Kai.
Somewhere inside her, her omega howled for him, but he looked at her like she was an intruder. Every step he took was a gunshot to her heart, a reminder that she was not welcome. By the last step, he looked at them all with an intense gaze that could only be described as the overwhelming shade of grief.
“Pathetic,” he scoffed, turning his nose up at them. “The three of you look like unbelievable fools. Is the new house rule to ignore all our work arrangements just to play babysitter?”
Jude’s jaw twitched. “The only baby I hear whining and throwing a tantrum is you.”
“Good one.”
“Enough.” Zayden stood up, his chair making a loud scrape against the floor. “Enough. Go wait for us in the car, Kai, if you’re not going to behave yourself in front of Sonnet. Do you understand me?”
Kai twitched, struggling under the dominance of their lead alpha. Even Sonnet struggled to keep still under Zayden’s powerful force as he exerted his dominance.
“Whatever you want,alpha.” Kai sneered.
Zayden placed his hands calmly on Sonnet’s shoulder, guilt etched into the dimples of his cheek and the furrow of his brows. Entire novels were woven inside him, but something was holding him back from what he really wanted to say.
He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, Sonnet, but Kai is right. We have a meeting that we cannot cancel. We’ll have to leave you alone for a bit.”
“Do wehaveto?”
“Yes, Jude. We do.”
“That’s okay.” Sonnet stood up and put on her best smile. “Don’t worry. I didn’t assume all of you would give up all your duties just to keep me company. Besides, this gives me some time to relax. You guys are perfect, but you’re still new to me.”
She walked them to the front door, laughing at their jokes, promising not to run away or disappear by the time they returned. Before they all loaded into the car, Jude handed her one last thing.
“I can’t draw for the life of me,” he said with a disappointed sigh, “but I didn’t want you to feel lost in your own home. I did my best to draw you a layout of the house. That way, when you explore it, you feel like you know exactly where you’re going.”
She looked down at the pages scribbled with black ink and the terrible handwriting labeling each box of the layout. It was just what she needed.
She hugged him, which startled them both, but she didn’t let go like a coward. She let him wrap her up tightly and kiss her softly on the top of her head before promising he’d come back as soon as he could. Sooner, even.
She liked that. She liked knowing her mate didn’t want to be without her. Felix and Zayden looked equally phased by having to leave, and she could feel it, too. As she waved goodbye to them in the doorway of her new home, she felt a wave of relief and hope. There were issues under the foundation of this house and baggage she had lulled inside, but maybe they had the tools to fix these problems together. Maybe she could be the omega she always wanted to be, for them, but for her, too.
Chapter 12
Felix was a twenty-six-year-old virgin waiting forthe one, and despite his nonchalant attitude, was very much a romantic. He just hadn’t had anyone he wanted to spend time romancing, until now. Until Sonnet.
Their pack had been on many dates, courted a few omegas, and officially dated Juliana. All those years, all those women, and yet Felix had been holding himself back. There was nothing more he hated in life than having his time wasted. When his parents died when he was young, he understood quickly that life was short, and promised himself he would not spend even a second of it pursuing someone any less than a 100% match.
Matches like these were rare, uncommon, not possible for every pack or every alpha to achieve. Felix went along with all those dates and courting to satisfy his alpha brothers.
Looking at his brothers now, all sitting on the opposite side of their label managers, assistants, and Maddox, Felix now understood something else. He would not lose his fated mate due to their negligence and insecurities. He had an idea.
Maddox cleared his throat, once again trying to bring the conversation back to the core matter and the very reason behind the abrupt cancellation. Sonnet.
“You cannot fault the boys for something only fate has a say in,” Maddox argued. “We cannot rewrite what these sharks have written. What do we do?”
Everyone began going back and forth until Mr. Barley, head of the label’s marketing team, spoke up. “Maddox is correct. The sharks have taken this story and run with it. The best thing we can do is not fight the volume of noise but wait until it dies down and then release a new story. The band will go radio silent, no press, no outside socializing, for two weeks.”
“Two weeks?”Jude and Kai said at the same time before glaring at one another.
Some of the staff joined in, finding the idea to be ridiculous, but this was the perfect opening for Felix. Before anything got out of hand, Felix pushed a card to the other side of the table. A card Maddox had given Zayden, and later, Felix, for a therapist.
“I suggest a month.”
“A month vacation?” Jude beamed, unaware. “We’d be home with Sonnet all day and night!”
