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My eyes are wide as saucers at this point as he leads me to the elevators and scans my pass against it, pressing the highest button. Turning to me, he smirks and gently chucks my chin, so I snap out of my shock.
“What do you mean, I’m anowner?” I hiss. “I’ve known you guys a week, and I’ve never been a part of the OHP. How can I be an owner?”
He still has that infuriating smirk on his face. “You’re cute when you’re angry. Like a feisty little kitten.” He chuckles. My brows furrow and I scowl at him as he tosses an arm over my shoulder. “You’re our Omega, B. Everything we have is yours now. Do you want to work at OHP with us?”
My scowl lessens as I think it over. “Yeah. I think I would really like that. Especially if I can work with the kids you rescue in some capacity. I would love to take some youth psychology courses somewhere too, so I can really help them,” I say softly.
I’m overwhelmed at the opportunities I might never have gotten if I hadn’t met these men, and I can feel myself getting anxious. Just as my breathing speeds up, Kas stops the elevator and picks me up, so my legs wrap around his waist. He tucks my face into his neck and purrs loudly as hugs me tight. One hand burrowing in to play with my hair.
Kissing the top of my head, he speaks into my hair. “Princess, I can feel you spiraling. You don’t have to decide everything right now, or even in the next year, okay? We just found you, Blake. Let’s enjoy some time as a newly bonded pack and learn everything we can about each other. Before the pressure of things like school, work, travel and eventually fostering keeps us apart more than an hour a day.”
My chest finally expands with a full breath as his scent relaxes me, and I smile shyly up at him. “Thank you, Alpha.”
Growling, he pushes the button to start the elevator again. Then he kisses me on the nose before licking over his bond mark, pulling a moan from me as our scents thicken in the small space. “You’re welcome, Princess. I love you.”
Shivering, I say, “I love you too.”
The doors finally open to the rest of our pack, looking anxious. Hades rushes me, pulling me from Kas and wrapping me up in a tight hug. “Thank God you’re finally here. Are you okay?”
Confused, I gently push on his chest a bit so I can glance around. Rook is rolling his eyes, and Achilles is standing close to the elevator, smirking as his chest rises on a deep inhale.
“Umm... I’m fine? I was with Kas,” I say slowly. “Areyouokay?”
His eyes are wide and wild as he takes in deep lungfuls of my scent, his heart racing beneath my palm where it rests on his chest. “I… no. Not really. We have some news for you,” he says softly.
It’s my turn to panic now, a whine slipping out as I turn to look at my bonded Alphas. They moved to stand together and have been talking quietly since Hades grabbed me. When my panic spikes in the bond, their gazes dart to mine and they rush over to pull me between them. They purr at the same time, soothing me instantly.
Rook turns to look at Hades. "You couldn’t have waited a minute to bring it up?” he hisses quietly. “They just got here, and Blake needs to eat,” he says, more softly this time.
Hades looks like a lost puppy as his gaze moves between the three of us, and he clears his throat before reaching a hand out for me. I take it, letting him pull me into a hug. “I’m so sorry, Shortcake,” he whispers. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I promise it’s good news, but Rook is right. Let’s go get some food and meet a few people and then we’ll talk, okay?”
I nod slightly, even though the thought of eating right now kind of turns my stomach. Suddenly I’m scooped up and thrown over a slender shoulder, and I let out a small shriek.
Achilles chuckles as he lightly taps my butt. “Come on, mon cœur. Let’s go get some pizza. Our team ordered it in for lunch and it should be here by now. Plus, you can meet Amelia!”
* * *
One very delicious slice of pizza and several of Amelia’s homemade cookies later, I have a new friend. Amelia is an incredibly sweet female Alpha who’s in her thirties and smells like the ocean. I took to her the second the guys introduced us and her bonded Omega Jane, and I have already planned dinner the next time we’re in town.
We’re all walking to a conference center when Kai gently grabs my elbow and holds me back as the others head into the room ahead of us. Hades glances back with a sad look on his face and my anxiety spikes again when I remember they have something to tell me.
“Don’t look so nervous, Sugar. I promise everything is okay,” he says.
My eyes are tearing up from nerves. “Kai, what’s going on? Why does D look so sad? You guys are freaking me out and I don’t like this feeling,” I whisper, trying my best to hold back nervous tears. As long as I can remember, I’ve been an anxious crier. When I lived with Phil, I had to hold it in until he was asleep. On nights I knew he was going to come home drunk, I would cry for hours beforehand because I needed a way to release the building anxiety.
My happy Alpha’s eyes widen when he sees my tears, and he cups my cheeks in his warm hands.
“No no no no none of that, Darlin’. Please don’t cry,” he whispers in his smooth southern accent as he peppers my face with kisses. I let out a small giggle at that, my anxiety lessening for a moment. Leaving one last sweet kiss on my nose, he backs up the barest inch to look in my eyes. “What do you remember from your childhood, Blake? Before you were in foster care, I mean,” he asks quietly.
My brows furrow, and I try to think of what I actually remember. “Umm… honestly? Not much. My parents were pretty awful, but they homeschooled me, so nobody ever knew. Any time we’d go in public, I had to wear long shirts and pants and sunglasses to hide the bruises from their ‘punishments’, even in the middle of summer.”
Kairo lets out the start of a vicious growl before clearing his throat. “Sorry,” he says. “I hate you were treated like that, Sugar. And knowing you were just a little girl makes me sick.” Taking a deep breath, he pulls me gently into his chest. “If you don’t mind me asking, how did you end up in foster care? Did somebody see something?”
I’m shaking my head before he even finishes his question. “No, there was a fire at the house…” I say slowly, trying to remember details of a day I tried hard to forget, but had vague nightmares about for years. “I was locked in my room because I had gotten sassy with my mom a couple of days before about school.”
A chorus of growls sound out from behind me. Whipping my head around, I see the rest of my pack standing there, clearly having heard every word. My cheeks burn with embarrassment and Hades steps up to hug me from behind.
“Shortcake, please don’t feel embarrassed. We want to know everything about you, and you know we’ll never judge you. Your story can’t be any worse than mine,” he finishes quietly. And he’s right. He was mistreated by the only parent he ever knew and then abandoned. At least mine didn’t abandon me on purpose.
