Their Stubborn Omega

Ch. 12 Safeguards

~Xander~

The next morning I wake before any of the others. Noelle is curled into Jax with her backside pressed against Dom. Dom and Jax both have an arm thrown over her like they were afraid if they weren't pinning her to the bed, she might disappear. They all look peaceful, and something in my chest swells. We could have this so easily.

I take out my phone and sent the pack lawyer a message to meet me at the office in half an hour. If she really wants us to court her, there's going to be a contract. I'll make sure she can't use us like Courtney tried to and that if she does, there will be serious consequences. When I slide my phone back in my pocket, I look up and those pools of jade are watching me. She offers me a small smile.

"Any chance you can help untangle me from thing one and thing two here? I really need to go to the bathroom." she whispers.

Silently laughing at her apt description of the boys, I walk over and gently lift their arms so as to not wake them. She promptly gets up and sprints to the en suite bathroom of Jax's. I chuckle as Jax and Dom roll to cuddle each other. I can't resist snapping a quick picture to be used for leverage later.

When Noelle returns to the room she giggles at the sight in front of her. Her musical laughter stirs the guys enough that they realize they're cuddling. Dom just shrugs his shoulders and goes to pull Jax closer while Jax smacks his head and demands he let go. The whole scene is comical and I'm glad I got to see it.

I turn to Noelle. "I'm headed to the office, if you want to grab your stuff I can drop you off at the OEC on my way there, if you'd like."

She looks at Jax, almost as if she's questioning whether I'm safe or not and it's an effort not to grind my teeth. I know this is an issue of my own making, not to mention I don't even really want to court her, but it still irritates me that she thinks she isn't safe with me.

Once Jax gives her a nod, she looks at me with a shy smile and says, "Sure, that would be lovely. Thank you. I'll just go grab my things."

Jax and Dom both track her as she moves out of the room, then simultaneously look at me.

"Be nice." they both say. It's actually weird, but whatever.

"Gods. I am capable of not being a raging asshole, you know?" I exclaim.

"To Noelle? I'll believe it when I see it." Jax replies.

I give him smack to his head and he laughs. He knows after last night I'm trying to be friendly. I might not trust her, but they clearly do and he's right, if their opinions don't hold sway, why are we pack? Noelle comes back in then, saying she's ready to go. She follows me out to the garage and I point to my black Audi R8. Her mouth drops open and I grin to myself. It's a hot car, even I can admit that.

"Okay, maybe I'm starting to see why you think it's weird I didn't recognize your last name. Cheese and crackers you're loaded." she says with a tinge of amazement. I close her door and try to keep the scowl from my face. It's always about money.

"'Yes." I respond drily.

She looks at me then, "I didn't mean anything by that, you know. I don't care if you have money or not. I'd rather have a poor pack that treats me well, than a wealthy one that treats me like shit and cheats."

"It's not common to cheat on mates." I mumble.

"Tell that to my friend Sarah, I'm sure it will make her feel better about her former mates cheating on her over and over," she responds with ice in her tone.

Fuck, she gets under my skin. I want to trust her, but I don't know how. If she signs the courtship contract maybe that will help. It has to. Having safeguards in place will help. It has to.