I walked out of my office just as Josie and Ben came down the stairs.
Fuck.
I had meant to grab a snack from the kitchen and return to my office to hide for the rest of the evening. It had killed me to leave Josie this morning, but I needed to stay on top of the Alliance’s plans. Maybe if I could help dismantle the government, it would make up for not protecting my omega. At least, that’s what I told myself. Deep down, I knew nothing could ever make up for it.
Josie looked like an angel, wrapped in cozy clothes, her hair a messy halo. She caught sight of me, and a hesitant smile spread across her face. A smile I didn’t deserve. She rounded the bottom of the stairs and was about to say something when there was a knock on the door.
I moved without thinking, shifting her behind me. Josie inhaled sharply as Ben joined me in blocking her from the front door. Cam ran around the corner.
“Was that a knock?” he growled in a low voice.
I gave him a curt nod and shifted closer to Josie, feeling her soft warmth at my back. Cam pulled a gun from his waistband and stalked towards the door, peering out the peephole.
“It’s a delivery person,” he said. “Anyone order a fucking enormous package?”
I glanced back at Josie, who shook her head, wide-eyed. I was sure the three of us were giving off enough alpha pheromones to stress our omega the fuck out. I wanted to comfort her, but right now, her safety came first.
“Get Josie away before I answer,” Cam ordered.
Ben turned and wrapped his arms around her, carrying her away as she whined.
“Wait, Cam,” she said, reaching out to him.
“Shh, it’s okay, precious,” Ben murmured, pulling her through the kitchen to the patio doors in case we needed to make a run for it.
“He could be in danger,” she hissed.
“He’ll be okay. I’m sure it’s fine,” I said, trying to sound soothing even as my heart pounded.
The three of us stood in tense silence, straining to hear Cam. I ran my hand down Josie’s back as Ben murmured reassurances in her ear. Her body trembled against mine. After a few minutes, the front door shut. Cam popped his head around the corner.
“All clear.”
Josie broke Ben’s hold and launched herself at Cam. He caught her easily, swinging her up in his arms.
“Don’t do that again,” she said, an edge of fire in her voice I hadn’t heard since before the DC.
“Do what?” Cam asked, a slightly bewildered expression on his face.
“Order me away when there could be danger,” she said, staring him down.
Cam opened his mouth and closed it again, clearly at a loss for words as his need to protect our omega warred with his desire to give her whatever she wanted.
“Just want to keep you safe,” he finally said.
“I just… don’t want to be shoved to the side,” she responded.
Cam nodded before clutching her tighter to his chest, burying his face in her hair.
“What was delivered?” Ben asked, breaking the silence.
“Come see,” Cam responded gruffly, walking Josie into the foyer where an enormous rectangular package—probably eight feet tall—sat, wrapped in brown paper.
“Umm… what is it?” she asked, pushing herself out of Cam’s hold as she scrunched her nose.
“It’s for you, from Donovan Turro,” Cam said through gritted teeth.
What the fuck?
Why was he sending something to our omega?
My alpha was furious that someone else had given Josie a gift. She was ours, not someone else’s to win over.
“Donovan?” Ben asked, his tone calm, but a spike of anxiety shot through the bond.
“The famous omega who hosted the cocktail party,” I said, suppressing a growl.
“Why would he send me something?” Josie reached out to touch the package but quickly pulled back as if burned.
I glanced at Ben and Cam—their confusion mirroring my own. Omegas were known to be particularly drawn to gifts. Some said that made them shallow, but it was an instinctual urge, just like alphas had the urge to provide for their omegas. When we had given Josie gifts, she’d responded with the excitement of someone who wasn’t used to being given anything. I thought it was fucking adorable and a bloody crime that she’d been given so few presents in her life.
I expected her to unwrap the package immediately, but she was now backing away from it.
“Don’t you want to open it?” Ben asked, tucking Josie’s hair behind her ear.
I could scent him on her skin, and jealousy surged through me. While I’d been locked up in my office, Ben had been with our omega. He had left the bond wide open so Cam and I could feel every fucking thing they were doing. Of course, the only person I had to blame was myself.
If I stayed away from her, I could avoid seeing the disappointment I was sure I’d find in her eyes because I didn’t protect her.
Josie shrugged, trying to give off an air of nonchalance. “Maybe I’ll look at it later.” She turned towards Ben. “Dinner?”
Ben quickly wiped the confused expression from his face, taking her hand with a smile and tugging her into the kitchen. He glanced back at Cam and me, but we just shrugged, completely confused why our omega would resist a gift.
