18. Seraphina
18
SERAPHINA
O nce I hit the legal drinking age, these parties had become more tolerable than they used to be. After a very nice bartender made me a grapefruit-tequila thing, I went in search of Paige. The main courtyard of the OFS was as packed as I’d ever seen it. College students of all genders and designations crowded the patio near the bars and spilled out onto the lawn all the way to the edges of the massive reflecting pool that encompassed the middle of the quad.
Some of the clusters of omega girls looked at me funny as I wandered by. What? Just because I wasn’t dressed as Yoshi or a purple unicorn, you’d think I’d grown a second head.
Giving up on Paige, I stuck myself to a group of girls from my swim team after Amber beckoned me over.
After a few minutes of chitchat, I leaned in to whisper-shout in Amber’s ear. “Hey, so, uh, if you’d rather ditch this whole forced-to-bond-with-a-pack-by-graduation thing and run away to join a pro swim team, I can probably make that happen for you.”
She choked on the swig of hard seltzer she’d just taken. “Really?”
“Really.”
She considered me for a moment. “I appreciate that, and for some reason, I believe you’re completely serious.”
“I would never joke about something like this.”
“Right, well.” She took another sip of her drink. “I’m actually in serious talks with a couple of Alphas I know from swim camps growing up. They’re bringing on their third Alpha soon, and then they’ll be getting on our courting roster. Chris and James have been very supportive of my swimming.”
I let out a deep sigh of relief. “That’s great. I’m super happy for you.”
She nudged me. “You know, there may just be a pack out there that fits you too. Crazier things have happened.”
I shrugged and took a big gulp of my drink. The problem was, I had a growing suspicion she was right.
The thought was terrifying.
After that, we joined the rest of the group, who were chatting about an upcoming swim meet, discussing packs they were talking to, and making idle small talk with some beta students from the city’s large public university.
I even began to— gasp —enjoy myself.
But after the betas wandered off, the Alphas descended.
They had that monied air about them that said they were on the school’s courting roster. This elicited a few eye rolls from those of my teammates who were seniors and already courting a pack, but the younger girls perked right up.
“Hey there,” one of them said, eyeing me up and down like I was a kebab at 3:00 a.m.
He had inoffensive brown hair that was cut and styled to perfection, the solid build of an Alpha who worked out, and his pheromones smelled of pine. He wore the standard sons-of-the-elite casual, which consisted of tailored slacks and a dress shirt with the sleeves rolled to the elbow to make sure the Rolex was on display.
“Hello,” I replied tonelessly, keeping my gaze fixed elsewhere.
“I’m Brock Cates, pack leader of the Cates Pack. That’s Cates of Cates Bank, by the way. I don’t recall ever meeting you at one of these. Are you a freshman?”
I had met this guy before, actually, but I might’ve been wearing a sombrero at the time. “I’m a senior,” I told him. “Name’s Sera.” I snagged a sophomore named Ginny from the cluster and presented her to him. “And this is Ginny. She’s single and ready to mingle.”
Ginny blushed and waved at Brock and the two carbon copies of Brock who had joined him.
Look at me, wingwoman of the year.
Unfortunately, Brock was like a dog with a bone. “And you’re not single and ready to mingle, Sera ? You don’t have a courting pack locked down? Time’s a-ticking if it’s really your senior year.”
“Really? I hadn’t realized. No one’s mentioned the urgency of bonding by graduation to me—not once.”
He stared at me, then exchanged an amused glance with his packmate, who I would call Brock Two. “A funny girl. I like that. You smell fantastic, too, Cherry. Can I call you Cherry?”
“Fuck no.”
“Oh! Brock!”
I groaned as Bianca scurried our way, her bony arm linked with Allison’s. A few junior girls were also in tow, all of them in tiny little dresses despite the slight chill of the air now that the sun had gone down.
“Brock, you do not need to waste your time on Seraphina,” Bianca announced as her group butted into ours. “She’s a hopeless case. Crass, disrespectful, and so disparaging of proper omega behavior. She has no prospects because no self-respecting pack would ever . Her parents have had to pay a pack from up north just to talk to her!”
“Did I miss the memo on tonight’s uniform, Bianca?” I asked. “One stiff breeze and these guys are going to get a glimpse of all the goodies, and I really don’t think they need that sort of extra encouragement.”
She gesticulated wildly in my direction. “See? As your cousin’s pack’s future omega, Brock, I must insist. Let me introduce you to Tamera here?—”
Brock rolled his eyes. “Cherry seems cool to me, Bianca. She wants to get to know us.” He grinned, stepping closer to hover over me in my personal space and take another big sniff. “Don’t you, Cherry?”
This was what I got for walking around looking like a non-insane person while also just being an omega with an omega’s pheromones.
I gave him my cold-killer stare. “Step away from me, Cates, or I’ll carve you like a roast.”
Brock Two snickered. “Kinky.”
Brock One grinned and licked his lips. “Come on, Cherry. Let’s get to know each other.” He grabbed my wrist, and he was not gentle.
Within a fraction of a second, the switchblade I’d tucked into my bra was in my free hand. I pressed the sharp edge right up against the hollow of Brock’s throat.
Bianca gasped, and the Cates Pack’s pheromones instantly turned sharp and threatening. The bite of Alpha aggression made my eyes water and my hand a little shaky, and I put everything I had into looking Brock right in his beady eyes.
“Do not. Fucking. Touch me,” I said slowly, like I was speaking to a toddler.
He bared his teeth, and his piney pheromones went sickly sweet with lust. Ugh, gross .
Bianca was babbling. “This is outrageous. I will tell the dean, and she’ll be expelled, Brock?—”
“Lamb, what’s going on here?”
I sucked in a startled breath. My hand steadied as Loki’s deep timbre rolled over me like I was a kitty being stroked down my back.
He, Hawk, and Blaze appeared next to us, a glorious mirage in this desert of bland assholes.
And they were standing here, on the OFS campus, in the middle of a citywide college party, wearing their fucking motorcycle club outfits.
Faded denim jeans that hugged strong thighs, dusty biker boots, tight black T-shirts, and those ridiculous Texas Dark Knights leather cuts.
The girls around me gasped, and our little corner of the party fell quiet.
Brock’s big hand was still locked in a vice grip around my wrist. My blade was still against his neck.
The guys looked as close to the edge of committing terrible violence as I’d ever seen them, and I’d once killed the subject of their months-long investigation right in front of them.
Shit. Someone was going to die tonight if I didn’t do something.
I pulled the blade from Brock’s neck and sliced the forearm of the hand he gripped me with.
“What the fuck!” he bellowed, releasing me. “You bitch.”
Loki let out a displeased rumble. Vanilla daggers saturated the air.
I shoved Brock aside and ran past him. I jumped into Loki’s arms, then I groped for Blaze and tugged him into us. “Hey, you’re back,” I purred softly to them.
Loki hugged me tightly, and Blaze stuck his face in my neck for a quick inhale. “We are, Princesa. And nice try, but Hawk’s just as dominant as we are, so Chad over there was gonna be toast no matter which combination of us you tried to trap.”
“Damn it,” I said, whirling in Loki’s arms. Hawk had stepped right up to Brock’s face and was paying no mind to the two other Brock clones who were closing in around him. “Hawk! Come back here.”
“In a minute, Little Flame.”
“Amber!” I hissed. “Back the girls up, like, ten feet.”
She stared at me with wide eyes. “Hell no. This is amazing . You’re dating Alphas in a motorcycle club ? Of course you are, Seraphina Bryce, and I cannot believe you didn’t tell us!”
Brock jerked a confused look my way. “Bryce? Fucking seriously?”
“Don’t you look at her,” Hawk growled. “You look at me.”
Brock scoffed. “What are you gonna do, freak? We’re not interested in that bitch anyway. She’s clearly psychotic, and she’s also used-up snatch if she’s slumming it with a bunch of leather-wearing road criminals.”
Now Blaze growled, stiffening. I stroked his hair and cooed sweetly to him. He huffed a laugh and relented.
“Did you touch her without her permission?” Hawk asked Brock, cocking his head like a curious Doberman, his curls bouncing. “Is that why she was about to slit your throat?”
Ginny giggled, and Amber gave me an enthusiastic thumbs-up.
Brock shrugged. “She sure fucking smelled like she wanted it. They all do.”
I groaned into Loki’s chest.
The sound of bones cracking and flesh squelching rattled my body. I turned to watch as Hawk followed the direct hit on Brock’s now-bloody nose with a low blow right into his gut. Brock staggered, swearing up a storm, then Brock Two took a wild swing at Hawk’s head. Hawk dodged easily, using Brock Two’s momentum to grab his arm and throw him over his shoulder. The guy hit the grass with an unimpressive thud. Hawk turned and stomped a heavy boot right onto his groin.
The crowd cringed and hissed in unison.
The last Cates Pack Alpha danced on his toes, eyeing Hawk with equal parts hatred and panic. Hawk watched him, looking bored. The Cates Alpha weighed the odds and opted not to get his ass beat by an angelic biker Alpha in glasses. Instead he bent to pick the Brocks up off the ground before dragging them away.
He shot me the most hateful glare as they passed where I stood with my arms around Loki and Blaze, his jaw ticking with the urge to mouth off one last time.
I shook my head at him. “Don’t be stupid.”
“Whore,” he spat.
I sighed and released Blaze from my clutches. Loki chuckled as Blaze grabbed the guy by his collar, ripped him away from his buddies, and tossed him right into the reflecting pool.
Amber and the swim team girls gave them a round of applause. Hawk returned from his exertions to steal me from Loki. I smashed him into a hug then picked up one of his tattooed hands to examine his knuckles. A little red, might bruise tomorrow, but no major damage.
His fingers were inked with little stars and birds—and I even spotted a sun. I kissed his middle knuckle better. “Did you get any good info from the MC?”
He stared at me for a second, his warm brown eyes soft behind his glasses. He blinked, like he’d just registered I’d asked him a question. “No, we didn’t. It was a waste of time, unfortunately. Onyx has disappeared, and we don’t have the time to chase him down. We have better leads.”
Loki threw an affectionate arm around Hawk’s shoulders and speared me with a look . “We’re not leaving again anytime soon, Lamb. It seems that when we’re gone, you get into trouble.”
“I had that handled, and you know it.”
“Of course you did, but sometimes these piece-of-shit Alphas need a firmer hand to learn their lesson.”
Blaze slinked up behind me and kissed the top of my head. “This party blows, Princesa. We should probably split, anyway, before they call security on us.”
“Yeah, about that,” I said. “Could I maybe lie low at your place for a little bit? You can catch me up on the investigation. My parents are pissed at me and are waiting for the opportune moment to come and tear me a new one, so it’d be rad if I could not be here when they do.”
Loki’s blue eyes sparkled in amusement. “What did you do to upset your parents, Lamb?”
I shrugged. “Oh, you know, the usual. Refusing to walk the path they’ve set out for me. That ever happen to you guys?”
Blaze chuckled. “All the time.”
Hawk released me from his embrace, and Loki snagged my hand. “Lead the way, doll. We’re parked in the visitor lot.”
“Ooh, did you guys ride motorcycles here?”
He laughed. “No, we drove our usual vehicle with the special placard issued by the dean so that we can park on campus.”
“Damn.”
As we wandered through the party, I caught Bianca staring from where she and her posse had relocated next to one of the bars. Was that a little jealousy I detected under that seething anger? She could tell herself and her friends that Alphas like Loki, Hawk, and Blaze were beneath them, but no one with a pulse could deny how fucking sexy they all were and how easily they’d handled a few of our stock courting Alphas.
I gave her a little finger wave and enjoyed, just for a moment, the fact that she thought these boys were mine.
When we reached the guys’ car, I climbed into the back seat with Hawk.
My phone rang.
“Paige?”
“Sera,” she rasped. “I… I think I need help.”