17. Ezra
While Apollo showered with her, Corvin and I ran back to our place to grab a few essentials. It would save our sanity from having to hear them while we were stuck out here trying to stay strong.
When we got back to Bea’s, she was lounging on the couch with a pen and paper. Her face was relaxed and open now. It seemed their shower had helped. I couldn’t fault Apollo for that.
I threw Apollo his bag, and he disappeared to change into fresh clothes. He looked far too smug. Something was up.
“What are you working on there, honeybee?” I asked as I sat next to her, pulling her feet into my lap and massaging them.
She melted a bit as she answered, her smile lazy and sweet. Until Apollo came back out and flopped onto the chair across from us, bringing her back to the moment.
“I’ve started a list of all the things we need to make this new arrangement work,” she said, holding it out to us. “Anything you want to add?”
She had groceries and some small appliances on her list.
Apollo snagged it and added the cameras and a bigger TV. I added a projector for outside. The back wall of this house was a perfect spot for watching movies. We had to make sure we kept our girls happy and settled, even in the chaos.
Plus, from the sound of it, Phoenix could use all the family time we could give her. I wanted to show her stability as much as Bea did.
“What does Phoenix like?” I asked, adding some popcorn and chocolate candies to the list.
“She’s into vinyl records and classic rock,” Bea said. “Music is definitely her thing.”
“A girl after my own heart,” Apollo grinned as he took the list back a second time and scribbled more onto it.
“If you keep adding stuff to that, it’s going to take the rest of the week to complete,” I said, looking over the list as he kept writing. Of course, he didn’t bother to stop, just tossed me a quick grin and added even more.
Corvin finally snatched it away, ignoring Apollo’s protests.
“We should get going,” he said as he scanned it over, jotting a few notes down before looking at the rest of us with his eyebrows raised.
“We just need shoes on and then we can go,” I reassured him. “We may have to divide and conquer to get all of this done.”
“As long as Bea isn’t alone at all, that’s fine. We can take turns shopping with her so she can get time with each of us,” he offered. The alpha was doing his best to keep things fair.
“It would be my honor to shop with my omega,” Apollo stated with a little bow.
“Was he born in the wrong era?” Bea asked, looking him over like he’d lost his mind, but her smile gave away her amusement. I loved that he brought out her smiles so easily.
“And dropped on his head as a kid,” I added, earning a glare from the beta in question.
“You’re just jealous,” he scoffed as he offered out a hand for our omega. “Shall we?”
She accepted, and he guided her to the car before opening the door for her.
“You are a true gentleman,” she said formally as she slid into her seat. He took the time to buckle her in, ghosting a kiss over her lips like it was second nature. Her answering blush was beautiful. I could hardly believe this was our life now.
I honestly loved that she was indulging his antics. He needed that kind of acceptance in his life. Apollo’s personality was loud and authentic, but I’d seen him rein himself in enough times to worry.
“M’lady,” he said, giving her a bow.
Her laughter was exactly the boost we needed today, that and the insane amount of coffee we all guzzled down.
“I think it could do us some good to get out of Willow Lake for the day,” Corvin announced as he drove through town. “I’m going to head for Brightwater instead. Is that all right with everyone?”
“I’m fine with it, honestly. The more distance we get today, the better,” Bea replied quickly.
As we drove, her eyes darted around to the cars around us, as if expecting him to show up at any moment.
I hoped he didn’t. I’d hate to have to kill a man in front of my omega.
As we left the city limits of Willow Lake, it felt like our group took a collective breath. Corvin turned up the music, and Bea relaxed between us.
“I’m still exhausted. Can we stop for coffee while we’re there?” Bea asked around another yawn.
Our poor girl looked like she was seconds away from falling asleep. Apollo simply shifted them both so she was snuggled deeper into his side.
“Of course, we’ll stop,” Apollo said knowingly. “But why don’t you rest? It’s a bit of a drive.”
It didn’t take long for her eyes to close, her breathing evening out in seconds.
“We have to keep her safe,” I said, my voice quiet enough not to disturb her. “I don’t like this.”
“We’re working on it,” Corvin promised. “She is safe with us.”
“We might need to bring the Chief in on the conversation. He should know if we’ve got a pyromaniac on our hands,” I pointed out. Having backup never hurts.
Corvin nodded, his jaw tightening as he thought it over. We all knew it was the only option. It also meant giving up some of the control he coveted.
He didn’t respond as he turned the music down until it was just steady background noise. The drive took two hours, which was enough time for Bea to get a solid cat-nap in.
There were other cities, closer ones, but Brightwater being a little farther away from the drama that followed us, was the selling point.
We’d already talked to Dani and her pack, and they promised to keep Phoenix for another night. It gave us a chance to install the security cameras and get the system up and running before she came home.
I hated having her away from us, but knowing she was safe and surrounded by people who cared about her made this a little easier. It gave us breathing room to make sure our house was safe.
I knew we were walking a delicate balance with Phoenix. Thanks to her mom, she would feel this absence a bit more than the average teen. The difference was that we were coming back for her tomorrow.
By that time, our house would be secure, and we’d find a way to live with this new normal, to make sure our shared lives worked for everyone.
It’d be a mix of coordinating schedules, ensuring she was dropped off and picked up from school on time, and there were no major issues.
Everything this far had felt so natural that I knew this would be no different.
When the silence started to get to be a bit too much, Apollo spoke up.
“She demanded my bite. I have hers, too,” he said carefully. My mouth opened, then closed, unsure what to say.
Corvin’s hands tightened on the wheel but he gave him a smile. “Don’t worry. She leads this, remember. If that’s what she needed, I’d have given her mine, too.”
He let out a relieved breath. “I worried you’d be upset, but it is what she wanted. She wants all of our bites. I think she needs to know this is permanent.”
“We’re a pack. This is how it should work,” Corvin said firmly. “We’ll have our moments.”
His confidence matched mine. Bea wanted us, and this was yet another big step in the right direction. Once we had her ex out of the picture, we’d find more time to just be a pack. A family.
“Maybe we can plan a date night soon, I saw something that I thought might work,” I admitted, telling them about a concert I’d found. It was a few months away, but the kind of thing we would go all out for.
“I’ll watch Phoenix,” Apollo said. Not as a way of saying sorry or feeling guilty, but simply because he wanted to. “Classic isn’t my thing, anyway. I’ll pick her out a dress, though. Send me the details.”
By that time, we’d crossed the bridge into the city. Apollo spotted a new coffee shop up ahead and Corvin navigated into the parking lot as we gently nudged our omega to wake her.
She blinked, her eyes adorably unfocused, and I couldn’t resist leaning over and brushing a kiss over her temple.
“We’re at a coffee shop.”
“Oh, thank God,” she mumbled, her voice husky now that she’d gotten some rest. It was only a short nap, but at least it was solid sleep, something her body was desperate for.
“Books and Brews?” she questioned as she looked up at the sign, eyes lighting up.
“I’m surprised you guys haven’t added coffee into your shop,” Apollo teased as he unbuckled them both.
“We absolutely would, but the last thing the three of us need is another thing to add to our lists. We’re still fairly new and figuring things out, between forming packs and having kids, we’ve already had to hire help. I’ll leave it for the coffee shop down the street.”
“Maybe it’s for the best, I have a feeling we’ll have to remind you to drink water once in a while,” Corvin teased, his alpha side coming out.
“Don’t worry, Taryn’s alpha Holt already does that. He messages at least three times a day to remind her, and us, to drink water.”
Corvin let out a laugh. “That’s a good alpha. I’ll have to remember to thank him for that.”
“Don’t encourage him,” she groaned. “If it wasn’t for the food he wins me over with, I would never even humor him.”
We all climbed out, stretching and getting a breath of fresh air before heading in.
Corvin asked Bea for her order before sending her off to browse the bookshelves, Apollo following her like he couldn’t help himself.
The line went quickly, at least. I was over letting Apollo hog our omega. As soon as the barista greeted us, Corvin rattled off our orders. He already knew exactly what we would want.
“Can you add two extra espresso shots to all of those?” I asked.
She gave me a look like she thought I’d lost my mind. “Nothing like a heart attack to start your day,” she teased, giving me a teasing smile.
She might have been flirting, but I didn’t pay enough attention to find out. My eyes were already drifting over to watch Bea walk through the shelves with Apollo, the two leaning in close and whispering to each other. He was easing her into packlife so well I couldn’t fault him.
“They look good together, don’t they?” Corvin said, sounding every bit the satisfied alpha.
“They do,” I agreed, handing over my card.
The beta behind the counter was a little less talkative as she finished the transaction, gesturing for us to go down to the next window to pick up our drinks.
Corvin smirked but said nothing as we followed our pack into the stacks of books.
“Checking out the competition?” I teased Bea.
She rolled her eyes at me but didn’t lose her smile. “Just making a mental list for later,” she said. “But we shouldn’t linger. There’s too much to get.”
“There’s a department store nearby that I think has pretty much everything we need,” Corvin said. “Do you want to get something to eat first, or after?”
She thought it over for a second. “After. Let’s get everything we need in the car and then find a restaurant. I love trying new places. It’s been a while since I’ve been confident enough to venture out,” she admitted. “Just no diner food. I’ve had enough of that.”
“Is that the job you had before you came here?” I asked, curious to know more about my omega and her past. Usually, she was so tight-lipped about it that we had to gather whatever crumbs we could. It was fine by us, we could be patient for her.
She nodded. “Yeah. It wasn’t my favorite job, but it was okay. There’s only so much greasy food you can smell before it turns your stomach.”
“I get that,” Apollo said. “I worked in a movie theater as a teenager. I still can’t stand popcorn. I cleaned so much of it off the floor that I just can’t.”
He gave a playful shudder that had us shaking our heads.
As soon as we sat down in the car, Bea snatched Corvin’s phone, turning on a playlist of her choosing this time. He didn’t bother complaining, just shook his head as a pop song came on.
Apollo and I bit back smiles, sharing a look. We knew our alpha secretly found moments like this amusing. It meant she was letting her guard down.
We pulled up outside The Pack Connection, a few minutes later.
“You said divide and conquer, right?” she asked, glancing back at us.
“It would probably be faster,” I relented, though the idea of splitting up didn’t settle well with me. My gaze shifted to Corvin who was tense now. “You and Bea? Apollo and I can handle the rest.”
He looked almost relieved at the offer, accepting instantly. “That works. You grab the electronics and the security system.”
“There’s a shop here that has exactly what I was looking for,” I reassured him.
“We’ve got the coffee maker,” Bea said as she scanned the list. “I definitely want to pick that out.”
I handed over the home-supply list before giving her a kiss. It was almost second nature, and I couldn’t resist rubbing my cheek along hers, scent-marking her before she was out of my sight.
Apollo did the same before our alpha tucked Bea into his side and led her away.
“I was thinking,” Apollo said as we made our way through the crowd to the electronics store, “I’m not sure what all Phoenix has, but she could probably use a laptop. Not just for school, but for her music. There’s some pretty good sound-mixing software she might find interesting.”
“That’s a good idea,” I said. “We can see what they have.”
Thirty minutes later we had a pile of things we hadn’t intended to get. He found the equipment he’d been talking about, along with a few more things that I desperately hoped Phoenix would love. It might break his heart if she didn’t.
After that, I spent another hour poring over security equipment, likely buying way more than we could ever need. I wasn’t willing to cut corners anywhere. I got cameras for every angle of the packhouse.
Thanks to Corvin calling the landlord that morning and explaining our situation, we got the green light to do what we needed to keep her safe.
I selected everything from motion sensors to high-tech cameras that would report every movement outside to our phones. I wasn’t sure how Bea would feel about inside cameras, so I skipped those for now, but I made sure to get enough window sensors to cover the entire place.
Bea’s eyes widened when we met up and she saw our arms full, but she didn’t argue… especially since they had their own large assortment of bags.
“Next stop, food. I’m starving now,” Bea announced, turning and leading the way to the car. “Let’s go, boys.”
There was our fiery omega.
Usually, our alpha was rigid. He liked his plans and liked to know what was going on, but our omega seemed to be changing him. Not only was he happy to go along with most of what she wanted, he drove around aimlessly until we spotted a restaurant that stood out to her.
We snuggled into the corner of the little Italian restaurant, squishing into the booth so we surrounded our omega.
There was something satisfying about having her close all the time, and the way our pack’s scents mingled together.
Corvin’s warm amber, orange, and smoky cedar was strong and bright.
Apollo’s mocha and coconut blended perfectly with Bea’s warm caramel and toasted almonds.
Then mine rounding it out with vanilla sugar, oak, and burning embers, making us the perfect blend of smoky, sweet, and earthy. It was a blend that felt like home.
A sign that this was right where we all needed to be.