THIRD PERSON

“Are you sure you want to do this, son?” An older alpha asked, his arm wrapped around his omega husband’s waist. The couple had taken their son to the airport and were now saying their final goodbyes.

“Yes, dad. This is a great opportunity for me.” The young alpha son explained. “This job is all I have ever wanted.”

“But you could get a job like that here. You don’t have to leave, Keegan.” This time, the omega father spoke up. His tone sounded hurt and sad from having to let his son leave for another city.

“Papa. I know you don’t want me to be so far from you, but a job like this is not something I can find here in Bramville.” Keegan tried to explain to his father how important this was to him. 

“It’s okay, love. Keegan promised he would come visit on his vacations.” The older alpha reassured his mate. “Right, son?”

“Yes. Of course. I promise.” Keegan nodded with a smile.

“Okay. Good luck in the big city, darling.” The omega said, giving him a big hug.

“Thanks, Papa.” Keegan answered, hugging him back. 

As Keegan looked at his parents one last time before going to his gate at the airport, he took a deep breath. He reassured himself that what he was doing was the best for him. Opportunities such as the job he got in New York couldn’t be missed, even if it meant leaving his hometown and family behind. 

“I promise I will come back for the holidays.” He said with a big smile to reassure his parents, and then walked to the gate. 

Keegan waved to his parents one last time and walked into the TSA line. And with the promise of coming back for the holidays and vacations, he boarded the plane with a smile and excitement for the new life ahead. He was going to miss his family, but he would be back for Christmas, or that’s what he thought. 

The new job got the alpha so busy that he couldn’t make it to Christmas that year. Or the next one. And with the blink of an eye, ten years went by. Ten years without one single day to spare to visit his family. But in those years, things got better for Keegan. He started small in the company, climbed his way up, and saved enough money to quit and make his own company with a friend. A company that grew bigger each year until it became one of the most famous tech companies in New York City. 

In those ten years, Keegan never went back home, only talking with his family via text or long video calls. He missed Christmas, birthdays, even weddings, and the birth of his many nieces and nephews. But tomorrow, the long way to get back home would end. After the constant begging of his parents to take a vacation, Keegan finally agreed. The man was married to his job, and it took even his friend to make him take a break. A long vacation with no return date yet. After finishing the last paperwork before his vacation, Keegan was at his apartment packing his suitcase when a phone call from one of his many brothers startled him. 

“Hey, Owen? Why are you up so late?” He said to his brother as soon as the call connected. 

“Why are you up so late?” Owen asked back and then added. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping already? Long trip tomorrow.”

“I was finishing packing.” The workaholic alpha explained.

“Finishing? I don’t believe you. You were working, didn’t you? You are packing last minute.” Owen said, letting out a sigh of disappointment. 

“Fine. I was.” Keegan said, rolling his eyes. “Happy?”

“I’ll let it pass because you are taking a vacation. It must be killing you to come back home after 10 years.” His brother said. Keegan noticed the sarcasm in his voice.

“Not this again. I know what I did was wrong, but I’m going tomorrow, okay?” Keegan said, annoyed. He already knew how much he had screwed up, but he was trying to make amends by taking the vacation.

“You should take this more seriously, Keegan. It was 10 years. You don’t even know your nieces and nephews.” Owen continued to scold and nag him.

“I do know them. Video calls count, and I always send presents on their birthdays.” Keegan mentioned.

“Yeah, but those are not enough. You don’t know how sad Papa was every year you couldn’t make it home for the holidays.” His brother continued. The image of his Papa's sad face came to Keegan’s mind. He felt bad because he had broken his promise, but life in the city got so busy that he ended up cancelling every year. 

“I get it. I know. Now stop scolding me. That’s the reason I’m taking this vacation.” Keegan begged his brother, and then, to change the topic, asked. “Now, why are you awake?”

“I was checking on a pregnant mare with Bunny. She still has a few more weeks, but we check on her often just in case.” Owen explained. A million questions popped into his head, but he decided to ask just two.

“Bunny? Since when do you call Cecil that?” Keegan asked his brother with confusion, thinking maybe Owen had started calling his mate ‘bunny’.

“Of course, you don’t know who Bunny is. He has been working for us for 8 years.” His brother explained. “You’ll meet him tomorrow. He is basically family.”

“So what’s his na—” Keegan started to ask, but was quickly interrupted by his brother.

“Sorry, bro. I have to go now. Cecil is scolding me and telling me to get to bed already.” Owen mentioned.

After saying goodbye and hanging up the call, Keegan continued packing, but his mind returned to Bunny. It seemed strange to him that his parents had hired someone, knowing that with all his siblings and partners, they were enough to run the ranch. The alpha couldn’t help but feel curiosity about the man his family referred to as Bunny. 

Meanwhile, back in Bramville, the omega itself, Bunny, was getting ready for bed. He had been checking a pregnant mare with one of his workmates, Owen Beackman. He had come to the ranch eight years ago with no knowledge about how to handle a ranch or ride a horse, but now he was an expert. After getting kicked out of the orphanage when he turned eighteen, Bunny decided to move to Bramville with the little money he had from his part-time job, but there, he didn't know what to do with his life. 

Until one day, he came across an advertisement for the Beackman ranch. There, he was welcomed by the Beckmans, and eight years later, he was not only well established in Bramville but he also had a job he loved and his newfound family. Despite being a rabbit shifter, the bears treated him as if he were their own blood. 

Now, lying in his bed after checking up on the pregnant mare with Owen, Bunny couldn’t help but feel curiosity about the Beackman who was arriving tomorrow. Dinner that day had been nonstop talking about the exciting arrival of Owen’s twin brother, Keegan. Apparently, the man had left ten years ago for the big city and didn’t take a single opportunity to come back home. Keegan was a big city tech guy, and to Bunny, he seemed to be the opposite of what the Beackman family was, and that only made his curiosity about the alpha grow.

‘Do you think he is handsome?’ His animal self, Mir, asked with curiosity.

‘You have seen Owen. They are twins.’ The omega answered. The image of Owen came to his mind and he tried to make out his twin, but it was hard to do.

‘You are right. I can’t wait to meet him.’ 

‘Mir. He may be an alpha, but don’t get the wrong ideas. I’m not hooking up with him.’ Bunny mentioned to his animal self. 

‘Partypooper.’ Mir said with a huff. 

That night, Bunny went to bed with a warm feeling on his chest. He felt it was a sign that tomorrow was going to be a big day. A chaotic and exciting day for the Beackmans as they were going to welcome their dearly missed family member.