Seth
I kept myself from kissing him, with great difficulty. If I did, I knew where we’d end up, and it would not be information central. But it was just too hard not to touch him at all, to not touch both of them, so I allowed myself that pleasure. “We had a really good time tonight, and you’ll see the results of something we made together when we pick it up.”
“Oh, that’s great.” Indy beamed at both of us. “I can’t wait to see.” We might have kissed a little then, but we all deserved credit for pulling back to the business at hand. “Whew. Thank you for being so open, omega. I feel like I know you better now.”
And I was laden with information about his pack that he was either choosing to undersell—which I didn’t believe—or was just too kind to fully recognize. He said he’d avoided pack politics, but he also didn’t fully understand what a pawn he’d been to his father. And he’d left out some other things my lawyer friend had shared, like how his father had turned him out with just what was packed in two suitcases after he refused to take them as his only possessions to mate someone completely despicable.
Had taken his car, having cleverly made sure his own name was on it when the old wolf had not paid a dime for it. Our omega’s kind heart had him overlooking, forgetting, or just choosing not to share the things that made his father look really bad.
I still didn’t know what to do with all that information, except I wasn’t going to throw it in his face. His good heart was one of the things I loved the best about him. But I’d be damned if I’d allow him to suffer more hurt because he wasn’t good at putting up walls.
“Seth? Your turn to share?” Indy said, “Unless you’re tired or something?”
“No. I’m not. Bram, you know some of my story, but one of the reasons why things got so bad, why my father was so hard-ass was our history. It’s very important to my father.
“My family has lived in our region for a long time. There’s some discussion of how long exactly, but over a hundred years, and the shimmer arrived intact from England before that. There are a lot of claims about our past there, most of which say we were true royalty, but you never know. Father believes it, though, and the stories, the rules, the regulations of being such an old family are rigid.”
“My family is almost as bad,” murmured Indy. “Although they flat-out say we are royal, no question, and our rules are more defined by the current generation of leadership. We are both the first sons of the alpha.”
“In my case,” I put in, “the only son. I have a sister who had young, but the line cannot pass that way. We were both told we must marry omegas, and our fathers were prepared to limit our choices.”
“And then you met me.” Bram leaned back into me and sighed. “And that must have messed things up even more. If you are both the alphas-in-waiting of different groups, how can you share an omega?”
“We will because there is no alternative.” I just didn’t have a better answer yet. “Our stories are so similar, Indy and me. And we were really boxed in, had decided after our weekend away we were going to shut the door on what was between us.”
“You’ve known each other almost all your lives, right?”
“Yes. And we were best friends for a long time.”
“But you didn’t know you were mates?”
Indy shook his head. “Not until we were much older. But it was something I couldn’t unsee. One minute, friends, the next, I wanted Seth in my life, as my mate, forever.”
We talked some more, way into the night, but of course did grow distracted and ended up making love until dawn. How could we help ourselves with an omega like Bram?
Chapter Eighteen
Indy
“Seth, I think we should tell your parents first.” Seth and I sat on the hotel balcony discussing the end of our trip.
Bram was at work. We hadn’t asked him to quit his job quite yet. But truthfully he didn’t need it. Seth and I would be loaded once, or if, we inherited the role of alphas of both my herd and his shimmer.
But would Bram even consider moving away from San Diego to live in an area of mostly unicorn shifters?
“If both of us do still qualify to inherit the alpha titles, how would that work?” Seth asked.
“I guess we could get a big house between our towns.”
“That’s assuming our fathers don’t find replacements for us after they find out we’re a triad.”
“I don’t care.” I had a trust. I had a college degree and could work. I wasn’t going to hurt for money. “What I do care about is creating a new life with my mates.”
“That’s number one priority for sure,” Seth agreed. “So, why do you think we should tell my parents first?”
“I don’t know.” I looked up at him with my best pleading face. “Because I’m a coward?”
“You’re the least cowardly person I know. Are you afraid your dad won’t react well?”
