Chapter Fourteen – Mercedes
The next morning I’m greeted by a delicious smell when I enter the kitchen. I find Nic at the stove, cooking something up in a frying pan. When he turns around and gives me a smile and a polite “Good morning,” I see he’s making bacon.
Ooh, I can’t even remember the last time I had some nice, fatty bacon.
“I hope you like bacon and eggs,” he says.
“Keep the bacon chewy and the answer’s yes.”
His eyebrows lift. “Chewy, huh? Interesting. Everybody else in this house is for stiff, hard bacon. I never get to have chewy bacon anymore.”
I go to stand near the island. “You like chewy bacon, too?”
I’m pretty sure his smile is meant to be flirty when he shoots me a mischievous look and says, “I like whatever you like.” A pause, then: “But really, I do prefer chewy bacon. If it’s got a hard crunch to it, it’s overcooked to me, but Warren and Darius wouldn’t agree.”
Personally, I’d much rather have that nice, chewy, fatty bacon than anything else. It’s mouth-watering. We didn’t get bacon much at Solus, but I have the feeling Nic’s bacon is about to blow what I have to compare it to out of the water.
Within twenty minutes, I’m seated at the dining room table with Nic, a plate of fluffy scrambled eggs and bacon before me. The eggs are so hot they let off steam, and I take a moment to inhale one last time before I dig in.
Nic watches me shovel it down with a goofy smile on his face. “You don’t have to eat it so fast, you know. No one’s going to come around and take your plate before you’re done with it,” he tells me, unhurried in grabbing his fork and stabbing some eggs on his plate.
I ignore him, because I’m hungry and it looks too good to take my time to eat. With my mouth full, I give him a closed-mouth smile and mumble, “It’s good.” And then, once I swallow, I add, “You’re a really good cook.”
He beams at that. “Thank you. Believe it or not, the other guys don’t compliment me ever. It’s nice to hear it.”
I’m well aware he watches me as I eat, but I don’t care. I eat, the last thing on my mind trying to act ladylike in front of him.
“So, what’s the plan for today?” he asks after a while. When I only glance at him and shrug, he goes on, “I figured, if you were up to it, we could go to the bank and get your account sorted. There are some papers you need to sign for everything to be in your name. Then, I thought, if you didn’t set up your phone and laptop, we could work on that together.”
Hearing him say all that, I nearly choke on the bacon I’m chewing, mostly because I still don’t get why he’s so okay with it all. Heck, he hasn’t even mentioned what I was looking up on Darius’s computer.
Is he really okay with it? If I want to cut ties and leave? It was a part of the official offer, let’s not forget, so I could leave at any time, for whatever reason I want.
All I can say is, “That’s fine.”
I finish eating, and Nic cleans up while I get dressed into something I don’t mind wearing in public. It’ll be the first time I’ve stepped foot in public since agreeing to join the Alabaster pack. I’d be lying if I say I’m not nervous.
What if Jay somehow finds me when we’re at the bank? I doubt it’ll be a bank in the area Jay frequents, but I can imagine he’s tearing apart the streets of the city trying to find me.
I pull my hair in a messy ponytail. I went for my favorite pair of ankle-high boots, jeans, and a new hoodie. Nic got me all kinds of shoes, but nothing beats out my old, worn-in pair. By the time I return to Nic, he’s ready to go and the kitchen is all cleaned up.
We take Nic’s car, and I’m able to sit in the front seat. He pulls us out of the garage and we get going.
“You okay?” Nic asks after a while. We’re out of the rich neighborhood the Alabaster pack lives in, but not quite in the city yet. “If you don’t feel like doing this today, we don’t have to. I just thought we could get it all settled. It might make you feel better.”
I shake my head and give him a smile. “I’m fine.” Even as I say it, I can tell he doesn’t quite believe me. I have to give him something more, something to explain why I feel uneasy that doesn’t involve spilling my guts about Jay. “It’s just… weird, going into the city with you.”
“If you’re worried about any random alphas getting ideas, don’t worry. I’ll shut them down real quick. You’re safe with me.”
“Thank you,” I whisper, “but it’s not just that. It’s… I don’t know. The last time I was in the city was when I was trying to get into the Omega Garden.” I pick at the hole in my jeans. “I wouldn’t have gotten in if it wasn’t for you. You didn’t have to go out on a limb for me.”
“I didn’t. I just told that beta to let you in, which he should’ve done to begin with. Just because you’re from Solus Academy doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to present yourself at the Omega Garden. It’s not right.”
My mouth nearly drops to the floor of the car as I listen to him say all that. He sounds so sincere about it, too, like he really believes it. Like he’s not lying. I don’t know why, but I just wasn’t anticipating any of that.
Maybe all alphas aren’t the same. Maybe one or two of them aren’t so bad.
When I look at him like he’s crazy, he does a double take in my direction. “What?”
“It’s just, I don’t think I’ve ever heard an alpha talk like that.”
“Well, maybe you just haven’t been talking to the right alphas, then. We’re not all alike. A lot of us don’t agree with how things are run nowadays. It’s very… traditional? Old-fashioned? You know what I mean. A lot of alphas think omegas should have more rights of their own.”
Again, I believe everything he says. I’m just not used to an alpha agreeing with me.
“If that’s true, then there should be alphas rallying for the omega cause,” I mumble, biting back a frown. Last I checked, alphas weren’t lining the streets, protesting about how unfair life is for omegas.
“Believe it or not, there are some who are working their way up with the goal to change things.” He glances at me. “It’s not going to happen overnight, of course, but we aren’t all bad, Mercedes.”
We arrive at the bank within half an hour. It has an underground parking garage, and I can’t help be in awe. The parking garage has its own elevator to the main lobby of the building, where we then walk through security to get to a second set of elevators, which we take to the second floor, where the bank is.
It’s all tall ceilings, marbled floors, and men and women in suits. The alphas are security, beefy and bulky, and they handle themselves well as Nic and I walk by. Still, I stay glued to Nic’s side, not wanting to tempt fate.
A fancy place like this? Jay wouldn’t be caught dead in. I’m probably as safe here as I am at the house.
Nic brings me to a well-groomed beta sitting at one of the desks near the windows. I’m so caught up in how strange this all is, I barely register the entire interaction. The beta’s manners are impeccable, and he already has the forms I need to sign. I guess Darius and Warren already stopped by and signed whatever they had to in order to release the funds to an account in my name.
In less than twenty minutes, we’re driving home, and I have an extra one hundred grand to my name. It might not be much to certain people, but to me, it’s a life-changing amount of money. Like hell would I ever refuse it. I could make that last quite a bit. I just need to find somewhere to go.
As a bonus? I don’t even need to go to the bank to withdraw it. The man there helped me create an online account and even gave me a card that links to it. I can use it to withdraw cash at any ATM.
Of course, I’m not stupid. If I happened to run and used it like a debit card, the guys would be able to track everything.
When we get home, Nic puts something on the large flat screen TV in the living room and helps me set up my new laptop. The phone, we discovered when we turned it on, simply needed half a dozen updates.
Yeah. Kind of annoying.
I sit on the couch near him, both of us splitting our time between the laptop and the TV. He put some movie on about a group of kids forced to dig holes. When he first selected it, he told me it’s been his favorite movie ever since he was a kid, and when I off-handedly mentioned I’d never seen it, he acted like I told him I had an evil twin or something equally as ridiculous.
“I can’t believe you actually got me a computer after what happened,” I mutter. My feet are tucked in beneath my butt on the couch, and my hands are pulled into the sleeves of the hoodie. I’m a small little ball, and next to Nic, I feel even smaller.
Normally a bad feeling, but here? Not so much.
“What do you mean, after what happened?” Nic’s brows furrow. “You mean after Darius caught you in his office? He apologized for overreacting, didn’t he?”
I chew on my bottom lip. “Yeah, but… you have to know what I was looking up.”
“You mean the list of safest cities in America for omegas? Yeah, I know.” The way he says it, like we’re just talking about the weather and not the fact that I looked up possible places to run to confuses me. “It’s no big deal. We’re not upset or anything.”
“You’re not?”
“No, of course not. We don’t own you, Mercedes. Darius just doesn’t like anyone in his space. You can look up whatever you want to. Heck, you can even go, if you want. It’s why I made the offer I did.”
I don’t say anything. He sounds genuine, but I’m still having a tough time coming to terms with believing him.
“This computer, this phone—” Nic picks up the phone we just finished setting up. “—the money in the bank account. It’s all yours. No strings attached.”
Shaking my head, I whisper, “I don’t get why you guys would go through all this trouble. I mean, you’re giving me all this, and what do you three get in return?”
His answer comes swiftly: “The chance to get to know you.”
I chuckle. “I’m not that great.”
Nic studies me hard, whispering, “I beg to differ. I might not know everything there is to know about you, but I think you’re pretty great.”
Shifting my weight around, I have to break the eye contact between us and stare at the TV. “You’re just saying that because you want me to stay.”
“No,” he’s quick to say. “I mean, I won’t lie to you: I want you to stay. I want you to choose to stay with us, but I won’t pressure you into it. I think you could fit perfectly with us, but I mean it. You’re pretty great, and I think it makes you uncomfortable because nobody’s ever told you that before.”
“You don’t know what I’ve been told.”
He scoots closer to me. “No, I don’t, so tell me. Tell me anything. Tell me everything. Tell me why you feel like you have to leave this city to be safe.” His voice drops an octave as he adds, “Tell me what you’re running from.”
I want to tell him. God, he’s so warm and eager that I want to tell him everything. Crack myself open and give him all of my secrets—which, granted, aren’t many. It’s mainly just the one since he’s aware of my plan of running away.
And then he whispers, “Is it a guy? Another alpha? Tell me, and I’ll put the whole pack on it. We’ll make sure you’re safe.”
My eyes close, and I shake my head once. I turn my face away from him and whisper, “You could never understand. You’re not an omega, so you wouldn’t get it.”
He sets a hand on my leg and instantly my breath catches. “Then tell me. Explain it to me, please. I want to help you,” Nic says as he scoots closer. Suddenly there isn’t two feet between us on the couch; just like that we share a cushion, our legs touching.
I should scoot away, should put some distance between us, and yet I remain right where I am, feeling no need to. I slowly meet Nic’s dark gaze and whisper, “Nobody ever helps out of the goodness of their heart. Everybody wants something.”
“I don’t want anything for helping you.”
When he says that, I lift my eyebrows.
Nic chuckles, and I feel the masculine sound in my chest. It warms me up in a way no other sound ever has. “Well, okay, maybe I do want something from you, but I don’t want it in exchange for helping you. I want you, but I don’t mind waiting, either.”
“How long would you wait?” I don’t know what makes me ask, but the question comes out of my mouth regardless.
“However long it takes.” He leans in closer to me, and I instinctively close my eyes and turn my head, offering him my neck, much like I did to Warren last night at dinner. Nic breathes me in as a shudder swallows his upper half. “I want you, and I’ll wait as long as you want me to.”
Wow. This is not where I thought I’d be a few days after accepting an offer from a pack. I never imagined I’d feel so… curious, safe even, with an alpha who’s basically a stranger to me. At the same time, as weird as it is, he’s not a stranger. It’s like a primal part of me recognizes him, like I’ve been waiting for him and this pack my whole life.
But that’s crazy, isn’t it?
Though his nose is still buried in my neck and he’s busy breathing me in, I turn my head and touch my nose to his. His face is so close, he’s a bit blurry, but that doesn’t matter to me. I lift a hand and run it gently along his jawline, touching him in a way I’ve never touched anyone else, especially Jay.
Nic keeps his face shaven, but even so, I can feel the beginning hints of stubble beneath my fingertips. His skin is warm, so warm, and I can’t help but wonder what it’d be like to kiss him.
I never wanted to kiss anyone before, but now that the thought entered my brain, it refuses to leave.
“What are you thinking?” Nic asks me, his voice huskier than it was mere moments ago. “Tell me what you want.”
My hand falls from his jaw, landing on his chest, where it flattens and stays. He wears a simple T-shirt, but the fabric is thin enough that I can feel his heart beating beneath it.
Such a wide, strong chest. I bet it’s even nicer beneath the shirt.
“I want…” I trail off, seconds from saying something I never thought I would. Just two days and my thoughts are already jumbled from this pack. Where’s Darius to give me a nice, cold jolt of reality when I need him?
“You want what?” he asks, breathless, as the arm closest to me snakes around my back, his fingers toying with the bottom hem of the hoodie I wear.
“I think I want,” I pause, fighting with myself all the while, “to kiss you.”
“I want that, too,” Nic admits, “but until you’re sure, I’ll wait.” And then, before I can say anything else that’ll get me in trouble, he pulls himself away from me and grabs my laptop from its spot on the coffee table before us. He sets it on my lap and says, “Here. Time to make a password only you know. Make sure to remember it.” And then he goofily covers his eyes as he grins.
He’s giving me an out, a way to diffuse the situation without putting pressure on me. Normally, I’d appreciate it, but for some reason, today, it’s the last thing I wanted. I really did want to kiss him.
Ah, well. It’s probably smarter to ignore that particular desire of mine. There’s no way it’ll end well.