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Through her continued giggles, she finally asks the question I’m sure we’re all wondering. “What’s with the random nicknames, Kas?”
He actually looks kind of sheepish when he answers. “Well… all the other guys have cute nicknames for you, and that’s awesome, but I love seeing you laugh. And you laugh every time I use some weird, random nickname on you. So, I’m gonna keep it up until something sticks.” This former Olympian, six-foot four Alpha, is blushing and nervous in the face of this tiny redhead who’s a good foot shorter than him and a hundred pounds soaking wet.
Blake looks positively giddy. “That might be the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.” She pops up onto her feet on the couch, putting her just high enough that she can stand on her toes and kiss his cheek. “Thanks, giant egg roll.” She winks, turning toward the sliding door that leads to the pool as Kas barks out a laugh and the other guys chuckle. Turning back to me, she raises a single eyebrow. “You coming or what?”
And goddamnif that sass doesn’t make me want her even more.
I don’t want to piss her off by smirking, so I just nod my head and follow her out to the swing. I sit down first, and she sits down a good foot away from me, curled up as tight as she possibly can be in the corner, with only her face peeking out of the blanket. It reminds me so much of that first night so many years ago that it almost makes me cry.
Sucking in a few deep, steadying breaths, I begin to explain everything starting from that night. How I went to meet the guys, but the police picked us up and they kept me out of the home. How the Beaumonts asked if they could adopt me and how they had lined up some friends to foster and eventually adopt Blake so we wouldn’t be separated. When I get to that part, she cries. Hesitantly, I scoot a little closer and link my pinkie with hers. She doesn’t look thrilled, but she also doesn’t pull away, so I’ll take the win.
I pick back up with the story starting with the next morning when we went to the house. How Dianne told us she had followed me out the night before and was now missing, and her eyes go wide. A gasp gets caught in her throat and she chokes,looking at me with understanding dawning on her features. She knocks my pinky away and twines our hands together, tears rapidly falling down her cheeks.
“Hades, that next morning when I woke up to find you gone, Phil told me you had been adopted and chose not to come back to the house because you didn’t want to see me again. Dianne had kicked him out, and he took me. I was chained in an abandoned warehouse for three weeks before he talked her into letting him live in the cottage out back. He kept me locked in the basement there until I escaped, and the twins found me,” she sobs out.
I’m. Fucking. Wrecked.
“You were here the entire time?” I whisper, tears forming in my own eyes.
She gives me a tiny nod. “When you didn’t come back for me, I assumed Phil was telling the truth, and I just… gave up. I followed his rules, accepted his punishments, and stayed silent in that basement until I turned eighteen and knew he couldn’t legally get me back. I wassoangry with you for leaving me, but memories of our year together are what kept me sane. Some nights when Phil was passed out drunk, I could sneak onto the roof of the cottage and lay there to look up at the stars and wonder if you ever did the same. If you ever thought of me at all…”
Tears are dripping down my face and I make no move to wipe them away,needingher to see how sick I feel. That I didn’t know. I didn’t know that she was rightfuckinghere the whole damned time. I grab her and pull her onto my lap, desperately needing the contact. She stiffens up momentarily, but she must need comfort as much as I do because she relaxes quickly and tucks her face into my neck as I keep explaining.
“Blake… Shortcake. I didn’t know. If I had had any idea you were still here, the guys and I would have doneanythingto get you out of that house. We spent the last seven years searching all over the world for you. Rook was already eighteen and had access to his trust when the Beaumonts adopted me, and he helped me co-found our company so we would have better resources to find you. I know he isolated you for a long time, but have you heard of the Omega Haven Project?”
* * *
Blake
My mouth parts in shock. “Youfoundedthe OHP? I’ve seen your company on the news so many times breaking up Omega trafficking rings.”
He nods, pulling me tighter into his chest. “Me and my pack. Shortcake, we founded the OHP to findyou.I will thank every god there is that we’ve been able to help find and rescue Omegas all over the world, but I will always be more grateful that it brought us back to you. I will never forgive myself for not knowing you were under my nose the whole fucking time. We’ve been back to Asheville no less than a dozen times since you went missing, and if I had known…”
I reach a hand up, just barely covering his mouth with my hand. “D… you couldn’t have known. The basement was completely soundproofed. There were industrial strength scent blockers on all the doors and windows, and he only fed me once every few days, so I would be too weak to fight back or try to run away. You aren’t responsible for the actions of that monster. I’m not going to lie. It might take some time to let go of almost a decade’s worth of anger and resentment, but knowing the truth helps take away the worst of the sting.”
Knowing what I do now, I can feel my anger receding quickly, and I drop my hand as I sink further into him. I don’t know how long it will take to gain back that trust, even if it was never really broken in the first place, but I’m willing to try. He pulls my face into his neck as he runs his fingers through my hair, and I just breathe him in. His rich caramel apple scent in my nose and lungs makes me feel like I’ve been slowly drowning and finally broke the surface to breathe. I suck in deep gulps of air, wanting to sear his scent into my nose permanently, so I never have to be without it again.
Burying his nose in my hair as a deep purr starts up in his chest, he whispers, “I missed you so fucking much, Shortcake. I don’t know if you’re ready for this yet or if you ever will be with me, but now that I have you back, I need you to know that this pack wants you. We want you to be our Omega. I’m sure you’re not ready for any kind of bond or lifelong commitment. So instead, please consider this my pack’s formal request to court you, Blake Wilder Connolly. Let us prove to you, letmeprove to you, that we can be the men you deserve.”
I’m stunned… but then again, am I really? From the moment I woke up in this strange house with these strange men, I’ve felt at home. The only time I ever felt truly at peace was when I was with Hades or surrounded by his scent, and now I’ve felt that with every single member of this pack. Even Achilles, which from what I understand, isn’t common to feel with Betas. With a sudden moment of shocking clarity, I turn my face to his.
“D… are we scent matched?” I ask him quietly.
He rewards my question with a blinding smile and a burst of deep caramel in his scent as he nods frantically. Then shocks the heck out of me when he leans forward and kisses me on the lips hard, just once. And it’s over too quickly for me to even process that it happened.
I bring my fingers to my lips, trying to wrap my head around the fact that Hades, the boy I loved so much as a child, just gave me my first kiss. I don’t even think he realizes it.
“God, Blake. I’ve suspected it for so long, since after you were taken, really. I took your stuffed animal with me when I moved to Lockwood with the guys because it was the only thing I could find that smelled like you. And when that finally faded, I literally bought in bulk strawberry shortcake scented candles. When the guys and I bought our house a few years ago, I put one of those candles in every room of the house, so I always felt like you were with me. I would even leave them burning while I slept. The guys were so worried I was going to burn down the house they found me a shortcake scented pillow shaped like a strawberry.”
Kiss forgotten for now, I gasp, laughing. “Stop it. No, they did not.” That has to be the cutest, saddest thing I’ve ever heard.
He nods, clearly happy he could get a laugh out of me after such a heavy conversation. “They did. And I take that fucking thingeverywhere.In fact, hold on. I’ll be right back.”
He sets me gently on the swing and sprints into the house, flipping off the guys who are all crowded onto one couch, pretending not to listen. I give them a small finger wave and a wink, causing several of them to chuckle as Kas rolls his eyes playfully back at me. Less than a minute later, Hades comes sprinting back out of the house. He dives onto the swing, causing it to swing violently as I squeal until I’m thrown sideways back into his lap.
When I finally right myself, the overgrown child is giving me a cheeky grin and holding up a giant stuffed strawberry with eyes and a mini angel food cake hat. I gasp in delight when I notice it even has green eyes like mine and suspicious looking brown dots that I think are meant to be freckles. Leaning in to get a closer look, I snort before laughing loudly.
“Did you... really... draw freckles... on the strawberry’s eyes… with... a brown sharpie?” I wheeze out between bouts of laughter.
