Chapter 232
Dale tries to not overthink as he drives past Paper District, the only thing in his mind is Dream''s safety.
His mom has been calling non-stop and he''s never imagined that it would be this easy to ignore her.
Although he knows that he''s thest person the feisty Omega would probably want to see but that doesn''t dampen his need to see the other.
He''s not sure what he expects to see when he gets to the Pack Houses but is relieved to see that there''s no upset and everywhere looks rtively normal.
He quickly parks his car and steps out, tie undone and ck hair ruffled from the number of times that his hands had gone through the strands in worry.
He throws his jacket over his shoulder, top buttons on his dress shirt undone, knowing that if he didn''t carry his jacket along he was most likely to forget it.
He starts heading for the Crimson Pack but barely makes it halfway across the parking lot when his mom hurries in his direction.
"Dale! Dale!" She clicks over to him on her stilletoes.
He hides a groan, tamping down the temptation to just brush past her and keep going on his way, Erin hurries behind her, a file clutched to her chest.
"Dale! What is this I hear about you with a male Omega!" She immediately plunges into what''s on her mind, angry lines on her face.
Dale''s eyes darken at the tone her voice had taken when she was talking about Dale. "I don''t know, mom, I should be asking you that." Heshes back at her, banked fires glowing behind his eyes. "Virgil calls me up to tell me that our Pack members are assaulting one of his, what is that all about?"
na falters at this, expecting her son to take her side as usual. "I... I..." She stutters slightly before gathering herself together. "This is all that male Omegas fault." She hmphs.
Dale gives her a nk look, just done with her. "He has a name." He corrects coldly. "Virgil isn''t as tolerant as his dad, you might want to step carefully." He tags on, sweeping away.
na just splutters at this, watching her son walk away.
Erin keeps quiet, knowing that there could be a transfer of aggression if she so much as breathes wrongly, she didn''t particrly appreciate how the Luna made her tag along when she could be doing other important things, like filing!
na flounders around for a while for the words to say, unable to even call out to Dale who is very obviously heading for the other Pack House where the male Omega was at.
She could onlye to one conclusion, the male Omega had worked his wiles, she wouldn''t sit by and let that happen, even if she had to get rid of his entire family.
Dale immediately forgets about his mom as soon as he leaves her, thoughts drowned out with Dream, this was going to be a littleplicated to exin.
He couldn''t believe things had gotten so out of hand like this and it was all his mom''s fault, he''s had it with her.
His dad had stepped down already, it was about time they both took that vacation.
Dale marched up the steps with purpose and he couldn''t help but notice that other than pleasant greetings from the members of Virgil''s Pack, he gets nothing else.
It makes him realize how tolerant he had been of the objectifying and sexualization of his person by the females of his Pack and that only happened because they had the full backing of his mom, it was exactly what made him hands off the gender as a whole.
He beelines for Virgil''s office, unsure of what to expect but if he wanted to get information on what was important, which was if Dream and his family were okay, he was definitely getting it from the other Alpha.
It''s a miracle he remembers to knock and he sweeps in after, nearly falling on his face when the first thing he sees is Dream fast asleep on a couch, Hayden beside him, equally fast asleep, and Apple happily cuddled in their middle, drowsy.
He whips his head around to see Virgil and Jaxon glowering up at him and he winces, he had expected worse.
Virgil gestures to an anteroom and he follows behind him and Jaxon.
"Have a nice trip?" Virgil asks coldly when the door clicks shut behind Dale, settling on one of the plush sofas arranged around thefortable room.
Dale fidgets a bit, his heart was finally pumping the right amount of blood and his lungs were finally using all of the oxygen he had breathed in when he saw that Dream was perfectly fine, with floppy hair in his face as he peacefully slept.
"Not really." He shrugs, wary of moving too close to Virgil who looks downright livid.
"You need to have a talk with your mom." Jaxon immediately says, lips drawn in a tight line and Dale thinks it''s it maddest he''s ever seen the cheery Head Beta be.
"Preferably getting her to take a vacation." Virgil adds.
Dale just nods, there was no other way around it, it would take a while reorienting his Pack after the influence of his mom was gone but at least then it would work.
"I''m really sorry for this mess."
Virgil rubs a hand over his face. "It''s not your fault, asswipe."
"Maybe it is." Jaxon mutters, getting up. "I''ve been holed up here all day, I need to go get some work done, you''ll be shocked at the number of females ready to not go to work or school just because of something this silly." He adds as an after on, sweeping out.
"Oh, and you might want to stay away from Darian for a couple days." He pokes his head back in to say, wild red hair bobbing. "Preferably until all this dies down."
Dale copses on a sofa at the opposite end of Virgil.
Virgil gives him a look, flicking imaginary flint from his sweatshirt, he couldn''t understand how Dale could sit for hours at his desk in a three-piece suit when he could barely stand a dress shirt for important meetings.
"So..." Virgil trails off, noting that Dale is looking at everything else in the room but him. "I see you found Jasmine."
Dale draws in a sharp breath at this. "The isn''t the best stage to ask him out is it?"
Virgil tilts his head to the side. "Sure as hell isn''t, I don''t think I''ve ever seen Hay so pissed, you might want to watch your step."
Dale curses explosively, cing both hands on his face, his jacket was thrown haphazardly to the side. "And Dream?" He asks tentatively.
"Wouldn''t hesitate to shoot your brains out if he''s given a gun, tell me how did you manage to piss him off so much in under the space of a couple hours?" Virgil asks seriously.
Dale sits forward, resting his arms on his knees. "Apparently I get very stupid when I''m attracted to someone." He mutters, more to himself but Virgil''s sharp ears easily catch the muttered words.
Virgil easily remembers the time with Hayden. "I can''t dispute that." He says dryly, humor shing in his bright blue eyes. "How did the meeting go?"
"Fine but halfway through one of the real estatepany guys looked like he really wanted to stab out my eye with his fountain pen."
Virgil leans back. "I can imagine we aren''t their favorite people at the moment."
They both go quiet for a while, Dale had already mentally arranged his next n of action, first, his mom had to leave Pine Creek and then a Pack meeting, he needed to put his Pack members straight about a lot of things.
Then the most important thing to be done was to try and fix his and Dream''s rtionship if there was anything left but that depended on if there was anything there before.
He curses again, a migraine slowly building behind his eyes at that thought.
"You sound like you''re having a lot of fun." Virgil suddenly quips.
Dale throws him a re. "Lay off, man."
"You show him that tattoo of yours yet?" Virgil asks, uncaring of the fire spitting from Dale''s eyes.
"I see you haven''t marked your mate yet." Dale says quietly.
Virgil reels back at this like he was sucker-punched in the jaw. "Fuck off."
"It pisses me off that you give him so little credit." Dale continues in that same quiet tone. "He''s so fucking strong but you won''t mate him for whatever stupid reason your brain keepsing up with..."
Virgil shes across the room and wraps a hand around Dale''s throat in no time. "Do me a favor and shut the fuck up, my love life is none of your fucking business." He growls darkly.
Dale adjusts his cor when Virgil lets go, he wasn''t about to push the other Alpha whose eyes were already glowing an unhealthy gold, not when Dream and Hayden were peacefully sleeping in the next room.
Besides Virgil was right, who was he to judge the other when his love life was in shambles, hell he wasn''t even sure about his sexuality.