Chapter 16
Clover
This was too much for my sleep-deprived, sex-addled brain. I needed to get out of here and recalibrate a bit, maybe take a shower long enough that I would run out of hot water to remove their scents so I could think clearly for half a second.
Two out of three of my most recent lovers were in a pack. If Hunter was secretly part of this pack, too, I was going to have some serious questions for the universe.
I yanked on my pink, sparkly dress and tiptoed out of the room while Logan was readying his shower and Avery was getting dressed for the day.
I would’ve been into a fancy-ass brunch, but spending extra time with this pack when I was already feeling so unsteady seemed like a bad idea.
I should go home, confess the whole thing to Meadow—minus Hunter, because I was not telling her I fucked her pack’s boss—and get her opinion on everything.
My dress was rumpled and my hair was in desperate need of a brush, but correcting either of those meant sticking around.
I snatched one of Logan’s hoodies and with my shoes hooked over my fingertips, I focused on navigating the hallways.
I hadn’t been paying nearly enough attention when Logan and I had raced up here last night.
The house was beautiful. Cream walls, natural stone, exposed beams, and gorgeous views into the sprawling yard.
It took me a hot second to find the stairs and even longer to get down them without making a peep. My legs shook like I was a newborn foal. I thought about sinking down and butt-scooting the whole way, but my pride was a little stubborn for that. I settled for clinging to the banister.
“Is Logan really letting you walk-of-shame out of here?” a familiar voice asked from behind me, making me freeze in place. “Do you have a safe way home? You’re welcome to grab some breakfast from the kitchen before you go.”
I spun around, locking eyes with the hot-but-angry redhead whose car I’d glitter-bombed. He looked as much a deer-in-the-headlights as I felt.
Oh god. Had I manifested all of my fantasy men into the same house? Was Hunter hiding behind one of these doors too? That would be just my luck.
“You?” Red choked out.
“Me?” I squeaked back.
I wanted to bolt, but honestly, I was lucky I was still upright.
“Are you the single mom Logan told us about? You have kids?”
“Angeeeel,” Avery called from upstairs, and I looked at the redheaded alpha with pleading eyes. I couldn’t get my head on straight in this house, and I desperately needed some fresh air.
“Take me outside, please.”
With Avery’s shadow looming down the hall toward us, Red cursed, snatched me into his arms and bolted around the stairwell before Avery could come into view. Red set me on my feet and gestured for me to follow him.
I stumbled into the backyard after him, faced with a pool, beautiful flower beds and orchard of tropical fruit trees and flowers.
Red spun around as I shut the door behind us. “Are you the omega Avery hasn’t shut the fuck up about?”
“Certainly seems that way.” How was I supposed to be a functional human being when he was staring me down with those hazel eyes and his musk rose scent was turning my head foggy?
“Hunter too?”
“What the fuck do you mean, Hunter too?” A scream built in my throat. How the hell did they all know each other? Had I actually managed to stumble across an entire pack completely separately?
Red raised an eyebrow. “Hunter, the record label CEO you fucked in his office? Did you forget about that already?”
“Don’t you snark at me,” I hissed. “I didn’t forget him, I just didn’t know he was in your pack. I didn’t know any of them were in your pack. Fucking fuck. What kind of serendipitous bullshit is this?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.”
I pressed my lips together. His expression wasn’t particularly open. Was that judgment in his eyes or something else? I hadn’t seen him since his hissy fit dripping with sexual tension over me glitter-bombing his car by accident.
When I didn’t respond further, Red continued. “So you’ve been with my whole pack?”
Why was he so fucking unreadable? This was bullshit. “Yeah, but like I said, I had no idea any of you were in a pack.”
“That’s a bit implausible, considering you slept with three of the four and targeted me separately.” He fell silent for a moment, his gaze like fire as it swept over me. “Why them and not me?”
“First off, none of them got mad at me when we first met. If you’d handled the glitter bomb a little more graciously, I might’ve slept with you too.”
He gaped like a fish. “What?”
“You heard me. And don’t look so surprised. You know what you look like.”
His eyes narrowed, and I felt somehow like I had stepped off the safe path and into a bunch of cacti. “And I suppose our pack having over a billion in assets had nothing to do with it.”
Ah. There it was.
“Or were looks all it took?”
I checked the urge to claw out his smug little eyeballs. “You’re saying you think your pack would be interested in me if I looked like a foot? We’re all attracted to good looks, dumbass. And how would I even know that your pack had that much money?”
Red boxed me against the glass, bracing his hands on each side of my head. “You slept with Hunter at a party for a record label he owns.”
“I didn’t even know his name until we were mid-fuck. I don’t even know your name.”
“Parker Ashcroft, but my impression of you still stands. You got with Logan after seeing our house.”
My hackles rose. “The pack I live with has one just as nice, and I’m not sleeping with them. Fuck you. Plus, I got with Avery before I even saw this house!”
Rather than back off, Parker opted to continue. “You saw how much my car and Avery’s were worth.”
My laughter caught him off guard. “Are you fucking serious right now? My car is worth two million. I don’t give a shit what kind of money your pack makes, what kind of cars you drive, or what house you live in. I’m here for a good time, not a con. Don’t be such a fucking weirdo, Parker.”
“I’m the weirdo? What would you have done if every alpha you slept with was part of a different pack?”
My brows pinched in confusion. “Nothing? Why would I do something about it? It’s not up to me to communicate with their packs for them if they don’t want to tell me important shit.”
He stared at me, looking like he was at a complete loss for words. Unfortunately, he collected himself pretty damn quick. “So you wouldn’t try to cleave the packs and form a new one? Or put them into a bidding war to have you?”
What the actual fuck?
“Listen, I don’t know if you’ve been through some shit, but those are plot lines for movies, not real life.
” I poked a finger at Parker’s chest. “You can think what you want about me because I know who I am. The truth is that every word out of your mouth today has been pretty fucked up. You should probably go to therapy about it, and I’m not being facetious or bitchy when I say that.
If that’s where your brain goes because an omega is sleeping with your pack, it sounds like you have some stuff to work through. ”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “It has happened in real life. Not to me, but you would be surprised what goes on in wealthy circles.”
“If rich assholes are so worried about someone coming after their precious dollars, they could always give away all their wealth to those who need it so they’re not attracting people who would do shit like that.”
That got him back into fish mode, and it took him a little longer to recover this time. “What—How would that help? Why would we—”
“If all someone has to offer is money, that’s all people are going to ask of them.
The very fact that your friends, assuming we’re calling them that, were willing to enter a bidding war for an omega tells me exactly what they think of us.
That also tells me they’re not very good people, and I bet you the fact that she was willing to entertain a bidding war with packs of millionaires means that they weren’t offering anything except money.
Why shouldn’t she take the best offer if that’s all they’re going to give her?
I bet if one of those packs had been interested in their omega’s humanity, she’d have picked them in a heartbeat. ”
“But…”
He was struggling to respond, but I was on a roll and refused to let him continue spewing the bullshit that had clearly infected his rich-boy mind.
“Uh, hey.” Avery appeared, his hair rumpled from our earlier activities, but his curls were just as charming as before. He glanced between the two of us, quickly picking up on the hostile vibe. “Parker, what’s going on?”
“She’s working her way through our pack, and I don’t trust her motivations.”
“Dude, what the fuck?” Logan asked, coming around the corner looking freshly showered and scrumptious.
“She’s going through the pack because there’s chemistry between us, numbnuts,” Avery said, like it was the most obvious thing ever. He stared Parker down, hands on his hips. “You know, after all your fancy education, I didn’t think I would have to explain the alpha and omega birds and bees to you.”
“The what?” Parker asked, stunned again.
I watched them bicker, content to observe for the moment and wait for an opportunity to slip away. I hadn’t slept nearly enough for this nonsense so soon after waking up.
“Well”—Avery’s voice took on a playful and almost condescending tone—“when an alpha and omega get a whiff of each other and really, really like it, there’s a good chance that alpha’s pack mates are also going to really like it because they’re a pack…you know?”
Parker glowered at him.
“I get that you mean well, but back off, man,” Logan said, stepping between Parker and me. “You’re ruining a damn good morning.”
“You guys need protecting from yourselves!” Parker shouted. “She could be trying to take everything. You can’t possibly trust her.”
I tried for a couple of steps toward the exit, but Avery’s hand rested on my lower back in a comforting gesture.