Romance Omega Style [Resistant Omegas 9] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour ManLove) Read online

  “And coddle me some more?” he shouted as he teetered a bit. I moved over to him and wrapped my arm around him. “You never wanted to lead and I’m tired of living with the pressure from your decision to do it to save me. You hover constantly to the point I can’t take a bath without you checking on me and then you bitch I need to be coddled. Fuck and you.”

  “We check on you in the bathtub because you tried to commit suicide in it once!” Declan shouted. “We’re scared that with the way you feel emotions and they affect you that it will send you into a depression spiral before we know what’s going on again and then it will be too late.”

  “You should do that because you care, not because you think you have to coddle me. And Taylor just wants to fuck someone else, so I’m done. I’m not being the problem in the relationship anymore. You both hate leading a pack, so I release you.”

  “You hate it too?” Declan asked Taylor.

  “More than I can put into words,” Taylor drawled. “But I love all of you so I stay. And I don’t want to cheat. That’s not what this is about at all but I’m not having this conversation drunk and in front of everyone. We can discuss this later after we all calm down.”

  “No, I shouldn’t have to have a conversation calmly with you after this all went down,” Carson cried as I rubbed his back. “You should have come to us before it went down like this. You’re only addressing it now because you got caught.” He glanced up at me with tears running down his cheeks. “Tell them the truth, Tristan. Don’t wait and let it fester. You see how keeping quiet and not being open is like acid to a mating.”

  “I got him,” Ian said as Carson turned away and I went to help him. The Beta and my friend looked back at Declan and Taylor. “I love you both. I always have but I go with Carson because I don’t think either of you really deserve the love we have for you after this.”

  I felt tears burn in my eyes as I watched my friend’s mating get blown to shit. Carson and Ian headed downstairs as I felt three presences I knew well move closer to me.

  “We need to talk, baby,” Jared said quietly. “All of us, alone.”

  “Yeah, okay,” I agreed, knowing no way to get out of this after what Carson said. We headed to the back of the Sun Deck by the pool that could be used as a whirlpool as well. I sat down on the edge and moved my feet into the water as I glanced around for a drink.

  “No, you’ve had enough until after we have this conversation,” Cameron said quietly. “What was Carson talking about, Tristan?”

  “He wants me to be honest that I don’t really like Denver,” I admitted as I ran my fingers through my hair in agitation. They all gave me surprised looks so I sighed and told them everything I had to Kiefer and Edric but then I kept going. “And it’s too damn dry. And I like looking at the mountains but I’m from flat land. It would be nice to drive somewhere outside of Denver and not feel like I could go off a fucking cliff at any time.

  “And what’s wrong with having lights on the damn expressways? Why has it got to always be in the dark? Yeah, because that’s totally safe in the friggin mountains. And your football team sucks—”

  “Okay, you can stop the list now,” Jared growled, being a huge Broncos fan. “We get that you’re from Green Bay and we forgive you for the allegiance but that’s just a football stance. Leave the Broncos alone.” He leaned over and bumped my shoulder to let me know he wasn’t really mad.

  “So you basically hate Denver,” Rhyce said after a few minutes of silence where everyone let what was said sink in.

  “No, but it’s not my favorite place,” I replied with a shrug. “I hate that the pack saw me lose my virginity. I hate that they think I’m a freak.” Jared went to open his mouth and I shook my head. “They do, Jared. I bury myself in the job of the Omegas in sanctuary and the Beta qualifiers guarding them because I hate dealing with the pack. I make you guys strong so you can take care of the pack you love but I hate seeing them and running with them.

  “All I get is feelings of pity, and sometimes for you guys that you got stuck with me, of course. You signed up for a twink and got a mountain of your own. Then for me because I have no answers about why I changed and can’t change back. Then just for being an Omega. And most of your pack, whether they mean to or not, thinks of how they met me when they see me. Which was my taking all your cocks up my ass. So that’s fun to see in their heads.”

  “Carson’s right,” Jared said when I was done. “You should have told us this.”

  “Why?” I whispered, shaking my head. “What good would it do? You love Denver and that pack. I love you guys so it’s worth it to me. We have responsibilities there and people who need us. Even if you guys would want to leave, which I know you wouldn’t, we couldn’t and not have the guilt eat at us.”

  “Well, see, if you’d told us this we could have told you how we’d been feeling lately,” Cameron said with a chuckle. “Or we should have told you and then you could have been honest with us. It’s kind of six of one, half a dozen of the other at this point.”

  “What are you talking about?” I drawled, the drunken talk confusing me.

  “We don’t like leading,” Jared answered me. “We don’t like you being in the States with the way the rules are. We’re constantly scared for you and what might happen. I took over because it was what I was supposed to do and Cameron and Rhyce did it for me. We don’t actually like it. We love Denver, sure, it’s our hometown, and the pack are good people. But they’ll be good people if we leave and we could always sneak back in and visit Denver if we wanted to.”

  “And catch football games from wherever we’re going,” Rhyce added. “We’ve been talking about whether we should seriously consider moving to the island if we like it. Apparently so have you.”

  “Yeah, but I would never have left you guys. I love you all and need you.”

  “Well then we just need to see how we like the island and go from there,” Jared said as he wrapped his arm around me and Cameron, Rhyce doing the same from the other side of me. “And we need to be more open with each other. If we had just been honest with the way things have been bogging us down and what we really want, we wouldn’t have risked getting to the point Carson and his inner circle have.”

  “What are we going to do about that?” I asked as I kissed his cheek. “How can we help them?”

  “I don’t think we can, baby,” Cameron said quietly. “We’ll be there for Carson and Ian but the rest is up to Declan and Taylor.”

  “What a mess,” I mumbled. “You guys done being mad at me for going with the High Council when they came? I didn’t have a death wish, I swear.”

  “We know that. We’re just picking on that fact because it was stupid and I’m not really sure why,” Rhyce said with a sigh.

  “Because you didn’t listen to us,” Cameron answered. “You scanned their minds and the guards didn’t know what was really going on. Personally, I’m pissed and want to keep saying I told you so. We have more experience in life and wolf politics than you do. People who get taken by the guards aren’t normally heard from again. You should have trusted us.”

  “I know,” I conceded. “I’ve thought a lot about this and not just because the way things turned out and you were right. I should have listened. I thought we were in a better place with the Council than all of this but you three didn’t. I should have listened to that and we decided what to do together. I won’t make that mistake again, I promise.”

  “Then I’m done with being upset about it,” Jared said after a minute as he stared up into the sky, watching the sun set. “I don’t know about the rest of everything but I can move on past your being taken in for questioning.”

  “Me too,” Cameron and Rhyce agreed.

  “This is so not what I had planned when I thought Valentine’s weekend island getaway,” I grumbled as I saw half the Betas and Alphas arguing and venting, knowing the Omegas downstairs were doing the same. “I bet Brody’s going to want to kick us all off his boat.”

>   “Nope, no being depressed,” Rhyce growled. “We just made up and we’re going to be fine.” I had just enough time to look at him before I got shoved in the pool. Asshole. He was lucky my phone was still downstairs. I laughed as I saw Jared and Cameron coming in right after me. We shared a look and went for Rhyce. Oh yeah, we dunked his ass big-time.

  * * * *

  Wesley

  “There you are,” Bay said quietly as he, Levey, and Harkin walked up behind me. I was sitting on the bench at the back of the main level all by myself. When the trip started going to hell and Ian and Galvin came down to talk to their mates, I grabbed a bottle of something very strong and not that great tasting and left. I couldn’t be there anymore.

  “It’s all my fault,” I whispered, tears still falling down my cheeks. “All my friends’ matings are going to shit and it’s my fault. I started all of this.”

  “From what we’ve been hearing it seems some of it started before you even came into the picture, Wes,” Harkin said gently as he sat next to me. “A lot of these guys didn’t get into leading a pack for the right reasons. Well, not to say that it wasn’t the right reason to them, but from an outside perspective, you don’t become Alpha of a pack to get the guy. Leaders should want to lead. So I’m not really surprised they’re not happy with their jobs.”

  “It’s more than that, you know it,” I chastised even as I leaned against him. He was trying so hard to make it those inner circles’ fault and not mine. “I can hear everything down here. Most of their issues are stemming from fear that the shit is going to hit the fan after what I did.”

  “No, fuck that, I’m tired of you saying it that way,” Bay growled and got in my face. “You didn’t instigate any of this. The Council did. You responded to their threat. A threat against Tristan and all of you basically. You did not start this and I’m tired of you blaming yourself.”

  I blinked at him several times, my drunkenness probably showing. “Okay then. I didn’t start this, but I did escalate it.”

  “Yeah,” he agreed. “But it was the only play you had. If they had killed Tristan or whatnot, it would have escalated too. I’ve thought about this a hundred times and I can’t come up with another way to have played it. If you freed Tristan and we all ran, half the Council would still be corrupt and in power. You did the right thing.”

  “As opposed to when I overreacted about the fight we had after Levey claimed me,” I mumbled, still worried they never forgave me for that. I hadn’t meant to let it go on so long or punish them worse than they had hurt me, but it just snowballed out of control and I never could figure out how to hit the brakes.

  “We screwed up and hurt you,” Levey sighed, plopping down in the chair across from me and tapping my legs so I turned around fully and looked at him. “Yes, maybe things got out of hand because both sides didn’t handle things in the best way but we’ve let it go, Wes. You should too.”

  “I think I have,” I admitted, but then shook my head. “I hoped you guys had but I keep thinking in the back of my head that if I overreacted once I could easily do that again. And is that what I did with the Council? Did I blow an A-bomb up, take charge, and now we’re going to all suffer picking up the pieces instead of having maybe used a Tomahawk missile?”

  “It’s hot when you make weapon analogies that go boom,” Harkin chuckled. I rolled my head and gave him a dirty look. “Okay, serious talk only for our drunken mate.”

  “No, we don’t have to talk serious,” I replied quickly, thinking about what Carson told us his mate said. “I’m okay.”

  “No you’re not and don’t lie to us,” Bay snapped, his eyes filling with anger. “Don’t you dare lie to us.”

  “I didn’t mean to lie,” I whispered, shaking my head. “I just don’t want my needing to be coddled and comforted to become an issue like with Carson and Declan.”

  “It won’t as long as we’re all honest. And I think Declan’s getting a bad rap on this one,” Harkin admitted. “It’s not easy being mated to a powerful Omega. There’s a lot of shit to deal with and he never wanted to be in an inner circle so I’m sure it weighs extra on him. Just like you have that little voice in the back of your head questioning if what you did was right, he had one that needed to be shot, questioning what was really going on with his mate.”

  “But shouldn’t he know Carson better than to have even thought that?” I asked.

  “They’re having issues with Taylor too and it’s just a bad time for all of them. Doubts creep up. It’s just a fact of any relationship. I was worried you were going to run after what happened with the Council,” Bay said quietly.

  I wasn’t going to pretend or play stupid on something so big and tell the white lie to assure them everything was okay. “I’ve been thinking about it. All the Omegas have. I wouldn’t run without you guys though so it’s a moot point. You guys love your lake and your pack. You’d never want to leave.”

  “Our pack really does run like a family,” Bay replied carefully as if not sure which words to choose. “We don’t have the traditional pack structure or infrastructure like it seems the Chicago or Denver packs do. We’re much smaller and people only come to us if they need advice or help. They would be just fine without us.”

  “What Bay is saying is we’ve talked about it and we would run with you if it came time,” Levey said with a smile. “Personally, I could give up the lake and cold winters for a tropical island.” He gave me a teasing wink. “It might be hard to convince me of it, but yeah, I’m sure my wolf can run in the sand. Plus, I saw that Russia doesn’t have extradition laws so we could go there if we miss snow.”

  “You guys just think of everything, don’t you?” I chuckled as I wiped my eyes. I hugged my men tightly and felt worlds better just as Asher started bringing out food.

  We got up to help him, hoping that it would soak up some of the alcohol and help our upset friends. It worked to some point but it still seemed to be Alphas and Betas upstairs while the Omegas were on the other level. Except for my inner circle, Ian, and Galvin, of course, and Tristan’s inner circle, who seemed to be doing their own thing at the pool. But the tension in the air and the distance growing between some people on the boat was almost stifling. I really didn’t know what I could do to help but we had to come up with a plan, fast.

  * * * *

  “I guess they decided not to drive through the night on unfamiliar oceans,” I chuckled as I got up the next morning and realized the engines were quiet.

  “Yeah, they shut it down while you were dancing drunkenly singing that you had some coconuts for us to eat,” Bay drawled in his just-waking-up scruffy voice. It was sexy as hell.

  “That’s not how any song I know goes,” I said as I got out of bed, trying to remember that part.

  “We know,” Harkin snickered as he pinched my ass when I moved by him. “You said you were combining ‘I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts’ and ‘If You Like Piña Coladas’ in some way.”

  “Yeah, wow, go me in the crazy drunk talk.” I giggled as I got to the bathroom, doing my morning business and heading outside in only my boy shorts. I was shocked I even had them on so apparently I’d been too drunk for sex. Or I was so drunk I got dressed again after the sex?

  Either way, I felt much better this morning after tying one off and getting a lot of things off my chest last night. Even if it was crazy drunken dancing. I hiked up the stairs to the main level and realized there were already a bunch of people up. So why weren’t we moving?

  I got my answer when I reached the back of the boat. There were several of our friends fishing off one side of the yacht and a few others swimming on the other side. I liked that idea better. Without even worrying about sharks or what else could be this deep out into the ocean, I got a running start and jumped over the side.

  “Cannonball!” I screamed before landing in the water, tucking my knees and arms in tightly. I made a hell of a splash for someone so small and smiled as I swam back up to the surface.


  “Feel better now?” Carson drawled as I wiped the water and my hair out of my eyes.

  “Apparently I needed to get that out of my system. How are you doing?”

  “Ian and I talked and I think we’re going to stay at the island. I asked Slate, Ollie, and the other guards this morning if they’d want to come with us so we could bring the other Omegas too. They agreed and Brody said we can use the yacht anytime we want. Ollie knows how to drive it too. I just had a few more questions on the island itself.”

  “Well, it’s called Lilleulv. I guess lille ulv is small wolf in Danish,” I explained, giving him what Lord Ellys had told me. “It’s part of a five-island chain that is its own country. I guess there were wolves, vamps, and other paranormal beings who claimed the islands long ago and have done whatever it takes to keep those islands off record and to the outside world the country doesn’t even exist.”

  “I don’t understand how that can happen nowadays,” Tristan mumbled as he swam closer to us.

  “How do we hear other people’s thoughts?” I snickered. “Who the fuck knows but I’m grateful for it now. The wolf island we can buy because the last owner died. The only rule is it always has to be owned by a wolf, just like the vamp island, and no matter who owns it, any wolf can seek sanctuary there. That’s the point of the islands themselves. So even if I buy it, a random wolf from Bolivia can come and live there as long as they follow our rules.

  “Lord Ellys is the keeper of the islands as they change hands from generation to generation. Also, there’s a fee that vampires require to keep it off the grid and off Google Maps. So we can check it out and see what the shape of the island and the house on it is in. But it’s ours to buy from the previous owner’s estate or something. I didn’t understand all the legal speak and I didn’t want to discuss our details if we weren’t even going to be interested.”