Archer and I made it through two more nights of sleeping in the same bed, and I didn't know if it was the pillows piled between us or the fact that we were both incredibly uncomfortable, but I didn't wake up with the smell of his slick on my fingers… Or anything else, so I was just going to assume things had gone well on that front.
For the most part, things had gone back to normal between Archer and me.
The doorbell rang, and I sighed in relief, expecting it to be Willis on the other side, here to pick up Alex. I loved what I did for a living, but there were days when things went less than ideal.
I got up to answer the door, picking my big ass up off the floor where I'd been sorting blocks in an effort to get the living room back to rights. I could hear Archer in the kitchen talking to Alex, telling him his dad was there to pick him up.
His tutoring session had been canceled, so he'd come home early. He didn't think of himself as nurturing. I'd heard him make comments along those lines before, but he was maybe one of the most nurturing people I knew. He was always taking care of me, and on the occasions that he made it home before all the children were gone, he'd swoop in and start playing with the kids.
I didn't think he realized it, but that man was going to be an excellent dad someday.
As usual when those thoughts popped up, my stomach dropped out, the fear of losing him to someone else too painful. I didn't want to think about that right now. Things were slowly getting back to normal with Archer. I didn't want to throw a kink in the whole thing by getting sad.
I smiled as I opened the door, aiming for polite and friendly, like how you might greet an older person, not wanting Willis to interpret anything about our encounter as flirting like he'd done in the past. The guy was really nice, but he was a married omega, and I simply wasn't interested in him at all. Unfortunately, sometimes people saw what they wanted to see, and the man saw something that wasn't there between us.
But Willis wasn't on the other side of the door this time. This man was an alpha, and though getting sized up by other alphas was part of my everyday life, this man didn't look challenging, so much as like he was getting angrier and angrier by the second.
"What the hell?" He growled, his face turning crimson with his rage.
I blinked, not having dealt with this type of immediate anger since I'd been in high school dealing with the hormonal imbalances of my peers. "Uh, I'm sorry?"
"You're an alpha," he said, his body nearly vibrating.
I nodded, my skin prickling with his growing irritation. The natural instinct of my body going into fight mode. "Yes," I said slowly, wishing I could step out of the room. "Is there a problem?"
This was the part I hated most about being an alpha. I didn't like to fight. I didn't like the buildup of anger or the way my heart raced. If I wasn't so fucking huge, I might not have gotten to the point of hating this part of myself. I knew plenty of alphas who enjoyed the rush and would even go to alpha clubs just so they could fight. But I was bigger, and I'd nearly killed another alpha once because of this fucking instinct. Now, I hated everything about this rage buildup.
"The problem is, my husband never mentioned that you were an alpha." He stepped through the doorway, moving closer, trying to intimidate, my lack of aggressive response giving him a false impression of dominance. "Why do you think that is?"
I took a deep breath, trying to call the calm needed to keep from doing something I knew I'd regret. "I have no idea," I said calmly, flexing my hands in an effort not to ball them into fists. "Is it possible he didn't think it was a big deal?"
His aggression was feeding mine. I could feel it like sandpaper on sensitive skin, and all I wanted in the world was to get out of that room.
"What's going on?" Archer asked sternly, coming up behind me.
The other alpha ignored my omega, taking another step in my direction. "Are you fucking my husband?" He planted his hands in the middle of my chest and gave a quick, hard shove, sending me stumbling backward a couple of steps, and I gripped at the knob of the coat closet, needing something to ground me as my alpha's need to fight back nearly floored me.
The aggression inside of me was worse than it had ever been in my life. Worse than the time I'd hurt that idiot at the school I went to before I went to Salida with Archer when the guy spread rumors about my omega friend, calling him names and getting his buddies involved, turning the whole school against him, and nearly driving the poor guy to suicide.
My omega was in the room, standing too close to the angry alpha, and though the logical part of my brain knew that he wasn't a threat to Archer, and that Archer could take care of himself, the pheromones in the room were killing my logic.
"Is that your game?" The angry man asked, thankfully not stepping any closer… probably because Archer had slipped in front of him, holding his son.
“Do not touch him again,” Archer said, surprising the other man for a moment.
He frowned down at my omega, blinking rapidly as he looked back and forth between Archer and his son.
Once again, he ignored Archer’s presence, focusing on me. “All the cute little omegas bring their kids to you, and you get your pick, right? They all think you’re so sweet and caring.”
He moved to step around Archer, but he didn’t know the man like I did. I might be the biggest and strongest in that room, but I was desperately trying to take myself out of the game. Archer was the biggest threat to him right then, because that little omega could be mean as hell, and he didn’t have issues with confrontation.
He’d shoved me once. He wouldn’t be doing it again.
Calmly, I reached out and plucked Alex from Archer’s arms, feeling myself calm considerably with something else to focus on rather than the other alpha's pheromones.
Alex's father glowered at me, holding the child. "Give me my son."
"You listen to me, asshole," Archer said, poking the man hard in the chest, surprising him and making him shift his focus down to the angry omega in front of him. "If Willis didn't tell you about Avery and the fact that he's an alpha, either he didn't think it was important, or more likely, he knew you'd be a fucking psycho about it."
The alpha's head snapped back, clearly surprised by the omega in front of him. He blinked for a moment before glancing up at me, only to have Archer snap his fingers very quickly in the man's face, regaining his attention.
"Don't look at him. Look at me. I'm the one you need to worry about right now. It's a good thing your son is too young to fully understand what's going on. This is childish behavior, and don't even think about giving me that alpha-instinct bull crap and think that I'll accept it as a legitimate reason. The man behind me is an alpha, and I've never seen him act like this. You're a fucking grown up, so start acting like one. Clearly your problem is with Willis, not Avery, but if your problem is with Avery, then it's with me, and don't think I won't rip your throat out through your asshole if you even think of touching my alpha again, am I clear?" The guy just blinked, not really looking like he knew what to say to that, and I didn't blame him, neither did I.
"We'll be in contact with Willis about this. You are no longer allowed to come here and pick Alex up."