Zoinks! Nice Pack, Bro

5. Alrighty Aphrodite

CHAPTER 5

ALRIGHTY APHRODITE

Paxton

L ooking up from the computer that I’m currently budgeting for the next project we have lined up on, I rub between my eyes, tugging off the glasses I had been wearing.

It had been our dream to create our own business and now that it was happening there was so much working going into it. Most of it fell to me because as the pack lead I felt the need to make everything work for us.

The pressure to succeed seems to lay extra heavy on my shoulders.

We were booked solid with this new project and it felt good to be successful as we branched out to bigger deals. Wish we had a little more downtime since we all seemed to have side projects that we were working on but we couldn’t complain about the money that was coming in now.

Still, I wish I could take some of the pressure off of us all so we could focus on the things that matter to us. Our personal projects matter just as much to me because I knew they kept us all sane.

The gym that I was redoing, was already causing issues that I needed to work on. Small things that new businesses had that needed to be ironed out .

Also, we were working so much to make our dreams happen that we weren’t spending as much time as a pack as we should. Quality time, not just working on projects together.

I’d sit down with everyone and come up with a plan to fix this soon so that it wasn’t hanging so heavy on me.

Another problem that needed my attention.

Maybe we could go out for drinks or go to a baseball game this Spring when things settled down a little bit. Just something to get us back together.

Pulling out my phone I check the group chat to see if anything is going on and frown when I see that I missed a bunch of texts.

Ant

*Attached Picture*

Holy Hell.

Sadie is leaning against Ant’s legs, her eyes looking up at him as he stares in the mirror as he snaps a picture. The way she is looking at him makes my heart tighten.

They must have just worked out because there is a flush to her cheeks and a little peak of her skin is showing where her hoodie has risen up.

She looks so comfortable with him and I love how good they look together.

Jace

You didn’t say you were meeting Sadie.

Ant

I called dibs

Cam

You couldn’t have told us you were working out with her???

You’re a dickhead.

Ant

Just wait until you find out what I found out about her …

Jace

What did you do?

Cam

I’m going to kill you.

You shouldn’t have gone out with her without talking to us. It’s bad enough that Jace is meeting her every morning and Cam is texting her past his bedtime.

Cam

I don’t have a bedtime

Jace

Yes, you do.

9PM

You just like to stay up despite it like a bad boy.

Ant

Yeah Cam.

BAD BOY!

I’m pulling up now. We need to have a pack meeting.

Ah damnit.

If Ant is getting serious and calling a pack meeting then something is going on that needs my full attention.

I’m jogging down the stairs, Jace is already at the island in the kitchen since he had been cooking dinner. Cam pops up off the couch, slinking into one of the chairs as I move to sit beside him.

As I go to sit on one of the stools, the door is thrown open and I smell it.

Grilled Peaches, sweet and with a hint of something like basil and maybe a perfume like musk?

Mate .

“She’s our mate?” Jace is holding a knife, staring wide eyed as Ant holds his hoodie in his hands as he walks over to us .

Good thing he had the common sense to take it off or he would have three alphas surrounding him and making us get even closer than I think we were comfortable with as a pack.

He hands it to me first and I tell myself I’m not going to make a fool of myself but as soon as I press the material up to my nose to try and take a whiff of it, I groan out.

Mate. Mate. Mate .

My cock is aching and I feel the need to rut. To claim. To bite. My mate. My Omega.

Mine. Mine. Mine.

Damnit .

My eyes snap open and I hand it to Cameron, since he doesn’t have a knife in his hand right now. And he makes a sound, his head hits the hoodie as he rubs his face in it against the kitchen island.

Her scent is so strong it could make us all go into a rut.

“Give it to Jace to scent her.” I command a bark in my bite that has Cam looking up, giving a soft whine, and then a snarl as he hands it over to Jace.

“She’s an omega.” Cam seems like he’s in shock and I’m afraid he’s going to spiral out.

“She’s our omega.” Ant corrects him.

He’s stronger than I gave him credit for. Most alphas who met their scent match and are surrounded by their scent would have acted foolishly. But he made her feel safe enough that she had scent marked him before leaving him.

She had scent marked him and let him know that she was his omega because she had felt safe enough with him. I want to let Ant know that he’s done a good job with our omega. The feeling of pride for my packmate as well as an overwhelming thankfulness that he was able to handle this so well, runs through me.

There is so much to think about now that we know this.

Sadie knew we were her alphas when she had fallen the other day. Yet hadn’t said a thing to us about it. Poor omega must have been so scared to find out who we were. We had all been teasing her when she was going through this.

Idiots .

We needed to fix this.

We needed to court her.

Were we ready to court her?

Of course we were going to go after our omega. There was no choice but to go after her and see how she fit with our pack. She would be a perfect fit like she was our perfect scent.

But where do we start?

“Cam, you have a date with her set up?” He nods his head, eyes on the hoodie that Jace is sniffing, “And you’re going to get coffee with her tomorrow morning?” Jace nods, handing the hoodie back to Cam, who groans in relief. His head was buried in it again.

Her scent is strong enough that I am getting it even though Cam is rubbing his greedy little face all over it.

Anyone else in my pack I’d tell them to stop but Cam has been through enough and I’m not going to take it away from him when I can feel the calm joy that is coming through the bond as he scents her. Let him have the hoodie for now. We could plan to have her scent fresh in our home soon.

“After the dates, we should tell her we’re going to court her. Formally. Make it official. Maybe come up with a trial contract like they do at omega services so she doesn’t feel like we’re trying to take advantage of everything?” Everyone is looking at me when I speak and I think they’re surprised I’m so all in.

But Sadie is our scent match. Our mate. It’s so rare I’d be a fool to say no to a chance at something like that.

Happiness .

A chance of real happiness and a life that I hadn’t thought possible for our pack before. But it is happening now. It was all happening for us.

“Let's make sure we get our omega.” Ant is reaching for his hoodie but I take it from Cam, who looks like I kicked him as I smell it again bringing it close to my nose.

She smells perfect.

And I can’t wait to scent her in person.

My heart aches in my chest as I give Ant his hoodie back, pausing as I’m about to go upstairs .

“Leave that in the kitchen, Ant. Don’t hog her scent.” Cam makes a sound of joy at this declaration, reaching for the hoodie as a playful scuffle breaks out.

Maybe this was how we bring the pack closer together. Maybe this omega will fix it all for us.

For once it doesn’t feel like a problem that I have to fix but instead like an opportunity for something better.