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He felt eyes following him wherever he went. He felt a heavy stare no matter what he did. He expected this at first. He even expected it. It was new, unknown. He could be a threat. He would be more worried if no one was watching him. So he wasn't surprised to feel eyes following him, watching him at work and judging him while he rested. He didn't talk to anyone. He didn't need friends. He came to the garage to work, not to make friends.
As the time he spent in the garage passed and the lack of any problems, the number of eyes watching him calmly began to decrease. Until almost all of them disappeared. One gaze followed him the entire time. He was still watching him. He assessed his every move. Jeff didn't know what he did to deserve such attention from the garage owner. He didn't feel any negative emotions following that look. The man simply watched him. He didn't feel comfortable with it, but he couldn't just go up to him and ask him to stop. Jeff had to endure it. He believed that Alpha would eventually get bored.
Please get bored quickly.
He thought as he said a silent prayer as he left the garage. For another day in a row, the older Alpha watched him all day long. Jeff has never had a problem with other people following him. This one, however, seemed uncomfortable to him. There was nothing wrong with the look itself, it was just that the fact that he always did it, almost constantly, irritated him and made his senses work overtime, always expecting a surprise attack. No one had ever watched him with such intensity.
He had to take two days off to rest and calm down. Working in such conditions had a negative impact on his health. He hoped that in his absence, Alpha might change his mind about watching him or just get bored.
He wasn't so lucky.
Alpha's gaze seemed to burn a hole in the back of Jeff's head. The first day after returning from a two-day vacation was the worst day he had ever had in the garage. Alpha watched him, seemingly forgetting to even blink, and Jeff was unable to focus on anything because of him. He was about to approach and point out this to the man, but luckily Charlie and Babe entered the garage. A wave of relief washed over Jeff. His brother will definitely sense that something is wrong with him. He was right. Charlie quickly apologized to Babe and discreetly went to talk to Jeff.
Alpha's gaze disappeared only for a moment as Charlie and Babe distracted him. He came back with a vengeance. Now, as Jeff sat with Charlie at the entrance to the garage, talking about what was going on, he felt not only the owner of the garage, Babe was also watching them like a falcon watching its prey.
- Is he staring at you all the time?
Charlie finally asked, surprised. He looked up towards Babe. Really. Alan and Babe spoke in hushed tones. Both of them kept their eyes on Jeff and Charlie.
- But he didn't come up to you to talk?
He asked irritably. Jeff knew that Charlie was too protective of him, too protective of him for it to be healthy, and for that reason, he really didn't want to tell him about it. Currently, however, he had no other ideas on how to deal with it, and Charlie was his only ace up his sleeve.
Jeff confirmed. Alan greeted him when he started working in the garage, and then they talked once or twice. Ever since he started watching him very carefully, they had never exchanged even two words. Charlie made a soft humming sound that surprisingly had a calming effect on Jeff. He got up from the bench. When Jeff wanted to follow suit, he waved his hand, urging him to stay where he was.
Jeff didn't object. He always trusted Charlie.
Alpha walked up to the two elders with a smile, he could now feel Alan's eyes on him. He smiled.
- We need to talk, P'Alan.
He said. He now recognized the way Alan looked at Jeff. Just the same way Babe looked at Charlie now. He didn't expect this. However, if the older Alpha's idea of flirting was to give Jeff a panic attack, he was on to something.
He nodded towards the locker room and moved first, forcing the other two Alphas to follow him. Babe was annoyed. He didn't know what the strange Omega had said to Charlie, or what kind of relationship they had that suddenly made him smell angry and possessive. Babe clenched his fists in anger. He felt like punching something. Omega was definitely in first place, stealing Charlie's attention.
As they entered the locker room, Charlie stopped two steps in front of them. He turned around, giving Alan a cold look that Babe had never seen on him before.
- What's your problem, Alan?
He asked more seriously. Babe instinctively moved away from the older Alpha, giving the entire scene to Charlie. He had a very bad feeling that something was happening before him that he didn't understand, but he didn't want to accidentally get caught in the crossfire. Because something told him it was going to burn.
- What do you mean, Charlie?
The elder asked, maintaining his casual posture. Totally unfazed by Charlie's actions or attitude. Babe was impressed. His inner Alpha was growling at him to put his head down or fight. But he didn't know what he should do, so he moved away a little. He didn't want to draw any conclusions until he understood what was going on here. It seemed to him that he had missed some very important point in the instructions and he had no idea what was happening around him.
Charlie walked slowly around Alan.
-You think this is fun? That he's here for your entertainment?
Alan tried to follow his steps with his eyes without moving at the same time. Babe felt like he was watching a fight between two wolves, real wolves. He could easily sense the tension in the air.
- I don't understand what we mean, Charlie. Calm down and explain this to me.
The elder recommended. Charlie snorted loudly. However, he stopped in front of Alan and explained as he asked.
- Jeff is not your toy or teether. If you wanted a chance to court him, you just lost it. As his Alpha, I reject any claim you may have made to him.
Babe felt Charlie's words like a slap in the face. No one could just call themselves someone else's Alpha. Babe's inner wolf groaned in pain. He hoped that maybe one day Charlie would call him his own. But now he understood Charlie's anger. If Omega was his and another Alpha claimed him, he could demand blood. Babe bit his lip, forcing himself to remain calm. However, his heart refused to calm down. He wasn't able to focus on any words that had been exchanged between Alan and Charlie from that moment on. He was lost in his thoughts. He was glad he hadn't had time to tell Charlie he loved him yet, he couldn't take it back, he couldn't survive if Alpha left him for Omega after that.
Babe only regained consciousness when Charlie walked up to him and tried to shake his shoulder. He flinched at its proximity. What irritated Babe the most, however, was the strong Omega scent that clung to Charlie's entire body. He looked down at the floor, not ready to look into Charlie's eyes.
- Phi? Everything's all right? I didn't want to scare you. Let's go home and rest.
Babe didn't have the strength to object. He already knew Charlie would leave him if he wanted to play nice, but he wanted to, he wanted to be able to sleep in Charlie's arms just one more time before he had to say goodbye to him forever.
Charlie was driving the car, Babe was lost in his thoughts the whole way, most of the time he didn't listen to what the younger one had to say. He wondered what he should do. Finding a new partner after getting used to, almost addicted to, the calm, faint scent of Charlie will be incredibly difficult. He almost didn't notice when Charlie parked in front of the apartment.
After a quick shower, they went to bed. Babe was tired, even though he hadn't done much that day. Charlie placed a sweet, gentle kiss on his forehead goodnight, causing Babe to turn his back to him and let the tears fall quietly. He knew Charlie would feel them. He didn't care. Feeling arms tighten around his waist and pull him towards Charlie's chest, Babe knew he was caught. Charlie just purred reassuringly. Babe was ashamed to admit it. He fell asleep. Charlie's peace and the warmth of his body next to his own always calmed him down and helped him sleep better.
How will he sleep tomorrow?
He didn't know it yet, but this was tomorrow's Babe's problem.
Today he was happy in the arms of his beloved.
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~
If only Babe wasn't so focused on his thoughts, he would know there was nothing to worry about...
- How's "his Alpha"?
Alan asked, surprised. He was pretty sure Jeff didn't have an Alpha, and he didn't understand how Charlie could have an Omega and hang out with Babe.
- Yes, as his brother, the last member of the family, I am his Alpha.
He said.
- Did you really think that staring at him and watching every move he made was some twisted form of flirting? Instead, you portray yourself as a disgusting stalker.
Alan shuddered. He didn't even really realize how Jeff might perceive his actions. He just couldn't take his eyes off him.
I don't know, buy him coffee, invite him for cake, take him for a walk to the park. There are so many better ways to get him interested in you. Why did you have to choose to make him feel threatened?
He asked irritably. Alan apologized and assured that it would never happen again. He also assured that he would take advantage of the advice. He almost fled the locker room when Charlie's attention moved from him to Babe, who was standing frozen by one of the lockers. Charlie worried that the pheromones he and Alan were releasing might make him feel sick. So he forced him to move quickly. As he walked to the car, Charlie deliberately slowed down outside, giving Babe an extra minute to clear his lungs of the remnants of their odors.
Charlie was driving. Babe was almost absent. He decided to fill the silence with something. He hoped that this way he would also be able to draw Babe's attention back to himself, to what was happening around him.
- You see, Jeff is six years younger than me, and I took care of him most of the time, so I'm more like a father than a brother to him at times, but he's a really good kid.
He talked and tried to speak in a calm voice. He knew Babe liked to listen to him. He was usually able to calm him down if something was wrong with Babe with just calm words and hugs.
- I didn't want to go to school when I was little. I was afraid something would happen to him while I wasn't there. Even if the nanny took care of him, I didn't trust her and wanted to feed him, change him, and even wash him myself. He spent more time with me than with our parents. My father was always busy with business, and my mother had her own foundation. They had no time for us. When they died, Jeff didn't even notice they were missing for at least half a year. Only after his birthday did he ask if he would get a gift from his mom and dad. Then he realized that they were no longer with us. But he wasn't even sad. He just said that he always preferred gifts from me anyway.
When they got to the apartment, Charlie took care of Babe as he always did. Babe was important to him, the most important thing. He decided that he would do anything to make him happy.
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~
Alan took Charlie's advice to heart. The next morning he greeted Jeff with a smile, giving him a cup of coffee, and then went to his office. He had to work on his self-control so as not to watch Jeff at work. He did look a few times though. He saw that he was working as always, putting his whole heart into it. He saw, with satisfaction, that he had drank the coffee that Alan had brought him.
Jeff really hoped that the older Alpha would quickly get tired of tormenting him in a different way than before. Instead of observing all day long, Alan started behaving even more strangely. He gave him gifts. He forced him to leave work early. He physically dragged him halfway across the city just to buy him what he thought were the best pancakes and force him to eat them. He kidnapped him more than once, forcing him to go to the club with the rest of the band.
Jeff really hoped he would eventually get bored of it.
Please get bored quickly.
He had no idea that he had met the most stubborn and persistent Alpha he had ever met.
Alan didn't even consider getting bored with Jeff.