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CHAPTER 2
We lived on the tenthfloor of one of the newer high-rises in San Francisco. It wasn’t my favorite place that we’d lived in...but it was big enough for us and was high up enough that security wasn’t a huge issue. That had definitely been a learning curve for us when Adair had served as a congressman. We’d lived in a nice townhouse with pretty good security, but you would be surprised at how many crazies came out of the woodwork when a young, handsome politician was easily accessible. It had only taken one break-in when Adair was in town for us to decide to move.
The apartment had four bedrooms and three bathrooms. Stepping inside, the first thing you were faced with was a long hallway with one of the bedrooms (Marcus’s) and a bathroom on either side of the hall. The hallway opened up into the open concept living room and kitchen. The room reeked of a modern decorating style, all of the appliances in the kitchen were stainless steel, and all of the furniture in the living room was sleek.
Upon entering the room, I was immediately greeted by the sound of someone softly snoring. It was easy enough to see who was making the noise. Marcus was sprawled out on the black leather sectional, still dressed in the suit he had on yesterday when he left for work.
“He pulled another all-nighter.” The voice of our third packmate came from the kitchen as Adair stepped out of the back hallway where the rest of the bedrooms were located. He was half-dressed in a pair of dark blue slacks and a white dress shirt that was unbuttoned and untucked.
I reached forward and brushed Marcus’s hair out of his eyes. The workaholic alpha worried me on the best of days, but lately, he’d been throwing himself into not only his job at the law office that he ran with Aria Simmons but also as the self-proclaimed PR person for Adair’s campaign. Marcus was paranoid that, at any moment, something could happen that would reflect poorly on Adair and wreck his chances of becoming Governor. He was burning the candle at both ends, and I was becoming concerned that he was going to run out of wax soon. We still had a year until election day, and I wasn’t sure if Marcus would make it that long if he kept pushing himself like this.
“We need a night out, Dair,” I said, using my nickname for the other alpha as I left Marcus to sleep on the couch. Adair had the coffee pot in his hand, and I took it away from him before he could ruin the beans that I’d roasted myself. Whenever Marcus and Adair attempted to make coffee, I swear an angel lost its wings. Not only was it weak, but it also tasted like what I was sure licking fresh concrete would taste like.
Adair huffed but began to pull out bowls for cereal instead. “I agree with you, especially since Mortie thinks that things are about to accelerate with the campaign. I don’t know the next time that we’ll get the chance to go out as just the three of us.”
Mortie was Mortimer Williams, Adair’s campaign manager. He was a rickety old alpha who probably should have retired a decade ago. He had also, in his nearly forty-year career, been the campaign manager for ten Governors, two Presidents, and a smattering of Senators and Congressmen, garnering himself the nickname of ‘The Kingmaker’ in the political sphere. He’d taken an interest in Adair when he met him on Capitol Hill and had been the driving force behind Adair leaving Congress to try and run for Governor of California instead.
“Saints & Sinners tonight?” I asked. S&S was our favorite nightclub in the city. It was also the best at keeping their VIP section private from the rest of the club. Even if someone recognized Adair from his many ads on buses, benches, and billboards, the security at the club wouldn’t allow them to approach us.
Adair checked his watch as he chewed on a spoonful of Frosted Flakes. “Sounds good. I’ll be in Sacramento until three-thirty or four...so I guess we can just shoot for eight-ish?”
We finished eating our breakfast together and drinking our coffee which, not to toot my own horn, was absolutely delicious. Afterward, I helped Adair into his blue suit jacket.
“Your tie is crooked,” I commented, trying to straighten the damn thing and getting irritated when it wouldn’t cooperate with me. Truth be told, the three of us were horrible with ties, bow ties, and anything that would be considered formal attire, which was ironic considering just how much we had to dress up for public events. Adair had asked Mortie if he could be the kind of candidate that ‘didn’t wear a tie.’ He had received an emphatic no from the man.
I did my best to straighten it, frowning at it when it looked even more crooked than before I’d messed with it.
“It’s okay,” Adair pressed a feather-light kiss to my lips. “Mina will fix it if I have to go on camera today.”
I frowned at the mention of the beta who handled Adair’s day-to-day appearance. I had only met her a handful of times, but it had been enough to know that I didn’t care for her. She was needlessly possessive, and even if Adair was too easy-going, or Marcus was too busy to see it.Icould see it, and it bothered the shit out of me. Mina had once even smacked my hand away from Adair’s shoulder before he filmed a commercial because she claimed that she didn’t want me to wrinkle his suit. I also had a sneaking suspicion that Mina’s motives were less than savory, so any mention of her tended to get my spine up like I was an angry cat.
I was about to open my mouth to tell Adair to be careful around Mina, but he leaned in close and took one long, curious sniff of my body.
“You smell good,” Adair murmured, his nostrils flaring. “Are you trying a new baked good at the shop?”
I sniffed my shoulder, “...no?”
Adair leaned in closer, inhaling a long drag of my scent like he was taking a puff of a cigarette. “It smells like sugared cherry pie.”
Adair had the best sense of smell out of the three of us, and I realized, with a jolt, that he was probably smelling Madeline’s lingering scent on my hands from when our fingers had brushed when I handed her coffee over to her this morning.
“Huh, must’ve been one of the customers,” I replied.
I don’t know why I didn’t just tell him about Madeline. In my head it was almost like I was imagining that she was a hoard of gold, and I was the dragon that was protecting it. I was stuck between wanting to see my fellow pack members surround her, earning her rare genuine smiles, and wanting to keep her all to myself. It was confusing, and I grimaced at the loss of the chance to tell Adair about the beautiful beta woman who had filled my thoughts and dreams for the past six months.
But I didn’t, instead, I just smiled. “See you tonight?”
“Yep,” Adair snagged his briefcase from the island counter. “Oh, also, it’s up to you to wake up grumpy later. Good luck, and godspeed.”
Looking back at Marcus, who was still sleeping peacefully on the couch, I grimaced. Marcus Whitlock was definitely one of the worst people to wake up from a nap, I was liable to get smacked by the angry Brit if I wasn’t careful. I would probably need to find a broom or other instrument with some kind of reach to poke him with when it came time to finally wake him up.
“Maybe he’ll wake up on his own...?” I asked, somewhat hopefully.
Adair snorted, “doubtful.”
Sigh. I justhadto be the one to suggest a night out.
“Alright, love you,” I grumbled and accepted another light kiss on the lips before watching Adair leave.
I still had a few hours until I needed to check in on the new hire that was starting the second shift at the shop today, so a nap was definitely in the cards for me. I could nap almost anywhere, but my bed was the comfiest spot in the entire house. Most experts would say that sleeping in your bed to take a nap is the worst thing that a person could do, but they also said that taking longer than twenty minutes was also a big no-no. So I guess I’m just 0 for 2 when it comes to napping, a fact that I was very proud of.
Flopping down onto my bed, I brought the tips of my fingers up to my nose and inhaled deeply, searching for the ghost of Madeline’s scent. It was there, lighter than an omega’s scent would be, but just as mouth-watering. I wondered, as I sucked the sweet cherry scent into my nose and mouth, what it would smell like where her scent was the strongest, maybe in the crook of her neck, between her breasts, or her undoubtedly soft thighs. As I drifted off into my nap with my fingers still pressed to my nose, I promised myself that, one day, I was definitely going to find out.
