Chapter 5 #2
I sat frozen and terrified between Hatton and Bird, as Maya’s furious pheromones flooded the room.
When Maya slowly stood to follow Dad, I knew that what happened next would be bad, but that something even worse had just happened and that I didn’t understand it.
I still don’t.
What’s the mystery?
Piper’s expression falls.
His hand rises, as if he means to cover his tattoo out of habit, before he forces his hand away and raises his chin. “I’m not ashamed of being raised in the Wolf pack.”
The Wolf pack were criminals.
Yet Piper is not responsible for the actions of his parents. After all, I’m from the Frost pack. I would be in for a lot of ass kickings if that was true.
I respect his resilience.
“It’s a gorgeous tattoo,” I say instead because it is.
Piper’s eyes light with joy. “Doesn’t it break some regulation in your favorite rule book? Come on, talk dirty to me, Gracie.”
“Okay, Wolfie.”
He freezes.
I swallow. Too far?
At last, Piper chuckles. “My sis would love that nickname. Hell, I miss her.”
“Is she here?”
If there are two Wolf Siblings for me to train over Christmas, then I am fucked.
To my relief, he shakes his head. “Bliss is with her bonded pack.”
My heart aches for Piper. It must be tougher to be sent here as a HO, if his sister has been lucky enough to find her pack bonds.
Piper strolls up and down beside the parapet, trailing his hand along it with a hyper energy. He’s making me dizzy trying to keep up.
Why do I think I am missing something?
I will do my best to help Icarus protect and support this new Omega because as understanding as I am about Piper being a Wolf, I know that Ellington won’t be.
“Don’t worry,” I try to sound encouraging. “You can share my nest this Christmas. A kind of mentorship thing. I’d like to train you up personally.”
The tips of Piper’s ears turn red. “I’ve never… I mean, no one’s quite said it like that to me. It’s a tempting offer. Honestly, most people are too intimidated by me to want to date. But like I said, I’m holding out for my soulmate. Perhaps, we could grab a coffee as friends?”
My eyes widen. “Wait, I think that there’s been a misunderstanding…”
Piper hops up to sit dangerously on the edge of the parapet. “You can see the whole of Haven from here. It’s beautiful, huh?”
“Be careful.” I still turn to look out over the roofs of Main Street, the Mayor’s old office, night club, and shops.
Haven is a small town in Virginia, which is in the shadow of the mountains and buried in lush forests.
It’s strange, but I have seen the town so many times from here and growing up, trapped inside the penthouse, that I have stopped seeing it at all.
I have definitely stopped seeing any beauty in it.
It could be a mirage or made of paper.
“Where’s the fun in being careful?” Piper swings his legs. “Why were you singing up here on your own?”
“This roof is my refuge. Well, for precisely three more minutes before my shift starts again,” I reply. “It’s the only quiet place in the hotel. Plus, I have the starring role in this stupid thing that happens every Christmas.”
“It won’t be stupid if you’re in it. My refuge was the back of my brother’s motorcycle. It didn’t matter how badly I’d been bullied at school, or how hungry I was, I knew that I would be able to make it all okay if I could be good enough to earn myself that ride.”
I stare down at my hands.
I hate the picture of Piper’s life that his words paint, but he sounds happy like he’s imagining the thrill of riding the motorcycle.
“I’ll have to think of a thrill to reward you with here then.” I smile. “Seriously, I know that you may be missing your family but I’m happy to have met you. I’ll protect you, and I have friends who will too. We’re a pack, and you can be part of it too. We’ll all love you.”
I didn’t mean to add that.
Yet I can’t help it. Icarus truly will love Piper; I can sense it in my soul.
I feel like I’ve known Piper for years, even though we’ve just met. I’ve never met an Omega, apart from my brothers, who I can talk this easily to, want to pull into my nest to snuggle with, and would already be embarrassingly nuzzling if he wasn’t sitting on top of the parapet.
I’m desperate to know what he smells like.
I edge closer, trying to subtly smell him.
My cheeks pink.
“Pack?” Piper stares at me in shock. “But you know who I am. I’m independent and can’t even pretend to be submissive and—”
“And you sound just like me.” I cross my arms. “I can’t wait to find out more about you. My family and friends love each other for what they are and not for what they’re not.”
“You’re something else, Gracie.” Piper leaps to his feet, holding his arms out to balance himself.
He wobbles and almost falls.
“Pip,” I yell in panic.
Adrenaline blasts through me. My heart hammers in my chest.
My gaze darts over the edge.
The pavement now seems a dizzyingly far way below. The new HO would break every bone is his body if he slipped.
He’d die.
My gaze jumps back to Piper, as he begins to walk unsteadily up and down the parapet like a circus performer.
My heart is in my mouth.
Unless he wants to fall?
Does he intend to jump?
It’s a danger with HOs in the first couple of weeks.
“Pip,” I say, trying to keep my voice as even as possible, despite my eyes being blurry with tears, “please, it’s not safe. Why don’t you get down and tell me some more about your brother’s motorcycle?”
“Why? Omegas aren’t allowed licenses to drive their own. It’s what I wanted as a kid: to be a racer. But I couldn’t because I’m an Omega.”
Shit. This is why I am not a good negotiator.
Icarus would have had Piper in his arms and happily purring by now.
“Fuck’s sake.” I clamber up onto the parapet myself.
I’ve spent my childhood athletically climbing onto things and taking the same risks that Piper is right now.
“Respect.” Piper grins. “Doesn’t the world look different from up here? Don’t tell me that you don’t feel more free?”
My pulse is roaring in my ears, but I’m grinning too.
I’m breathing fast, but a wild excitement is thrumming through me.
I feel like a kid again, when I played at being Robin Hood and trusted that the Sheriff could be beaten.
“Yes.” Our gazes meet. “It’s incredible.”
My heart is pounding, as we smile at each other. I lose myself in the midnight green of Piper’s eyes.
Then all of a sudden, I lose my footing.
I scream, flailing.
I’m going to fall.
Zoe.
I can’t die; Zoe needs me.
Then warm arms are pulling me against a hard chest, a delicious scent of coffee cake hits me, and I am falling but backwards toward the roof.
I yell out in shock.
Piper twists us both, protecting my body with his own, as we tumble to land on the roof with a thump.
I wince. That must have hurt.
Yet Piper is laughing.
He purrs, nuzzling against me. “That was fun.”
Breathless, but feeling more alive than I have in years, I find myself laughing too. “You’re unhinged.”
“Probably.”
Suddenly, a wave of his coffee cake scent hits me again at the same time that my scent must hit him because his eyes widen.
We stare at each other.
He’s my scent match.
My Omega soulmate.
I should have guessed. He’s perfect.
“My soulmate,” Piper murmurs. “May I kiss you?”
I nod.
Piper leans to nose against my scent gland, shuddering in delight, before licking across the seam of my lips. Then he coaxes open my lips with his tongue and dominates the kiss.
Possessively, he rolls me onto my back, straddling my waist. His wavy hair strokes across my cheeks. He leans down, almost feral, and licks up my neck.
“Do that again.” I start to purr.
Piper’s answering rumbling purr is gorgeous. “I thought that we established I like to give the orders.”
“Hmm, but then so do I.”
“I love the push and pull of a challenge.”
Despite Piper’s protest, he does lick my neck again where I am most sensitive.
I shiver, lost to the sensation. I have never felt such a deep connection before. The vibrations of his purr are better than any vibrator.
Suddenly, I feel the graze of his teeth on my throat like he’s only just holding himself back from breaking the taboo of two Omegas biting each other.
He whispers, “Fuck, I want to bite you.”
It’s enough to throw cold water over me. “That’s forbidden. Sit up, okay?”
Reluctantly, Piper does, although he’s still nuzzling against me, as if he’s struggling to cope now that he’s found me; he is dominant but he has strong Omega instincts.
“We have to be careful,” I explain. “Somebody could see us.”
“And?”
I sigh, forgetting that he doesn’t understand just how cruel and controlled his life will be from now on. “How many rules are you intending to break?”
Piper winks. “How many have you got?”
Fear curdles my stomach.
Karma, well played again.
Supply a male Omega who is the mirror image of my own Soul. In fact, is possibly even more of a rebel than I am.
But the problem is that he is in danger. Maya and Ellington will want to break his spirit, especially if he screws up this Christmas week.
I have found my Omega soulmate just when I am ready to finally make my move against my stepmom to take back the hotel that should always have belonged to me. It’s the move that should save my family and reform the pay, conditions, and lives of both Omegas and Betas.
Yet if I am discovered to have a scent match and soulmate, what would Maya do?
How do I even start to explain all that to this HO without freaking him out or letting him into secrets that I don’t know whether I can trust him with yet?
“What’s wrong?” Piper’s brow scrunches in concern. “Were you hurt in the fall?”
I shake my head. “The fall was almost as incredible as being caught by you.” He steals another kiss. “But my break is over, and there are consequences for lateness. I’ll see you in my nest.”
Before Piper can reply, I struggle up and dive across the roof.
Can I pull this off? Mentoring my own soulmate without being found out?
Either way, Piper is in serious danger.