Chapter 23 Avery
Avery
Today was the best day. I wanted to cheer and scream from the rooftops.
My pretty pink princess had worked her way through our entire pack with a skill that was to be marveled at.
Fucking all of us wouldn’t have been that difficult, even with Parker being a stick in the mud, but getting all of us obsessed? That was more of a feat.
Clover was it for us.
I had been sure of it before, but now I was extra sure.
“Unfair that I’m the last to know Clover’s not a mom.” I couldn’t hide the whine in my tone. “I was already warming up to the idea of a kiddo running around here.”
Parker rolled his eyes. “Forest is too young for running, and anyway, the information wasn’t kept from you for long or on purpose.”
“Yeah.” Logan grimaced. “Pretty sure accusing Hunter’s clients of cheating on their omega was the most embarrassing way for us to find that out.”
“But this is good, right? Or, at least, less complicated. They didn’t cheat, and Clover doesn’t have a mystery pack she had a baby with to make things weird. We have a clean slate.” I was already giddy with the possibilities. “I’m going to convince her to come on a pack date.”
We’d all had a little bit of one on one time with her, but I maintained my sharing is caring philosophy and wanted her with everyone. I bustled off to message my angel, pleased with all the new info about her I’d gathered.
Twenty minutes later, I had sent a considerable number of texts, and none of them had been answered. My calls all went straight to voicemail too. I sat in the den, pouting at my phone. Had she blocked me?
Had she seen my number pop up and decided to play with me? I couldn’t put anything past Clover—she was an enigma and kept me on my toes—but this didn’t seem like her style.
Either way, after a while it became clear that she wasn’t going to answer me anytime soon, so I clicked my phone screen off and tried to figure out what to do next.
Thankfully, I didn’t have any work to do right now, so I decided to do what would make me happy: buying Clover pretty things.
I had plenty of cars to choose from, so I simply jumped in the nearest one—the G-Wagon. It had plenty of space, so if I got lots of shiny presents, there’d be more than enough room for them. I pulled out of the driveway and made my way down to Rodeo Drive.
I had money to burn and an omega to please.
It had only taken me a few hours to make a considerable dent in our credit cards.
Parker was probably going to yell at me later, but I couldn’t find it in me to care.
I had purchased a bunch of items, including some jewelry that was extra sparkly—the pink diamonds were a nice touch, I thought—and some bath products that reminded me of Clover.
Not that anything beat my angel’s natural scent.
I got nesting supplies too. She’d need a proper nest, so I might as well get started stocking it, though I also had wild imaginings of turning my own bed into a nest for her.
Maybe if I added enough fluffy blankets, she’d join me there.
I was cruising down one of the back, lesser-populated roads—mostly empty on the way to our house—when a bright flash of pink caught my eye.
I knew that car.
That sparkly pink work of beauty belonged to one person and one person only—my angel.
Now, I had two options: I could drive up beside her, wave enthusiastically, and get her to notice me…or I could be smart.
I knew she lived in our area, but I didn’t know what house she lived in.
What harm could there be in following her for a few minutes to find out exactly where my princess resided?
Some would say I was simply doing my due diligence.
Smirking, I steered into the lane behind her, surprised her driving was almost cautious. I didn’t know why, but I expected my angel to be a bit more chaotic behind the wheel.
My borderline psychotic behavior was rewarded only a few minutes later when the car pulled up outside a large mansion less than a five-minute drive from our house.
Hell fucking yes. Knowing that Clover was close had me vibrating in my seat.
That elation simmered and died a moment later when a tall alpha got out of the pink car, slamming the door and glowering at me. “Why the fuck are you following me?”
Should I run? What does one do when faced with an angry alpha they’ve accidentally been tailing because they thought it was the omega they were absolutely obsessed with?
Grimacing, I quickly got out of my car, holding up my hands in surrender.
“Hey, man, I’m so sorry! I thought you were a friend of mine.
That car is hard to miss. I was following them as a joke.
Wait—aren’t you the guy from Hard Knot Life?
Oh my god, you’re the one who tried to glitter-bomb our house when we moved in.
” I snapped my fingers as his name dawned on me. “Arlo, right?”
Did Clover get the idea from him? I should’ve recognized him sooner, considering their faces were plastered on posters all over Hunter’s record label, as well as billboards around the city.
During their tour last year, they’d been in every tabloid known to man.
Hell, I’d even seen their photo on a cereal box at one point.
“Yeah, that’s me. What of it?” He planted his fists on his hips. “Why are you following my friend around?”
“She and I are kind of a thing,” I said, grinning widely. “Why do you have her car? I’m assuming it’s her car, anyway. How many pink McLarens can there be?”
Arlo crossed his arms. “The only friends Clover has in LA are my pack.”
“She hasn’t told you about me?” I said dramatically. “Should I be offended that we shared two magical encounters, and you haven’t even heard of me?”
“I’ve heard about you,” a sweet female voice said from behind the man as an omega padded out, a baby on her hip. “Which one are you?”
“I’m Car Cutie, also known as Avery,” I said happily, proud of the nickname my omega had given me. “And you’re Meadow, right? We met at the party.”
“Yep! I’m Clover’s best friend. This is Arlo, one of my alphas.” She patted his shoulder and tipped her head in my direction. “This guy is in a pack with Hunter.”
Realization dawned on Arlo’s face. “Okay, but why are you chasing down Clover’s car? Did she do something criminal? I wouldn’t put it past her.”
“She isn’t answering her phone, and I saw the car and…I may have gotten a little overexcited and followed her home.”
Arlo looked at me like I had grown another head. “Dude. That’s stalking.”
Meadow elbowed him in the side. “Like you wouldn’t do the exact same in his situation. You literally flung yourself off the stage when you saw me at the concert.”
“How else was I supposed to catch you before you disappeared again? Desperate times, desperate measures and all that.”
Meadow focused back on me. “Unfortunately, Clover isn’t here. Arlo just dropped her off at the airport. I’m sure if she wants you to have more details, she’ll give them to you.”
My heart stuttered. Airport? Why was my angel going to an airport? Was she abandoning me? My chest tightened, and it must have shown on my face because Arlo took pity on my ass.
“She’s gone back to Seattle to help family.”
“She’s probably already in the air, which is why she isn’t answering any calls,” Meadow added.
So she wasn’t ignoring me; she was just rushing off to take care of family. That was admirable. Smart and loving. I had really hit the jackpot.
Should I chase her down? What if there were alphas in Seattle that caught her eye? Hmm…probably a step too far. Clover seemed like the kind of omega who owned a taser and wouldn’t be afraid to use it.
Not that I wouldn’t be opposed to adding some electricity into our extracurricular activities. Something about Clover made me open to anything and everything—I should probably talk about that with a therapist, but for the moment, I was going to roll with it because fuck it, Clover made me happy.
“She’s coming back, though?” I asked, my voice a small, almost pathetic whine.
“She is,” Meadow confirmed, nodding. “Well, we hope so.”
So… What could I do in the meantime?