19. Finley
Finley
As I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Zander was giving me this room to call my own, he gently caught my chin in his hand.
I glanced up at him, getting captured in his cool silver gaze that looked at me like I was his whole world.
He leaned down, pressing his lips to mine, and the instant they touched, I melted, my wolf overwhelmed.
"I'll be back tonight, hopefully with more information about you and the elves in general. Be good. Don't make trouble for Mason and Noah, or else I'll have to do something about it," Zander warned, but I wasn't worried. The look of hunger in his eyes told me I wasn't in any real danger.
“Wait! Before you go, I had asked Noah about books on omegas. He thought you might be the best source to have them,” I inquired.
Zander smiled at me, caressing my cheek with his thumb. “The library is downstairs. Feel free to read whatever you find in there, but I know for sure there are a few that match what you’re looking for.”
With a quick kiss, he left the room, giving the twins a meaningful look.
The moment the door closed behind Zander, Mason darted across the room and leapt into the bean bag chair with me.
He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close, giving enough space for Noah to join us in a snuggle pile.
All the anxious feelings that I'd been having since breakfast, drifted away as I was cocooned with these two large betas.
Noah started to play with my hair, something I found oddly comforting.
"Still not sure that snuggles isn't a good nickname for you?" Mason teased, poking at my side, making a giggle slip out.
I froze at the sound of it and looked between the two of them. "That never happened…"
Noah grinned and gave me a wink. "What do you mean? Twin, what could possibly have not happened just now?"
"I don't know, twin, but it might have been the most adorable thing I've ever not heard before. Think I should see if I can get her to not do it again?" Mason asked, his finger skimming down my side, threatening to poke me again.
Shifting to lay on my back, I pulled my knees up to my chest then shot them out, vaulting me forward and out of their arms. I tucked and rolled forward, somersaulting away before I stood and looked back at them over my shoulder. "Sorry, boys, but that's not gonna happen."
Both Noah and Mason gave me a look that told me I'd just triggered something primal in them.
They turned to each other next, and the conspiratorial smile they gave each other had me racing out of the room with them hot on my heels.
At the bottom of the stairs, I had a split second to guess what direction I was gonna take before I spotted the library.
I darted into the room, just barely managing to slip behind the couch before they entered.
“Oh, snuggles, you’re gonna need to try harder than that to hide from us,” Mason taunted. “You forget that we have super hearing and smell. Your heart is racing awfully fast.”
“Twin, that’s creepy! Don’t say things like that to her,” Noah scolded.
I let out a squeak as Mason’s face popped up above me. “Gotcha!”
Laughing, I came out from behind the couch. “Just you wait. Once I figure all this out, I’ll make it so it’s impossible to find me.”
“Ah, but you forget you named me a Hunter, the best there is at tracking their prey,” Mason pointed out, grinning from ear to ear.
“That’s the challenge, right, to be better than the best? I was once one of the best, and I plan on getting back to that someday, sooner than later,” I announced. “You know what helps make you the best?”
Mason frowned at me. “Practice?”
“Knowledge. Before any job was started, I spent a few days learning, researching, and stalking my hit before I made a move. All of this is beyond overwhelming, so I’m going back to what I know, and I’m going to learn what I don’t know,” I shared as I took in the library.
“Sorry to say it's not looking to be a very exciting day.”
“Love, as your Companion, I am happy to help support you in any way that I can. If that means we spend the day curled up reading, helping you figure out this new life, then we are all in. Right, twin?” Noah called out to Mason who was sprawled out on the couch.
“Yup, what he said. All in, snuggles, whatever you need,” Mason agreed.
My heart warmed at their understanding and support, knowing that this must be the last thing they wanted to spend their day doing. Well, maybe just Mason, Noah struck me as an intellect.
“Twin, why don’t you see if you can find a computer so we can pull up the chat rooms that Senator Vaughan set up for bitten wolves,” Noah suggested.
“This is why they say you're the brains and I’m the brawn,” Mason said as he hopped off the couch and headed out on his mission.
Walking over to Noah, I wrapped my arms around his middle and rested my head on his chest. “Thank you, I’m sure you had better things to do today.”
“That’s the thing about mates, even unclaimed ones. Once we know who we’re intended to be with, there’s nothing we won’t do for them,” Noah explained. “Come on, let's grab some books and head back to your nest.”
Zander’s library was a wealth of information on all kinds of things, music, business, history of all species of human and supernatural, and some fiction scattered throughout.
Between Noah and I there were about ten books we thought would be helpful.
Mason even found a laptop that we could use as well.
“You two head on up and get started, I’m gonna raid this kitchen for snacks. There’s no way that you can have a study session like this without snacks,” Mason explained.
Shaking my head, I left him to it and headed back up to the nest.
“Do you feel more relaxed with less of us around?” Noah asked as we climbed back onto the bean bag chair. “I only ask because you seem much less submissive if that makes any sense.”
Taking a moment, I thought about that and checked in with my wolf. She was content and napping, feeling safe, secure, and looked after. “Do you think it has something to do with you and Mason being tied to my elven side?”
“It could be, or the fact that your omega nature isn’t as on alert with the alphas being gone. You aren’t just a werewolf. You’re elf, too, so it might bring out some odd distinctions in traits,” Noah mused.
“Seems like everything just leads to more questions than answers,” I grumbled.
Noah hummed and ran his finger through my hair. “Then I guess we better get reading so you can find some answers.”
It didn’t take Mason long to join us, arms full of snacks, and we dove into our research.
“Oh, here’s something!” I exclaimed after finding nothing in the first two books. “This explains why I couldn’t eat before you guys. Since omegas are at the bottom of the packing order, we either have to go last or be given our food by an alpha.”
Mason shifted to look up at me from where his head was laying on my stomach. “I guess we should have figured that one out from how you acted after your first kill.”
Hmm, he wasn’t wrong on that. I had assumed it was because I was in wolf form.
“Listen to this,” Noah cut in. “Empathic omegas used to be fairly common, but they’ve become more rare. Some can sense the mood of a pack member without touching them if they know each other. Otherwise, to get the best reading on someone, they have to touch them directly.”
“Are elves empathic at all, do you think?” I wondered.
“Before my first shift, I could feel some of your emotions, but now it’s like I can’t block them out.
Although all six of you guys seem to have your emotions under control for the most part except when you get mad.
Could that be why the alphas affect me so much?
Because of the double hit of dominance and emotion? ”
The twins muttered agreement with my logic but didn’t have much else to add on the matter.
“Ah, here in this chat room, some omegas are talking about how stressful dealing with everyone’s emotions can be and how nests are a major help in recharging,” Mason said. “We might need to make you one in the pack house, so if things get too much, you can sneak away there.”
I was beginning to see why omegas lived a very sheltered, coddled life.
Everything about them was emotional, whether it was pouring into others or taking the brunt of emotions from them.
This was how they created balance, by understanding the mental wellbeing of all the pack members as a means to help them.
Colt kept saying how this pack was so healthy, and this made me hope I wouldn’t have too much to deal with.
The trouble was going to come with the fact that I’d never been trained to deal with emotions.
Feelings were something the Organization worked out of us, knowing it would shatter us if we were emotionally invested.
After all the research I did, sometimes I agreed with the hit and knew it was the right choice.
Other times, it was someone standing in the way of a greedy person who just wanted to be richer.
Somehow, I was going to have to deal with emotions, my own and others, this ment unlearning years of conditioning.
Let’s hope these men are as understanding as they appear to be as I figure this out, because I could already feel my wolf start to worry if we messed up at our job.
“Lane said something about a pack meal. What are those like?” I asked, setting my book down and grabbing some beef jerky.
Noah shifted behind me so he could see me better. “The alphas try to do them once a month so new members can be greeted and foster a better sense of community. See, packs live a little on the hippy side of life.”
“What my twin is trying to say is that we’re basically a commune.
We share all the resources that we can amongst the pack.
There is a giant ass garden, a school, daycare for working parents, patrol groups, cooks who make lunch for those working on property, and a few other odd jobs,” Mason clarified.
“Elias, Noah, and I are heads of the patrols that watch our borders. Our territory butts up to the mountains, and we sometimes get lost humans wandering in. They’re mostly there to keep other packs or uninvited supers off our land. ”
“Is there trouble with the other supers in the area?” I questioned, not having considered that an issue.
Mason and Noah exchanged a look before they decided on an answer.
“It’s not that we have a problem with anyone, but having a successful, fast-growing pack draws attention these days.
Some packs aren’t as well managed, and people are going hungry, sneaking onto our land to steal from us.
We help a lot of smaller packs in the area.
but they have to go about it the proper way,” Noah stated.
Mason sat up and turned to face me. “Like in anything, there is good and bad in all people or groups. Part of being in a pack is knowing you have protection from the bad in the world. Sometimes Colt will have Noah and me help out another pack if they need some strong enforcers. We don’t mind, of course, since we tend to get paid, but sometimes we help a new alpha stabilize their pack just because it’s the right thing to do. ”
“Sounds like I ended up with some very noble mates, now didn’t I?” I said with a smile. “Alright, I think we’ve done a lot of research here today. Let’s do something fun until the others get back.”
“Oh, thank god,” Mason sighed. “What do you say we go check out the movie situation? That TV looked pretty badass!”
One nod from me, and I was tossed over his shoulder and hauled out of my nest into the living room. It didn’t take us long to find out Zander had every streaming service known to man, plus tons of movies for us to select from.
“Oh, we are so watching John Wick!” Noah announced the moment he saw it.
“Nah, fuck that. The puppy gets killed! Why would we do that to snuggles,” Mason argued.
“Guys,” I interjected, “I love those movies. Keanu Reeves is one of my favorite actors— he does his own stunts and is sexy to watch.”
Noah and Mason gaped at me then gave each other a meaningful look. “Okay, so not gonna happen. What’s your next pick? What about Shrek? No one's sexy in that movie,” Mason offered.
“Yes, perfect choice, twin,” Noah agreed.
“Are you jealous over me calling Keanu Reeves sexy?” I chuckled, feeling oddly flattered they would get so protective of me over a man I would never meet.
Ignoring my question, they arranged themselves on the couch with me draped over them, humming in contentment.
Another thing I’d learned today was that only alphas could purr; humming was the closest betas could come to making the same noise.
This was how the others found us when they returned from whatever they’d been doing—the three of us watching Shrek 3 which I didn’t know was a thing.
“Looks like you guys have had a productive day.” Colt smiled as he brushed some hair out of my face before kissing my forehead, not caring that I was sprawled on Mason’s chest.
“We spent most of the day researching omegas and what it’s like to live in a pack,” I shared, slipping off of Mason to greet Lane and Elias.
Lane pulled me in for a tight hug, resting his chin on top of my head, and purred. “Did you learn anything helpful?”
"It cleared a lot of things up for me, but every omega is so different as to how sensitive they are to things. I do think that I'm a very strong empathic omega though," I informed the others.
“That makes sense, Cory was always aware of everyone's feelings but I wouldn’t have said he was strong in that area. He was more adept at finding those in pain, emotional or physical and soothing them. Other emotions he didn’t pick up on as well,” Colt mused.
"That's something we’ll have to keep in mind when you're around the pack. We don't want to overwhelm you," Lane said more to Colt than to me. "Come on. Zander won’t be back tonight, so let's see what we can make for dinner in his giant kitchen.”