AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sienna’s laughter filled the space, and I doubted she noticed how she seized our complete attention in that single moment.
“If we’re going to air that kind of thing… I refuse to go to health food restaurants. I’m incapable of hiding when I don’t like something, and if I’m forced to eat only vegetables, you’ll have an angry omega on your hands.”
“Somehow I’m not surprised,” Yuri drawled as he raised an eyebrow. “Am I going to have to beg you to drink smoothies with hidden vegetables?”
“Oh, I can drink them if they don’t taste like grass,” she countered with a smirk. “But if you hide veggies in my food, that’s a deal breaker.”
River groaned. “I’m on Sienna’s side. He’s tried that shit with me for years. Trust me, Si, just drink the smoothie and call it a day. They’re not all bad.”
“Noted,” she said before turning her attention to the stage; Valentina had finally gotten down, letting the next girl start her set. She was openly happy to see her coworker get the admiration of the crowd, whistling and cheering with no reservations. Sienna was just so open and accepting, the kind of person I couldn’t imagine harboring ill will toward anyone. It had my mind drifting to my own family. Imagining my sister doing this and the resulting reactions of my family was almost comical if it wasn’t so sad.
My dad was a macho alpha who thought “true alphas” asserted their dominance and lorded over their family like royalty. He never coveted my omega mother, who was as submissive as he’d forced her to be. She didn’t complain; she simply followed her orders like agood omegashould. He wouldn’t even allow betas to be in the pack despite how desperately they were needed.
I thought that was why Sienna called to me the way she did. She was fiercely independent and had a strong enough personality that I knew she wouldn’t stand for the misogynist bullshit that my family thrived on.
They’d disowned me long ago, which was something I still thought about even though I hated how I was raised. In the end, I had been the outcast, but that wasn’t something I could be ashamed about. I’d helped so many omegas and strived to be a better man than that arrogant alpha ever could be.
I’d always said I wouldn’t be a part of a pack. The idea of letting myself get boxed in like that, forcing me to take on the role of the alpha, was terrifying. But the universe seemed to know better. It must since it had given me, givenus, something so completely different from what I’d lived and had tried to avoid.
“That’s a whole lot of thinking,” River teased as they shifted closer. Despite the light words, their eyebrows were pulled down in concern.
“Sorry.” My voice was quiet, which did nothing to calm their worry, but they didn’t get the chance to push me thanks to Teagan’s ringing phone.
She frowned down at it. “It’s our landlord,” she muttered before answering despite the noise level around her.
“What the heck would he want this late?” Hazel wondered, but all four girls were closing in on Teagan, waiting. Their friend’s face paled, and her mouth fell open.
“Oh my god,” she breathed out. “We’re on our way.”
“What happened?” Eliza asked.
“Fire. Our apartment building is on fire!” she gasped as she snatched her purse and ran out, everyone else on her heels. We simply followed the omegas, ready to help. All thoughts of my family fell away, and a sense of rightness replaced it. This was how alphas responded to their omegas, with concern and the intent to protect, not with anger or resentment.
Everyone piled into the limo and a few SUVs with surprisingly little chaos. Maximo and Yuri both stepped in to make sure everyone was accounted for.
The angry flames were spilling out of open windows and climbing up the outside of the building when we arrived. Firefighters were already working hard to save the structure while police officers corralled the disgruntled residents, trying to keep them away from the building.
“Oh god, everything I own is in there,” Sienna said. Her voice cracked, and the girls gathered around, forming a close knit group.
“I’ll go ask for information,” Teagan said, breaking away to approach a nearby officer.
“This is nuts,” Hazel breathed. “We’ll figure out where you guys can stay. Don’t worry.”
“We can definitely help,” Maximo said.
River and Yuri hissed something to each other.
“As much as I’d like to, I can’t help. My apartment is gone the moment I change jobs,” I admitted. Yuri heard me, his head snapping up, eyes narrowed, before he went back to chatting with his cousin.
“We’ve got room for Sienna if she wants it,” River offered. Sienna sagged in relief at the prospect.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “I’ll figure something out when we see what we can salvage.”
Yuri’s lips formed a thin line, but he didn’t argue since Teagan was running back to our group.
“It started in the lower levels. Something about wiring, or at least that’s their preliminary guess. I didn’t understand everything they said. They’ll be fighting this for hours, and he suggested if we have somewhere to go, we go. We’ll get a call tomorrow with more information,” she said solemnly. “But we’re only on the fifth floor, so I doubt much of our stuff will be salvageable.”
No one said a word, our attention turned back to the flames. The fire was dwindling thanks to the firefighters working their asses off to minimize damage, but I had no doubt that the girls had lost everything.
