Chapter 20
chapter
twenty
Never thank me .
My Omega gives a quiet whine as Tristan’s words sink in. He’s long gone by then, the door to the beautiful guest room firmly shut.
He seemed pretty dang eager to get out of here.
I’d be more insulted if I weren’t still in this ridiculous bodysuit.
The reality of the situation gradually sinks through me. I left my old life. I got away. And then—I sort of got my dream.
A pack, mates.
But they’re basically gods, and I’m homeless.
Just imagining what they all must think of me—weak, damaged, dressed like a sex doll, oozing perfume I can’t control—brings tears to my eyes. I draw my knees to my chest and set my forehead against them, hoping the silk sheets can handle my self-pitying sprinkle.
Really, I know this isn’t so bad. I could have been bitten by alphas way worse than these. They could have passed me around earlier when I was so out of my mind, but they didn’t. None of them even took anything for themselves, did they?
No. No, they couldn’t because I grabbed one by the hair and shoved him between my legs .
…
Oh, God .
Remembering the stunned look on the burly man’s face as I desperately dragged him by his beard makes me feel like I’ve been stabbed. A hopeless wail flies out of my mouth while I curl tighter around my legs.
The door bursts open. I scrabble back, panicked until I see it’s just Avery, standing on the threshold with murder in his eyes. He flashes them around the room as if looking for a threat and then skewers me with his gaze.
But only for a second, because Jonah tackles him.
Um …
Is this normal?
“I told you no ,” Jonah roars, pinning him to the ground. “You can’t just walk into her room ! You have to knock .”
They’re wrestling … over manners ?
My mouth hangs open, tears forgotten. Everything forgotten, really, except for Jonah’s huge, flexing body on top of Avery’s inked muscles.
With uncanny flexibility, Avery somehow flips his packmate off him and pins his legs with his knees.
“I was checking on her . She’s crying .”
Avery snaps the words out like I’m bleeding from the head, not leaking tears. Jonah stops struggling and turns to look at me. When he sees how puffy and gross I must look, he goes limp.
With one final shove, Avery gets up and offers a begrudging hand to help Jonah lumber to his feet, too.
Lord, they’re huge .
Earlier, when my silent Omega was in charge, she noticed a lot of things about them, but not their sheer size .
Which might be impressive—if I wasn’t alone and unprotected.
And covered in my dried slick.
My scent shifts into the version that I pumped out for years—darker than my usual aroma, but also sweeter. The one that drove all those alphas wild.
Both guys freeze, staring. Seconds pass before Avery starts to lurch forward. He catches himself, raising those otherworldly eyes to mine. “Can we come in, kitten?”
My head feels floaty as I nod. It’s their house, after all. Besides, having seen what they do to one another when they disagree, the last thing I want is to piss them off.
Jonah shuffles in behind Avery. While the latter comes right over to my bed, the big football player looms in the shadows where Tristan stood earlier, looking around.
It seems like he hasn’t been in this room before. He absorbs everything in it with a blend of approval and… longing?
Maybe this isn’t a guest room after all. What if it’s actually the Omega Suite ?
Would Tristan really put me in the special room reserved only for his pack’s omega?
Avery answers my unspoken question as he pouts, grunting at the glass wall behind the huge bed. “Damn windows. Stupid thing to put in your suite. Sunlight’s gonna wake us up every fucking morning.”
Us?
As in they’ll be staying in here?
My heart trips over a beat of excitement before my mind catches up. Do I want two alphas I don’t really know sleeping in here?
Maybe?
My scent gets darker as I fret internally, doing my best to keep my face smooth. But Jonah’s shining topaz eyes catch my gaze from across the room. His solid features crumble into a frown.
“In the elevator earlier, I wondered what that darker edge to your scent meant, and now—You’re scared ,” he mutters, moving closer. Pain tightens the laugh-lines at the corners of his eyes. “Oh, manamea , don’t be scared. Avery and I won’t hurt you, I promise.”
There’s that word again— manamea. The one I thought I heard but didn’t understand. I don’t have time to worry about it, though.
Avery cups his hand around my jaw, the now-familiar gesture just as soft as the first time he did it. “Are you really afraid of us, kitten? We can leave you alone. I just heard you crying from the hallway and couldn’t stay away.”
I blink at his beautiful face. “You were in the hallway?”
Jonah nods. “The whole time. We wouldn’t leave you alone with Tris like that after what happened. We didn’t know how you might feel about him being in your space, but his Alpha couldn’t calm down with you out of his sight. So we had to compromise.”
That’s actually… really sweet. Especially considering I basically assaulted this guy in his own kitchen earlier.
Shame burns the edges of my scent. I tuck my legs in tighter, attempting to hide how much skin I have on display. I try to meet his eyes, so he knows I’m talking to him, but I only manage one brief glance.
“I—I’m so sorry about earlier.”
The toasted sweetness in the air plummets into a burned, gooey mess the same second Avery’s expression blinks into total blankness.
Have I made them angry? Already ?
A whine I can’t bury ekes out. I shrink down instinctively, shaking. Jonah’s chest rumbles in a growl.
A long growl.
A… really long growl.
Holy shit, how is he still growling? It just goes on and on and— oh .
Could that be a purr ?