53. Olive
53
OLIVE
I held my boobs as I sprinted to the marina, my hood flying off with the wind. My leggings were quickly soaked and muddy, but I didn’t care. All that mattered was getting to my guys.
I blinked the rain out of my eyes as I made my way down the final hill. My heart pounded against my ribs when I spotted the Ocean Rescue boat. Three men were preparing it for launch.
I waved at them and shouted, “Hey! Wait for me!”
Relief washed through me as one of them turned around. My boots thumped loudly against the wooden dock, and I was gasping by the time I came to a stop. I leaned against the boat as I tried to catch my breath.
“I’m coming with you,” I wheezed.
“Umm… who are you?” a tall, brown-haired beta standing on the dock asked. The two other men—also betas—were already in the boat.
“Lighthouse keeper,” I said, clutching my chest. “I’m authorized.” I pulled a card out of my pocket and flashed it at them.
“Is that a library card?” he asked.
“That would be weird,” I said as I climbed into the boat. “I’m Olive. ”
“I’m confused. But also, I’m Ezra,” he said as he followed me onto the boat.
“I’m Michael.” I shook the hand of a blond beta with a mustache.
The third beta introduced himself as Leo.
“You’re rescuing the three alphas on My Sweet Olive , right?” I asked.
“That’s right, Ms. Lighthouse Keeper Librarian. Do you know anything about boats?” Ezra asked.
“Grew up lobstering and I’m trained in open water rescue. Those three guys also happen to be mine, so let’s step on it.”
“Oh shit,” Leo said, wiping water out of his face. “This just got interesting. I love me some drama.”
“I would like our rescue to be drama-free, thank you,” Ezra said dryly. “Any chance I can convince you to wait for us here?”
I shook my head.
He sighed deeply. “I figured.” Then he mumbled something about alphas and omegas under his breath before continuing. “I’m the captain. You will listen to me and not get in our way.”
He gestured for me to take a seat under the hardtop as the three of them worked to get us out on the choppy waves. I held on tight as we were jostled side to side. For all my time on boats growing up, it had been rare for us to get caught in bad weather. At least I didn’t get seasick.
I unzipped the top part of my jacket. My skin felt like it was on fire, but I ignored what that meant because my alphas were out here in this, crashed against the rocks. Now that I was forced to stop and think, panic overwhelmed me as I was brought back to that horrible day when I lost my parents. My mom hadn’t been feeling well. Dad had tried to convince her to stay home, but she’d insisted she was fine. We were out on the boat when her symptoms worsened. The race to get back to land had been the most agonizing minutes of my life.
By the time we docked and the medics got to her, she was unconscious. My dad and I rode in the ambulance to the hospital, but she was already gone when we got there. They said she’d had a myocardial infarction… a widowmaker.
My dad kept repeating, “But I’m not a widow.”
They’d brought us to a small room where we waited for someone to tell us what our next steps were. My dad was having trouble breathing, and then he clutched his chest. I panicked and ran out into the hallway, screaming that my dad was having a heart attack.
I’d watched as a medical team burst into the room. I refused to leave my dad’s side as they got him on a gurney. But it turned out it wasn’t a heart attack. It was a thoracic aortic aneurysm.
Hours later, I was back in the same fucking room. Except this time, I was alone.
Salty spray from the sea hit my face. I struggled to breathe through the panic. I couldn’t lose anyone else. I refused. We would get to them in time.
Once we got out of the harbor, Leo sat down in the seat beside me and shook the water out of his hair. “How did your alphas get themselves into this pickle?”
That was the million-dollar question, but I had a pretty good guess. “I think they’re trying to make a grand romantic gesture. The boat they crashed belonged to my parents.”
“Weird way to make a gesture, but what do I know?” Leo shrugged. His eyes narrowed as he looked me over. “Are you okay? Because I don’t have the greatest sense of smell, but I would swear that the ocean has turned into a pumpkin spice latte.”
My cheeks burned even more. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Yes, absolutely nothing happening here is worrisome,” Michael said as he squeezed in beside us.
I clenched my hands. “Have you gotten any more updates? Any injuries reported?”
“No injuries reported,” he said, his voice raised in an almost-shout to be heard over the engine and the storm. “Seems they got too close to the coast and ran aground on some rocks. This storm wasn’t supposed to hit this hard so early in the day, so I’m sure it took them by surprise.”
It wasn’t long before Ezra let out a shout. My eyes followed where he was pointing, and there she was— My Sweet Olive . I was four years old when my dad brought me down to the marina to show me his new boat. I’d just learned to read my name and had jumped up and down when I recognized it written on the side. Seeing it now, battered against the coast, sent a pang through my heart, but it was nothing compared to how I felt seeing my alphas wave at us. Hot tears streamed down my cheeks, mixing with the rain.
Years ago, I’d been devastated to let this boat go. It felt like my parents were dying all over again. But as I’d waded through my grief, I’d come to understand that my parents were present for me in my memories.
The boat was just a boat, but the men on it? They were my home.
Ezra prepared the dinghy to go get them, staunchly refusing to let me join. So my fingers clenched the metal guard rail as I watched the small boat brave the waves until it got to the lobster boat. I clenched my teeth as my alphas piled in, their massive bodies looking way too big for the dinghy. But then they were on their way back. The tension in my chest eased, and so did the storm—the waves growing quiet as my guys crossed them until they were finally back safe with me.
Easton was the first one off the dinghy. He tripped and almost fell, but managed to right himself in time to crash into me. His arms pulled me into a tight hug, enveloping me in his chocolate hazelnut scent. I breathed him in as I clutched at his soaked clothes.
More arms surrounded me as Lars and Finn joined our group hug.
They’re here. They’re safe.
They’re here. They’re safe.
I grew dizzy with relief as I slumped against them.
“Surprise! We got you a boat,” Easton said, his voice muffled in my drenched hair.
My laugh was watery as our hug pile broke apart, my alphas still keeping their hands on me.
“You’re idiots,” I choked out.
Finn turned me to face him, a stern expression on his face. “You shouldn’t be here,” he growled, leaning down so we were eye-to-eye. “What were you thinking, putting yourself in danger like this?”
I sputtered, momentarily at a loss for words. “What was I thinking? What were you thinking? I’m not the one who needed to be rescued!”
“She’s got a point,” Leo said.
“That she does,” Lars responded with a smile. “Our omega isn’t one to sit by quietly.” He tried to pull me into a hug, but then I remembered I was angry with him. The rage and jealousy and devastation I’d felt in the coffee shop all flooded back to me and I moved back, giving Lars my shoulder.
A flash of hurt crossed his face, and I almost crumbled. Luckily, my omega was better at holding on to grudges.
“Sweetheart? What’s wrong?”
“Oh, what’s wrong?” I snapped, tapping my chin. “Let me think, let me think. What could it be? Oh! I know! Maybe it’s because I just found out the guy who said he was my alpha is actually pining after another omega!” My voice was a shrill scream above the crashing waves.
“Oh shit,” Michael said behind me.
Lars’s jaw dropped, and it made me even more furious. Easton’s hands settled on my shoulders and gave me a squeeze. “Baby, I think?—”
I turned my dagger-filled expression on him, and he stopped talking immediately. But he didn’t step away from me, which I was glad for. I needed my guys’ touches to convince me they were really safe.
“Sweetheart. Olive,” Lars said, holding his hands up as he took a step towards me. “Can you explain what you’re talking about?”
Raindrops dripped down the front of his face, soaking his hair and beard.
“I heard you scented an omega years ago and have wanted her ever since. But thank god you’re settling with me.”
“Damn,” Leo said. “This is better than that reality show, Go Scent Yourself .”
“I’m more of a Rut Island kind of guy,” Michael responded .
I was expecting Lars to stammer out some sort of useless explanation, but instead, a grin spread across his face. Rage flared in me. He thought this was funny? That was it—I had to kill him.
I shrieked and launched myself at him, pounding my fists against his chest. “How dare you fucking smile?”
Lars wrapped his huge arms around me and lifted me off the ground, trapping my fists against his chest.
“You’re right, I shouldn’t smile.” His voice was deep and low, and his chest started vibrating with a purr.
“No, this isn’t fair,” I muttered as my entire body went lax in his hold. “You can’t use your alpha witchcraft on me.”
“I’ll use whatever tools are available to me if it will make you listen.”
“I don’t want to listen to you,” I snarled. I would stay strong. He wouldn’t win me over with his stupid alpha purr. And I was definitely not rubbing my cheek against his neck to scent mark him.
Lars ignored me and kept talking. “Six years ago, I was walking down Main Street when I scented something. It was the best thing I’d ever smelled in my life, and my alpha knew immediately that it was an omega and that she was ours. I’d never put much stock into scent compatibility, but at that moment, it felt like the entire world had shifted.”
I closed my eyes tight. It felt like my actual heart was breaking inside my chest. How could I ever compete with this mystery omega?
“I never found her,” he said. “I realized she must have just been passing through town. I tried to forget her, tried dating other omegas, but it never felt right. Until a few weeks ago, I scented her again.”
My muscles froze.
“Throughout the years, I’d convinced myself that I must have been exaggerating what the scent did to me. But I hadn’t because when I scented her again on Main Street, I knew she’d returned to town to be mine. Ours.”
I sniffled.
He adjusted his hold so I could wrap my arms and legs around him.
“Olive, my soul has known you were mine for six years, and when I finally laid my eyes on you that day on the beach, I knew I would love you for the rest of my life.”
I inhaled sharply. “You love me?”
Lars tightened his hold on me. “How is that even a question? Of fucking course I love you.”
I sniffled again as happy tears fell down my cheeks. “I love you, too.”
One of his hands cradled the back of my head as he pulled me in for a kiss. I immediately deepened it, needing to taste him, needing to merge my body completely with his.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” Lars said against my lips.
He slowly set me down on the deck, and Finn and Easton crowded around us.
“Just so you know, I loved you from the first moment I saw you in the market,” Easton said. “I just didn’t say it because I didn’t want to freak you out.”
My lips quirked at how put-out Easton sounded. I wrapped my arms around him, pressing my smile into his throat as I scent-marked him. “Are you upset you didn’t get to say it first?”
“Yes.”
I cupped his face and ran my thumb along his pouty lips. “I love you, Easton. Thanks for seeing me.”
His expression transformed into a smile. “I love you, sunshine. This is forever, baby. I hope you’re okay with that.”
“Yeah, I’m okay with that.”
And then I was in Finn’s arms.
“Sorry for lecturing you.” His hands were running up and down my body as if he were trying to make sure I was unharmed under my soaked clothes.
“You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t lecture me.”
He broke out into a smile so beautiful it made my breath hitch.
He cupped my face with both hands, his thumbs running up and down my cheeks. “My omega, my sweet girl. I love you.”
“My Finn. I love you, too.”
He tipped my head back and then his lips were on mine, hungry and desperate. A moan slipped through my lips, and he pressed his tongue inside my mouth. He was all sweet maple and salty ocean air.
Loud clapping filled the air and broke us apart with a start. I turned to see Leo and Michael cheering us on.
“Fuck, that was even better than the Rut Island finale,” Michael said.
Ezra rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. “Anyone mind if we actually complete this rescue and head on back?”
“I guess that’s acceptable,” I said. “What will happen to the boat?” I pointed at My Sweet Olive , hating the idea of just leaving her here. She hadn’t tipped over, but the bow was wedged between rocks.
“Once this storm fully passes, you’ll have to get someone to tow it out,” Ezra said.
“We’ll get her fixed up, pretty girl,” Finn said, rubbing his hand up and down my back a little too fast to be soothing. “We wanted to do a grand gesture so you would know how serious we are about you, but we fucked it all up. We just want you to know we’re not a pack without you.” His typically sweet maple scent had twisted with his embarrassment.
I leaned into his side. Finn, my sweet, sensitive alpha who was still working through his fresh grief, had done this to help me with mine. And that meant everything.
“We’ll figure out the rest, as long as we’re all together.”
“Alright, let’s get going,” Ezra said, looking at his phone. “This storm is supposed to pick up again soon and I’d like to be on land when that happens.”
There wasn’t enough room for all of us under the hardtop, but the guys ushered me in and insisted I take a seat. The wind picked up as Ezra drove us back to Starlight Grove’s marina. I grabbed my hair to keep it from blowing in every direction. It was a lost cause, though.
“Are you cold, kitten?” Lars asked, crouching down in front of me. He put his hands on my cheek, and his brow furrowed when he felt how hot I was .
I started shaking my head when a cramp rippled through my core. I whimpered and clutched my stomach.
“What’s wrong?” Lars’s voice was sharp with panic.
I closed my eyes. This was not how I wanted to ask them if they wanted to see me through my heat. I’d planned to cook them dinner tonight and explain everything. This was what I got for pushing it off.
Another horrible cramp rocked through my core, and I bit my lip to stop from crying out. Fuck, I already felt so empty. My skin was crawling and I just wanted to dive into my alphas’ arms.
“Olive.” Lars’s sharp tone forced my eyes open. Easton and Finn were crowded around me now.
“Baby, your scent is really strong,” Easton said slowly. “Are you…”
“You’re in heat,” Lars finished.
I hesitated before nodding my head.
Immediately, I was gathered up in Lars’s arms. His wet, prickly beard rubbed against my skin as he scent-marked me. Easton and Finn quickly did the same, and some of my discomfort settled.
“Oh my god,” Leo said in a hushed voice that was still loud enough for us to hear. “Remember how this happened in season two of Go Scent Yourself? She had a breakthrough heat after meeting her pack.”
Except, this wasn’t a breakthrough heat, which could sometimes happen when an omega on suppressants spent time with scent-compatible alphas. Those heats were typically short and less intense. My body was barreling full speed ahead to a real heat, one that would last for days and bring out my feral omega instincts.
“I’ve got you, sweetheart,” Lars murmured, his beard brushing against my face. “We’ll be back in your nest soon.”