“YOU! I knew it was you!” He said angrily. 

Monroe sat up and blinked several times. ”Huh what? Oh hi Max, nice to see you.” He said half asleep.

“Did you have him help you?” He snapped.

“No, he had no clue I was even here till last night.” He lied rubbing his eyes. “I know he would have helped if I asked because *yawwwwn* it was for you.” He said looking at his phone to see the time. There was a sudden soft scent that he’d not noticed before, looking around worried that Max was with someone he saw he wasn’t and that surprised him. “I did it cause I love your dad and you.” He said standing up.

“You didn’t have to do this Monroe, I just needed more evidence.” He told him.

“And by the time you did the painting would have been moved and you would be back to square one.” He said stretching. There were four messages from Gin on his phone, he was going to ignore them for now something new had caught his interest. The soft scent was something he’d get from another Omega and there was no way Justin would let anyone date Max without his knowing, and an Omega would very, very, rarely date a Beta.

“Ugg Okay, damn it thank you.” He said having calmed down. Monroe walked over and hugged him and he could clearly smell it now it wasn’t rubbed on it was being hidden, but poorly so.

“You’re welcome, now I have to ask, when did you find out you were an Omega?” He asked letting him go.

Max looked at him surprised and his jaw dropped and he floundered for several minutes trying to deny it but he knew that Monroe knew better as he had known he was an Omega from early on he was used to it. He looked to escape but Monroe had grabbed his shirt hem to prevent him from running. “About a month ago…” He said giving in to his elder. “I’ve been hiding it since I’m not a dominant Omega like you, I barely give off any pheromones so as long as I shower and take my meds every day I’m fine to live like a Beta for the rest of my life.” He said.

“And what if you find an Alpha you like or you miss a day and an Alpha you don’t like finds you?” He asked him seriously.

“I don’t know any Alpha’s who would look my way, most of them are out there looking for their own Omega’s they’ll never look at a plain Beta like me.”

“Fist of all that whole thing you just said is stupid, second of all there’s an Alpha who has been in love with you for three years now.” He told him matter of factly. 

“What? Wh-“ It dawned on him and he went scarlet and despite everything his pheromones grew stronger. “Justin likes me?”

“At least since high school, maybe longer, but I know he became very aware of it recently. He knew I’d do what I did so he told me about what happened. He did it because he loves you and I did it because I love both of you guys as the family you are to me.” He said. “And now I’ve made you all emotional and your pheromones are going a bit wonky.” He said, leading him to the bed.

“What do I do?” He asked in a panic. Monroe gave him his brother’s pillow.

“Hold this, and take slow deep breaths.” He told him. He followed his instructions and his pheromones slowly settled down.

“This pillow smells so nice…” He said as if in a slight trance.

“That would be Justin’s scent, that’s good that he makes you calm.” He said texting his brother. “If he makes you feel calm then you should try dating, but you need to tell him you are an Omega, he can help you as an Alpha and he will keep you safe.” He told him.

“He will?”

“Yes, because as I said he’s been in love with you for quite some time.” 

“I should tell him…”

“He’s coming back from class now I’m going to stay with you here till he shows up then I’m leaving to, uhh, get my own ass out of trouble.” He said looking at the new text from Gin.

“He’s not going to want to mate with me now is he? I mean… ahh I’d like that but, I, ahh, I’m not ready for that.” he said, squeezing the pillow tighter.

“No, Justin knows how to control himself, but just in case.” He pulled out his brother’s emergency kit. “If he gets aggressive you take this and jab it into his thigh, in a minute he’ll be calmed down.” He told him, showing how the injector worked. “He might even do it himself before you talk if he notices your new scent.” He informed him. Max nodded. “Does your family know?”

“My mom does but my dad doesn't. He's been too depressed and we didn’t want to stress him out.” 

“That’s good, the police are going to want to talk to you, I’d suggest having Justin with you and if they wont let him just flat out say he is the Alpha you are dating and you won't do anything without him by your side because you just found out you are an Omega, also here.” He went through his bag and pulled out one of his spare collars. “Wear this, it’s my spare I use when I wash this one.” He said pointing to the one he was wearing. He put the key into the coin pouch in his jeans. “Invest in one of the newer ones till you are ready for that big step, don’t do it while you are in heat, think about it and discuss it with your partner even if it is not Justin, but I hope it is because I’m going to make an awesome uncle.” He said with a grin.

Max looked at him shocked but at the same time he was thankful. He just smiled and then finished packing up all his things. His brother showed up shortly after he was done. “Thank you for not pushing me… but pushing me and for your advice.” He told him as he heard the door open.

“You’re welcome, and if you need any advice you can text me any time.” He said as he walked out.

“Is it safe to go in there?” Justin asked at the door.

“Yeah, I’m going to go and let you guys have your space, thanks for letting me crash here.” He said waving the rolled up paintings.

“Ahh, yeah you’re welcome, but go out the back way I saw an unmarked police car in the area, they might think I have something to do with this and I don’t.” He said, walking past his brother.

Monroe gave it three months before they announced their engagement. His mother would be annoyed that it wasn’t him but be happy because she liked Max too, their whole family did. Going carefully down the stairs he made his way carefully out and to his rented car. There he stashed the paintings in the bag that the poster was in and got himself lunch. He responded to Gin first with. 

MM: Sorry, did I ruin the job?

Gin: No, They were almost done

Gin where are the paintings? 

MM: Oh good, I have them.

Gin: And what on earth made you do this?

MM: How did you know it was me other than I admitted it?

MM: Also the person who did those paintings is the father of my future brother in law, so it was personal.

Gin: JRT was working the job he saw you yesterday

Gin: I will forgive you if you bring them to me

Gin: I hope this in no way leads back to you

MM: Obviously I’m bringing them to you and I Thought that was him…

MM: Not likely, I am an upstanding citizen. I was in the area visiting my brother who just found out his friend he’s been in love with is an Omega, and said friend happens to be the son of the artist but in need of some Omega support.

Gin: You guys are close enough to agree to all of that?

MM: Of course, it’s kinda what happened

Gin: Also You still don’t know who he is.

MM: No but I recognize his scent so if I have to work with him I’m going to punch him

Gin: I’ll let him know 

The rest was the drop off location and he was free to do whatever he wanted till the next job. He got a text from his brother before Lunch was even over, saying that he’d asked Max out and he agreed. He was so proud of his little brother and Max right now and he wished them the best of luck.

He watched him from across the Street happily eating his French fries and drinking his shake. He had such bad eating habits, maybe when they finally met again he’d do his best to fix that. Yesterday he had been excited to see him, he looked so cute dressed as a teenager with his brother. He had come in early that morning to help move some of the paintings around when he noticed two of them had been cheesely replaced by posters. The plaques told him all he needed to know. It had to be his Bunny who had done it. They swapped out the other paintings before they opened, they replaced them with either almost clear forgeries or completely different paintings that were marked as stolen. The whole art gallery was about to be in very big trouble and it would all be the current curator’s fault, he had been the one to approve of it all, not that he fully knew it. Their work was done and just in time too as his bunnies theft had drawn big attention an hour after it opened. The first person who saw the poster thought it was odd, then the air sort of let it loose and it rolled to the floor revealing a true masterpiece, a baby's first steps on a beach. Everyone who saw it was instantly mesmerized by the vibrant colors and the details that it looked so real that they could count the lashes on the boy’s eyes and almost feel the baby softness of his ears. He wondered if someday he’d be able to walk out onto a beach with his bunny and their child and enjoy a day like that. Instead he watched him quietly from across the street. 

Max’s father recovered quickly when he found out his paintings had been recovered. All of them had been found in a warehouse owned by an old friend of his and his masterpiece had been recovered as well. He didn’t know how but he was thankful for it, he was getting so many offers for it some wanted it for their own house some wanted just to show it in their gallery. He and Max talked long and hard about it and agreed to a single gallery, one that a friend highly recommended, to showcase it for five years and then it would come back, they also offered to showcase any other art he wanted to he would have an entire wall if he wanted. He selected with the curator several other pieces to show with it. A month later Max, Justin and Monroe were at the opening night and the brother’s proudly nudged each other knowing they had done an honestly good thing.