Building a Pack is Ruff, Part 1 (The Pack Pets Omegaverse #2)

27. Steve

Chapter 27

I found him.

Holy Fuck.

I saw him earlier for a moment, but he disappeared again, and I was starting to wonder if it was just my imagination—wishful thinking.

No, he’s really here.

He’s in the room.

His scent, spicy cinnamon and vanilla.

Every molecule of my being screams out that he’s mine.

There does, unfortunately, seem to be a large growling problem. He’s standing right in the way and keeping me from grabbing Teddy and pulling him out to the SUV so I can hold him again, touch him, taste him. Fuck, I’ve missed him so damned much. He doesn’t look exactly the same. I mean, it’s been years, fuck, almost ten years since I saw him.

He’s taller, which is ironic since he’s an omega. His hair got longer and my hands itch wanting to run through it. The piercings are definitely new, and my dick hardens as I briefly wonder what else he might have gotten pierced. He looks softer in some ways, thicker around the waist, but his broad shoulders and muscular arms say that under that omega padding is the alpha I fell in love with.

He stares at me, my longing reflected back in his eyes. At least until Garret decides to do something stupid again, striding across the room and grabbing the beta girl, throwing the two other alphas in the room into chaos. But we don’t need her, we have our omega, he’s right here. Maybe he thinks that Teddy wants her, so we need to bring her along too.

That’s fine, whatever my teddy bear wants or needs, I can deal with that. As long as he’s mine, I can deal with anything. Then Garret throws us for another loop, dropping to his knees in supplication, like he’s found his life’s purpose, his omega. But that can’t be right— we found our omega, and it’s Teddy. Maybe he wants her for Teddy? My love was holding on to her pretty tightly earlier. Maybe he thinks Teddy needs her, but my teddy bear just needs us. Me .

My gaze swings back to Teddy. He’s not looking at me anymore, he’s looking at them. His posture tense, arm extended. Shit, ok, well, we can do it that way. If he thinks he needs the beta girl for now, then we can keep her too. This other alpha might be a problem though. He’s a big fucker.

While he's distracted, I move closer—I need to feel my omega, verify that he’s really here. That this isn't all wishful thinking. The big alpha’s focus is completely on Garret and the beta right now. Inching closer, trying to keep him from noticing me—I reach out, my finger trails down Teddy’s arm. He’s cold under my fingertips from the storm raging outside, and it feels like sparks going off under my skin where we touch.

Teddy’s head snaps back towards me, his eyes meeting mine. He bites his lip, a whimpering sound I’ve never heard from him slips free. My alpha sits up and takes notice and I lock my muscles to keep from reaching for him and wrapping him in my arms.

Unfortunately, the other alpha also noticed, and he’s glaring down at me. He doesn’t try to move me, so he can glare all he wants. He can do whatever he feels he needs to do, as long as I can stay close to Teddy. Hell, if Teddy wants to stay here, I can do that. As long as we’re together, I can do anything he needs me to.

Garret

S he’s here, and she's even more perfect now that I can touch her, scent her. I’m still catching hints of Teddy’s spicy cookie scent, and a cedar that I’m assuming is the big growly one. She has a pack, but she isn’t marked. Fuck, I don’t think I’d care if she was. I just need her. That subtle hint of lilac changes my entire world. It’s something that’s wholly her.

My face is pressed against her stomach before I register the mini-alpha from behind the counter is standing over me with his fucking tire iron. I guess he did warn me, but I could die happy right here, that would be fine as long as she was the last thing I saw. Her hands running over my hair cause my purr to start automatically, and the rest of the world fades away as I breathe her in. Nothing else matters now that I’ve found her.

I don’t know how long they let me stay like that. I know it isn’t long, because the skin on her arms is still covered in goosebumps from the cold when they bring me back to reality. Xan is closer now, the tool hanging loose by his side. “Seriously, Kelly, I need to close up. If you can dislodge this guy and come get his AAA card sorted out, that would help. Fuck, I can give you the keys to lock up if it’ll help, but Jacks and Candice need me home.” He doesn’t seem to care what I do, but when Kelly pulls away, I let her go. Hopefully we can talk properly after all this.

I don’t deserve her.

Why would she bother talking to me?

Climbing to my feet, I watch as she circles behind the counter and starts clacking the keys on the keyboard, her eyes flicking between my driver’s license, membership card, and the monitor. I watch closely as she chews lightly on her bottom lip, and I want to reach out and touch her, pull it free before she hurts herself. I zone out, watching her work. Barely noticing the heated discussion between her alpha, Teddy, and Steve. I should probably be more concerned with that, but I can’t seem to find it in myself to care what they do.

It takes her less than four minutes to finish, but Xan is already pacing back and forth across the room, casting glares at me and Steve alternately. There is a loud decisive key click and the printer starts up. Xan grabs the paper off of it before she has a chance to and shoves the stack and a pen at me—so I have to read over to see where I need to sign. He circles the counter to stand behind her. “Ok, so…what the fuck was I doing wrong, because I should have had this finished and gone home twenty minutes ago?”

Kelly smiles at him gently and runs him through everything she did, he lets out a loud curse at one point. “Ok, so fuck me...I wasn’t checking one box, and it kept kicking it back to…and it wasn’t even his information it was ours. I’m sorry, Kelly Girl. I appreciate it, you know the more stressed you get the harder it is to even do easy shit, yeah?” Kelly gives him a pat on the shoulder, and I manage to bite back my growl at his familiarity and the fact that she touched him.

I tear my eyes away and look down at the paperwork to get it signed, handing it gently back to Kelly, while Xan goes over to the door and pulls it open, turning off the lights. “Kelly, I appreciate your help, let’s just file that when we get back in. Everybody else, move your asses, we’re closed!” He practically shoves Steve and me out the door, handing me my keys back when I cross the threshold. Kelly and her pack follow, and before I can blink, he’s locked the door and set an alarm. He doesn’t even wait for us to leave before he climbs into an extended cab pickup and takes off out of the parking lot.

The big alpha is trying to herd Teddy back to their truck, and while I don’t want Kelly to be out in the cold any longer than she has to, I also don’t want to leave her. My fingers are numb as I reach out, overwhelmed by the need to touch her, pull her against me, keep her warm and safe and protected. But I don’t think she’d welcome it. She doesn’t know anything about me other than that I was an asshole earlier. And I completely deserve her scorn. I just hope I can fix this, make it up to her. I settle with holding out my hand for her to take and walking her safely across the slippery parking lot. Steve is standing in the open door of the truck, looking longingly at Teddy and his alpha…I need to find out what the hell his name is.

I hear Teddy’s voice despite the wind. “Um, where…where are you staying? Kelly said that the only hotel is out by the interstate.” Steve turns to me, but honestly, I haven’t even thought about it. He was in charge of this entire trip, so I just glare back. “Did you book a hotel? Did you even look for hotels, or were you all, ‘Let’s go get Teddy’ and forget about human needs like food and shelter?” Am I being a smartass? Yes, undoubtedly. Do I care at this point? Not at all.

Kelly giggles next to me, and my whole body warms. Snowstorm, what snowstorm? I look up and now their alpha is looking between the four of us…and growling loudly. Kelly squeezes my hand again, and my brain shifts, I need to get her out of the cold. I shove Steve aside and lift her up onto the seat of the truck.

Stroking her hair back, I know I need to close the door, but I don’t want this to be goodbye. It’s too much to hope she shares my thoughts, but she does speak. “Maybe you should call them, make sure they have a room available, before we leave you out here in the cold?” She’s biting her lip again, and I want to kiss it free from her tiny teeth.

Steve curses loudly behind me. “Sorry, the signal out here sucks.” He wanders around the lot, waving his phone in front of his face trying to get reception. He finally stops near the door we just came out of and taps the screen a few times before putting the phone to his ear. He brightens after a few moments then speaks...then scowls. Then scowls harder, hanging up the phone and rubbing his hands down his face as he walks back to where I stand trying to block the wind from getting in the truck with Kelly.

“They don’t have any rooms. The storm…there was a big wreck out on the interstate and several cars have come in since then, deciding not to risk it until things clear up. So they already have a waitlist for any openings that might become available.” He looks from me to Teddy again, and I hear Teddy whine, but it seems far away as I finally give in and gently close the door to keep Kelly warm.

I turn back to him. “Well, bro, looks like you should have booked a spot in advance. Now we get to sleep in the SUV. Dibs on the middle seat!” But he isn’t looking at me, he’s staring into the idling truck, watching as Teddy talks heatedly to the other alpha. I tap Steve on the shoulder. “Hey, did you catch that guy’s name, Teddy’s alpha?” A low snarling growl rips free from him before he jolts and takes a deep breath of the freezing air.

My toes have gone numb.

How did I not notice before?

Shit.

“Sam, his name’s Sam. He’s the head of their pack.”

With my realization that I am slowly standing out here freezing, I grab Steve’s hand and drag him back over to the SUV. We need to make a new plan. Standing out there in the freezing winds and sleet isn’t going to get us anything but hurt. I still have the keys, so I shove him in the passenger seat and then rush myself into the driver’s, starting the ignition and then cranking the heat all the way up. It’ll take a while to get warm now that I’m no longer in Kelly’s orbit. I can feel the frost that has settled on my hair and skin. Neither of us even brought a coat. Fuck, I don’t think I even own a coat. I own a few light jackets because it just doesn’t get cold at home.

Steve’s teeth clack loudly as we both stare at the truck idling several spaces over. There seems to be a heated discussion going on. “So, he’s the head of their pack, how many more are there, did you find out?” Out of the corner of my eye, I see him shake his head, but I can’t take my eyes off Kelly in the truck. I have no doubt that I’ll be sitting here watching her for as long as they’re in the parking lot. It feels like forever that they go back and forth before the alpha, Sam, drops his head to the steering wheel with a look of defeat.

He opens his door and strides across the lot towards us. He’s sure footed despite the ice, and I envy his confidence. However, when he raps hard against my window, I don’t want to roll it down. This guy is big, and I’m worried he’s about to drag me out and beat the shit out of me in some sort of random show of possession. “Bro, look up where the nearest hospital is, you might need to drive,” I whisper to Steve as I step back out of the SUV. We just got this fucking thing fixed, and I am in no mood to be dragged through a window if a beating is coming.

Sam looks at me hard. He also looks really pissed. “So…Teddy wants you to come stay with us until this storm blows over. He can’t stand the idea of you two sleeping in the car in this weather. He says you three grew up together and despite everything, you’re still his friends.” He rubs his hand up and down the back of his head before cursing loudly. “Fuck! Feel free to say no.”

I look over at Steve who looks confusedly back at me. “Sorry, Sam, I’d rather couch surf with strangers than sleep in my car in this weather.” Sam glares at me again for a few seconds before he lets loose a loud sigh.

“Yeah, I was afraid of that. Shit. Ok, just follow Kelly in her little car. Me and Teddy will be right behind you in case you get separated.” He turns abruptly and marches back to the truck, taking Kelly’s hand and leading her to the little rust bucket Xan was working on earlier. He waits while she gets situated and the car starts before stomping back over to the truck and Teddy. Kelly fiddles with something on the dashboard, looking intense before a smile breaks across her face and her hair blows back. At least it seems like the heat works in that little deathtrap.

After watching her put on her seatbelt and make adjustments I glance over to Steve, but he’s still watching the truck intently. Glancing that way, I can see why. Teddy and Sam have their foreheads pressed together, while Sam cards his fingers through Teddy’s hair before pulling him in for a kiss. The tenderness seems a stark contrast for the surly alpha, but I can’t really blame him for his shit attitude after having to invite two strangers into his home. Especially other alphas who seem obsessed with his pack.

Finally, Kelly pulls out of her parking spot. She stops where the road meets the lot and waits for us to pull up behind her. There’s no other traffic and she pulls onto the road slowly, turning back towards the diner and our temporary residence until we get this chaos sorted out.