Page 97 of His Bonded Omega Mate
“Yeah?”
“I hate what we’ve become,” Asher whispered, the confession pained.
“Me too. I thought we were at least friends.”
“We are!”
“Then why —?”
He was quiet for a long time. I got the sense he was trying to form his reply, or was just really thinking things through. “My lion wants to be the head of our pride. He wants you to submit to me. For you to understand where you come in the pecking order.”
“But it doesn’t matter.”
We lay in thought for a while. I spoke with my wolf, trying to match his needs with those of my own. Did I care who was perceived to be in charge of my unconventional family? No. I knew that my mate loved me for the alpha that I was. Not one that dictated things. My primary concern was the power going to the new alpha’s head, making him rash or dictatorial.
Eventually Asher spoke. “It matters to him. He’s never had power like this before. He just wants to be in control.”
That I understood well. The alpha needed to have control over every situation. Could I hand over the reins to him? My wolf huffed a yes with a hint of exasperation. We’d never been an alpha to impose their will on others.
“I can try. As long as you don’t take it too far.”
Under the covers, Asher reached for my hand, and I took it in mine. Slowly, our breathing deepened as we both fell asleep.
“Hey, sleeping beauties! Time to get up. We have trust exercises to do!” Axel banged on the bedroom door, opening it a little, shocking me into waking. Asher was spooning me, his breaths puffing on the back of my neck. He must have been sleeping deeply to not rouse at the noise Axel was making.
The scent of coffee got him to open his eyes. He stiffened when he realized what he was doing. I patted his arm that lay over my chest. “I missed waking in a puppy pile.” The tension eased from him and he huffed out a laugh.
“We’re going to get there, aren’t we?”
I squeezed him closer to me. “Sure we are. We have five reasons at home.”
“Five?”
“Tate, Hiroshi, your baby, Tate’s baby boy, my baby girl. We have a beautiful family, Ash. We can’t give up on that. Sure, we are going to make mistakes. We’re going to fight. That’s family life. Since you couldn’t be my mate, you can be my brother-husband.”
Asher’s bark of laughter was loud, making Axel pop his head around the door. He grinned and shook his head at what he saw.
“I’m being serious. You are my brother in all the ways that matter. We’ll make it work because we all love each other. Just in different ways.”
This time, it was him that pulled me closer. “I wish we’d never all tried being mates for all the pain it caused, but also not because it gave us you. Despite what my lion thinks, I know you don’t want Tate like that. I know you’d protect him with your life.”
Pushing back the tears that threatened to fall, I choked out. “I would. Just like you’d stand in front of Hiroshi if I couldn’t get there in time.”
“Breakfast!” Axel shouted.
Asher eased away. “I know it’s easy to say all this here while we can’t shift and can ignore our alters, but I mean it, Roan. You giving up control was all that he needed to feel safe. He’s never really had that.”
I felt pain for the confused alter. My wolf instinctively knew what he needed and vowed to commit to letting Asher lead our family from now on. My wolf was aware we were more passive than other alphas, yet knew it didn’t stop our omega loving both of us. We were as The Luna intended. Hiroshi needed someone gentle that wouldn’t quash his loving spirit and would understand his need to give so much of himself to others.
Rounding the bed, I pulled Asher into a tight hug, hoping he could feel everything that I couldn’t say. Things might have ended up all messed up, but one day we’d all be together and happy.
Axel had made bacon and eggs, the bacon on the wrong side of crispy and the eggs rubbery. We still wolfed them down, not wanting to risk the beta’s wrath. There was a reason he was Blake’s second in command, despite his beta status. Deke should have had the role of second as an alpha, yet Blake had given him the security team to do whatever he wanted with.
While Axel didn’t have an ability like Chase’s to tell when someone was lying, or Jasper’s premonitions, he was unusually stealthy. He blended into shadows, like he could wrap them around his deep black wolf. Maybe that was his gift from The Luna.
A heavy bang came from the door, almost as if someone had run straight into it. There were the sounds of shouting and a wheezing breath. “Roan!”
I was up out of my seat like a shot, reacting to the absolute panic in my best friend’s voice. “Lark?”
