Sugar Coated

33

Jax Sinclair

My dick was hard all day and I didn't even have the shop to be able to distract myself. Andres and Em were likewise engrossed in other things on their impromptu day off so I'd refrained from accosting either of them no matter how desperately I tracked them when they happened to walk by me.

I could bake a loaf of sourdough. The jar of starter in the fridge was aging a little longer than I usually left it and the distraction would at least somewhat help my situation.

I stared at the bubbly mason jar and then shut the fridge.

I could hear Andres' snicker before he drawled, "I too continuously look in the fridge when I don't know what to do with myself, though it is entertaining to see you do it as well, you oh so unflappable alpha." He didn't take his eyes off of the game he was playing.

"He did the same thing when he was waiting for you to accept a bite," Em was kicking his feet where he lay on the couch, scrolling on his phone trying to think of the perfect date for Doll.

"He did?" That grabbed Andres' attention and even his surprise from what I could read on the face he turned my way.

"Mmhmm. Moped for the first few weeks before he got a grip. Melodramatic really. Do you think she'd like matching pajamas?"

We'd moved on from dates then and gone straight to gifts.

"We could ask her," I opened the fridge again, grabbing a beer before dropping onto the couch with the rest of the pack. The bond was quiet and sated between us, though a piece of it already ached when Delaney was gone. It wanted more time with all of us, together and cozy. Nothing an extended heat wouldn't fix.

That was the wrong thought for fixing the dick situation though so I pushed it out of my mind as best an alpha could when the house still smelled the way it did.

Em chewed his lip, his fingers hesitating on the screen, something was churning in that mind of his and it had him anxious though he was trying to hide it.

"What's wrong?"

He flattened out on the couch his hands and the phone pushed out in front of him, "I think...not certain really, but given everything that's happened...I'm wondering if maybe. I mean it could be nothing, but I've never really had this happen this bad unless I was close you know?"

Andres saved me from answering, "Em I don't think you actually said what you were thinking there." The game paused, the screen freezing with an overlay while Andres dropped back against the couch as we plowed ahead into serious territory.

"I didn't?"

"Not quite," I let my smile ease into my voice. Em was a harder omega to anticipate and his moods could be volatile if he was unsure of himself. It was something I'd come to understand and we'd even helped to ease some of the anxieties that brought on the feelings in him, but it was an uphill battle. One year or two wouldn't change the foundations built over decades. We were kind to Em, but he wasn't always so kind to himself.

"Oh," He paused for a long time, parsing through his feelings. It was a wonder he'd come far enough to leave the bond open while he did it. It was like a slideshow as emotions flared through the bond before being tossed aside while he cataloged them, settling on whichever one he felt most keenly in the moment. "I'm not being fair."

"Explain," Andres turned slightly so we could both face him, "given the circumstances I think a little leniency is warranted, but we do need clarification."

"My plans just include keeping her here."

"Same," It was an intersection that society hated, the dredges of it that were anti-designationist anyway. Between me and Em, there was a mutual understanding of those pieces of us that defied logic, that were more animal than man. Beta's couldn't quite understand it and things that were unknown were almost always feared and this happened to be one of those things. I'd grown up learning to pick my battles to only let pieces of myself free to preserve an image lest society paint me as a danger.

Em hadn't grown up that way, quite the opposite really.

He huffed and I felt more shuffling from his end of the bond, "I think my heat is going to start sooner. I don't want to leave the house and I'm pissed that she isn't here. That she left with him."

Ahhhhhh there it is. His biggest weakness. Insecurity. It didn't matter how many times we told him Rosie's omega wouldn't be a concern or even if Foster himself said it. Em wouldn't believe it until he'd determined it himself.

"You can't hold that against her," Andres started.

"I knoooooooow. I'm not mad at her. I'm mad at him and the fact that he...I don't know...knew her? The fact that he knows anything really."

"I'm willing to bet you'd be good friends if Delaney weren't stuck in the middle."

"What makes you say that?"

"Doll likes both of you," that caused Em to let out a petulant growl, "and I'm willing to bet she's a good judge of character."

"She definitely is, seeing as they both showed up here last night to make sure she was okay after she accidentally texted us instead of Rosie," Andres' comment managed to kick my own growl out loud enough that it filled the room.

"You mention this now?" I swallowed back the unruly snarl. Her friends' response was entirely reasonable, commendable even, but I was still unreasonably territorial given the radiating omega hormones and an unclaimed packmate.

"Would you have reacted better last night?" Andres' response was clipped and his eyes told me he already knew the answer which was likely why he didn't bring it up last night. When I didn't respond he arched an eyebrow, "Thought so."

"I just want her to be here and pack and everything else that comes with that and I'm afraid that now that she isn't here she's not going to realize how serious it is," Em picked his phone up again to look at it. The light reflected a little too brightly against his eyes. Half of him probably felt her leaving as a rejection. The issue boiled down to the fact that Em (and the rest of the pack) had been courting Delaney in his own way for three months, but Doll was only operating on day one of her courtship. Instincts were a bitch.

"Then we let her know it's serious."

I not only had Andres' attention, but his interest. I felt the decision settle in my bones all of my instincts aligning with Em's and pushing it out into the air between us. I felt the tense indecision that had plagued me the whole day blow away in a metaphorical breeze and hot on its heels came that plaguing alpha instinct, "Invite her to move in."

I saw the light return to Em's eyes, like the lightbulb in his brain was bright enough that it was spilling out of him. His fingers flew across the screen and he spared barely any glance their way.

I was about to become unbearable. The alpha inside me decided she had three days to say no and if she didn't I'd drag her back here myself.

"I love your feral smile," Em's whisper was breathless.

I caught him in my arms when he ran to me the jolt of his body knocking the laughter out of my chest, "You just love it when I give you what you want."

"And I know you will. You both will," Em reached behind him until his fingers laced with Andres, who had come to stand behind him where he sat in my lap, bracketing our omega between us.

It was unspoken that Doll was ours and we would fight to keep her.