Chapter 41
Leo
“You just have the most stunning flowers. I keep telling my grandson to come get a bouquet for his girlfriend. That is, if they stay together. I’m always telling her she’s too good for him, but she won’t listen.”
“That’s very nice, Mrs. Cassini,” I said. King gestured wildly behind her, and I shot him a look. What was I supposed to do? Throw Starlight Grove’s oldest resident out of my shop?
“Well, it was nice to see you—” I started.
“She’s just so lovely and my grandson is quite useless. Are you single? I think you’d like her.”
King let out a loud, strangled noise.
“Are you all right, dear?” Mrs. Cassini fixed the alpha with her piercing gaze.
“Actually, I think I’m having an allergic reaction. Leo, you should probably take me to the hospital.”
The wild look in his eyes really sold his story.
Mrs. Cassini gasped. “Oh no. What are you allergic to?”
“Flowers,” King deadpanned.
I masked my laugh with a choked cough. “That sounds serious. I’m sorry to cut our visit short, Mrs. Cassini. I hope you have a good rest of your day.”
“You, too, dear.” She leaned in. “Keep an eye on that one. Doesn’t seem to be very bright.”
I nodded sagely. “I certainly will.”
We held our breath as she took her bouquet and left the shop.
King let out an exasperated sigh. “Fuck, I thought she’d never leave. Where’s Wilder?”
The door swung open, revealing the alpha in question.
“Ready?” he asked.
I’d been ready to track down Lucy’s friends right away, but Wilder had gotten a call about an urgent issue at the fire station. Part of me wanted to track down Lucy’s friends without him, but that wasn’t right. If this was going to work, we had to commit to being a pack.
King had stayed with me at the shop, a move he may have regretted when Mrs. Cassini arrived and proceeded to talk nonstop for thirty minutes about town gossip.
But now we were ready.
“So…where do we go?” King asked.
“Let’s check Summer’s bakery.”
Wilder grunted, which made King groan. I chuckled and led the way down the street.
I kept a firm grip on my cane, not wanting to risk falling again.
Earlier today when I fell, I’d snapped at Lucy again.
That was unacceptable. I needed to get my shit together, because so far it wasn’t my cane pushing her away—it was my insecurities.
My lips twisted when we found Summer’s bakery empty.
“Maybe she’s getting coffee?”
We headed back down Main Street in the direction of Beans ’n Bliss. The coffee shop was bustling but no omegas to be found.
A meow caught my attention.
“Hey, Felix. You staying out of trees?” Wilder asked, surprising me with his loquaciousness.
The cat flicked his tail at us before strutting to Rosie’s Cafe. “I guess we can check in there,” I said.
King opened the door, and I immediately spotted three of the four omegas who made up the Omega Overlords—Lucy’s name, not mine. Olive, Summer, and Ivy were huddled together in a booth in the corner, deep in thought. Their eyes widened when they saw us.
“Hey. Do you have a minute?” I asked.
Olive smiled, Ivy cocked her head, and Summer narrowed her eyes. “That depends.”
“This is King and Wilder. We want to talk with you about Lucy.”
Summer made a disgruntled tsk but gestured for us to sit. She was clearly the ringleader here.
We faced off with the omegas.
“Well, speak.” Summer crossed her arms. Ivy and Olive followed suit.
“You probably don’t know who I am,” King started, “but Lucy and I—”
“Went to Boston for an event, and you”—Olive gestured at Wilder—“saved her when she was hiking in the woods. And all three of you stood her up at craft night. We’re Lucy’s besties. Of course we know your crimes.”
Wow. Olive was a little scary.
“Right.” King was clearly taken aback. “Well, we wanted your advice.” He glanced at me, eyes wide with panic.
“We know we messed up,” I said. “And we need your help on how to apologize to Lucy and win her back.”
“Win her back?” Ivy asked. “I wasn’t aware you ever had her.”
I swallowed hard. She was right.
“We know she’s too good for us. But if she’s willing to give us another chance, we want to court her,” Wilder said.
Well, he didn’t talk much, but when he did, he made it count.
The omegas looked at each other, some secret conversation passing among them.
“All right,” Summer said, sitting back in the booth like she was presiding over her subjects. “We’ll help you, but if you hurt our friend again, we will destroy you.”
“Understood,” King said. Wilder and I nodded.
“Lucy believes in signs,” Summer said.
Now it was our turn to look at one another.
“What?” Wilder asked.
“Signs, like from the universe. She reads her horoscope in the newspaper every morning, so I would recommend starting there.”
“Start where? With horoscopes?” I asked.
Olive’s lips quirked into an almost smile before she nodded sagely. “Yes. You should read your horoscopes every morning and follow the universe’s advice. If you’re meant to be with Lucy, the universe will show you the way.”
I locked eyes with the guys. They were fucking with us, right?
“We were more thinking of getting date ideas or something,” I hedged.
Ivy shrugged. “You can ignore our suggestion. I’m sure you can figure it out on your own. That’s gone really well so far.”
“Do you have any other suggestions?” King asked.
“Nope,” Olive said.
Summer flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Why would you need more than the wisdom of the entire universe?”
I opened my mouth and then shut it, finding myself lost for words.
Wilder stood from the table. “We will take your advice.” He stalked away.
“Umm, right. Thank you,” I said as I followed him.
Wilder was retying his bun outside the diner, the movements highlighting the muscles in his massive biceps. The alpha was undoubtedly hot, but he didn’t do anything for me. Not like…
King joined us outside the diner.
“That was interesting,” he said.
“Not really what I expected them to say.” I racked my brain, trying to remember if Lucy had ever mentioned horoscopes to me.
“Do you think they’re messing with us?” King asked, glancing back through the diner window.
“Yes,” Wilder said.
My eyebrows shot up. “You don’t think we should do what they suggested?”
“Didn’t say that. They’re fucking with us, but that doesn’t mean they’re wrong.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” King asked.
Wilder let out an aggrieved sigh. “Lucy talked about her friends for hours when she was at my cabin. If they say this is what we should do, we do it.”
“Makes sense to me,” I said.
“All right,” King said.
“I have to cover someone’s shift today,” Wilder said abruptly. “Meet you at the newsstand tomorrow morning at eight.”
With that, he stalked off.
“It might be hard for him to work today since he’s already used up his quota of the words for the entire day,” King said dryly, making me chuckle.
A swirl of questions tornadoed through my mind. We all wanted Lucy, but were these alphas actually interested in becoming a pack or would they eventually try to push me out?
One thing at a time. We were united in our goal to court Lucy, and that would have to be good enough for now.