Whatever they think is going to happen, they are severely mistaken.
Chapter 8
Zachary
My phone rings, Hunter’s name lighting up the screen. A photo I took of him after a late night out in college, passed out on our old couch, and Alric had taken a red sharpie to his face. A drawing of a large dick with a knot on his cheek fills up my screen.
But he can’t be calling me, because he’s currently screaming at Alric in front of me, without a phone in his hand.
Alric pounds against the door, yelling about the omega he was talking about at dinner yesterday. Madeline. He looks like he’s about to burst into flames, while Hunter’s face twists up with guilt. I yank Alric away from the door, ignoring his growl.
“What the fuck is going on?” I demand.
“Madeline is here!” Alric says, as if that clears up anything at all.
“I brought Sophie here!” Hunter says, his eyes on the floor.
“You both brought your omegas here? Since when did our yearly memorial trip here turn into a house party, and why wasn’t I allowed to bring Emilie?”
No way my omega doesn’t get a chance. I don’t care howintriguing Madeline is, or how beautiful Sophie is. Emilie will win whatever insane pack matchmaking game is being played, but I’m annoyed as fuck at both of them.
“They’re the same omega,” Hunter says, his voice small. He runs his hands through his wet hair. “I…I wanted you both to meet her!”
Alric takes a step closer to Hunter. “She and I had been dating up until Friday night, when she ran off and blocked me on everything. Now she’s locked herself in my bedroom.”
“She looked so fucking scared. Fuck. I’m sorry! I had no idea they were the same omega! Or I never would have brought her,” Hunter pleads.
Alric throws his hands up in the air. “You never should have invited someone to my home without asking me anyway!”
“Wait!” I face Hunter. “Did she know Alric was going to be here? I doubt an omega would have agreed to come to a remote island with alphas they don’t know.”
Hunter’s shoulders sink. “I may have implied it was just the two of us, but?—”
He’s done some ridiculous shit in this lifetime, but this is the least thought-out idea yet. “So you took her across international waters under false pretense? Hunter, there are omega protection laws about that. She could have you arrested.”
The rain patter on the roof is the only sound for a few seconds.
He runs his hands through his air again, pulling on the blond strands. “Shit,” he says under his breath.
I point at Alric. “You need to calm the fuck down.” I glare at Hunter next. “You’ve made a huge mistake. Now both of you step away from the door.” Hunter immediately listens, but Alric stays next to the door, so I keep going. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on with you and your omega. She’shiding in a bathroom from you, so I’m going to speak to her, and we’re going to see what she’d like to do without you two breathing down her neck.”
Alric takes a deep breath, but finally moves away from the door and I can relax a little. Once both of them have moved a good distance away but still within hearing range, I knock gently on Alric’s bedroom door.
“Hi Sophie or Madeline, not sure what name you’d prefer, but I think there’s been a big misunderstanding. Hunter has made a mistake and he’s very sorry. I’d like to assure you that you’re safe no matter how growly Alric is at the moment. Would you be willing to come out and speak to us? We can explain a bit more as to what’s happening.”
A voice I’ve come to love so much yells, “FUCK OFF, ZACHARY!”
My heart plummets to my stomach and I knock again. “Emilie?” I stutter. “Sweetheart!”
Emilie is here? I whirl on Hunter and Alric, and we all stare dumbfounded at each other. “Have we all been with the same sugar baby this whole time?”
I hate that she is upset right now, but shit, this has to mean something, right? If we had known she was the same person, this all could have gone so differently. She could be so much more than our sugar baby.
She should be part of this pack—she could be our omega.
No omega would be as loved and as spoiled as she would be. We might know her by different names, but we’ve all fallen for the same woman. All those reasons we listed last night why each omega would be perfect for us, she’s all of those things. A pack with my best friends, a booming business, and her at the center of it all. Summers here in Greece, fall in upstate New York.
She’s truly the perfect omega for us. If she ever forgives us for this.
