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ChapterNine
Miles
Briar had been staying with us the better part of two months now. She still wasn’t really showing and had been lucky enough to not have too many bad symptoms. Really, everything was almost perfect, and that, in itself, was the problem.
The issue was that the longer she was here, the more her presence felt unmistakably right. She fit into our group so easily. Without words and only a brush of her hand, she could calm Tallon’s anger. Beckham was her best friend, their laughter filling the once quiet space. Ellis and Graham were more reserved and harder to read, but I could see their stolen glances and amusement when she was in the room. Even our statue, Wells, had been talking more. He didn’t just hide in his room, working, or spend time down in the gym, getting impossibly stronger. Now, he joined us for meals. Hell, even the company was doing better. She was the morale boost we hadn’t known we needed around here.
For me? She was refreshing. Briar was unlike any other omega I’d met. She’d been through some shit yet came out with compassion. She was an alluring mix of strong, confident, sexy, and still vulnerable enough to be approachable.
Needing to see Ellis and figure this out, I stalked out of my room. Beck tried to say something, but I held up a finger for him to wait as I hurried toward Ellis’ office. I rapped my knuckles on the wooden door twice before softly pushing it open. He rarely took phone calls, but I wanted to be safe, and that was a good thing too since he had his office phone pressed to his ear. From the pinched expression on his face, it wasn’t going well.
“Yes, Mother,” he groaned. “I’ll be there.”
My eyebrows raised, but he didn’t react. He kept humming in answer to whatever his bat of a mother was barking at him on the phone. We’d met her once, and that was too much for me. She was short and waspish, every word out of her mouth critical and biting. The way she spoke to Ellis had me ready to punch her out, and I wasn’t normally the violent sort. Okay, maybe in my head, but not to the point I had to force myself to not react.
Graham hated her. They were siblings, but nothing alike, and it drove Ellis’ mother nuts that her son would rather spend time with her brother. But who could blame him? Where Graham was cool and controlled, putting effort into everything he did, she was entitled and conniving. Her success came at the expense of others, something Graham was far too classy to dream of.
When Ellis finally hung up, snapping the phone in its place with a loud, angry click, I finally moved forward.
“What did Maleficent have to say today?” I asked as I moved his planner out of his way and sat in front of him. I spread my legs, encouraging him to scoot closer so that his head rested against my stomach. I ran my hand through his dirty blond hair as he regained his composure, reining in his anger.
“She’s running some sort of charity ball right before Christmas,” he said. His voice was muffled since he hadn’t bothered to move, but I heard him clearly.
“And this involves you how?” I asked, knowing this was about to turn into something I was going to hate.
“Her family is supposed to be there to support her or something.” I sighed. “She wants me to get Graham to go as well, which means the whole pack is going because I’m not fucking doing this alone. One pack.”
“One pack,” I muttered. It was our one unshakable rule. If one of us needed the others, they could invoke the ‘one pack’ rule, meaning we had to follow and support them. It didn’t happen often, and none of us would consider not doing it. “I’m going to hate it.”
“We all are, but there’s free fancy food, free booze, and I’ll do my best to keep her away from us,” he admitted.
“And Briar?” Ellis pulled back, his eyebrows drawing together as he studied me. “Will she be coming?”
“Will she even be here by then?” he asked. His voice wasn’t unkind, but I winced anyway.
“I fucking hope so,” I admitted, staring him down to show I meant every damn word. “You can’t tell me you don’t see it.”
“See what?” I narrowed my eyes at his feigned ignorance.
“You’re not stupid, Ellis, and don’t insult me by acting like I am,” I growled. “She’s got Tallon and Beck wrapped around her finger without even trying. I’ve wanted to kiss her since I’ve met her, and that scent of hers makes me hard just by being close to her. She fits here with us.”
“She’s not meant for us,” he said stubbornly, but it was a weaker argument than before, holding no real conviction. Good, because I’d hate to have to smack sense into my alpha.
“She is,” I argued. “She’s funny, she’s smart, and she’s so fucking strong.”
“I don’t disagree with that,” he said, which was good, but the remorse in his eyes had me tensing up. “But she’s not ours. She’s been saying this is temporary the entire time. Hell, her design business is taking off. She has no need of us, and she’ll probably strike out on her own as soon as she has the funds to.”
“An omega’s purpose is not to need their alphas. It’s to be part of a pack and whatever else they desire,” I argued. “I’m not here because you support me! I make my own money, and I contribute the same as everyone else.”
“You do,” he placated. “Seems you have that in common. She tried to give me money for rent yesterday.”
That had me grinning. “Of course she did. Did you take it?”
“I tried not to! But she seemed genuinely hurt, and then she asked what we all contributed. I wasn’t going to lie to her.”
We all put in one-fourth of our payouts, no matter what they were, into a pack fund. It was a way to keep the pack provided for while allowing everyone to also be self-sufficient.
“She’s paying into the pack fund while she’s not even pack?” I questioned pointedly. The man was fucking delusional if he didn’t see what was happening.
“I didn’t put it in there,” he admitted. “I started a savings account for the baby’s future.”
That had me swooning a bit. “Shut up, you sappy motherfucker,” I laughed. “That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“It wasn’t a big deal. It just felt wrong to take her money,” he grumbled.
“Not pack, my ass.” I shook my head. “But why does she get to keep her money while I don’t?”
“Because the times I tried that, you threatened to super glue your ass cheeks so I couldn’t fuck you,” he deadpanned. We both knew I wouldn’t do it, but he couldn’t resist bowing to that threat.
“I want her.”
He leaned back in his chair and let out a defeated breath. I could practically see his walls breaking down now that I’d told him where I stood. He’d have to be blind not to see how she was changing us all.
“Me too,” he admitted. “I’ve tried to keep my distance, but she smells so fucking good.” The fact that he was admitting it to me now was fucking huge and a step in the right direction. I needed to confront the rest of the pack, get them on my side, because we weren’t letting her walk out of our lives. But I wasn’t going to push him too far either, I’d said my piece and now I needed him to mull it over like I knew he would.
“I read that she needs more folic acid, so we should be cooking with more spinach! And listening to classical will make the baby smart, so we should just start playing classical over the speakers for ambiance,” I said. As far as subject changes went, it was successful. Though he was now looking at me with a glint in his eyes that I’d never seen before.
“Have you been researching?” It was a playful accusation, but I crossed my arms and glared anyway.
“Yes. And?”
