myself. I couldn’t help but draw back in surprise; the last time I’d seen Matteo angry was when we’d watched a man slap his girlfriend on the street. That man had ended up in the ER and Aria had to work her magic to get the charges dropped, and even then it had been years ago when we were still living in West Virginia. He didn’t get truly angry very often, but I could see it clear as day on his face now.
How could I make either of them see reason? Their scents mingled in my nose, and I had to check my own ardor in order to keep a level head in all of this. “I’m just trying to look out for everyone in this situation. This is not the usual way that our pack, or any pack, would court an omega, even you have to admit that.” I mean, we were literally protecting her from a psycho killer who was hell-bent on lighting her on fire, for crying out loud. That wasn’t your typical pack meet-cute.
I never wanted to feel the feelings that I had when I woke up from my shoulder surgery. Aria and Matteo had been despondent, and the beta who had quickly started to become a part of our family was gone in the wind and not answering our phone calls. My eyes slid away from Matteo and Tibby to Cobb, his coffee-colored eyes met mine for the briefest of moments and I could see guilt in his eyes before they flicked back down to his computer, and he was ignoring us again.
Cobb leaving us five years ago had nearly shredded our pack apart. My two alpha counterparts and I had worked to rebuild ourselves from the ground up because I’d pushed so hard for Cobb to join our pack. Now, I was worried that it was going to happen again if I didn’t step in and slow things down.
