I swear my omega has some kind of magical powers of persuasion or something.
“Are you okay?” Alora asks when Finn gets up to go to thebathroom. “This is all okay with you, right? If it’s too much, we can bring him home.”
I shake my head. “No, Alora, we’re not taking him home. Especially not after you convinced him not to leave with his dad. I’ll admit that he doesn’t seem too bad.”
“High compliments from my brother,” Jordan says with a laugh as he slaps his hand on my shoulder.
I flip him off, keeping my eyes locked on Alora. “Do you still feel drawn to him?”
She ducks her head as she nods. “Maybe even more so.”
“Then we’re going to continue to get to know the man. Although, you might want to let him know that you’re interested in something more than just being his friend.” I glance at my brother, sharing an amused look with him when she wrinkles her nose.
“What do you mean? I’ve been very obvious about my interest in him.”
Jordan nods slowly. “I will agree. I can see that you’re interested in him, but you already wear an alpha’s mark. He probably thinks you’re just being friendly. Since you have a pack, he probably thinks you’re not looking to add to it.”
Her eyes go wide. “Really? I didn’t think of that. Wow, I’m an idiot.”
“Hey.” I grab her hand, lifting it to my lips and pressing a kiss to the palm. “Don’t talk about my omega like that. You’re the furthest thing from an idiot.”
Because she’s used to this kind of thing from both me and Jordan, she just rolls her eyes. She looks like she wants to say more, but Finn returns to the table and pauses.
“Everything okay?” he asks, glancing between us.
I nod, gesturing for him to take his seat. “Of course.”
He’s slow to lower himself, but finally retakes his seat.
“I like you, Finn,” Alora blurts, and I have to bite back a laugh.
Finn chuckles, his face flushing. “Uh…I like you too, Alora.”
My omega growls. “That’s not what I meant. I mean, I’m interested in you and your alpha. Like being more than friends.”
“I…uhh…” he stammers, eyes wide as he glances toward me.
“Don’t look at me. Alora’s the one who’s interested—not me. I’m not into men.”
He snorts. “Well, neither am I… At least, not really. Whatever, that doesn’t matter. I’m looking at you because you’re her alpha.”
And that’s when it clicks.
“Ahh, you’re looking to me for permission.” At his nod, I laugh. “If you think I’m the one in charge of this pack, you’re sadly mistaken. Alora is the one who says what goes, but we’ve already discussed her interest in you. We’ve been trying to figure out how to get a hold of you for the last five days. We took a break today only to go to your mom’s funeral.”
“You were?” His disbelief is clear in his tone. “But why? You’re already a pack.”
Alora sighs. “Are you not interested in me? Because if that’s the case, all you have to do is say so. I know attraction is sometimes just one-sided.”
Finn shakes his head frantically. “No. That’s not it at all. But you already have a pack, so I put you into the off-limits category.”
“Told you so,” I sing-song, a smirk painting my lips. When Alora turns to me with a glare, I just laugh before growing serious as I lean forward. “Finn, you seem like a good person, so I’m going to be upfront with you. I never planned to be partof a pack, but when Alora fell for Jordan, I figured he was my brother, so that wasn’t too hard of an ask.”
His face falls, and I know he thinks I’m about to tell him to shove off—even though I just told him we’ve been looking for him for the last five days.
“A little over a year ago, I was hospitalized after one of Alora’s heats after passing out at work—for exhaustion and dehydration. We were informed that, due to the nature of Alora’s heats, we would need to bring another alpha in during her heats. We haven’t done that yet because Alora doesn’t feel comfortable using a heat service as she doesn’t want a stranger in her nest during her heats. It took a while for me to come around to the idea of adding another alpha, but I can’t continue to take an extra week off work after her heats. It’s not sustainable, and I don’t feel good about myself that I have to take more time off than my omega after her heat.
“This is the first time Alora has shown interest in another alpha, and I’ll admit that seeing her flirt with you is a little…grating. But it’s not as bad as I thought it would be, but I think a big part of that is that it’s you. It’s true we don’t know you well yet, but just from your actions alone, you’ve proven yourself trustworthy. Well, besides kissing my omega in the forest while I was going out of my head with worry, but I’m choosing not to hold that against you.
