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“This is Levi,” introduces Miles from his spot next to Fox. “Levi Stark. Levi, this is Riley.”
“It’s good to meet you,” he says, but his expression is tight and his breathing shallow. Like Fox and Miles, he’s just as much under the Omega-Alpha spell as I am. I can’t help myself. I close my mouth and take a small sniff, finding his scent is just as thick as the others. Levi smells like cedar and pine, fresh and clean.
My body tilts forward of its own accord and I close my eyes, leaning in to scent him on his neck. He trembles with the effort to hold back before gently placing his arms around me, holding me in a gentle embrace. His tentative touch brings the sting of latent tears to my eyes. Before today, I couldn’t tell you when the last time was that someone held me like this. With so much care.
The atmosphere in the room shifts as someone else enters behind me. A chill rolls up my spine. Levi pulls back, his soft smile dropping as his gaze fixes on someone over my shoulder. “Riley, this is Thane Woods. He’s the head Alpha of the Pack.”
I turn slowly, and it’s as if time stops. Where Miles is kind and gentle, Fox is sexy and sinful, and Levi is warmth and comfort, Thane is beauty itself, cold and unyielding.
He has wide shoulders that taper down to a fit waist. His jaw and chin are sharp, as if he were carved from marble. His hair is dark and curls around his ears, and I feel compelled to run my hands through it just to see how it looks messy. But his eyes are the most striking feature of all, a silvery blue that seems ethereal in the soft light of the living room. I lock into that blue gaze, but where I feel warmth and desire pulsing through me, his gaze only returns chilling disinterest.
I tilt my head back, close my eyes, and inhale, his scent enveloping me with its intensity. Thane smells like oranges and jasmine, the sort of scent you’d experience lying in a garden while stargazing under the summer sky. It makes my mouth water with desire, and my heart beats faster with a need so intense it shakes me to my core.
I wait for him to step forward, to run his nose and mouth and teeth against my neck, to learn my scent as well as I’ve already learned his, but he remains still, merely staring at me with barely concealed disdain. My face falls and I work to conceal the way his nonverbal slap has stung.
It takes several seconds before I fully realize what’s happening, and a piece of my heart shatters. He doesn’t want me here. A small, pathetic whimper crawls out of my throat, and in an instant, Miles is at my side, taking me in his arms. Then, he growls at Thane, teeth bared in challenge. Thane’s eyes widen, but he doesn’t move.
“Miles, really?” he says in a cold voice that pulses with power. When Miles’ muscles slump and his embrace loosens, I realize that Thane is using his Alpha persuasion on the less powerful Alpha. Something about seeing Miles submitting to him brings out my protective side, even though part of me also admires Thane’s strength. I take Miles’ hand firmly in mine, and he perks up again at the contact.
“Let’s all sit down to talk,” suggests Levi with a cautious look toward Thane, as if the stronger Alpha is a powder keg ready to explode. After a second, Thane grunts out his agreement and stalks to a burgundy armchair by the marble fireplace that serves as a centerpiece to the entire room. Miles and I take our place on a matching loveseat, though Fox starts toward us as if to squeeze his muscular frame onto the tiny sofa with us. Levi smacks Fox on the arm and drags him toward a long sofa on the other side of the fireplace. I take a moment to peer around the room, seeing it for the first time since I walked in.
“Look, I know this is unorthodox,” says Miles, ignoring Thane’s snort of disbelief as he continues. “We haven’t talked about having an Omega in the Pack for a long time, and we’ve proven that we don’t exactly need one.”
“We don’t,” growls Thane, his hand clenching into a fist against the armrest. “We’re a small enough Pack that we do just fine without one. Our bonds are as tight as can be. We don’t need to bring in someone else to mess with that delicate balance.”
“I understand,” says Miles slowly. “However, there is another factor at play.” He begins to tell the story of this afternoon, leaving no part untold. I drop my gaze to the floor, embarrassed at the passive part I played in the events, at how weak I was in the face of trouble. Only a squeeze from Miles’ hand keeps me from breaking down into tears.
“So, you’ve taken legal responsibility for her,” summarizes Levi, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and his fingers tented. “We really can’t turn her away, even if we wanted to.”
My throat catches at the last part of the sentence. Is he saying he doesn’t want to turn me away, that he wants to keep me in the house? Or is he saying he would if he felt he had a choice?
“No,” sighs Thane, rubbing at his temple. “We really can’t turn her out, not without risking Miles getting into trouble. Not to mention his reputation.”
“It would be okay,” I say softly, and all four Alphas’ attention turns to me. Their stares press against me, the feeling both enjoyable and loathsome at the same time. “I don’t need a Pack. I was doing fine before.”
“Were you, though?” asks Miles. “Or were you just biding your time until you got caught?”
I freeze at his words, cursing how well he already knows me after only a few hours. I wasn’t fine in the apartment. I was surviving, but I wasn’t fine. I was lonely, and sad, and heartbroken in so many ways that I didn’t know how to put myself back together. I still don’t, but I feel like staying here even for a day or two would give me the courage to start assembling myself back into something whole.
“That’s my problem, not yours,” I argue, but my voice is weak even to my own ears. “You can just delist yourself as my pack.”
“And let you be turned over to the Omega Placement Police? You know the sorts of packs who sign up for wayward Omegas, right?”
I cringe and that says it all. He squeezes my hand again.
“I won’t let that happen. Not a chance.”
“Fine,” says Thane, throwing his hands in the air. “The Omega can stay here for one week. We will all re-evaluate our needs at the end of that time.”
He stands, striding toward the window and gazing out into the red and pink sunset. “Put her up in the blue room. She’ll have privacy and an en suite bathroom there.” He turns, fixing me with a hard stare that makes me bow my head. “You’re on heat suppressants?”
“She is,” Miles confirms.
“Good,” Thane says. “You’ll stay on them while you’re here. Are you familiar with scent blocking washes?”
“Yes,” I all but squeak. “I-I have one back at my apartment.”
“You will shower using the wash at least once per day.”
