Page 32 of An Alpha’s Guide to Finding the One

She nods frantically, nonsensical begging cries punctuating each thrust, and before either one of us has the chance to chase our release, I pull out, bend down, and sink my teeth into her ass, sealing my end of the bond. I tend to it for a few seconds before thrusting back inside her and as soon as I feel her tighten around me for the final time, it’s all over. I press as deep as I can inside of her, my knot slipping into place like her body was made to fit mine. Before I know what’s happening her sharp teeth dig into the inside of my bicep, the one place I don’t have ink on that arm. “FUCK!” I shout, releasing into her again. I didn’t even know I could come multiple times like that, but I guess what they say about scent matches is true. They change your whole damn life in the best way possible, in every single way.

My brother and one of my best friends are bonded to my pregnant omega, and my alpha is on the verge of losing his ever-loving shit. I cannot count the number of times I have snapped at people in the last day that weren’t doing anything wrong, they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time and an easy target for my ire.

For once I’m grateful our team is scheduled to play against our fiercest rivals today, since it should give me a chance to work out some of this aggression before I kill one of my pack mates. I have always been the laid-back party boy in our pack, never taking anything too seriously. But that was before Lainey came along. One night with her rewired my entire system and though I wouldn’t change it for anything, this seething anger is new and I have no fucking clue how to handle it in a productive way. My alpha demands we beat the shit out of anyone that has ever touched our omega, and I don’t completely disagree.

Which is a fucking problem.

A heavy hand lands on my shoulder, scaring me so much that I jump and spin, coming face to face with my best friend. Wyatt’s head tilts. “Hey, you okay? Coach called us out a few minutes ago and you’ve just kinda been standing here.”

I shrug, knowing he would see right through me if I tried to lie. “I’m struggling with not being bonded to Lainey when the other two are.” It sucks to admit but if there’s one person in the world who won’t judge me for my feelings, it’s Wyatt. He’s my twin flame in every way and has been for four years.

Sometimes I wish we had a romantic or sexual attraction as well, but we have tried on several occasions and while it was good, it just didn’t feel right. We love each other, but we aren’t in love. Some people are meant to be platonic soulmates and Wyatt Hanna is mine.

He nods, nothing but understanding in his expressive brown eyes. “Yeah.” I watch a myriad of emotions pass over his face before a frown creases his brows. “If I’m being honest, I am too. It’s like, I know she’ll eventually bond me too but in the meantime I am missing out on this huge part of her. It almost feels like…” he trails off with a huff.

“Like you’re being left out?”

“Exactly,” he growls. The sound shocks me since I’m not sure I have ever heard him growl before.

“Hanna, Daire, get your asses to the tunnel before I bench you!” Coach screams from just outside the locker room. We jump into action, quickly snatching up helmets before jogging to the players entrance. Harbor University has some major donors for just about every sport since it’s a Division 1 school, but the football program is on another level. We have the best stadium on the East Coast, highest rate of ticket sales per game, and they churn out pro players like they are getting paid to do it. Hell, isn’t that what the multi-million dollar donations are for?

All of that to say, when the coach tells you to get your ass in gear, you get your ass in gear.

The roar of the crowd is an addiction I haven’t kicked in four years, and if I go pro I won’t have to for at least a few more. We exit the long tunnel, me in the lead carrying our school flag, to the sound of over one hundred thousand screaming fans. Adrenaline rushes over my body like a tidal wave, sharpening my focus like it always does when I step on the field.

Only this time, everything is different. For most of my life I have lived and breathed by the game. Nothing else mattered except the field and my team. But now that attention is split, with Lainey and our babies taking the majority. It’s jarring, realizing my life doesn’t revolve around this sport anymore, but it’s also invigorating. Freeing in a way I never thought I would experience after my parents died.

Turning to my right, I catch Wyatt’s eye. I grip his helmet, my glove sticking to the hard plastic exactly how it will grip the ball in twenty minutes. I lean forward and he follows, our helmets meeting with an audible clack. “Eyes on the ball.”

He nods, a feral grin darkening his features. “Eyes on the ball.”

I grin back, letting the adrenaline of the crowd and the thought of my omega at home fill me until I’m damn near bursting at the seams. “Let’s fucking go!” I shout. The team choruses my words, our collective screaming barely audible over the roar of the fans.

Time to bring home the win for my girl.

“I smell like the back side of a fucking barn,” Wyatt complains a few hours later. We’re back in the locker room after annihilating the Boston Bantams forty-nine to six. The game was a complete clusterfuck on their end, but you won’t catch me complaining when it made us look so damn good.

I huff something that resembles a laugh but it’s hard to do much more than that when I’m tired down to my very bones. I’ve barely slept since Lainey moved in because all I can think about is that my scent-matched omega is pregnant with my babies and sleeping two doors down but I can’t go to her. My alpha is pissed, I’m pissed, and it’s making sleep practically impossible. Too much longer like this and I am going to either have to come clean to Lainey and beg her to let me sleep on her floor, or ask the team doc for some sleeping pills.

Wyatt is the only one who knows how much I’ve been struggling, but like me, he has no clue what to do about it. Sure she’s been warming up to me, but I’m too afraid to undo our progress by doing something as dumb as asking to share her bed.

“Quick showers and then we get the hell out of here? I am dying to see our girl.”

Wyatt grins, slapping my back. “Took the words right out of my mouth.”

I may have fallen asleep standing under the warm spray, because next thing I know Wyatt is shaking me awake with a sympathetic look on his face. “Come on, man. If we take much longer she might already be asleep by the time we get home.”

Those words do exactly what he intended them to, and I rush through the rest of my shower with a smile on my face. The level of attachment I feel about Lainey might be slightly unhealthy, but ask me if I fucking care.

By the time we’re both dressed and out the door into the friends and family area, it’s after nine p.m. and I’m slightly less dead on my feet knowing in twenty minutes I get to see my girl and our babies.

Only, when we step into the friends and family waiting area outside the players entrance, absolute chaos descends. Someone let a bunch of fans back here and from what I can tell nearly every damn one is female and a student here.

Wyatt whistles under his breath, taking in the mob forming in front of us. “Someone is so getting fired for this.”

I nod, in complete agreement. This is fucking ridiculous. Not only is it frustrating, it’s not safe. None of these people have passes to be back here, and after Shepard Kennedy was assaulted outside of the baseball locker rooms last year, security really cracked down on allowing people access to players. If Coach doesn’t file a complaint to the board, I will.

Two thin, tan arms wrap around me from the side, bringing with them the cloying smell of vanilla. It’s not the natural kind either, more like an old vanilla candle you would find buried on some forgotten shelf at a discount store. The kind that supposedly comes from a beavers ass. “Hey there, sexy,” the woman purrs. I know she’s trying to be seductive, but her touch on my body is making me feel kind of sick. I’m desperately trying not to meet her gaze as I untangle myself from her grasp, but she’s twisting around like a snake trying to catch my eye.