“And what’s your plan exactly,” Bram scolds. “Run the car into the place?”
Reed wrenches the wheel and floors it, tires screaming and kicking up gravel as the car fishtails onto the asphalt of the main road.
“You realize what I said earlier about the owner was complete bullshit, right?” Reed says, flooring it. “Didn’t even talk to the guy directly, and I could already tell he was the biggest douchebag I’ve ever come across. There’s zero chance Luna will get her retreat spot back. So I’m going to have a civil conversation with the owner and make sure her problem goes away.”
“And you decided to do that alone?” I lean forward between the seats, gripping the back of Reed’s headrest. “Screw you, man. She’s our scent match too.”
“Yeah, assface,” Bram adds. “Don’t you know conversations go better when there’s someone to play good copandbad cop?”
“Well,” Reed says, a smirk breaking through his scowl. “I could’ve driven away faster, don’t you think?”
I lean back in my seat and let out a long breath.Good cop, bad cop, right. Without me, the only thing these two will achieve is getting Luna banned from that place for life.
***
“Hi, I’d like to speak to the owner.”
The receptionist looks up at me, then her eyes go wide as they sweep over the three of us. I suspect having an alpha pack loom over her river-stone desk has to be intimidating, no matter howserene the waterfall walls behind us are meant to make this lobby feel.
“S—Sure, let me get him.” She slides out from behind the counter and slips down a hallway lined with framed mandalas.
“This place must use an awful lot of water,” Bram mutters.
“Shhh. Who cares? Let’s focus,” Reed mutters back.
“You shhh,” Bram replies, jabbing an elbow into Reed’s ribs.
I exhale slowly and step between them, planting a hand on each of their shoulders to ease them apart. “How about you two let me handle this one? No reason we can’t do this the easy way, right?”
Two matching grunts. They cross their arms in unison and turn their heads the opposite way.
I swear, they’re two overgrown six-year-olds...
A few moments later, Chloe returns with the owner trailing her. She slides back into her chair behind the counter, and he stands next to her—linen mandarin collar, perfectly styled blond hair, and a string of wooden beads.
“Namaste, I’m Jake, the owner,” he says, pressing his palms together. “How can I help you?”
“Hi.” I give him my easiest smile. “We’re here because there’s been a misunderstanding regarding Luna Sae’s reservation, and we’d like to sort it out.”
“Ah, yes,” Jake says, tilting his head. “Chloe told me about it earlier and I hear your frustration. The thing is, from our side, we simply received a priority letter from Ms. Sae asking to cancel her stay. We processed it, and now her spot has been automatically reassigned.”
I feel my brothers’ scents spike on either side of me. The air in the lobby becomes heavier. “Well, that’s the thing.” My smile holds. “The letter wasn’t from her. It was fraudulent. I’m sure we can—”
“Unfortunately, our energetic container has a strict capacity limit,” Jake says, his voice soft. “Expanding it arbitrarily would disrupt the collective vibration of the other guests’ journeys.” He closes his eyes, taking a deep breath.
“Come on,” Reed says, his voice dropping low. “You’re saying this huge place can’t accommodate one more person?”
Jake straightens his linen shoulders. “I don’t think you understand feng shui, man. We curate a very specific flow of energy here. Balance is paramount.”
“Are you kidding me?” Reed plants his hands flat on the counter, leaning his weight forward. “We’re talking about a woman whose identity was stolen and you’re going on about energetic flows?”
“I’d think a place like this would care about an innocent guest being defrauded,” Bram adds. “Come on, there has to be something we can do.”
Jake sighs. “Well, I suppose... if I stretch our resources to the absolute limit, maybe wecouldrework the feng shui of our facilities to accommodate Ms. Sae.”
“Really?” Reed says enthusiastically. “That’d be awesome. We can even help—”
“But restoring that balance,” he adds, his voice dropping an octave, “would require an... equivalent exchange. To make up for the disruption.”
