Okay, maybe something a little bigger than a shoe box.
“Please,” she begs. “Can we get this house? We can use my savings for a down payment.”
Holy shit.
Zachary and I glance at each other. Pack finances were never going to be an issue she needed to worry about or contribute to, but the fact that she is offeringthatmoney up for this house…
I honestly thought she would hold on to that fund forever as a backup plan. We’re in this pack for life, but none of us would ever blame Madi if a tiny part of her still worried something might go wrong. If she felt better knowing there was some security to fall back on, we’re fine with whatever she needs to feel safe. We would even add to it if it helped her.
Her distrust of alphas isn’t going to be healed immediately, and her desire for independence won’t vanish overnight, but here she is, two weeks into our relationship, so confident in us that she would choose to invest the money she wanted to use to escape us into our future home.
“No,” Alric says. Her face falls, her disappointment in thebond striking my gut like lightning, but he is quick to continue, panic entering his eyes. “Thatalpha-free lifesavings account is your shopping fund or personal savings. We don’t need it. Besides, while you two were in here getting handsy, we already bought it. Money is being transferred as we speak. Ivana has some champagne waiting for us in the garden, but I told her we may need a minute.”
Madi lets out a happy cry, kissing me and Zach before we step out of her way so she can jump into Alric’s arms. “Really?”
“Really. Anything you want, you get. Forever. I only want to wake up next to you every single morning. We knew this was the perfect house for us back in Santorini, but we needed to make sure you wanted to live here, too.”
“I do! I love it so fucking much.” She kisses him and when they pull apart, they wear matching smiles. Her joy in the bond is radiant. “It’s everything I’ve always wanted in a home. It’s like I dreamed it up. You’re all perfect. Thank you!”
“When can we move in?” I ask.
Alric sets her down. “We can move in as soon as our things are packed. Paperwork is already signed.”
“Let’s go get some champagne!” Madi pulls on Alric’s hand.
It seems impossible that a few weeks ago she was my sugar baby, about to end our arrangement. How horribly different would our lives have been if she hadn’t agreed to join me on that fateful trip?
After celebrating the buying of the house and Ivana’s farewell, Alric leads us into a large room with a beautiful view of the garden. “This would make a nice office space for us. I imagine now that we’re a pack, we’d rather work from home when possible.” He turns to Madi, stepping close to her. “Plenty of room here for four desks. Have you given any morethought to spearheading our new omega initiative at Nourish part time? I would technically be your boss but”—cupping her face, he lightly presses his lips to hers—“it will have itsadvantages.”
Madi would never have to work if she didn’t want to. She could spend our money all day, but we know she wants to make a difference in the lives of omegas. Our girl is smart and driven, and this job would be perfect for her.
We have anotherbigsurprise for her after this that will take up some of her time, but she’ll love staying busy with the things she’s passionate about.
Madi kisses Alric back. “I accept the position. But why part time? What if I want to work more than that?”
Alric glances at Zachary, who smiles and pulls out his phone. “Well, you can be full time until this is finished, but we think being the owner of OmegaAir will keep you pretty busy.” He holds it up to her. On the screen, a commercial plane is being built. He then swipes to a photo of a mock up with the logoOmegaAirin a swirling font.
I try to hold in my excitement but I can’t. “We’re in talks with all the major US airports. You would be CEO, so you’re in control of route planning, but we were thinking daily flights to New York or LA would be good to start. We’ve already tapped our network for people interested in the project who can help you. There have already been hundreds of applications coming in. Plus, we’ll be with you every step of the way.”
All three of us hold our breath. Madi stares at us, but there’s nothing but silence coming down the bond. Fuck. Did we mess this up?
No. Weknowher.
“You guys bought me an airline?” she says quietly, staring at Zachary’s phone.
Panic starts rising from Alric. “Yes…we thought…because of what you said about omega-only rows and?—”
Elation explodes down the bond from Madi at the same time as she flings herself into our arms. When she finally releases us, her eyes are glassy and her smile wobbles. “This is amazing!”
“OmegaAir is in your name,” I say. “You have complete control.”
“There’s so much to do! I need to create a business plan and branding, market research, hire pilots and flight attendants. It would be available to all women, not just omegas. Oh, all the in-flight food can be from Nourish!”
Zachary pulls her close. “My team is already working on all the software for the company.”
“Thank you! This is a perfect job. It combines everything I care about: travel and making omegas’ lives better. A dream life!”
We all get a little emotional at that. That’s all we ever wanted to give her, and it’s an honor to live it with her. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us, forher, as we make all her dreams come true.
