Chapter 15
Forrest
“Do you think she’s going to bring up her family tonight?” Wells asks, adjusting his bowtie.
I’m adjusting the cuffs of this fucking constricting suit, feeling like I’m about to Hulk out of the fucking thing as I shrug.
“She’ll discuss it when she’s ready,” I tell Wells.
He’s impatient as fuck, and I know I don’t want to discuss my family anytime soon, so I don’t blame her for wanting to take her time.
“You’re right, I just want to know everything about her, ya know?”
“I know. Now let’s go enjoy dinner and then suffer through this party,” I tell him, smacking his ass out of the door.
We wait at the hostess stand for Claire.
We made a reservation at an Italian place tonight.
I’m not sure why I expected her to show up in a black dress, but she surprises me as she approaches us in a white dress that grips all of her curves in the right way, silver floral embellishments covering the whole thing.
“You look beautiful,” I tell her and she smiles, kissing my cheek and then Wells.
Fuck, I’m obsessed with her. Both of us are, and I can’t help but to think about if we didn’t come on this cruise. What if I wasn’t running off some tension in the middle of the night and didn’t run into her when she needed me?
Then there’s the lingering worry that she’s in love with this Elliot guy. Her reaction to the text message the other day seemed like she wasn’t telling me everything, and then her reaction to thinking she saw him was a whole other thing.
I’m trying to not let that bother me, and I haven’t brought it up with Wells because I don’t want him to worry. The stuff with her family isn’t a big deal to me, but if we’re falling this fast and her heart isn’t fully open to being the center of our pack, that’s what truly fucking scares me.
“Everything okay?” Claire asks, grabbing my forearm, leading me into the restaurant.
“This suit jacket is just a little tight,” I lie.
“You both look great,” she says easily as we’re led to our table.
I called in advance and made sure we weren’t by a window so she doesn’t get seasick. She didn’t say how she felt last night, but I’m hoping she didn’t suffer and that she would have asked for me if she needed my scent. I may get off on the idea of her needing my scent more than I should.
Claire orders us a bottle of wine for the night and we order our meals. She’s tapping her leg under the table, her sign that she’s anxious. I want to reach out and soothe her, but the server comes to our table to uncork the wine and pour our glasses.
She’s quick to snatch up the glass and take a heavy sip.
“So. The other day with Megan, she brought up my last name, and you seemed to recognize it,” she blurts out, looking at Wells.
My Beta shifts in his seat, excited to hear what she has to say and doing his best to seem neutral.
“S?rensen Enterprises was one of the sponsors for the last Olympics, so I was familiar,” Wells replies, and Claire nods.
“I came into this experience not wanting to lead with my name. When I tried to date in Manhattan, everyone either had a preconceived notion of me or was looking to gain something by coming closer to my family.” She takes another heavy swig of her wine.
“Fuck, that makes me sound stuck up, and that’s the last thing I want you to think. ”
“We don’t care what your last name is or who you’re related to,” I say.
Claire winces and Wells tilts his head at me, like he’s trying to communicate something with me that I’m obviously not picking up on.
“It’s not that I don’t have a good relationship with my family.
They’re amazing. Honestly I don’t think my childhood could have possibly been any more perfect.
We’re all still really close. I know I told you they weren’t thrilled about the idea of me coming here, and that’s because I’ve been wrapped in steel wool my whole life.
This is the first time I’ve traveled by myself, but it’s because I’m taking this seriously.
I want what my parents have. The pack that loves me for me, the billion pets, the kids, all of it. ”
She takes a deep breath, her leg still tapping under the table.
“We’re looking for all of that too,” Wells assures her.
“We are,” I agree and I watch as her body relaxes.
“Good, cause I really like you both and I don’t want to feel like I’m being dishonest. I really want to spend more time together and see where this goes,” she says, her honestly hitting me right in the chest.
I can’t help but to move my chair closer to hers and put a hand on her thigh.
“That’s exactly what we want too.”
She smiles at both of us and some of the pressure that was weighing on my chest washes away.
She’s all in and so are we.
This party fucking sucks.
It’s asses to elbows with Alphas stinking up the place and all I want to do is pick Claire up and get her the fuck out of here.
But I can’t with how happy she is right now. There’s no way I can do that. She’s talking animatedly with her red-headed friend, so I stand here like a protective bodyguard.
“So, what exactly are we looking for?” Wells asks the other Omega.
“She likes nerds. No one too aggressive. Oh, and they’ve gotta be financially stable,” Claire answers for her.
“Yup, she’s pretty much on the spot with all of that,” Andie replies.
“Are we looking pre-established or B.Y.O.P.?” Wells asks.
“B.Y.O.P.?” Andie questions.
“Build your own pack.”
“Hmmm. I think a pre-established pack, maybe?” Andie says.
Wells scopes around the large event space and clicks his tongue. “Be right back,” he says, walking off and leaving me with the Omegas.
I must have an aggressive look on my face as Claire drags a hand over my chest soothingly.
“Wells has been getting to know everyone on the ship. Maybe he has a pack in mind,” Claire tells her.
A server is walking around the space with champagne and both of the women take a glass and I shake my head. Claire keeps a reassuring hand on me, but all it does is work me up more.
I can scent the arousal of Alphas around us, and it’s making me fucking violent.
A woman with big bouncy blonde hair approaches us, her gaze looking me up and down as Claire clutches me even closer to her body.
“Seems like we’ll just be running into each other all over this ship, huh?” the stranger Omega asks Claire.
Claire clears her throat, taking a sip of her drink, not responding right away. “It seems so.”
The woman looks me up and down once more and I want to scoff at how obvious she’s being.
“You really do work fast. No one back home was willing to pack up with the princess of Manhattan?"
“Megan, we’re literally on the same fucking heat cruise and you’re judging me?” Claire snaps back.
The woman sucks her teeth and I wrap my arm around Claire’s waist, pulling her closer to my body. I don’t like this fucking woman one bit, and it’s obvious Claire doesn’t either.
“Just wondering. They say money can’t buy happiness and I guess they’re right,” Megan snarks and Claire sighs heavily, grabbing the bridge of her nose. “Though it seems it can buy you a single-celled massive Alpha.”
That would be when all hell breaks loose.
Claire tosses her drink at the Omega and the other woman lunges for Claire’s hair.
“Oh fuck,” I hiss out, moving as fast as I can to put my body in between them. Doing my damn best to make sure I don’t hurt this other woman, but there’s no way in hell I’m going to let her put a hand on Claire.
“You don’t talk about him like that,” Claire shouts, pointing in the woman’s face as I use my body as a shield between them.
“He’s the best you can do since you can’t fucking read, huh?” the Omega covered in champagne says, and I watch as Claire completely shuts down, her face dropping, her bright blue eyes filling with tears.
She turns around, and begins to walk away.
“Shit,” I groan, and thankfully, Wells is finally storming back in our direction.
“What the fuck happened?” he asks.
“I don’t know. Can you make sure Andie isn’t left alone? I’ll go after Claire.”
His brows furrow and he introduces the pack he brought over to meet Andie. The other Omega scurried off somewhere during the altercation. I stroke my hand through my beard and sigh.
I’d been degraded plenty by my own father, I know how bad it can hurt. I don’t care what that other Omega thinks about me, but I do care that she obviously struck a chord with Claire.
When I finally catch up to her, she’s frantically pressing the elevator button to the Omega’s only elevator.
“Come here,” I tell her, a slight bark to my voice.
I know she’s not okay. There’s no point in asking, but what I can do is offer the comfort she needs. She sniffles and turns around. Some of her makeup is running under her eyes and I use my thumbs to wipe it away the best I can.
She plops her head against my chest and I cradle the back of her head, holding her there.
“Do you want me to get her kicked off the ship?” I ask.
“Preferably while we’re in the middle of the ocean,” she says, and I can’t help it when my chest rumbles with a laugh. “I shouldn’t have thrown the drink in her face, but I didn’t like her talking to you like that. There might also be years of built up animosity between us too.”
I continue petting her hair. Claire usually over shares when you’re quiet enough.
“I thought she was my best friend at camp when I was thirteen years old. It was a month-long overnight camp, and I was excited to be around other girls. With three dads and two brothers, it was just me and my mom. I told her things I didn’t tell other people, things that I’m insecure about.
” She pauses and is fully rubbing her face all over my chest at this point.
I don’t know if she even knows that she’s scent marking me for comfort or not.
“I’ve struggled with dyslexia for a long time, but those years were really tough, middle school going into high school.
I’ve learned a lot of ways to overcome it with different fonts and taking my time, but it can sometimes be a challenge.
The ship’s apps fonts and colors have been difficult to navigate. ”
My chest rumbles with a purr wanting to soothe her, it has me wanting to share my experience as a kid, how I didn’t really talk and have any friends, how my dad was the one to beat me into silence, but now doesn’t feel like the time.
“Anyway, she created a superlatives list for all the campers and wrote that I was most likely to never finish a book because I couldn’t read.”
“What a cunt,” I say, and that has Claire letting out a laugh and pulling back.
“Ever since that summer, we’ve competed for everything and hated each other along the way.
We even got into a physical fight sophomore year of high school when she was belittling my older brother for being a Beta,” she tells me with a shrug.
“She can pick on me all she wants. I know she’s insecure, but when she hurts the people I care about, that’s where I draw the line. ”
“You care about me, little Omega?” I ask her, cupping the back of her skull as she looks up at me.
Her eyes are an ethereal blue right now and there’s no doubt in my mind that she’s the one. Only two other people in my life have ever stood up for me. My grandfather and Wells, and now Claire.
“Probably more than what’s reasonable for how long we’ve known each other,” she admits, her hands running up and down the expanse of my chest.
Her scent is wafting over me, and it’s like I can’t think right. I just want to wrap her up, take care of her, and make sure no one ever hurts her again.
“What do you need right now, princess?” I ask her, running a finger over her perfectly smooth face.
“I should go back, I can’t leave Andie there alone.”
“Wells has it covered,” I tell her, and she tugs her bottom lip in between her teeth. Her hands gripping the lapels of my jacket and tugging me closer.
“Then I want you,” she says.
Without a single moment of thought, I’m leaning down, crashing her lips to mine.