“Hey,” I say, knocking on the open doorframe.
Neither of them is surprised to see me. Riley glances up, grinning and then bounding over to me. I’m unprepared for them to jump into my arms, but I catch them easily as they wrap their legs and arms around me.
“Hi, alpha daddy,” they say.
“Cheeky beta,” I reply, grinning as I scent mark their cheek.
Vee shakes her head, all exasperated fondness, then Riley is scrambling back down my body to show me what they’ve done so far.
“I texted her,” I say. “It sounds like she’s not being punished or anything, she said she doesn’t know why, but they didn’t let her leave the house. Anyway, she’s going to try to call after dinner, so it could be anytime.”
Sure enough, a video call comes through as we’re heading down to the kitchen to grab food for ourselves.
“Hi, Petal,” I say, holding the phone up. “I’m at Vee and Riley’s, do you want to talk to them too?”
“Oh,” she whispers, face flushing as she glances behind her.
“They won’t care that you’re in the bathroom. Smart idea, turning the shower on for noise,” I say, hoping to calm her nerves.
“Okay, yeah,” she says, her voice remaining soft.
I round the counter and lean against it, Riley on one side and Vee on the other so Sage can see all three of us.
Riley waves with a grin.
“Hi, Sage,” Vee says. “How are you?”
“I’m good, how are you?”
Vee forces a smile. We all know Sage is not good.
“Better now I get to see you,” she says.
I huff, that was a good line. Wish I had thought of it first. Neveah shoots me a knowing look.
“We came up with a plan we’d like to run by you,” I say. I don’t know how much time we have, so I want to get the important things out first.
“Okay?”
“I know it’s fast, but you said your brother and his friend are going to another game tomorrow, right?”
Sage nods, her eyes darting past the phone to what I assume is the bathroom door. I wait until her gaze returns to me.
“We’d like to get you out then. As soon as they leave, we’ll come get you. Pack up whatever you need and zip you right out of there. You can come stay here,” I gesture around me. “They’ve set up a room for you upstairs. Or you can stay with me, but I don’t live far from where you are now. Or if you prefer some space, we can set you up in a hotel for now.”
“Um, what do you want?” she asks, biting at her lip.
“What we want is secondary to what you want,” Vee says, taking the words out of my mouth while I nod in agreement. “None of us want to pressure you. We’d be happy to have youstay with any of us, but we also understand if that’s moving too fast. What do you want, Sage? What does your omega want?”
Her eyes widen with that last question, and I wonder about her relationship with her omega designation.
She shifts, jarring the camera, and it’s easy to read the fear on her face.
“I want to stay with you,” she says, but it’s unclear who she’s talking to.
“Me?” I ask. “Or Vee and Riley?”
Her eyes drift around the phone screen, looking at each of us. We’re all holding our breath, and Riley is practically vibrating as we wait to hear what she’ll say.
