“This isn’t some porno, don’t make it sound weird.”
Ottis tipped his head back and groaned. The more his brothers said, the tenser he became. Doc squeezed his shoulder to try and calm him down; Ottis leaned into his touch. Then it became too much.
Ottis raised his voice. “No! Stop!”
He turned and handed Marcie to Doc. Some of his brothers gasped.
His arms free now, Ottis gestured wildly. “No! You will leave Doc alone! He’s good people. I picked him, and you are going to stay out of it!”
Doc cracked a smile. “Aren’t you going to let me prove myself?”
Ottis scowled. “You don’t need to prove yourself to them.”
“I can vouch for Doc,” Crush said, looking amused at all the posturing.
“Same here,” Titan said, with his pregnant omega hanging off his arm.
“Thirded,” Vigil said. Doc was surprised to see him; Vigil was out of town more often than not.
“Fourthed,” Gavric said, looking surprisingly put-together after the latest air freshener prank their friends had pulled on him. “But you are so owing us drinks after this.”
“Thanks,” Doc said wryly.
An older alpha-omega pair stepped forward, in front of the pack. The other alphas fell silent.
Ottis cleared his throat. “Dad, Papa, this is Doc.” Ottis waved awkwardly between them. “Doc, my dads.”
“I’m Ashton,” Ottis’ alpha dad said with a grin. He had greying chestnut hair and smile lines on his face, and his handshake was warm and strong.
Next to him, Ottis’ omega dad was just as small as Ottis was, with black hair and brown eyes. He looked friendly too. “I’m Joe. It’s great to meet you. We haven’t seen Ottis this happy in a while.”
Doc glanced at Ottis, who squirmed. “Ottis is truly a joy to have around. I’m not sure if he’s mentioned it—I’m an emergency room doctor at Cartfalls General.”
“Way to make yourself the favorite,” one of the brothers muttered. Ottis hissed at him.
“Hence the mask?” Joe waved at Doc’s face.
“Ah...” Doc’s ears grew hot. He usually skirted the subject, but these were Ottis’ parents.
To lie or not to lie?
“Doc likes wearing masks,” Ottis said loudly. “Anyway, that’s not why we stopped by today.”
Joe gave Ottis a piercing stare. “Sowhydid you stop by today, hon?”
“Uh.” Ottis laughed awkwardly, turning pink. He took a step closer to Doc, pressing himself into Doc’s side. Doc could feel the waves of discomfort rolling off him.
So he readjusted Marcie in his left arm, and wrapped his right arm around Ottis’ shoulders.
“We might be having a new addition to the pack,” Ottis mumbled quickly.
Suddenly, all the attention on them sharpened.
“I mean, it’s not like you’re going to kick me out or anything, and you can’t kick Doc out because he’s not part of the pack,” Ottis rambled.
“I could be,” Doc said, surprising even himself.
Ottis’ gaze snapped up to his. “Really?”
