Chapter 7
Parker
What the fuck had just happened?
The stunning blonde had tossed a glitter bomb into my car and hightailed it out of there before I could figure out why.
Apparently some fucker named Arlo was to blame? Hunter worked with an Arlo, but I had no idea why she’d know him. I couldn’t imagine the name was all that common, and he had gotten stopped by security for trying to do this exact thing to our house in the past…
Why was my car destined to suffer because some dick pissed off the blonde princess?
I glanced in the general direction she’d fled. There was no denying she was an omega with a scent so potent I couldn’t help the physical reaction it enticed in my body.
Peonies and sugar.
But it didn’t matter how sweet she was, when she’d vandalized my baby.
My car was wrecked.
Sparkly shit coated every surface. Bright, stupid pink fucking glitter.
Lesson learned to never again unlock my car before my hand was on the door. I hadn’t thought a few seconds would make a difference, but obviously I was wrong.
It was going to take forever to clean, assuming that was even possible. My pack used a damn good detailing service for our cars, but even they would be facing a challenge. The buttons were probably clogged with it, and I didn’t want to think about the state of my air filter.
Maybe the car is a loss. I can buy another.
For a moment I stood there, phone in hand. Part of me was tempted to call the police—after all, the woman had attacked my car. Surely it counted as property damage? Vehicular assault?
Then again, she had seemed genuinely shocked when she saw me. Either she was a damn good actress—which wouldn’t be a surprise in LA—or she hadn’t expected me.
I needed to get home one way or another.
The question was how? I was sorely tempted to leave the car, but I knew the restaurant wouldn’t be happy with that.
They had limited parking, and I would get towed if I left it, not to mention a fine and maybe a hefty impound fee.
Normally I would accept that, but the restaurant owner was a friend, and he didn’t need the hassle.
Taking a deep breath, I opened the car door and surveyed the damage.
It was worse than I’d thought. Not a single surface had been spared the sparkly savagery.
The vents were full of the stuff, and it already appeared to be one with the carpet.
Turning on the air would probably result in a whole damn glitter storm.
Had the mysterious woman somehow acquired a super-powered glitter bomb? If I weren’t furious, I would have to admit the carnage was rather impressive.
Like I didn’t have enough bullshit to deal with—now this. What was that saying? Glitter was the herpes of the arts-and-crafts world?
Well, I needed a shot of penicillin and a damn good cleanse.
Growling softly to myself, I accepted my fate. Using one hand, I tried to futilely wipe some of the evil substance off the seat, only succeeding in making an even bigger mess.
Everything in me was itching to haul myself out of the car and chase after the omega.
Whoever the Arlo in question was, he was in a whole world of trouble.
The drive home could only be categorized as painful.
Every time I took an even mildly sharp turn, glitter would puff up into the air like a pink cloud of shiny doom.
At one point, I stupidly turned on the air conditioning—LA was already hot as fuck, and I struggled without my creature comforts—and succeeded in turning my car into a vortex of glitter.
It was probably embedded in my lungs. If I coughed, would it come out shimmering?
By the time I pulled up outside our home, I was in a foul mood. Not only was the car covered, but so was I. My skin was itching, my clothes were sparkly, and my rage was simmering.
Slamming the car door shut harder than I probably should have, I stormed toward the house. I didn’t care about anything other than getting my ass in the shower and possibly burning my now sparkle-infested suit.
“Hey, Parker, can we—oh…” Hunter trailed off as he walked into the hallway, taking note of how I looked. “What the hell have you been up to?”
I glanced down at myself. How would I even explain this situation? I settled on the hard facts.
“An omega glitter-bombed my car,” I growled. “Now I need a shower. We can talk business later.”
“Uhh…that gave me more questions, honestly. What did you do to incur that level of wrath?”
“Nothing!” I snarled, throwing my hands up. “I did fuck all to deserve this!”
Hunter’s eyes widened slightly. “Okay, I’ll ask my questions after you shower, but while I’ve got you alone”—his voice lowered—“Logan’s mother has been trying to message him for more money again.”
A deep, bone-weary sigh escaped my chest. “I’ll take care of it,” I said, my pink, twinkling state momentarily forgotten.
Logan was one of us and we loved him dearly.
His family, on the other hand, were leeches determined to ride on his coattails and spend all his money. Logan had a soft spot for his family and struggled to say no to them, since he was only recently starting to see how they cared about his wealth, not him.
As his pack mates, we hated to watch it.
Technically, while I held the reins to the bulk of our fortune, the guys could do whatever the fuck they wanted with our money, but we had safety measures for dealing with outsiders.
If Logan’s mother wanted more money than what we already gave her—which was far too generous in my opinion, given how she’d treated him growing up—then she needed to go through me so I could be impartial and Logan couldn’t be manipulated by his witch of a mother.
“She’s pushing,” Hunter grimaced.
I smirked. “I’ll push back harder.”
A smile spread across Hunter’s face. “Good. Now, should I call the detailers for your car, or is it a lost cause?”
“Go see for yourself.” I gestured back toward the front door.
He nodded. “You know what? I think I will.”
Before he could even take a step toward the door, Avery came barreling in. “Dude! Have you seen Parker’s car?” His eyes landed on me, his mouth dropping open in surprise, a look of glee filling his face. “Been having fun at the strip club, have we?”
I bristled. “I have not.”
That didn’t deter Avery one fucking bit. “On the contrary, I think they use this exact shade of glitter at that dive bar downtown on Stripper Saturdays. I would know, as I was a regular there before I met my perfect angel.”
Glaring at my pack mate in abject silence usually worked to shut him up, but not this time.
“You look like a sparkly pink vampire!” He laughed, pulling his phone out of his back pocket and snapping a photo before I could protest. “I have to show this to Logan, he’s going to love it!”
Turning on my heel, I stormed down the hallway, chuckles from my pack mates echoing throughout the space.
“Where are you going?” Avery called after me gleefully. “I wanna see if you sparkle more in the sun!”
“I’m going to shower,” I growled, making a beeline for my room.
“I’ll call the detailers and the cleaner,” Hunter shouted after me. “Your shower is going to need a deep clean after this.”
He wasn’t wrong.
“I’m burning the fucking suit too!”
“Ooo, fire!” Avery declared in excitement. “I’ll get the bits for s’mores!”