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I head downstairs, listening to the voices humming from the dining room. I get excited hearing Jonah’s laughter. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect from him after his hiding the last two days, but it seems that he’s back to normal. No one has told me anything else, and I think they’re waiting for him to tell me.
“Ms. Scarlett, you have some packages. They just arrived a couple of minutes ago. Would you like me to take them to your room?” Franny stands with her hands clasped together in front of a long table my guys use to set their personal belongings on, out of the way of any public space of the museum. I know they’ll be opening the Clearwater Manor again soon to visitors, and I don’t really look forward to it. At least no one will be going into our bedrooms or our personal areas.
“Ms. Franny, I’ll take them to the dining room so Scarlett can open them there. I was informed by her pack that she’d be receiving something today.” Adrian adjusts his tie, coming from the wraparound staircase. He’s never first to breakfast, considering he doesn’t have as early days as the others. Sometimes he doesn’t even leave the manor and chooses to work remotely. I know he runs Clearwater University’s finance department, but I know there’s more to his position. He has talked about traveling soon, trying to arrange things to where we’d all be on break for Thanksgiving or Winter Break.
“Yes, sir. Let me know if you need anything else. I’ll be putting up the ropes to keep the museum guests out of your private quarters. We have our first appointment scheduled for tomorrow.” Franny curtsies and turns away, not waiting for Adrian to respond.
He grumbles under his breath and stacks four boxes. There are far too many packages for him to carry on his own without making a second trip, so I gather the largest box and set three bubble mailers on top.
“We can just take them up to my room. I think it’s the rest of my stuff from home. My sisters mentioned my mom would be cleaning out my room completely.” I purse my lips, not reacting. I don’t give a fuck what she does with my room. It was mostly just childhood belongings I don’t care for anymore.
“One is an engagement gift from Pack Carlisle’s leader. It has all of our names on it.” Adrian adjusts the box in his hand. “I suspect the rest are gifts as well.”
Dominic pops his head out from the archway to the dining room and strides forward, gathering everything from my arms. “Ezra made breakfast today. You want to eat it while it’s still hot.”
The sugary scent of pastries fills the air, and I gape at the huge collection of breakfast foods set out like a buffet in warming trays. A pile of scrambled eggs, sausages and bacon, potatoes, and a couple of other things I can’t see under lids wait for me. A tower of donuts glitters with sugar and chocolate drips over buttery croissants. A huge carafe of coffee rests alongside a pitcher of orange juice. A mound of fresh-cut fruit finishes off the breakfast collection, and I nearly charge the table out of hunger.
“Amore, come sit down with me.” Ezra smiles, standing from his spot across the room at the end of the table. “The chef sits at the head this morning and gets the honor of feeding our beautiful fiancée.”
Adrian sets the four boxes at the end of the table, and Dominic stacks the rest on top, motioning for me to go to Ezra. Leo and Jonah sit across from each other. I love how everyone focuses on me. Jonah smiles softly and reaches for my hand, quietly pulling me in for a sensual kiss. The small affectionate gesture helps ease the tightness in my chest. I was afraid he’d ignore or avoid me, but he acts as if nothing happened the other night.
Leo moves around the table, kissing me next, and I laugh as Ezra spins me away, plopping down with me on his lap. He lifts a chocolate croissant to my lips, and I hum in enjoyment at the burst of sweet, buttery flavor.
“You made all of this?” I ask between bites, trying my best not to snatch the pastry away. Because it’s fucking delicious.
“Yes, amore. I decided to make you a little bit of everything, but croissants are my specialty when it comes to breakfast. What do you think?” Ezra offers me another bite, and I watch as the others join us around the table. It’s nice to eat together like this for breakfast and dinner, considering we don’t all see each other during the day.
“Stop asking her questions and let her eat. She obviously enjoys it. That little moan she keeps releasing is driving me wild.” Leo stretches his arm out and smudges his thumb on my chin, wiping away flakes of croissant. He pops it in his mouth and winks at me, filling his empty plate. I realize everyone was waiting until I sat down. I wonder how long they would wait or if they would just starve if I took my sweet time. I wouldn’t do that, though. I know it’s customary for alphas to wait until their omega gets taken care of first. Omega Prep taught me that it was their duty.
“He’s right, Ezra. Enjoy just feeding our beautiful omega.” Adrian scoots closer, sitting in Ezra’s usual spot. I stretch out my hand and let him kiss my knuckles. “It’ll give us a chance to discuss a couple of things of importance. The first one is our engagement announcement. I’m planning to meet with Pack Carlisle’s leader in regards to building a Clearwater University satellite campus just outside of San Francisco, and I feel it’s important to show our upcoming union to strengthen our ties. I’ve been trying to get into Northern California for a while. I find this to be a splendid opportunity. We can also meet Scarlett’s family too.”
I crinkle my nose at the idea. I wonder how awkward it would be for my dads to realize that my new pack is around their age and that mom didn’t care about reading over my profile, missing the typo. Does it matter? I hope not. I’m already comfortable. Mom made it clear that this was happening, and I accepted it.
I wouldn’t change anything either.
“Do you think that’s a good idea? Word might spread.” Jonah tightens his jaw and sets his fork down. “We shouldn’t use our relationship to secure it like that. I’m sure you can get the contract on your own, Adrian.”
“When he puts it like that, Adrian, I have to agree. You know the publicity that will follow with the formal announcement. I thought we’d wait until spring.” Dominic laces his fingers together, resting his elbows on the table.
“Her expected heat will arrive before then. The school has her enrolled under her alias Scarlett Carlisle since the Carlisles are Pack Steele's authoritative pack. I made sure that there were no ties to the Steele name. Now it’s not necessary to include a bloodline if someone is forming a pack.” Adrian straightens his back. “I want things to be official for her. It’s important to me too. More important than appearances.”
I stop eating and set down my fork, feeling tension rise in the air. “You can make it official, but I’ll tell my mom that I don’t want the media involved until we start planning the wedding.”
“She was also asking about a date for that. She prefers it sooner rather than later because your pack won’t release the dowry to her until our marriage certificate is turned in and you’re officially a member of Pack Hart.” Adrian twists his lips, his expression softening.
“Then maybe we need to offer her a stipend to hold her over.” Jonah scoots back in his chair. “I don’t want anything ruining our plans.”
Adrian stops him from getting up, draping his arm over his shoulders. “You’re right. I was being a bit selfish, and I don’t want anyone feeling as if I’m doing things for my own sake or for Clearwater University over our own wants and desires. I would still like to meet with Scarlett’s family. It would be a fun weekend getaway, don’t you think?”
I bite the inside of my cheek, forcing my face to remain even. “I’d love to show you around San Francisco as long as we don’t hang out with my family too long.”
“That bad, huh?” Leo asks.
“Probably worse.” I shrug my shoulders. “I’m just happy to be here. I hope you guys know that.”
Ezra kisses the crook of my neck. “We just hope you know how grateful we are that you accepted us.”
I rest against him, savoring the collection of their scents wafting around me, their happiness uplifting and pushing away all thoughts of my family.
