Sarah studies my face, as if she’s not sure if she can trust the offer, and as many times as this girl has gotten screwed over by people she should have been able to trust, that’s understandable. She watches me closely as Greg takes the pen I offer and signs the paperwork, officially becoming part of Pack Miller. I’m notsure what she’s looking so hard for; she doesn’t even break eye contact when she scribbles her own name on the line and passes it over. Did she expect me to pull out a noisemaker and yell that we were only joking? Was she watching for some pained expression to cross my face at the idea of being legally tied to her?
I hold out my hand, examining both their signatures and making an offhand comment. “You know…you’re both going to have to change your last name now, right? That’s a huge pain in the ass. I probably should have warned you beforehand.” Greg snorts. At least my shitty sense of humor isn’t lost on him, even if she just looks confused. I had to go through a bureaucratic nightmare to get it sorted out when I joined Spencer and Paul, so now I get to gloat while someone else suffers. It’s a small win, but I’ll take it. I stand, motioning for the rest of my pack to join me, and we amble slowly up to the front desk.
The woman working there is the same one who took all of our information earlier and also witnessed my pack accosting a stranger. The asshole deserved it; I just hope she doesn’t have reservations now about filing our paperwork. She doesn’t say anything as she takes it from me and types for a few minutes, making notes on a separate piece of paper and printing off some documents. Finally, she sits back down at her desk, straightens her glasses, and speaks in a monotonous, if official-sounding, voice.
“So, with these signed forms and background checks. Do you testify that you have, in fact, been courting for three weeks, information as provided by Beta Gregory in his signed statement regarding the recent heat for Sarah Zhaing? That you did provide for her needs during the time when she was present at your home and along with gifting her a nest, you assisted with the aforementioned heat. Am I missing anything?”
Sarah grabs the paper off the desk that the woman was reading from, reads over a few lines, and then takes a pencil and scribbles a few other notes before passing it back. “Thank you for those additions, let me see…” The woman’s eyebrows raise as she looks at what Sarah has written down before her voice takes on the previous sonorous tone.
“Let the record show that Sarah Zhaing, also known as ‘the omega’ has made addendums to the statement in that the alphas Alistair, Paul, and Spencer Miller provided 85% of a nest”—her eyebrows raise—“bunny food on demand, and a plushie made of nightmares, but ‘it purrs so I’m keeping it.’” She looks around at our assembled group. “I don’t think I want to know any more regarding that...So if there are no more changes, I can get this notarized and filed. Congratulations, you are now all officially members of Pack Miller.”
Spence is staring at Sarah, a look of confusion on his face, as she eventually answers one of our unspoken questions. “Well, there’s no other furniture; it needs at least a couch, and he told me he was going to paint stars, so it’s not a complete nest, is it?” She pokes Spencer in the chest from where he’s still carrying her before turning her attention to Paul and me. “Besides, as hot as you both were standing there with everything on display, I figure having some place to sit would be more comfortable.”
Paul just smiles fondly at the woman who is now officially our omega, while Spencer raises his hand as if he needs to ask a question. Sarah looks at him, and he blushes beet-red. “I already added the stars after you left. Sorry. You can see what they look like when we get home, but the couch sounds good.”
The bureaucratic woman behind the counter stamps and notarizes everything before making multiple copies and stapling them together, then handing us one stack. Waving it in our general direction before I step forward and retrieve it.
While I wasn’t expecting Sarah to get accosted as soon as we arrived—and I fully expect the girl to get into fights, that goes without saying—I’m glad that the rest of our plans went off without a hitch. With luck, we’ll have her stuff packed up and ready to go tomorrow so that we can get the hell out of town before my family realizes I’m here.
I watch in awe as Spencer hands his phone to a guard who’s been standing around watching Sarah’s scent match as we wait for the police. The big alpha then drags us all over to stand for a photo that he’s insistent that we need. “Come on, Al. We need something for the scrapbook, or to hang up in the living room. Plus, you know, I need to send it to our moms or they’ll be super disappointed.” He sits Sarah down on a chair and starts posing everyone around her. Then looks at Paul, who nods in agreement, and I remember that they both have really good relationships with their families.
A few minutes later, we’re having a fifth version of the same photo taken, and I finally shake the big goober off. “That’s enough. We have enough pictures to commemorate this moment. Besides, I’m sure Sarah doesn’t want her first introduction to your family to look like she’s been throttled.”
Spencer isn’t even paying attention as he takes his cell back from the guard, thanking the poor man until he starts to look uncomfortable.
My luck is clearly not going well, as a few seconds pass and my phone rings. “Mom” popping up on the screen. I throw a glare at the big alpha. “What did you do? I thought you said you needed it to send to your mom.”
“I said moms, plural. Besides, yours is super sweet and she worries about you. I didn’t want her to think you forgot if she hears about it later. Besides, she would have seen it soon anyway. I also posted it to my Facebook, and she always replies to my pictures.” He’s grinning like an idiot, and I kind of want toslap him. Instead, I bring the phone to my ear, and my mother’s excited squeal makes me grind my teeth.
Sarah’s voice is barely audible as she leans towards Greg. “If you value my sanity, do not give that alpha my family’s contact information or any of their names.” The beta nods and makes a motion of locking his lips with a key.
Chapter 93
The police showed up fairly quickly to talk to me and cart John off. Not only is his pack banned from all omega centers, but between trespassing, falsifying their identities, and assault charges—which I am totally pressing—he won’t be going anywhere for a while. The officers who took my statement kept glaring at him, and I hope they’re none too gentle when they do book him. I also hope his holding cell has a really drunk guy that barfs on him…repeatedly.
A couple hours later, I’m finally celebrating my newfound freedom. Leaving campus on a whim is a new thing for me, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy it. What I don’t enjoy is for my first “unsupervised” outing to be meeting the family of my surly new pack leader for dinner. I haven’t even met Moose’s family yet, and he actually likes me. Though Josh and Billy were really nice, I have some hope that this entire group won’t have a stickup its ass. From what Paul says, Al is the baby of the group, so they’ll all be Paul’s age or older.
Al puts his parents’ address into the GPS, but we take Greg’s minivan, because we can all fit in it easily, except for Spence, whose head is pressed to the ceiling, and the drive takes almost forty-five minutes, but then again, Los Angeles traffic sucks. At least Greg is more used to driving in it, since both Paul and Al are white knuckling the oh-shit handles when we arrive. Al told us that his mom and five dads all live outside the busy part of the city, and that his three brothers are currently staying with them. When we pile out of the van, I’m expecting the tiny omega that comes flying down the stairs and practically tackles Al to the ground.
I amnotexpecting the five giant hotties that circle around them shortly afterwards, giving manly pats on the professor’s back, or the three that must be his brothers, one of whom is nearly as big as Moose. It’s messed up that I thought they were all going to be basement dwelling Morlocks, but what else do you expect when you hear that men over thirty are living with their parents? Instead, these guys look like they could bench press Al with one hand. What the actual hell?
The leanest of the three saunters around us, looking smug as fuck, and I kind of want to slap him just to wipe that smirk off his face. I growl instead, stepping in front of Spence and Greg. Nobody’s gonna look down on my guys, but Al’s related to them and Paul’s older than me, so he can fend for himself. Instead of the scoff or laughter I’m expecting from the guy, he looks like he just saw the world’s cutest puppy, and he hunkers down in front of me. It takes all of my considerable willpower not to push him over while he’s balanced on the balls of his feet like that.
“Oh my gosh, you are just the cutest little thing I’ve ever seen. Hey Rob, Carson, get your asses over here, she’s adorable. Holy shit, you’re jacked, it’s like my brother mated a littleHitmonchan!” I’m expecting this guy to let out a squee of excitement if this keeps up. Thankfully, the other two shuffle over immediately. One of them actually looks really familiar, not because of his resemblance to Al, though that’s there too, but he has a big bushy beard as well. And while Al’s nose is a little big, it’s also straight. This guy looks like he’s been hit in the face several times.
The bearded one looks at me closely, a low rumbling growl coming from his chest. “What the hell happened, little bit? You look like you lost a fight. The other guy better be dead.” He glares between Paul and Spence, who steps forward protectively.
My voice comes out shaky and tired. “Scent match gone wrong. He’s not dead, but I probably managed to crack a couple of ribs after Spence threw him and Al kicked him in the head.” The big rumbling alpha nods approvingly, looking between Spence and Al, who’s still surrounded by what I’m guessing are his parents.
Greg’s voice intrudes into my thoughts, breaking the tension. “Hitmonchan is a guy, that species is always male. What the hell, man? I mean, you could have compared her to Bea, they have the same haircut.” And I’m lost. I got the original reference because of the old cartoon I watched, but now it’s spiraled into stupid territory.
I lean into Moose since he isn’t geeking out like my beta, only to find him shaking. I glance up at his face. He looks starstruck as he stares at the big bearded version of Al. In fact, they all have his dark hair and pale skin, just like the omega that tackled Teach earlier.
“You…You’re you!” Thank you, Moose, so eloquent. What? His finger is pointing straight at the guy and the other alpha blushes, which is weird as fuck. I look over at Al, but he’s still trapped in a circle of people that are probably his parents. Paul just waves me over and we both stare as our big packmate practically trips overhis own tongue trying to talk. “Carson ‘the Runner’ Rodriguez. Oh my gosh, your touchdowns are amazing! You’re Al’s brother? Janice’s son? How didn’t I know that?” My big alpha is fangirling over this poor man, and now I’m not sure which one I need to save.
The smirky one from before straightens and walks with Greg towards Paul and me with his other brother following closely behind. He has the loose-limbed grace of a dancer, and I’m not sure what I’m expecting, because the arms that are exposed by his tank top sure don’t look like they’re for picking up ballerinas. “Hey, sorry about that. I’m just excited for Al after…everything. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Ben, Al’s oldest brother. This is Rob, he’s next. The blushing idiot over there and second youngest is Carson.”
Paul is staring between them with a critical eye like he recognizes them, but considering his line of work, I don’t think that’s a good thing. Still, he holds his hand out, meeting each of their palms in turn for a quick shake. The clean cut but bulky one watches Paul in turn before his head drops and he shuffles in place, casting a cautious eye over at Spencer who’s still making the other alpha blush like a schoolgirl. “So, you ever watch rugby or fighting tournaments?”
