Heat Race - Tanya Chris Page 0,31
said. “Your great-grandfather would’ve been thrilled.”
Maybe, but Jack Henry couldn’t see what he had to be proud of. All he’d done was be indecisive and greedy. It was fate that’d made this happen, not him.
“Now promise you’ll look after Jack Henry,” his father pleaded as they lingered in the doorway, trying to make their escape.
“I don’t need to be looked after,” Jack Henry complained. Legally, alphas weren’t guardians to their omegas. Those laws had been changed long enough ago that he’d never had to worry about them. But his omega recognized Jasper’s authority, and he wasn’t sure he liked that. Bad enough Jasper might turn out to be bossy. Worse, if his omega cooperated.
When they finally made it out of the house, they crammed his suitcases into the car, along with the stuff Saul and Elias had packed. Their collective belongings filled the trunk and spilled over onto one side of the back seat in a tower that leaned dangerously sideways.
“Jack Henry can sit up front with Elias,” Saul offered.
Jack Henry was about to say that it made sense for the smallest person to squeeze into what remained of the back seat when Jasper gave an order. “He’s coming with me.”
The atmosphere on the sunny patch of asphalt went tense in an instant. The same alpha energy that had exploded outward to protect him from the nonexistent threat of Lon imploded now. Saul and Elias whirled to face Jasper, all three of them ready to fight over where he was going to sit, as if anyone got to decide that for him. He’d liked being on the motorcycle—had enjoyed the rush of air and the thrill of having his arms wrapped around Jasper’s firm body—but he didn’t like being told what to do.
“Says who?” he demanded.
A soft growl of warning rumbled through Jasper’s chest, further ruffling Saul and Elias. The four of them hadn’t even made it out of the driveway, and the pack was already headed for civil war.
Saul gave himself a shake. He unclenched his fists and dropped his shoulders. “Were you scared on the bike, Jack Henry? I wouldn’t mind taking a turn on it if you’d rather not.”
Saul. He was even sweeter than Jack Henry had realized and not afraid to be second, which took a certain kind of courage.
“I didn’t mind it,” Jack Henry said. That wasn’t the issue.
“Everyone will get a turn on the bike,” Jasper promised. “But right now, I’m bringing my omega home for the first time. I’d like him to be with me when I do it.”
Jack Henry hadn’t thought about it like that. He’d jumped straight to rebellion, as prickly as any alpha.
“If you wouldn’t mind riding with me?” Jasper offered his hand.
“Of course. I’m sorry.” He took Jasper’s hand and gave it a squeeze, then looked at Elias who hadn’t said anything yet.
“It’s Jack Henry’s call, of course.”
All three alphas nodded, as if they hadn’t been about to fight over who got to make the call for him.
“It might take some time to get our dynamics right,” Saul said. “This is new, that’s all, and the moon is still mostly full.”
“Is this going to happen every month?” Dealing with three riled-up alphas on top of his own heat hormones was going to be a challenge.
Jasper pressed a kiss to his temple. “Like Saul said, it’s new. We’ll do better, I promise. I’ll do better,” he corrected. “I should’ve asked, not told.”
Jack Henry accepted the apology with a smile. Forgiven. But time would tell whether these kinds of confrontations would escalate or dissipate as they got to know each other. Time would tell whether he’d lucked into the most amazing mating he could’ve dreamed of or if he’d made the worst mistake of his life.
SAUL
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Elias drove, Saul went through the cassette tapes in the glove compartment, trying to find some music they could agree on. The two of them had never been friends, despite having grown up in the same town, and all he knew about Elias—other than how lucky he was to be Jack Henry’s best friend—was that he was smart but timid, always finding a reason to sit out in gym class and never coming to the dirt lot after school to play the rougher games that went on when grownups weren’t watching.
When Elias presented as an alpha, everyone was surprised. You could never tell, of course, but people thought they could tell. No one had been surprised about Saul because he matched the image people had