Page 9 of His Unicorn Alpha
I dropped my bags, just gathered from the baggage carousel, and crouched with my arms extended as his two-year-olds barreled towards me on chubby toddler legs.
Even though I’d only met them in person a couple of times, I Facetimed with Sandy, Beck and the kids often enough that they recognized me on sight. My heart thumped as their solid little frames crashed into my sides, chipmunk voices excitedly greeting me as “Unca' Micah!” in unison.
Immediately, some of that awful buzzing under my skin seemed to fade. This feltright.Being here with my old friend felt right.
I straightened up, lifting Rory and Duke as I stood, and Beck grabbed my bags from the ground.
“How was your flight?” Beck asked, and I shrugged as best I could with two small shifters in my arms.
“It was fine. A little bumpy at the end there, but still uneventful.” I smirked at him, remembering howhegot to Iowa. “Better than by dragon, I bet.”
“I don’t recommend flying by dragon if you can help it. Though, I will say, the legroom is usually better.”
I snorted. I was taller than him and, yeah, squeezing into cramped economy seats was a bitch. “I’ll stick with commercial for now.” After a beat, I added, “Thanks for coming to pick me up. I could have hired a car.”
“It’s fine. The monsters like going for long drives. Besides, I think Ollie was looking forward to us being out of his hair for a while. He and Eric had some sort of research-y breakthrough and I’m pretty sure he would bury himself in whatever books they unearthed if he had half a chance.”
The way he talked about his mate was fond and affectionate. He even rubbed at his chest, and a part of me panged with jealousy. As a beta, even if I did find someone to settle down with, I wouldn’t ever get to experience a full mating bond. That magic was reserved for alphas and omegas.
“Well, that answers my question about how he’s doing,” I laughed lightly as we continued our way towards the exit. “And how’s San?”
“Still flying in and out for work. We’re lucky that she’s able to work remotely most of the time, but they still like having her in the office for fuck knows what reason.”
Duke and Rory giggled, and Beck groaned. “Please don’t tell Papa.”
Looking very much like Beck, Rory practically smirked as she leaned across my chest to tell her father, “Bad word.”
“Yes, I said a bad word.”
“Buck.” That was Duke’s contribution.
“Thank god he can’t make the ‘ffff’ sound yet,” Beck muttered. Then, as we came up to the exit doors, he stopped and turned to me. “Potty before we get in the car.”
I blinked at him. “Uh…”
“Not you,them.” He pointed at his kids, both happily looking around the airport with all the wonder of being at a carnival. “Come on,” he reached for Duke, “potty time.”
“Aren’t they still a bit young for potty training?” I handed the now squirming kid over, and we both ignored his protests and determined ‘no’s.
Beck shrugged. “Ollie read something that said the average age is just over two. I don’t know. It’s a pain in the a—uh—butt,” he hastily censored himself as we walked together towards the bathrooms, “but Rory’s getting it. Duke’s…a little slower on the uptake. But I’ve got them both in pull-ups anyway. Still, if we don’t stay consistent…”
I bit my lip against my amusement as Beck clearly parroted his mate’s words. “Sounds likeyou’rewell-trained,” I teased.
“Do you want to shift and run from here back to the pack? Because that’s still an option.”
It was not an appealing one, so I bounced Rory on my hip. “So, potty time?”
He snorted and reached for Rory with his free hand. “I’ve got this. You should enjoy the wonders of not having kids.”
“Oh, yeah. All the wonders of standing outside an airport bathroom.” I rolled my eyes and kept Rory tucked into my side. “I don’t mind helping. Besides, two of them against one of you seems like unfair odds anyway.”
“Being outnumbered does sometimes suck,” he agreed as we strolled towards the bathrooms. “Itisgetting easier as they get older, though. Sometimes. Maybe. Well, until they run in opposite directions. And, no,” he gave me a pitiful look, “Ollie isn’t a fan of the whole ‘backpack with a leash’ idea. I don’t judgeparents who use them, but Ollie has a thing about being a wolf on a leash…it doesn’t matter that these guys can’t shift yet. It’s a whole thing with him. I don’t argue.”
It was tempting to joke about him being well trained again, but I really did prefer to be driven to the pack, so I kept those thoughts inside that time.
Getting the kids to use the bathroom was a relatively painless affair, and they were excited to be ‘rewarded’ by using the automatic hand soap dispenser and hand dryers after they were done.
“At least they’re easily entertained,” I mused, and Beck chuckled, ruffling Duke’s light-brown hair.
