Zoinks! Nice Pack, Bro

1. Free Fallin’

CHAPTER 1

FREE FALLIN’

Sadie

M y flats smack against the concrete as I step outside of work. I shiver, because of course it’s colder than I expected.

Not bothering a glance towards the stairs that lead out to the parking lot, I rush down them without thinking about anything but getting to break.

I just want to hunker down, in my car, for the next thirty minutes.

I want to take my time and drink my coffee. The coffee that has way too much heavy cream and absolutely is going to give me a tummy ache.

Maybe I’ll even socialize virtually with a few texts. Bitching about the book I’m reading to my best friend is the perfect way to spend a break and will make me feel just human enough.

My heat ended a couple weeks ago.

A heat that I spent locked in my bathroom, losing my mind as I refused to go to Omega Service’s to have someone help me through it.

It’s embarrassing to have to ask someone for help during a heat, especially as an omega of my age.

It feels like I’ve constantly been rejected, never good enough for a pack. Not even good enough for the pack my family had. Not good enough for more than a heat clinic to be a hole for alphas.

It was fine .

All of it fine because my next heat would be in a few months . I wouldn’t have to worry about taking a week off of work as I make a nest in my bathroom, coating my bathtub in slick as I die from heat brain until then.

Fine .

Everything is fine.

I’m back at work after the ordeal with my heat. Maybe I’m wishing I was home and hidden in my bed or at least in my car which is like a mobile nest for me to feel safe in.

After heat hormones are the worst.

Just one minute away from my safe place.

Safe. Nest. Peace.

But that all changes, as my foot wedges in the crater of concrete of the last stair, that has been broken since I’ve started this job.

My ankle turns, my body flies forwards. The only form of self preservation I have is to tighten the hold on my coffee as I tense my body ready for impact on the ground.

I will protect this coffee at all costs.

I’m already thinking about how to make my escape from the embarrassment of my impending fall, when an arm wraps around my bicep and my waist, turning and pulling me down the last step to the safety of the sidewalk.

Camping .

Pine trees and smoke. Maybe a hint of burnt marshmallows in there.

Oh no.

Alpha .

My heart is beating, cheeks burning red as the realization I didn’t fall but, someone saw my fight with gravity, washes over me. And I look up as the hand slides from my waist and loosens so its laying on my bicep instead of squeezing it.

Jesus Christ.

What in the Howlquin romance novel have I gotten myself into?

The alpha who saved me from knee scrapes and hurt pride is smiling down at me. Down because he’s easily 6’5, which I didn’t think existed outside of the dirty pack romance books I read .

I’d like to say a silent thank you to the extra strength scent blockers my job provided to all workers.

Government job for the win.

He’s softly tanned, light brown hair and that golden retriever good looking that I would put under either a football player sports romance or some form of country boy. His brown hair curls slightly at the end and his eyes crinkle as he checks me over with laugh lines you get from age.

He has to be older than me. Or send me to straight to jail.

He has three friends, who are surrounding me like my own personal bodyguards. Which, I might need them to save me from myself. All of them tall and built like fictional men come to real life and it instantly puts me at unease.

Are they a pack?

Chocolate Cherries and Coffee. Oranges and Rosemary. Cardamom and Vetiver.

Oh .

Oh Shit.

Bad.

Not good.

Need to escape.

Scent matches .

Clearly I did fall, smacked my head and now am living in some book fantasy as I’m transported to Mass General in a coma for the second time in my life.

Also, someone get me a mop because I can feel the slick gathered in my underwear. Underwear that does not have built in slick protection so they’re about to be very uncomfortable against my skin. Not a great day to be me.

The man with his hand still touching me squeezes my bicep, which earns him a glare as smirks at drawing me out of my fantasy of running away.

“You good, little darlin’?” The slight drawl is soft, southern and sweet.

I want to bury my nose in his neck and breathe in the outdoors that hangs heavy on his skin.

It’s so comforting and makes me feel nostalgic. Not that I have great memories but he makes me feel safe like I could have had great memories from him.

Oh this is so bad.

His drawl has no business around me and my inherited bad mood. It runs in my blood, like any proud New Englander. My bad mood is worse because I’ve always grown up in places where I can see the shadows of Boston from my window.

So instead of saying ‘ yes ’ or ‘ thank you ’ to this undeniably hot stranger. The one who is touching the part of my body that is highlighted as one of my biggest insecurities, in my mind. I rip my arm from his touch, eyes narrowing like I’ve been sitting in traffic for an hour and my road rage has settled in.

All my escape ideas are running wild now.

“ ZOINKS ! Nice Save, bro.” I roll my eyes at him like I’m annoyed and walk away like he didn’t just save me.

Smooth .

So frickin’ smooth.

It’s only made worse by the three guys with him who break out in roaring laughter. I make sure not to turn back and look at them because my cheeks are burning with embarrassment and I can’t help myself.

Why am I like this?

“Could have just said thank you, darlin’.” he calls out to me and before I know what I’m doing my right hand that is holding my phone shoots up over my shoulder, middle finger waving back and forth in a way that I shouldn’t do outside of my job.

The anxiety that I feel about this will be directed to my therapist in a couple days where I can make up for this moment with intensive therapy.

“What a brat.” one of the guys says as I turn the corner out of sight and rush into my car where I immediately hunker down and text all my friends about how I have surely just embarrassed myself in a way that even my therapist won’t be able to help me recover from.

I can’t tell them I just literally fell into the arms of my scent match.

Unlike other omegas, the idea of having an alpha pack makes me want to vomit. Growing up with my three dads and a lunatic mother left a bad taste for pack.

Pack was dangerous.

I spend a half hour scrolling through social media posts, about people I don’t care about, and reading pages of a book I spend more time dissecting than any book I read in college.

My poor friend is adding and taking it off her Tbr as my mood shifts.

Zoinks ?

What in the Scooby Doo hell was I even thinking?

YIKES , that makes sense.

That’s a word I use a lot in my vocabulary.

I mean, for Christ sakes, they even have the teeth grinding emoji to explain yikes. Where the actual frick did I pull zoinks from?

A quick panic and a few self deprecating texts to my friends about zoinksgate I’m - CAREFULLY - walking back up the stairs and sliding into the office.

Not gonna think about the fact I met my frickin’ scent matches ever again.

It happened.

It’s done.

I’m just going to pretend this never happened and get along with my work day.

My purse is placed on the chair and I’m ready to sit down as the other girl I work with, a married beta, heads to break, giving me a smirk.

I want to sit down, maybe place my fingers in my mouth to soothe myself. But as any idea of calming down happens it vanishes as the bell on the counter is pressed three times too many making my head snap up at the ting ting ting of it.

There is no reason to hit a bell more than once. There is no need to hit the bell when you can clearly see me standing there where I can see you come in.

But people can be assholes.

“ Zoinks , that was loud.” My face floods with heat, the burn of embarrassment as I see all four guys crowded around the counter, eyes on me .

Welp , that tummy ache from my coffee has turned to an embarrassment tummy ache.

The one who rang the bell is hunched over, head in his hands as he smiles at me.

Chocolate cherries and coffee flood my nose as he leans closer and I have to bite back a whine. If my omega instincts could just stop that would be really cool. Right now my neck is trying to not shift to show my pulsing point for him to bite and it’s a real battle.

Of course he has to be good looking too.

He has dark hair slicked back, an arm of tattoos, that if I knew him I would undoubtedly rag on him about. His brown eyes twinkle in mischief but I am not going to ever let a man get the best of me. Once they know that you’re flustered they can smell weakness.

If those tattooed fingers could force their way into my mouth and make me gag on them that would be really cool.

Nope.

No .

None of that.

My heat is over. I’m on blockers and suppressants. Everything should not be this heightened. Scent matches or not I am in control here.

“Hello.” My customer service smile is slapped on my face as I walk over, eyes shifting between them, willing them to suddenly get ugly so I could stop staring at them, “How can I help you today?”

I won’t lose my job today over alpha idiots.

I won’t do that.

So I pretend like I’ve never seen them before in my life. I pretend like their scent isn’t so good that I had to peel my panties off in my car and shimmy new ones on. I pretend like this is all just another day.

“Well, darlin’, I think a thank you and an apology are due.” The man who saved me from falling on my face earlier steps forward, more stern now as he looks down at me. His brown eyes become more golden as he waits. His scent holds a bit more of that campfire and toasted marshmallow smell.

I wonder if his come tastes as sweet as his annoyance.

Nope .

Back to being aloof and not caring about these idiots.

I tilt my head, my middle finger tapping against my lip as if I’m thinking. I’m not flashing anything but the way his eyes narrow at me he knows exactly what I’m playing at.

“Looks like she’s still a brat, Jace.” A man with a mustache and sunglasses like he is in Top Gun comments, crossing his arms as he looks down at me.

When he steps closer I get the oranges and rosemary, mixed with almost something sweet like lemonade and maybe shortcake. He has a complex smell and I want to rub my nose in the crock of his neck to smell him.

But since I’m a big girl I’m not going to be attacking alphas and trying to get their scent all over me.

Who needs an alpha? They’re just good for knots and those hot deep growls. Both of these things can be found with toys.

As an omega who has spent every heat alone. I’m a pro at knowing what toys are the best out there. A master of knots and growls, in the fake form. If it was made, I'd probably try it.

The citrus smelling alpha cocks an eyebrow at me and looks annoyed, which makes me realize I probably just daydreamed and completely forgot what I was doing.

Oops .

Honestly, who pissed in these dudes Wheaties this morning?

“Again, I ask. How can I help you?” The fourth guy pushes forward, shouldering them out of the way as he slides the business certificate towards me.

Well, frick.

His scent slaps me in the face and I resist the urge to crawl through the window to him. His cardamom and vetiver is warm and subtle, a tinge of freshly brewed tea makes me feel comforted and safe.

There isn’t a doubt in my mind that he is the pack leader.

He’s quiet, doesn’t talk as I turn my profile so I can look the address up and stop staring at this pack of my scent matched alphas.

Today isn’t happening and I’m playing dumb.

My fingers type, feeling their eyes on me as I make sure they don’t owe anything before signing the permits, writing my name and stamping them so they can go away. Pushing them back over as the fourth guy grabs them, nodding his head as he double checks everything like I didn’t do my job correctly.

He’s just as tall as the first guy but more broad. He looks a bit older than his friends and more sullen. The ringleader of the circus clowns he’s with.

“You want to go downstairs to inspectional services for the next signature and then to the City Clerk's office to file and pay. Have a great day.” I want to flip them off again but I don’t because I need to eat and pay rent. Still I need to make an escape, turning to walk back to my desk without another incident with the idiots.

“Have a good day, brat .”

“See you soon, darlin ’.”

“Bye, bro .”

“We’ll be back for you, Sadie .”

The use of my first name has my back straightening as I sit down, feeling my arms cross as the men all flash each other excited glances for getting under my skin.

Dickheads.

“One foot stomp, brat. Just to show off what a-”

Someone clears their throat and they all see someone behind them in line. I’m all customer service as I walk back up to the counter, looking at the boys one last time.

It feels so good to be able to tell them to bug off nicely.

“If you can step aside so I can help the next person, please.” All smiles and fake charm but of course the four assholes of my apocalypse all look at me in a mock version of shock.

Gonna need the earth to swallow me up now.

“Look at what a good girl you can be with your sweet manners, princess .” Fourth guy speaks again before moving his head and they all leave the small area and I’m faking a smile so hard that I’m going to break a freakin’ tooth.

Three more hours and I can go home.

“Wait, you told this man ZOINKS?” I stir the eggs I’m scrambling and gulp the wine that I definitely need after what can only be described as a manic Monday.

Glaring at the phone instead of answering, my best friend kicks her feet up, laughing at my expense as I roll my eyes and turn the heat off the stove.

I live alone in my shoebox apartment that isn’t legal and I still pay too much money for so grabbing a fork I start eating my scrambled eggs right from the pan as I lean against the counter waiting for my best friend to say something at my expense.

It’s not real friendship if they don’t completely destroy you for being unhinged and not knowing how to be a person at least once a day.

“And there were four hot men?”

“ Alphas . They were definitely all Alphas.” I frown as I push my egg around, “One of them called me a brat.” I pause as Clarissa lets out another pleased howl at my expanse, holding her stomach now as she cackles on her couch.

I need new friends.

Clarissa is a beta and as much as she will say alphas are fine she cares more about her hot beta guitarist boyfriend than any alphas.

I envy her and her ability not to crave a knot. Must be really nice.

“I’m going to hang up on you, bitch.” I mutter aggressively, stabbing the egg and taking a bite of it.

I added too much harissa and I’m probably going to have heartburn and not sleep tonight.

Cool, cool, cool.

“Wait.”

“I’m on the edge of my frickin’ seat.” Sarcasm drips from my words as I sneer at my eggs. I should have made a salad or something I could stab to feel better.

Violent stabbing would make me feel better.

“This is your chance.” My eyes line up as she gets close to the camera like the closer she gets to it the better I will be able to hear her, “You’re on adry spell. Now you can have a pack romance just like the books.” I blink waiting for the punchline but there is none .

For fricksake .

“ Goodnight .”

“Wait, you can-”

I hang up and throw out my eggs, dumping the pan in my sink as I make my way to bed. I’m dropping inside it as I stare up at the ceiling like this is going to somehow make me feel better.

I will probably never see these guys again in my life. And honestly, that’s fine with me.

I think?

Scent matches are too much. People always talk them up and I’ll probably crave the scents for the rest of my life but what’s the big deal?

I’m perfectly fine on my own.

But at the same time all I can think about is how I was around four alphas I didn't know and I didn't cry. I didn’t feel scared. I didn’t feel out of control. And it’s been a long time since someone touched me and I didn’t need a day to recover.

Chance at having a pack?

What a joke.

I couldn’t even handle the idea of being with one man. What would I do with four alphas?

And yet all I can think about is four sets of eyes on me as I start to drift off to sleep for the night.

Brat . Bro . Darlin ’. Princess .