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“Doesn’t leave much time for courting,” Silas pointed out.
And, son of a bitch, he was right.
We’d been so consumed with establishing Hazel as part of our pack that we were completely blowing past courtship, and, more importantly, courtship gifts. Presents aimed to show our omega that we could—and would—care for her every need and want.
“Fuck,” Kellan muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.
Rhett grimaced. “What she must think of her pack.” He sounded utterly disgusted, his polished British accent somehow making it seem even worse.
“She probably doesn’t even know about courting gifts,” I replied, feeling like an absolute piece of shit. I’d watched my fathers shower my mother with gifts throughout my entire life. And I knew for a fact that, with the exception of a kitten who passed away after nineteen years, my mom still had all of her courting gifts from my fathers. Omegas loved gifts. It was a simple, yet integral, fact. And, as alphas, we were supposed to know this.
“Looks like you boys have some ass kissing to do,” Oakley chided with a twist of his lips.
I flipped him off with a sigh as Kellan abruptly spun away.
“Where the fuck are you going?” I demanded.
“To find my girl the perfect courting gift,” he retorted, disappearing from sight around a corner.
“I’ll be damned if he finds her a better gift than I do,” Rhett muttered, chasing after him.
Jude shrugged. “Yeah, I’m not an alpha, but I’m all for spoiling Hazel rotten.” He jogged off after Rhett.
Silas was eyeing his phone. “It’s Bowen. I’ll step outside to speak with him.” He moved between us, and I didn’t miss the way Oakley touched his hip as Silas walked out the front door, or the way Silas’s smile brightened.
Huh. Maybe those two had finally stopped dancing around the fact that they were obviously into each other.
Oak eyed me warily. “We good?”
I folded my arms over my chest and leaned against the wall. “Depends. You done attacking my little sister?”
Oakley rolled his eyes. “Dude, come on. I get that she’s your sister and an omega, but there’s a reason half of California refers to her as the Dutton princess. You’ve all coddled her. Your dads, you, your brothers… She’s about as spoiled as an omega can get.”
My eyes narrowed. “And? Omegas are precious and deserve to be treated as such. Unless you’ve changed your mind about President Anders?”
“Fuck no,” he snarled, dark eyes flashing like chips of onyx. “I absolutely think omegas should have an equal say in their lives, and, yeah, they should be cherished. The difference is, you treat her like she can do no wrong, and we both know omegas are equally capable of horrific things, just like alphas and betas.”
My shoulders relaxed. “Oak, that’s old memories fucking with your head.”
“Don’t psychoanalyze me, bro.” Oak shot me a disgusted look. “I’m aware that I have a fucked up history with omegas thanks to my mother, but that doesn’t mean I’m wrong.”
“So Calla’s a manipulative narcissist?” I arched an accusatory brow.
“You’re deliberately taking what I’m saying the wrong way,” Oak grumbled. “Can we just stop? I think we can agree there’s enough shit going on without our packs fighting.”
My lips twitched. “You’re just still pissed that I kicked your ass in the championship game.”
“It was fucking high school football, asshole,” he replied. “Let it go. I have.”
“No, you haven’t,” I answered with a grin.
“Fuck you. The ref gave us a bogus offsides call and cost us the game. I’m still not convinced your rich ass didn’t pay him off.”
I chuckled. “Didn’t need to when your team played like shit.”
“God, you’re a fucking pain in the ass, Dutton,” he snapped. “Remind me why we’re friends?”
“Because all bullshit aside, I didn’t properly thank you,” I said, going serious. “You had our pack’s back going into the APA situation, no questions asked. We’ve been friends for years, but even I know what you did was huge. You put your pack’s career on the line for us.”
