9. Hunt
Hunt
The sitting area of this place's only hotel suite is full of nervous and angry alphas.
Last night, we drafted the email we wanted to send to Sunny.
Cole had tried to write it himself, but he came up with a demanding mess.
So, we'd all put in our two cents until what we had sounded halfway decent.
I'm proud. The omega is getting us to work together more than we have in a long time, and she's hardly done anything. Imagine if she were bonded with us.
This morning, we decided to strategize by working on things that can be done on the computers. If Sunny gets back to us, none of us wants to be in meetings. It's Wednesday, and if she gives us the time of day, we all want to be available.
So, we work. Cole is sending off emails to headquarters and directing our leadership team.
Luca is following up with some ongoing constructions at our established hotels while designing the resort to be built here.
Jess completes work on ongoing marketing campaigns and developing strategies.
I'm ensuring that the finishing touches on nearly-complete projects are done through virtual meetings with my team.
Cole huffs a dark laugh from across the room that instantly has all of our attention.
"What?" Luca asks first.
"She replied," he says darkly. We cross the room to check out the email.
I've prepared for the worst, but what I find isn't so bad.
Jess doubles over in a complete fit of laughter at the little spitfire throwing Cole's shitty language right back at him.
Cole isn't a bad guy by any means. If he were, I wouldn't be in his pack.
But when it comes to business, he can be ruthless and rude. Whatever it takes to get what he wants.
Cole pinches the bridge of his nose. "What do I even do with this?"
"She said yes," I point out. "Just focus on that."
"And reply now before she realizes who she just emailed," Jess adds, wiping tears of joy from his eyes. He looks so happy. Heat builds in my chest to see him so happy. I'm glad to have smiling Jess back instead of the depressed, snarky, asshole I've been dealing with for almost a year.
Miss Howard,
Would five work for you? We could take you out for dinner.
He looks to us. "Good?"
It's a genuine question, and it takes me by surprise. Cole is usually so confident. I don't think I've ever—not once in the years we've worked together and been in a pack—seen him ask for help. This omega is really doing a number on him. He feels guilty for how he's treated her.
"Add ‘My deepest apology,’" I tell him. “She's making a point. You did call her that."
"When I thought I was dealing with someone entirely different," Cole says defensively.
"You still said it."
He sighs but adds it on and signs his name. Less than a minute after we send the email, another pops up.
I will agree to five but not to going out. I'd rather discuss things in private. You can come to my farm. I'll make something.
Sunny
I pump my fist, and Jess whoops. Cole looks tired, and Luca seems nervous. This is also the first time I've seen Luca anything but stoic. He's an earnest man. Both the older alphas are intense in their own ways.
"Courting gift?" I ask. Jess is already on his phone.
"No service offers same-day delivery here. It's too far out," he says. "Nearby stores include a gas station, the Café, a bookstore, and a place called Dandy Stuff."
"The bookstore?" Luca suggests.
"You would," Jess says, and Luca glares at him. I click on their website, and my heart sinks.
"Closed," I say. Actually, Wednesday seems to be the whole town's Sunday. Lots of stuff is closed.
"Dandy Stuff is open," I go on, peering at Jess’s phone. Everyone visibly sits up a little. I look at the clock. "From ten to two."
It's one forty five, and we don't even know where the place is.
Instant chaos breaks out around the room.
Everyone shuts their laptops and grabs their shoes.
We're out the door without actually talking about it within moments.
We pile into Cole's car, and he puts the address into the GPS.
He takes a beat to look at the directions and nods.
I often forget that he actually grew up around here.
It's so incongruous with my image of him.
We drive slightly above the speed limit all the way there. Thankfully, we avoid any cops. As we pull up, we spot a dark-haired woman about the same age as Sunny stepping out of the shop and closing the door behind her. We scramble out of the car.
"Excuse me," Cole calls, his voice edging shy of a bark. The woman in question winces and then turns. An omega based on her reaction. They’re especially sensitive to alpha barks or commands.
The smell of lilacs and roses coming from her as we get closer confirms it.
It might have been a pleasant scent to some alphas, but after finding Sunny's scent, I find it cloying and hard to be around.
"I'm so sorry. I was just closing up. We open tomorrow at ten." She plasters on a tired customer service smile. I wince. I hate imposing on working people, but to our pack, this is an emergency. We will not show up to our first date with Sunny without a gift. Even if she doesn’t consider it a date.
"I understand," Cole purrs. This is another side of him we're all familiar with. He can be a hammer when it comes to business negotiations, but he knows when a lighter, more charismatic touch is needed. And man, he's a master at that too—in person, at least.
"We apologize for arriving so late. Would it be possible for you to stay open for a little while longer? We can pay for your time." He opens his wallet, and I see the woman's eyes shoot to the bills.
"And we promise to buy something," I add.
She hesitates, but then gets her keys out to unlock the door again.
Money usually does that—provides things that otherwise would be closed to you.
I was on the other side of that a lot growing up.
Only with this pack have I experienced what doors can be opened by money. .
We walk into a store full of creative chaos. At first glance, the place seems to be a lot of stuff . But as we begin walking through, I realize that every section is a beautifully curated display.
The center-front setup features stained glass art.
The left and right walls have everything from specialty cookware to kids' toys, charm bracelets, delicate jewelry beads, prank gifts, themed wine glasses, and more.
The back left corner of the store has a little vintage ice cream parlor with a big neon sign that says Gelato in cursive.
I recognize how incredibly lucky we are.
We can definitely find a nice courting gift here.
"Are you all looking for anything in particular?" the woman asks.
"Are you the owner, Miss…?" Luca asks.
"Winnie is fine, " she replies. "And yes, I am the owner." Some of the exhaustion we'd seen when she thought she was closing up is gone. Honed curiosity and interest has taken its place.
Cole eyes her as he peruses the shelves. We're all looking, but my heart sinks. We know almost nothing about our omega. How are we going to choose this?
"I remember when this place was a general store. It still had the ice cream section back then, though it was just Ben and Jerry's, not Gelato," Cole confides.
Winnie smiles. "Mr. and Mrs. Parsons' store.
I bought it from them about five years ago.
I'm afraid the general store life just isn't for me.
" she explains. "Though in the off-season, I bring more general store-type items so people don't have to fight the snow to Suttons Bay.
" I pick up a cheese grater that's shaped like a sloth
"Well, Miss Winnie," Luca says. “We're looking for a first courting gift.”
Her eyes widen with clear excitement. “For someone in town?
' I can practically see her bouncing on her toes.
She must be unmatched. Single omegas get so giddy about first-courting gifts.
Everyone hopes to find their own scent match or even a scent-sensitive match, someday, and maybe she's already imagining what her first-courting gift would be.
As an omega, she clearly understands that a first-courting gift is something you get for a first date after finding a match. We all exchange glances.
"Yes," Luca says. There's no sense in denying it. "Though we don't want to betray her privacy by saying who.”
Winnie looks us up and down. "It's Sunny, isn't it?"
We gape at her. Are there so few women in town that Sunny would be the only one courted? Lakeside Point doesn't seem that small.
"I'm a friend of Sunny's, " she explains. "I was with her this morning when she replied to your email." She admits but then grimaces as if regretting adding that information.
Luca nods. "I see. In that case, could you offer your opinion? We only just met Sunny, so we don't know where to start.
"Hmm…" She looks around her shop. "My best suggestion is the charm bracelets," she says, leading us to the display. "Sunny comes in here quite often to chat or have lunch with me when I can't get away, and she always ends up looking at them, but never buys any."
"Why not?" I won't waste any opportunity to learn about our Omega.
Winnie shakes her head from side-to-side.
"A combination of things. I assume you've been out to Sunshine Apiary?
Sunny's job is labor-intensive at times.
I don't think she thinks charm bracelets are practical, no matter how much she likes them.
And, I think, cost is a factor. This is the kind of thing you collect.
Like I said, she's practical, and she doesn’t spend much money on anything other than the Apiary. "
"She's very proud of the Apiary, isn't she?" Cole asks. I can see the respect in his eyes and hear it in his tone, but Winnie clearly takes it differently.
"She should be," the omega responds, her defense of her friend dripping from every word. "It's been in her family for three generations, but she really made it her own with her products and the tours."
I put my hands up for all of us. "We believe you. We're just curious."
Her expression softens, and I gain respect for the shop owner. The way she defends our omega makes my alpha rumble with approval.
Winnie brings the keys to the charm case and opens it.
These aren't little plastic things for show.
Many are marked silver or gold, and how many carats.
They have precious gems and intricate, fine metalwork.
There are charms for practically everything imaginable.
Charms shaped like dogs and cats, charms shaped like houses, charms shaped like balls of yarn, and charms with blown glass or precious stones. It's overwhelming.
"If you'd like, I can help—" Winnie begins, but Jess cuts her off.
"No, we've cheated enough." He flashes her an award-winning smile, and my heart melts a little at the sight. Jess has always had that effect on me. I shake myself and focus. Packs are supposed to buy their own courting gifts, not get someone else to do it for them. It's considered lazy and weak.
She nods. "I'll be cleaning at the front if you need me."
She leaves, and we look at all the charms for a moment.
"Okay," I finally say. "What do we know about Sunny?"
Everyone thinks for a moment.
"Is the fact that she owns an apiary too obvious?" Jess asks. He's really trying. More than he has with anyone else we've courted by a mile.
We look at the charms. There are actually three different ones devoted to bees. One's a hive hanging off a branch, although the branch looks a little poky, and I can't imagine it's comfortable to wear.
The second is a honey pot with a bee alighted on the rim.
It's okay, but a little chunky. I pick up the third one from its slot and hand it to Jess.
It's a fat honey bee with very delicate wings that almost look crystalline, though they're sturdy.
The bee's body is black and white enamel, but in a way that looks like watercolor. Jess nods.
"Do we know her birthday?" Luca asks. After sifting through the internal files we have in our documents on his phone, he finds it: August 30th. Which is only a little over a month away.
There's an entire section for birthstone-based charms. August's birthstone is peridot, as it turns out. We find an August charm that has peridot inlaid among iridescent swirls. It matches the bee's wings nicely. Luca pulls it out as his gift to her. We all think for another moment.
"I noticed a lot of sunflowers in front of the farmhouse," I say.
There were many sizes and colors. There were the big yellow ones almost as tall as me, but there were also the medium-sized orange ones, the smaller yellow ones, and a few I didn't know existed.
I had no idea there were so many different kinds of sunflowers.
But there's only one sunflower charm in the flower section of the bead case.
It's the traditional large yellow one, and I hope it'll be what she wants. I take it in hand as my gift when Cole doesn’t claim it.
Cole's the last one to choose a charm. He looks through every option, which takes so long that we all start to drift back onto our phones. Finally, he pulls out a charm. It features a heart bracketed by two hands and encircled by a crown.
"A Claddagh charm?" Luca asks. His expression is serious, but also hopeful.
Cole nods and curls a fist around the small charm.
I discreetly looked up what in hell a Claddagh is.
My phone pulls up a picture of the symbol with a definition below.
It's an Irish symbol often worn on rings.
Cole's parents had been Irish immigrants, so that made sense.
I read the definition and my chest squeezes, and I feel infinite pride in my pack leader's decision.
It's everything we've all talked about wanting for our pack should we find an omega.
Before the series of matchmaking services made us all give up hope.
It's perfect.