Ares sits at my feet, and Valak sneaks him small things to eat, after checking with me of course. I cut the two of them off after a few though. Ares gains weight easily and is an asshole when I have to put him on a diet.
“Okay, so I keep skirting around, deals, pack talks, saying yes, freaking out a little,” I say, purposely looking at each of them as they pause what they are doing. “And weirdly, it’s not based on barely knowing you.” I look over to Valak, not for direction, but for confirmation.
We covered a lot of ground between our little fuckfest and talking. He nods his head, and no one misses it.
“Len, spit it out. You look like you’re going to have a baby. Holy shit, you’re not preggers are you?”
“Yeah, that’s probably another discussion we need to have, but no, to answer that question, I am not pregnant.”
Lincoln essentially drops the ice-cream scooper and towers over Ares demanding a confession. His lips are drawn into a tight line, pulling at the rest of his face. My finger traces over his lips, not liking the stress on them.
He leans back, grabbing my hand and linking our fingers instead. “Simple truth is often the best, dove.”
“The truth involves a fair bit of danger and risk.”
“Not as much as you admitting to everyone you’re my girl, Len. Anyone talks shit about you, they’re going down. Way fucking down. Like six feet down. After I’ve…”
“Don’t joke about this, Gabriel,” Valak interrupts, his waspish retort accompanied by the warning signs of his alpha bark. He adjusts his mood, although he’s still a bit antsy. “Lennon is in more danger than we considered any of the omegas could face.” Valak scowls at his brother, but in Gabe’s way of handling things, instead of getting all defensive, he scratches his nuts while staring unbothered at his brother.
“Val, and all of us gathered here today, let’s be fucking serious. I’ll always be the risk in this group, it’s why none of you pricks ever let me go in front of a camera for the Alliance. But if you ever think I’d do anything to risk her or put her in danger…”
“Hey, hold up. Things are getting twisted up.” Noah steps up, trying to keep things more level emotionally.
“Dove!” Lincoln’s alpha bark might be soft, but it packs a serious punch.
“I’ve got information that people are desperate for, willing to kill for, probably,” I say, holding his eye, not fighting his compulsion because I was always going to tell.
“And that means?”
Valak moves closer, watching my interaction with Lincoln, being a little overbearing in his support, but hey, at least he’s being truthful and honest.
“I’ve got almost all of Dagmar Regalo’s notes. Pretty much everything people have spent the last few years searching for.”
Gabe smiles. Not the reaction I was expecting. “Not on you.”
“No.”
“And in more than one place?” Gabe leans over the bench, eating strawberries completely relaxed and unfazed.
“Yeah.”
“Digitally and physically, right? I’m only saying all this out loud so everyone knows, like I know you would have already covered your ass about ten times over. And really, once we get out of here, none of us are letting you out of our sight for purely selfish reasons, so who gives a shit? Okay?”
“Excuse me, back it up. How do you know about me covering my butt?”
“Well, while you were busy handling my brother’s rut,” He mock scowls, though Lincoln and Noah do a real growl at Gabe’s revelation, Gabe keeps talking, “I felt left out, so I tried to hack your agency’s system.”
“Gabe, you said I couldn’t go on the internet. Talk about double standards.”
“True. No one knows I’m with you, anyway. But look, that’s not important or relative, what is, is that Len is a little untrusting, and has some impressive firewalls and security set up. I mean, I can always give her pointers to make it even more impenetrable, but yeah, she’s got shit mostly covered. Come on, we’re all here, we can face whatever happens on the outside, if we don’t work out as a pack, we split up. But come on people, let’s get to the good part.”
“The good part comes when I know you understand the level of bullshit I’m bringing to your lives.”
“I suspect what Gabriel is trying to articulate is that really, no matter the danger, we understand the risk as a pack. And we do not hold each other responsible. Much like you, when we pack, we all collectively inherit the risk of someone suing Noah for a scar they thought he would be removing. Or it will be Valak being too protective of you, and we will end up in a bailiff’s office paying for his arraignment. Or I’ll be accused of being a cradle snatcher, or you’ll be accused of being a gold digger when I leave you everything. You can go on and on and on about the danger and problems we each bring, but as a pack we all agree to wear whatever danger it is.”
“Shit, that makes so much fucking sense. Good job, Linc,” Gabe says, chomping his way through another strawberry.
My stomach makes a pretty loud rumble, and it’s like a starter’s gun. Within minutes I have a plate full of the fluffiest pancakes ever made. Along with several scoops of ice cream, a side of bacon, a couple of strawberries, and a healthy drizzle of maple syrup over everything. We sit and chat about nothing at all, and this time the expectation is more like excitement. It’s all going well, until the moment changes, and my stomach cramps get overtaken by my heat cramps. But of course, to reinforce that the time is now, my scent intensifies, it blossoms, filling the kitchen with my unique jasmine perfume so it’s like standing in the middle of a florist shop.
