Chapter 11 #2
“Thank you,” I say. They look suspicious, but they also took awhile, which means they left to get both for me.
“Ah, they have a long standing feud apparently. They live next door to each other, and their parents hate each other. Travis Nitra enjoys mowing their lawn with this monstrosity of a riding mower at six in the morning, and a few of the alphas in Pack Tribel work nights. It’s apparently a mess. ”
“God, you know everything,” Malcolm chuckles.
“It’s my job,” I murmur. “Okay, Nitra will go in this corner of the gardens, while Tribel can go under the tent near the winter jasmine. It’s also near the food as well.”
Malcolm clears his throat, and I let Felix mark their names down as I open the paper around my sandwich and take a bite.
“Mmm,” I moan as I chew. Now that I’ve done the walkthrough and we’re making progress on the seating chart, I’m finally able to relax enough to feel hunger.
Before, I was too tangled in anxiety to be able to think about food.
There aren’t too many people who can’t be together as far as packs, but I am more careful about my omegas.
“The next group of omegas you’re going to see are Aisling’s,” I say in an effort to keep it confidential from anyone who may be able to overhear me.
Even though there’s no one around, I still worry.
“Okay, what do we need to pay attention to when placing them?” Felix asks.
I started with the alphas, both those in packs and those who are solo. Not every alpha is interested in pack life, and there is nothing wrong with that. Now, I need to make some more strategic decisions.
“Underneath each omega, there’s a list of things that trigger them or they’re uncomfortable with,” I murmur. “Let me take the iPad while we work through these since that information is sensitive.”
“Understood,” Brice says, handing me the iPad while he grabs a pen.
Taking another bite of my linner, which is definitely closer to dinner than lunch, I look through the first omega’s information.
She doesn’t like jealous omegas, which means that half of these people are immediately eliminated.
She has a history of being both cheated on and had a long term abuser, which means that I’d like to start her off with some sweet packs.
“Maria Rivera is going to go by Pack Royal please. The other packs that’ll be nearby will also be good candidates for her to speak to,” I decide.
“Okay then,” Brice says, writing down her name.
Now that I have a basic understanding of the template in front of me, I find it easier to place everyone else. I know these packs very well, and even the newer alphas were sent a digital survey of their likes and dislikes.
“This is super inappropriate, but I think I’m in love,” Felix mumbles as he writes a name beside a solo alpha. She’s an older omega who was rejected two years ago when her pack found their scent match.
It makes me so angry when people throw away years together for a scent match, but experiencing the pull, a part of me feels sympathy for everyone involved.
However, these assholes were cowards who packed up their shit, and Kailee got home to them evicting her from the house she’d lived in for ten years with them.
Fuck, I’m getting mad again.
“What are you thinking about?” Remy breathes. “You’re touching your chest again, Hollis. Please don’t stab one of us.”
“And now, all I can think about are your tits,” Brice groans. “Ugh, okay Hollis, you’re killing us.”
Glancing down, I realize that I have been ghosting my fingers across my cleavage, where I have a knife in between them.
“Oops,” I murmur, dropping my hand away. “This particular omega has a really shitty past. I was thinking about it, and it made me stabby.”
“It sounds like they may deserve it,” Malcolm murmurs. “Your scent changes when you’re mad too. Think happy thoughts, Hollis.”
Snorting, I shrug. “I absolutely will when their knots are removed in the most painful way possible.”
The four of them wince.
“Fuck me,” Brice mutters. “Moving on…”
The next forty-five minutes fly by. The water bottle gets drained, my food is gone, and the chart is finally completed by the time we come up for air.
Looking around, I notice that the sun has done some traveling while we’ve been busy.
Checking the time, I see that it’s almost four in the afternoon.
“Wow,” I murmur. “I think we’re done.”
“I never realized how much work goes into this type of event,” Remy mutters. “To think that you’re doing it for free…”
“I mean, not technically anymore,” I admit. “Between your sponsorship and the donation from the Senior Families, I’m coming out the other side pretty well. I feel like I should donate the money I’ve been making with my side project that I was planning to use to fund this event.”
“I don’t think you should,” Felix says, leaning forward to begin carefully folding up the event chart. “You worked for that money. Do something fun with it. Helping you with the pieces you’ve allowed us to has shown us how damn hard you work.”
“Maybe,” I say. I think the last time I took a vacation was to the lake with Lars and Caleb. I was nineteen and it was my birthday. They insisted on celebrating even though I still don’t typically do anything special for it.
It just makes me miss my sister.
“Thank you for staying and helping me with this,” I say, changing the subject. “It would have taken me twice as long to work through this and then create a chart.”
“Don’t mention it,” Malcolm says, stretching. His black coat is open, which means that his long sleeved t-shirt crawls up his abs.
Don’t drool, Hollis. Keep your mouth closed.
Managing not to perfume, I look away from the body that I currently want to climb like a tree. Agreeing to let myself date this pack is very different from sleeping with them.
Packing up my bag, I feel a wave of exhaustion hit me. Closing my eyes, I rub my temples. One of the things that can trigger my migraines is lack of sleep. I don’t have time for this.
“Hollis.”
“Hmm?” I ask, feeling helpless. I have to go grocery shopping, make it home, check the dark web servers for Alisa and the missing omegas, and figure out what I want for dinner…
“Hey!”
My eyes snap open to find the source of the voice, where Brice’s blue eyes are boring into me.
“I’m right here,” I whine. “What?”
“Down boy,” Malcolm mutters.
Blinking hard to hold back tears, I stand, swinging legs over the bench.
“I’m going home,” I mumble, filling my bag with my things.
“What Brice meant to say, and did so very badly, is that you look as if you’re one stiff wind away from being blown away,” Malcom says.
“None of us like to see you this tired, but it’s really fucking with him.
He’s protective, and his instincts are telling him to kidnap you and take you home with us. ”
My eyes swing back up to Brice who hasn’t stopped staring at me, and he stands as a tear escapes the confines of my lash line.
“I shouldn’t have yelled at you,” he says, coming around to hug me hard.
Shuddering, I sob, immediately hating myself for it.
“Fuck, I’m sorry,” he groans, buring his face in my throat. “I can see that you’re literally running on fumes, Hollis. Please, please tell us what’s wrong. God, I don’t want to pry but I can’t stand and watch this anymore.”
“I can’t sleep,” I wail, turning to lean against his body. “I try…every night, and I can’t. I keep waking up from nightmares. Emilia…”
“What, baby?” His chest begins to vibrate, and I gasp in a breath as he purrs for me.
“Her podcasts have started to vilify, saying that I’m an omega madam, and that I’m the person to call if you want easy pussy,” I say. “So now, I have alphas messaging my business pages and website asking if I need any alphas to pimp out.”
“What the fuck?” Felix hisses. “Hollis, I swear I should have never told you that. It’s so much worse now that she’s saying it.”
“It’s fine, she’s just running with a narrative that a lot of people think,” I hiccup. “Even my naps get ruined by that fucking bitch.”
“Is she calling you still?” Brice asks, his hand rubbing my back.
“Mmhmm. Brice, I’m going to fall asleep if you continue doing that,” I say, pulling away and trying to wipe my tears away. My makeup setting spray is really going to be put to the test. “I just have to keep moving. If I stop, I’m going to pass out.”
“That’s not a good thing,” Remy says, walking over to hug me from behind. “I’m really sorry we reacted so badly about being invited to your event, Hollis. I know we’ve all said some form of an apology, but you really are doing amazing things here.”
“I can’t even imagine what Emilia stands to gain by doing an event like this,” Malcolm grumbles.
“I do,” I mutter. “Vulnerable, sheltered omegas who are desperate to be taken care of. Emilia builds this idea that only the most powerful packs will be invited to her event, but what happens to those omegas who aren’t her idea of perfection?
She now has all their information, from where they live to where they work. ”
“She’s profiling omegas?” Felix asks. “That’s…fuck.”
“Minneapolis is not a safe place to live,” I say, sniffling.
“I don’t really know that any place is, if I’m being brutally honest here.
We all just do our best to bring awareness to the dangers that exist and limit some of them.
I’m just having a rough week, and I’m terrified I may be making myself more susceptible to a migraine.
I don’t have time to be out of commission. ”
“I have a proposal,” Remy says, his lips against my ear. Goosebumps rise along my skin, pebbling even more where his breath brushes my neck.
“I think it’s a little early for that, don’t you?” I tease him.
“You’re such a brat,” he murmurs. “Let’s stay on track, Hollis. Brice already spanked you once today. I think you should come home with us for the weekend. We have really good security, baby. You’ll be able to sleep, one of us will always be around to snuggle, and Malcolm will feed you.”
The alpha in question chuckles under his breath. “Anything you want,” Malcolm says. “I have a feeling you’re not eating well, and we’ll all worry about you. Please, come home with us.”
“It won’t go any further than letting us take care of you, Hollis,” Brice adds. “It’s really fucking with me that you’re so tired. You’re beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but the only thing keeping you on your feet and focused is your passion and stubbornness.”
Taking a deep breath, I drop my head back on Remy’s chest. I know they’re right, and they’ve done nothing to show me that they want to take advantage of me.
Besides, if I’d been headed anywhere other than the botanical gardens to map out this event, Lars would have come across the counter to force me to sleep.
I hate leaning on people, but I think I need to.
“Okay,” I say sleepily. “Someone is going to need to drive my car, though.”
“Done,” Brice says, sticking his hand out for my keys.
Yawning, I hand them to him, and we start walking to the parking lot. My limbs feel heavier and heavier until Remy scoops me into his arms as we pass the gate. Felix takes my giant bag, and I’m asleep by the time we begin crossing the parking lot.