“Josie, wake up,” Theo said, shaking me gently.
I groaned. “What time is it?”
“Morning,” Theo responded.
“It’s not morning. It’s still dark out,” I whined, trying to scoot away from him. I rolled into Ben, who automatically pulled me into his arms.
“We’re going to the gun range. You need to learn to shoot,” Theo said, trying to tug me out of Ben’s hold.
“Excellent idea,” I mumbled. “That way, I can shoot you for waking me up too fucking early in the morning.”
“I love when you say fuck,” Ben mumbled. “S’hot. Do it more.”
“I’m serious,” Theo said. His voice was firm, but I also thought I detected an undercurrent of anxiety in his tone. My sleep-addled brain didn’t have the energy to decipher what was going on, so I pressed my face into Ben’s chest and started drifting off.
Theo’s voice startled me awake again. “Come on, angel,” he begged.
The urgency in his voice forced me to pry my eyes open, and I blearily took him in as he stood at the edge of the bed. Theo was dressed in workout gear, but his hair was tousled and his eyes were a bit… wild. Seeing I was finally awake, he nervously raked his hand through his hair. The slightly bitter edge to his scent told me more about his mood than he seemed willing to offer.
“What’s wrong?” I croaked.
Theo’s eyes shifted away momentarily, then found mine again as if he couldn’t help himself. “Nothing, this is just important.”
Ben’s grip tightened around my waist, encouraging me to stay as he hummed and kissed my cheek.
“We’re really going to a gun range? And why do we have to do this so early?” I asked, intentionally injecting an omega whine into my voice.
Theo’s hands flexed as if he wanted to reach out and comfort me, but instead, he set his jaw and took a deep breath. “One of our friends owns the gun range and is opening it up to us before regular hours, so you don’t have to deal with being around other alphas.”
I whined again, flailing my arms and legs against the bed.
“Are you… throwing a tantrum?” Ben asked, sounding amused and much more awake. “Because it’s really cute. Do it again.”
I flipped him off before pushing myself to a seated position.
“Sorry, love. I know you don’t like mornings,” Theo said, his lips quirking as if trying to keep from laughing. Then his voice deepened. “I promise I’ll make it up to you.”
A tingling shot through my core at his words, and my underwear dampened with slick. Ben slid along the bed so his face was against my hip and breathed in deeply.
I shoved his head aside and got out of bed with a huff. “You two are both on my shit list,” I said, stomping to the dresser.
“What?” Ben sputtered. “I had nothing to do with this!”
“What about Cam? He set this up!” Theo exclaimed, stalking over to me, his hands on my hips as he breathed down my neck.
“Cam didn’t wake me up,” I grumbled, moving out of his hold as I headed to the bathroom.
“So not fair,” Theo muttered.
I smiled as Ben and Theo argued indignantly, sounding just as whiny as I had a few minutes ago. I pulled on leggings and a sweatshirt and put my hair up in a couple of messy space buns. Hopefully, this was acceptable shooting attire.
“Aren’t you coming?” I asked Ben as I exited the bathroom. He was curled up under the blankets again, his arms wrapped around my pillow.
“Definitely not,” he said.
I growled at the injustice, hating how much I sounded like a kitten. Why couldn’t I have a fierce alpha growl that shot fear into the heart of my enemies, or in this instance, my overbearing alphas?
Theo put his arm around my shoulders and walked me downstairs, where Cam sat in the kitchen with a cup of coffee.
“Gimme,” I said, holding my hands out for his cup.
“We’re out of creamer,” he said, holding out the cup of black coffee.
“Are you two trying to kill me?” I whined, putting my head down on the kitchen counter in despair.
Cam came up behind me and massaged my shoulders before planting soft kisses on the back of my neck. “We’re going to stop by a coffee shop and get you a fancy latte with a shit-ton of sugar, okay, baby girl?”
I grunted, unwilling to forgive the early morning wake-up quite so easily.
As promised, we went through the drive-through of the cutest little cafe that was, for some reason, open at this ungodly hour. If Ben and I opened a bakery, it would have to be the mid-day variety because neither of us would be waking up early.
I sipped on my pumpkin spice latte, finally starting to wake up. Theo’s hand was firmly planted on my thigh as he drove us through town. I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination, but his hand seemed to be creeping almost imperceptibly higher and higher the longer we drove. His earlier promise to make up for waking me flitted through my head.
“You still mad at me?” Theo asked, glancing over right as I stuffed the last of my almond croissant in my face. Attractive.
I forced myself to chew and swallow before answering. “This makes up for it a tiny bit,” I said, waving the latte. “Now that I’m sort of awake, why are we going to the gun range?”
“We want you to be able to defend yourself,” Cam said, leaning over the center console from his spot in the back. “Hopefully, you’ll never have to use a gun for that reason, but just humor us, okay?”
I nodded. Guns kind of freaked me out, but I also didn’t hate the idea of learning to use one. Maybe it would make me feel powerful, and I appreciated that my alphas wanted me to be able to protect myself.
“I’ll probably be a total badass at it,” I said confidently.
Turns out, I was not, in fact, a badass at shooting. My alphas assured me it was completely normal that I somehow missed the paper target every single shot, but I caught them cringing when they thought I wasn’t looking. The gun felt all wrong in my hands. It was heavy and cold, and the shooting range smelled like antiseptic and rubber, a combination that put me on edge.
We had pulled up to a massive warehouse on the edge of town. It was empty except for the owner, a bulky beta male of few words. He’d gone over a brief set of rules before setting us loose. Cam had started by explaining all the parts of the gun, how to enable and disable the safety, and several other instructions that were lost on me.
Theo helped me with my stance, his hands softly grazing my hips maybe a bit more than strictly necessary. That was my favorite part of the outing so far. Cam tenderly placed ear protection on my head, kissing my cheek before urging me to take my first shot. I waited for some instinctual badassery to come over me, but instead, I just felt shaky. My palms were sweaty, and I couldn’t hold the gun steady or figure out how to visualize my shot.
When Cam pressed the button to retrieve the target paper, I expected to see the paper riddled with holes and that some of them would have landed within the human outline. But there were no holes on the paper at all.
“Are you sure this is loaded?” I asked, gesturing at the gun.
“It’s okay, love. No one’s good at this on their first try.” Theo said, taking the handgun from me. “Maybe we need to start with the paper a bit closer.”
I crinkled my nose. The paper was already nowhere near the end of the range.
“We probably just need to buy you a lower-caliber gun. This is one of mine and it’s too big for your hands,” Cam said, his brow furrowed.
The idea of getting my own gun caused anxiety to creep up my chest. I didn’t want to think about having the power to hurt… or kill… someone, but then, was I just being weak? I shifted back and forth, trying to calm down, but I knew the guys could tell how on edge I was by my scent.
Cam pulled me into his chest and lowered his lips to my ear. “You should have seen Theo on the first day of basic training. Absolutely pathetic,” he said in a conspiratorial tone.
I perked up. I hadn’t heard much about Cam and Theo’s time in the military, but I was curious. I was especially interested in hearing an embarrassing story I wasn’t the subject of.
“I wasn’t that bad,” Theo said, his cheeks reddening.
“You shot the officer in the leg with a rubber pellet and were put on trash duty for three months,” Cam snorted.
“I don’t know if you want to start trading embarrassing basic training stories,” Theo said, a rare glint of mischief in his eyes. I whipped my face around to his and mouthed, “do it.” I wanted all the dirt on my alphas.
Theo’s face broke out in a wide smile. “Turns out Cam here has a bit of a delicate stomach,” he started, but before he could continue, Cam released me with a growl and shoved Theo to the ground. For a moment, I was scared that they were actually fighting, but Theo bounced onto the rubber mats on the floor with a laugh.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” Cam said, standing over him.
“Whatever you say, Cadet Shit Pants,” Theo said.
I giggled and Cam rounded on me. “You laughing at me?”
I quickly schooled my features. “I would never do that,” I said, eyes wide.
Cam grunted as if he found my performance unconvincing before turning around and offering Theo a hand up. Theo elbowed him in the ribs good-naturedly before wrapping his arms around me.
“You’ll get better at this, angel. Don’t be too hard on yourself,” he said. I squeezed him back, reveling in the feel of him against me.
“Let’s get you home,” Cam said. I sighed, relieved they’d sensed I had reached my limit. “I bet Ben is still in bed,” he continued with a roll of his eyes.
“What time is it?” I asked.
“Seven,” Theo responded.
I groaned. “I should still be in bed. It’s too early.” I sounded like a cranky toddler, but I didn’t care. If my alphas wanted me, they had to accept that I was not a morning omega.
“Come on. Let’s go home and get you back in bed,” Cam said, slinging his arm around my shoulder and kissing me on the forehead.
I leaned into him as we walked out of the building. The sun had risen while we were inside, and the sky still had a few streaks of pink in it. There were a few guys in tactical gear getting out of their cars. My anxiety spiked as I realized most of them were alphas and that if they used their bark on me, I would have to comply. Sweat rolled down my back.
“It’s okay, baby girl,” Cam said softly. He and Theo sandwiched me between them and ushered me to the car, glaring at anyone who looked in our direction. This time, I got in the back with Cam, and he kept his arms firmly around me as Theo peeled out of the parking lot.
“You okay?” Cam asked, running his hands down my body as if checking for non-existent injuries.
I relaxed into him, realizing that I was okay. Even if one of those alphas had used their bark on me, Theo and Cam would have protected me. The device made me vulnerable, but I wasn’t on my own anymore.
“Yeah, but I’m not sure I want to go back there.” My voice was small and I squirmed in my seat, still so unsure about voicing my wants and needs.
“Okay, sweetheart,” Cam responded, tipping my head so I met his gaze. “Thanks for giving it a try. We can work on self-defense at home and get you a taser instead.”
I looked at Theo, taking in his tight hold on the steering wheel and clenched jaw. The tension from this morning when he woke me up was back with a vengeance. He glanced in the rearview mirror and saw me watching him.
“That’s fine, of course,” he said with a tight smile that didn’t meet his eyes.
A sick feeling formed in my chest at his disappointment. I shouldn’t have been so whiney. Mostly, I’d just been taken off guard. Maybe if they had warned me about shooting practice, I would have been more mentally prepared.
Theo turned on the radio, effectively ending the conversation.
I sighed, leaning into Cam.
“These are cute,” he said, patting my space buns.
“I can give you some later,” I said, eyeing his hair.
Cam kept a straight face, but I could practically hear him trying to figure out how to turn me down without hurting my feelings. I hid my smile in his chest and let myself doze off, only waking up once we pulled into our familiar driveway.
