AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He laughed, wrapping me up in both strength and sweetness.Fuck. I inhaled without even thinking about it. His scent was almost sweeter than mine. Like sugar cookies. The big, fat, soft ones with frosting nearly as thick.
“I’m Elliot,” he murmured with his arms still around me. “But everyone calls me Hawk.”
“Why?”
“Probably a story for another time,” the man next to him said. His scent said Beta, but the calm power he exuded made me do a double take. There were some Alphas that couldn’t hold the kind of presence he clung to without even trying.
The tiniest of smirks and warming of his eyes was all it took to transform him. Suddenly he was playful, and I had whiplash. “Do I get a hug too? I’m Cade.”
“Yeah.”
The spicy scent of woodsmoke surrounded me. Like a bonfire on the beach. Sandalwood and peppercorn. Soft vanilla. Rich darkness. Calm power. And he was a Beta.
Not like any Beta I’d ever met before.
Then again, none of them were like what I’d met before.
Lastly, the largest of them stepped forward. Sea salt and coconut. Sunshine and the sea. His scent felt like home, because it was so much of what I grew up with. One warm smile, and I was smiling back, my nerves easing. “Rowan,” he said.
I chewed on my lower lip as I looked at the five of them, silence stretching out between us.
The alarm of the baggage claim starting pulled me out of my daze. “Right. I just need to get my bag.”
“Of course,” Cade said. “We’ll help you.”
“It’s okay. It’s just the one bag.”
His lips twitched like he was fighting a smile. “We’re about to tell your family that we’re together and make them believe it. I think it’s okay if we grab your bag. Just tell us which one it is.”
Then he winked.
He actually winked.
I never knew a wink contained magic that could create butterflies in someone’s stomach, but here we were.
“Um, it’s a big hardshell. Teal and sparkly. You can’t really miss it.” My cheeks heated.
A few minutes ago, I was determined not to care what they thought of me. It was a business arrangement. But I very much cared what they thought of me now, and a sparkly suitcase was what Beau would have called childish.
“I think I see it,” Hawk said with a grin. “Let me grab it.”
There it was, in all its glittery glory, and Rowan nodded. “Good call. It’s so much easier when you can pick it out of the sea of black bags.”
I stared at him for a second. “Thank you.”
Hawk rolled it back to us, and I wrapped my arms around myself. As good as they smelled, and as hot as they were, it was still a bit awkward. “So… what happens now?”
“We have all our things with us,” Joel said. “We can head straight to the estate from here. The drive will be long enough to talk about everything.”
Everything. Meaning our arrangement.
The worst decision I’d ever made.
Or the best one.
I couldn’t tell yet.
“Yeah, okay. I’ll need some time to get ready once we get there, anyway.”
