The alpha 11, p.14
The Alpha 11, page 14
But I was still slightly anxious about leaving the majority of my family behind for the weekend. I knew my omegas would be safe with Benji, Aunt Eva, and Laura with them in the cabin, but I’d be at least a six-hour flight away, on the other side of the country, if anything was to happen.
We’d decided that it was probably best for only one of my omegas to come with me on the trip. Most of the SDD agents probably thought I was human, so at first it would look a bit strange if I turned up with six girlfriends. The agents also knew Caitlin as Myles’ “wife,” so she didn’t want to show her face in the office just yet.
Until absolutely everyone in the Manhattan office knew my secret, I wanted to play it safe.
I’d had a hard time picking between Arielle, Hailey, Azalea, Blair, or Nikita. I wanted them all to come with me, so it was like asking me to pick my favorite child. Eventually, I just told them to make the decision, and they all said Hailey should be the one to enjoy the little trip away.
At least we were only going to be away until Sunday night, so Hailey and I didn’t have to be away from the others for too long.
All of a sudden, I was jolted from my thoughts as someone smacked their hand on the front window of the car.
“Yo, yo!” Benji cried as he jumped into the back of the Jeep.
“Fucking hell,” I laughed as I controlled my abnormally fast heart rate. “You should warn someone before you do that.”
“Dude, I was, like, waving at you from across the lot,” Benji snickered. “Were you trapped in another world or something?”
“It certainly felt like that,” I replied. “I just have a lot on my mind.”
“I get it,” he said sympathetically. “I can’t get past the next level on my new game, and that’s really been getting me down.”
“Thanks,” I chuckled as I rolled my eyes. “I’m glad I’m not the only one in this situation.”
“I’ve always got your back, bro.” Benji tapped my shoulder before he slumped back into the seat. “Fuck, I’m so glad it’s the weekend. This week felt ten times longer than normal.”
“That’s something I can definitely empathize with,” I replied.
Our conversation ended as Nikita climbed into the passenger seat beside me, and she passed her bag over to Benji as she let out a loud sigh.
“It’s definitely Friday, right?” she asked. “Because I’d be so pissed if you tell me it’s only Thursday.”
“It’s definitely Friday.” I smiled.
“Thank god for that,” Nikita said as she rubbed her pregnant stomach. “I had two more people ask me when the baby’s due today, and both of them were shocked to hear that we still had two months to go. That’s a total of ten people this week! Am I really that big?”
I automatically turned in my seat and gave Benji a stern look. Don’t you dare say anything.
Hey, I’m nothing but an angel back here. Benji held his hands up in defense. I wouldn’t even think about saying anything potentially rude or disrespectful.
“I saw that,” Nikita snorted.
“Saw what?” Benji asked in utter innocence.
“Saw Jesse give you the ‘don’t you dare open your mouth’ look,” the werecat omega sighed. “And then the inevitable and classically Benji ‘bro, I would never do the thing I always do, I’m such a nice guy’ response.”
Nikita’s impression of Benji’s voice made the betas in the other cars start snickering, but I just raised my eyebrows as my half-brother seemed to pale by a few degrees.
“Dude… has pregnancy made you psychic?” he asked my pregnant lover. “I totally blocked that convo from you.”
“Nope, just enormous,” Nikita chuckled. “Shall we go now?”
“Let’s do it,” I replied. “But for the record, you look absolutely beautiful.”
Nikita blushed lightly and blew me a kiss, and Benji thankfully bit his damn tongue on this one.
Nikita had taken her mother’s advice, and she went to see Dr. Stenton last week, just to check that everything was okay with the baby. He helped us see that everything was fine, and he’d even checked her medical records, which clarified that Nikita really was seven months pregnant. Her bump was just bigger than others at that stage, and there was nothing wrong with that.
Unfortunately, because of some technical issues at the doctor’s office, we couldn’t get an ultrasound that time, so we couldn’t see the baby dance around. But Dr. Stenton was able to check the baby’s heartbeat, and that was most important.
As I started up the car and put it in drive, I looked through the rear-view mirror to see that my campus security were doing the same thing. Our three cars drove out of the parking lot in a neat line, but then I slowly pressed on the gas as we hit the road.
Five minutes into the drive home, my phone began to ring, and the entertainment system lit up with Carlo Abella’s name.
“Hey,” I said as I answered the call.
“Good afternoon, sir,” the Italian werecoyote replied, and his smooth voice echoed throughout the car. “I just wanted to inform you that I’m about to leave for New York now. I will meet you at the airport at approximately three o’clock tomorrow morning, New York time, and then I’ll personally drive you all to the hotel.”
“That’s amazing, Carlo, thank you.” I smiled. “How is Pennsylvania looking? And the rest of the east coast states, for that matter.”
“Everything is looking fine over here,” he said. “I made sure to check in with the betas, and the beta captains were pleased to inform me that they haven’t picked up on any suspicious activity. Not that we expected to find any, of course.”
“We always need to be on the lookout,” I told him.
“That is true, sir,” Carlo chuckled. “I also got in contact with some of the beta captains in New York City. They will be in Manhattan tomorrow morning, just to keep an eye on the area, so you can meet with them if you have the chance.”
“I’d love to,” I responded. “Thank you so much for this. I appreciate all the work you’re doing for me, Carlo, and I’ll send you a message when we land at JFK later.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” the beta captain replied. “See you then.”
My role as The Alpha would have been so much harder if I didn’t have beta captains like Carlo keeping watch over my vast territory. I’d had a few calls with the betas in the east coast states, and I knew they were doing a great job, but without Carlo there to keep a closer eye on them, anything could have happened.
Everyone was safe with Carlo, and that’s what mattered most.
The rest of the drive went by without any other interruptions, and Christopher and Zane followed us up to the log cabin as Gemma, Kristina, and Serena drove off.
As expected, Hailey was waiting by the front door with her suitcase in hand, and she bounced lightly on the spot with an excited smile on her face.
“Someone’s eager,” Benji chuckled as the three of us stepped from the Jeep. “Hailey, you remind me of a kid waiting in line to meet a princess at Disneyland.”
“It’s because I’m so excited!” she cheered.
“Then I hope you don’t mind that I need to take a shower first,” I snickered as I wrapped my arms around my giddy omega. “You’re so cute.”
“I know, I am,” Hailey giggled. “And I’m fine with you taking a shower. Just… make it a quick one.”
“Oh, bro, remember how you said you’d help me with the next level of my game first?” Benji teased. “And I think you had a kickboxing lesson with Azalea in half an hour, right? Nikita, wasn’t there something you needed Jesse’s help with, too?”
“No, and don’t be rude.” Nikita hit Benji’s arm playfully. “Hailey is allowed to be excited, so leave her alone.”
“Yeah, I bet you’d be pissing your pants with excitement if you were about to spend the weekend on a superyacht.” I smirked.
“Urgh, don’t.” Benji clutched onto his heart. “I’m still trying to get over the fact that you have two private planes. Two. And what do I have? Nothing. Fuck’s sake, life is so unfair sometimes.”
“Yes…” Nikita said sarcastically. “Look at the fancy cabin you live in rent free, and the luxury cars all around you. Yeah, life is so unfair.”
“You also have us.” Hailey shrugged. “And we’re better than everything Nikita listed.”
“She’s not wrong,” I replied.
“She’s also waiting to leave…” Hailey looked up at me with a cheeky smile. “So… do you want to take that shower now?”
“It’s a good thing you’re cute.” I smirked.
I gave Hailey a quick kiss on the lips, and then we headed inside. Chloe, Zac, Blair, and Laura were lounging in the living area, and they all looked over at us and gave us a smile. Chloe’s ankle was still bothering her, but she kept it rested and elevated like the doctor told her.
Laura came to the cabin every day for Chloe and Zac’s homeschooling. She made sure they always completed their homework before they could do anything else, which, according to Caitlin, wasn’t an easy challenge. But the fact the kids were lounging on the couch watching TV made me think they were done with school for the day.
Blair ran over to give me a hug, but they’d overheard the conversation from outside, so she knew not to keep me for too long.
“Hailey can be scary when she’s excited about something,” Blair chuckled. “So you should probably take that shower before she has to remind you again.”
“You’re quite right.” I winked.
I came across Arielle and Azalea on the way up the stairs, and then I found Caitlin in the master bedroom putting the last of my clothes into my suitcase. However, she’d filled both sides of the case with clothes, and I noticed at least three pairs of shoes, too.
“Thank you for doing this,” I said as I gave her a kiss on the cheek. “But you realize I’m only going for two days, right? Because this looks like a lot of clothes.”
“You always need options, Jesse,” Caitlin replied as she motioned toward each section of the case. “These are your casual clothes, for when you’re traveling or chilling in the hotel. But these are your fancier options. You never know if you’re going to a last-minute dinner, or somewhere that requires a suit. You’ll also want to look professional when you go into the office tomorrow. And then you have a small selection of shoes to go along with those outfits.”
“I suppose that makes sense.” I nodded. “I just thought I’d need to take an extra pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and maybe a pair of boxers or two.”
“Maybe a pair of boxers?” Caitlin gasped. “And what about socks? Were you going to wear the same pair?”
Caitlin flapped her hands in front of her face at the thought of wearing the same pair of socks two days in a row.
It was kind of adorable.
“I’m kidding,” I chuckled. “I would have taken two pairs of socks.
Caitlin calmed down when she realized I wasn’t being serious, and then she continued to tell me every product she’d included in my toiletries bag. I had enough shampoo and shower gel to last me at least a month, and I noticed the little bottles of hand sanitizer Caitlin had added in there, too.
If cleanliness made her happy, then I wasn’t about to be the one to tell my omega what not to pack for a weekend trip.
Once Caitlin had gone over everything in my case, I finally had the chance to take a shower. But for Hailey’s sake, and to save her from blowing a fuse, I made it a quick one.
We wanted to be on the road by four o’clock at the absolute latest, and given that it was already three-thirty, I knew I had to be quick.
I tried not to think about how long the night was going to be while I rinsed the shampoo from my hair. New York was three hours ahead, so we weren’t even going to reach our final destination until at least four in the morning. But as long as I could sleep on the jet, then hopefully everything would be okay.
That was the life I had to live now, and I just had to get used to the constant travel and lack of sleep.
I quickly dried off with my towel, ran a comb through my hair, and then changed into a fresh outfit in record time. My stomach rumbled, and I was desperate for a coffee, but I had to hold off for now. The private jet was booked for six-thirty, and I didn’t want to have to delay the flight because I’d stopped to get some dinner.
Once that was all sorted, I went to join everyone downstairs. Hailey was in the process of giving everyone a hug goodbye, and Christopher was carrying our suitcases to the car.
“Have a wonderful time, Jesse,” Aunt Eva said as she gave me a hug. “Be safe, and keep in constant contact, okay?”
“Okay,” I laughed. “But only if you keep my omegas safe, too.”
“You know I will,” she replied.
Aunt Eva gave me a kiss on the cheek, and then she pulled away to allow my omegas to take her place. All five of them squeezed me tight and wished me a safe trip, and I could tell just from the look in their eyes that it was going to be a long weekend for them without me and Hailey. I made sure to tell them how much I loved them, and they all repeated the same thing back to me.
Arielle had also made me and Hailey a packed lunch to take in the car with us, which consisted of ham sandwiches, apples, packets of potato chips, and bottles of water.
It was exactly what I needed.
“Have fun, bro.” Benji slapped me on the back. “Make sure to bring me back a t-shirt, okay? Or a mug. I’m not picky.”
“I’ll see what I can find,” I laughed.
Laura then gave me a brief hug, and Chloe and Zac gave me a high five and a fist bump, which meant a lot coming from them.
I’d certainly formed a stronger bond with the kids, even though they tried to hide it whenever they could. Still, I made sure to give Caitlin plenty of attention during the goodbyes so they’d know for damn sure I wasn’t going to treat her like their father had. She was one of us now, and would never be pushed aside just because I had other omegas around, too.
I didn’t miss the fact that this extra attention brought a big and goofy smile to Zac’s face, and Chloe kept peeking at her mother’s happy expression from the corner of her eyes. Then a soft smile curled on her lips, but she was quick to rein it in and pretend it never happened.
Once I’d given my omegas another hug and a kiss, and Hailey had done the same thing, we climbed into the back of Christopher’s silver Mercedes. My entire family stood at the door and waved, and I looked out the back window until the cabin was out of sight.
It wasn’t the first time I’d ever left for short trips like this, but normally it was just to introduce myself to new pack members. And the furthest I’d ever been was on a little tour around British Columbia, so it was definitely strange that my omegas weren’t joining me for something as monumental as this.
“Dallas and Oliver are flying above us, Alpha,” Zane said a few minutes into the drive. “They’ll stay with us until we reach the airport, so we quite literally have eyes in the sky.”
“Sounds good,” I replied. “Let’s just hope it’ll be an easy journey, there and back.”
“Yes, let’s hope,” Hailey giggled.
Fortunately, it was an easy journey to the airport. We briefly stopped once for gas, but that was it. Hailey and I ate the food Arielle gave us, we joked and laughed with Christopher and Zane, and it almost felt like no time at all had passed before we arrived at the airport.
We still had to go through security and baggage screening, but it was a much more seamless experience, and it only took ten minutes for me and Hailey to get from one side of the airport to the other. I received a message from Hazel Wise just as we went through security, but it was only to inform me that she was already on the jet.
It was nice knowing that we didn’t need to use Hazel’s fake name, Jessica Henderson, anymore. That was just to keep her safe while she secretly worked for me to figure out what the hell had been going on in the SDD, but it was no longer an issue now that I was her boss’ boss.
But I hoped that would be her job title soon.
The captain greeted us at the bottom of the stairs as we reached the jet. He was a rotund man with a receding hairline, but he had a gentle smile, and welcomed us on board the sleek white jet with a quick swish of his hands.
“Thank you.” I smiled as I allowed Hailey to head on first.
“This is so exciting, Jesse,” she whispered like an excited kid. “I mean, I know we’ve been on private jets before, but this feels different for some reason!”
“It really does,” I agreed. “It probably has something to do with our final destination.”
“New York, New York!” Hailey sang.
The interior of the jet was a mixture of browns and creams. There were large, cream-colored leather seats with small brown tables in front of them. Even the walls were cream, and there was a brown rug which ran from one end of the jet to the other. There were also a couple of TVs mounted on the walls in front of the seats, but I had no intention of watching anything.
But the best part about the luxurious interior was the petite brunette who had made herself comfortable in one of the seats. I didn’t think Hazel Wise had even noticed we’d arrived, though. She appeared to be completely lost in the book she had open in her hands.
A quick clearing of my throat spooked Hazel from her trance, and she looked up at us with her wide, almond-colored eyes.
“Oh, Jesse.” She smiled as she marked her place in the book. “Hailey, hi.”
“Good evening.” I smirked.
Hazel had dressed for comfort, but she still looked sexy as fuck in her black leggings and oversized white hoodie.
“Have you been waiting long?” Hailey asked sweetly as she placed her bag on the table.
“No, not long at all.” Hazel shook her head. “I arrived earlier than planned, so I had some dinner and slowly made my way over.”
Hazel stood up to give Hailey a quick hug, and then she did the same with me, too. Her mahogany hair felt as soft as velvet beneath my hands, and her sweet, subtle yet recognizable perfume washed over me like a cloud.
It had been a few weeks since I’d last seen Hazel, and it felt so fucking good to have her with us again.
