Page 24 of His Temporary Alpha Mate
“Dimples, you’re hot, fun, so smart. Honestly, you’re out of my league.”
I watched more of his walls crumble and a pleased look filled his face.
“Even as a beta?”
“For sure,” I said easily. “I want to continue what we’ve been doing, so no more hiding from me. We’ll hang out, fuck when we get the urge and just be chill about it.”
Dalton laughed, shaking his head. “I thought for sure you were going to make up some bullshit excuse not to spend time with me.”
“Why would I do that? We have fun, don’t we?”
“Last time…”
“What?”
He sighed. “I was a mess.”
I thought back. His pain was so heartbreaking. So genuine and raw. The fact he’d let me see him so vulnerable and let me look after him meant so much to me.
“So was I.” Dealing with Dalton’s pain gave me an excuse to cry with him. “So why don’t we just continue to be hot messes together? I’d hate to miss out onthe way you choke on my dick.” I gave him a suggestive leer and waggled my eyebrows, desperate to lighten the mood.
It worked, because he laughed and leaned into me. He felt happier as he picked up his sandwich. “Why the hell not!”
“You’re in? Friends with benefits? Just us?” I raised my sandwich towards him to toast our promise.
He finished the toast with a grin. “Yeah. Just us.”
Moving
Larken
When I’d been asked to help out Roan with his move, I didn’t realize it would be me working with the omegas, and not Roan. Instead, my friend went into the office, leaving me to care for his mate and former mate.
So I didn’t get to spend any time with my friend, to work on the cracks in our friendship. I got to babysit his fated mate instead. His pregnant mate.
The universe, The Luna, had to be laughing at me by this point. What had I done to deserve this?
Hiroshi was adorably sweet. Not my taste at all. Too willing to please, not enough of a bite about him to catch my interest. Not that I would want to steal Roan’s mate, even if fated mates were able to see others. They literally couldn’t cheat, but Hiroshi was… I just knew I had this drive to take care of him, even if he wasn’t mine.
Maybe it was because if anything happened to Hiroshi, then Roan was likely to fade away. Fated mates didn’t do well without their other half. So many died within weeks of the other, unable to go on without their connected soul. It was both beautiful and terrifying.
An upside of being asked to help with the move was the opportunity to get to know both the omegas without their alphas looming over them. Asher was a scary guy. The extra aggression he had since the change in designation was still to abate. It might never be calm enough for him to be around other alphas. Hence my task of looking after Tate and Hiroshi.
Their new home was roomy. The contractors had done an amazing job on it and our Alpha’s new place. Having separate houses was better security wise, by splitting the targets up. Tate’s baby was sure to be at risk.
I knew from our brief conversations that Roan was struggling to be the alpha Tate needed, while Asher was trying to get his shit in order. The pressure of looking after one omega carrying twins was a lot, adding in another who had only been an omega for a short time was likely more than most could stand. Not Roan, though. He was keeping everything under control at home and in the office.
Kade was another of Roan’s priorities. I thought by helping with the move, he would finally ask about my life, about things with Dalton, and maybe we could get over this rough patch. Things had been great during the beta sickness, only because Kade was tucked away for his safety. It was ridiculous to be jealous of an omega, the Alpha Mate, at that. I just couldn’t help the way I felt.
I wanted my friend back. I wanted to tell him about the growing, complicated friendship I had with Dalton.
Whispers caught my ears as the other alphas carried in furniture and boxes into the new house. It had been decorated stylishly, though it was almost bland. I thought Roan had left it to Hiroshi to do, but the omega was also a busy healer, and likely had forgotten homey details. Tate, well, he was too new to the pack, to being an omega, to understand the finer points of making a house a home.
Omegas treated their houses like their nests, or at least, they had in my birth pack. My mother had made every room in our house like something out of a magazine. I’d never got to see her nest, since they weren’t blessed with another child after me, but I imagined it a lot. Before I went to my aunt, I would spend school vacations at home dreaming up little siblings. I always thought my parents would keepme home from boarding school if there were more children, other Komodo Dragons, in our family.
The things the other alphas were saying began to reach my ears. Things like Roan wasn’t alpha enough to have a fated mate, let alone bed Tate, too. They doubted Tate’s pregnancy when it was apparent once you used your nose. His scent was the sweetness of an omega, with something extra, a quality I didn’t have the word to explain, which told my alter Tate was carrying young.
Babies fascinated my alter. If he had the chance, he would protect our clutch and watch over them as the omega would traditionally do. He was not a proud alpha. He wanted to cherish a mate and bear many clutches of eggs to a happy mate. It was the man side, me, who wasn’t ready for all that just yet, especially if it meant my time with Dalton had to end.
