Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Tate
My morning had started on a bad note with a phone call from my dad, but after baking cookies and an orgasm, I was feeling much more like myself.
As the son of four parents in the music industry, I always felt like I had eyes on me. Two of my dads and my mom worked on the music production side of things, while my third dad had climbed the corporate ladder to become a top executive.
Had our band had help producing our first single and releasing it? Yes. Did my dad remind me of that every chance he got? Absolutely.
Most artists in the industry had some kind of connection to get their foot in the door, and if they didn’t, they made those connections by going viral or catching a music executive’s eye.
I was certain we would have made it regardless of the help we had, and it sucked that my own damn father liked to throw it in my face whenever the band made a decision he didn’t agree with.
Like canceling two morning show appearances.
After Cal’s knot released Kara, they both cleaned up and Kara sat on the floor between my legs so I could do her hair. She seemed to be feeling better, and having her hair done would help even more.
Her hair was wavy when damp, and I combed through it, careful to hold the hair at the scalp to work out any tangles. Her curls were beautiful, but with her being in heat, it was better to just pull her hair back.
“I could get used to this.” Kara sighed as I massaged her scalp after I was done detangling her hair.
“He gives good shoulder massages too.” Cal had his eyes glued on the game; our alma mater was down by three in the fourth quarter.
“If this singing career doesn’t work out, you could be a masseuse... or a hairstylist.” Her head lolled to the side as I grabbed onto her shoulders, digging my thumbs in.
“I only know how to do braids because growing up I spent a lot of time at my aunt’s house and was the only boy. Plus, I assumed because I came from a pack, I’d emerge as an alpha and I wanted to learn for my omega.” I grabbed my comb and parted her hair down the middle.
“You’re so full of shit,” Cal muttered.
I grabbed a throw pillow and smacked him with it. “See if I ever massage your shoulders again.”
“You two fight like brothers.” Kara snorted. “Kayla and I didn’t fight a ton, but when we did, it was horrible. We were complete opposites growing up. She was always busy doing something with our dads, and I was shut in my room reading or doing homework.”
Her voice held a note of sadness, and I smoothed one of my hands over her head in comfort. “What’s wrong?”
“Just been doing a lot of thinking about what I sacrificed to be the best and if it was worth it. One of my dads died unexpectedly when we were nine, and it broke our parents for a while, especially our mom. I didn’t want them to worry about me, so I always worked my ass off to not disappoint them. ”
Cal muted the TV and turned toward us, bending his leg on the couch. “It’s tiring trying to be perfect all the time. I used to freak out anytime I even had a point taken off a paper or exam. I didn’t really let that go until I met the guys in the dorms.”
“So, you’re saying they’re a bad influence?” Kara teased.
“Exactly. Everyone thinks I’m the wild child of the group, but Alvaro is the one that got me drunk for the first time the night before a very important final. I studied drunk.” Cal looked over at me. “And Tate over there, don’t get me started.”
“I’m an angel. You’re just making up lies.” I grinned as I began French braiding one side of Kara’s hair. Her hair was thick and soft, and I wanted to run my fingers through it some more.
“Tate was the master of pranks. He doesn’t do them much anymore, but occasionally he’ll pull a real zinger on us.” Cal let out a wistful sigh. “One time, he put a fake snake in Avery’s dorm room. I’ve never heard a man scream so loud.”
“I feel like I missed out on so much fun being at the Omega Academy... well, besides when my sister did something crazy.” Kara reached up and patted one side of her head as I finished. “That’s nice. I’ll have to give you a nice tip later.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” I leaned forward and kissed her fingers. “You can be however you want with us.”
“Thank you.” She sniffled, and Cal practically flew from his spot onto the floor next to her.
The back door of the cabin opened, and Alvaro and Avery walked in with Gizmo. Avery was singing something, and Alvaro was humming along with him. It wasn’t anything I’d heard before and my ears perked up.
All of our heads turned in their direction as they walked into the kitchen, and both grabbed a cookie. Anya always kept our bus fridge stocked with pre-made dough because nothing hit the spot like a freshly baked cookie.
Alvaro’s humming stopped. “We should get this down before we forget.”
“On it.” Avery took a bite of his cookie and groaned, looking over at me, Cal, and Kara. “Don’t you three look cozy playing beauty shop. It smells like sex in here too. Is that a new service you’re offering? Free orgasms with a hairdo?”
It was nice to see Avery happy and having an air of excitement surrounding him. He was optimistic about the future for the first time in a long time, just like the rest of us.
Gizmo trotted across the living room and let out a grunt as he folded dramatically in his dog bed and put his head on his paws. He’d been really good about staying away from Kara. The last thing we needed was for him to try to hump her leg.
“Avery, if you aren’t careful, we won’t be able to call you Payne anymore,” I joked.
He walked into the living room and stood in front of us, blocking the TV. “Why not? It’s my last name.”
“He can still be a pain in the ass if he’s not in mental anguish.” Cal was still on the floor and stroking Kara’s arm. “You’re in the way.”
“Maybe the pain is in my ass from dealing with you.” Avery didn’t move out of the way and crossed his arms over his chest. “I have nail polish on the bus. When Jonathan and Anya get back, I can paint your nails.”
“I’d like that.” She looked up at him, and although I couldn’t see her face, I could hear the adoration in her voice.
“I’m going to go write this song down.” Avery leaned down and kissed her before heading toward the spare bedroom where we were keeping our overnight bags and electronics so we didn’t have to go out to the bus.
Alvaro sat down on the couch and reached over to give the braid I just finished a light tug. “We walked a wide perimeter around the cabin and there are no other people within a half-mile radius.”
Cal looked up at me. “We have four days after our show tomorrow until the next one in the Bay Area. We can leave the night before the show and get there by the time we have soundcheck. Do you think your dad will flip his lid?”
“Probably.” I sat back on the couch and ran a hand over my face. “We’ll have to cancel a few more appearances too.”
“Management isn’t happy we separated from the other buses. I told them we are grown-ass men and to stop acting like our mothers. They didn’t like that.” Alvaro chuckled to himself. “They think we’re off getting drunk and hosting orgies or something.”
“Well…” Kara giggled. “One part of that isn’t too far from the truth.”
“It’s the last two weeks of the tour. They just need to get over it. We’re tired.” Cal got up off the floor with a groan and flopped down between me and Alvaro. “My ass is asleep. Come up here, Kara. We need your ass in tip-top shape and not sore from the floor.”
She stood, adjusting the shirt of Alvaro’s she was wearing with nothing underneath it. She was more relaxed than I’d seen her since her heat started, and it filled me with pride that we were taking good care of her. At least, I hoped we were.
“Come here.” Alvaro reached for her and grabbed her wrist, pulling her onto his lap. “I like seeing you in my shirt.”
Her long legs stretched out over Cal, and she wiggled her toes. I couldn’t resist running my finger up the bottom of one to see her reaction.
She snatched her foot away with a laugh. “Don’t you dare.”
“You really shouldn’t have let him see your weakness.” Cal ran his hand up and down her calf. “He’s N’Pact’s resident tickler.”
A thoughtful expression passed over Kara’s face. “I have a question that you guys never answer when you’re asked… and I’ve been curious.”
Alvaro groaned. “I know exactly what you’re going to ask.”
“You can’t blame me. Anytime someone asks what the N is for on N’Pact, you guys get these sheepish little grins and I’m dying to know why. I promise I won’t tell a soul.” She batted her eyelashes and put her hands together in a plea. “Pretty please?”
“We’re the only four that know its meaning. It’s highly classified and confidential,” I warned, serious as all get out.
“We can do a blood oath or pinky promise if that makes you feel better.” The hopefulness in her eyes was enough to make us all putty in her hands.
“Tell her,” Avery said, walking out of the bedroom in just his boxers, his iPad in hand. He sat down in a chair and started writing on the screen like a man possessed.
Alvaro touched Kara’s cheek so she’d look at him. “Swear on all of our knots you won’t even tell Kayla this.”
She gasped and put her hand to her neck as if she were clutching her pearls. “Not your knots!”
“Swear it. It’s the only way.” I wrapped my hand around her foot. “You breathe a word of it and no more knots for you.”
She raised her hand. “I swear on all four of your knots that I will not tell anyone.”
We let the silence go on for longer than was necessary before I nodded for Alvaro to go ahead.
“When we were coming up with name possibilities, we started playing with our names, like many bands before us have. The only two words we could come up with that would have a letter for each of us was beta and pact. There was no way we were using beta, and since Avery’s last name is cool, it made sense to use his last name for it. ”
Kara nodded because this was common knowledge. “Yes… but the N. And why not an M?”
The number of times we’d been asked both of those questions was laughable. I squeezed her foot, drawing her attention to me. “Someone, who shall remain nameless, is bad at spelling and thought the word had an N at first. But it did sound better.”
“That’s it? That’s honestly kind of lame.” She was asking for her foot to be tickled again.
Avery stopped and looked up from his iPad. “I mentioned we could find another meaning for it. Something only we knew. This was right after we started singing together, so although we’d seen each other around, we hadn’t formed a pack yet.”
Cal chuckled. “Alvaro was like… well, we discovered each other naked.”
“And since we had been drinking, we settled on using an N to represent how we met and the apostrophe we like to think is a dick.” Alvaro grinned. “It’s stupid, but we were eighteen and nineteen years old.”
Kara blinked several times, her lips turning up into a smile. “What do you mean you met naked?”
“One night, we were all showering, and Tate started singing. Then we just all joined in, and it was so effortless and amazing that we decided to start a group. We were acapella at first and then started songwriting and recording with Tate’s parents.
” Cal sighed. “All those good grades didn’t even matter in the end. ”
Kara patted his hand that was resting on her thigh. “They matter. They shaped who you are.”
Avery put the iPad on the table next to the chair. “What’s the plan here? With us as a pack? With Kara?”
Kara’s smile fell, and I could see her brain going through different scenarios, mostly ones of worry. “I thought… I thought you wanted me.”
“No! I mean. Shit. Fuck.” He stood and came over to the couch, lowering to his knees in front of it. “I meant now that you’re with us, what’s our plan? I’m going to have a real hard time letting you go.”
“Jesus, man.” Cal reached forward and flicked his ear. “Don’t stress out our omega like that.”
“Children, let’s not start a fight.” Alvaro flicked Cal’s ear. “Once we get Kara through her heat, we’ll just have to hope they let us do the fall match. If not…”
“If not, I can move to the Los Angeles compound and hopefully find ways to sneak out.” Kara sat up straighter. “Or I can tell them that unless they want me to come forward about the probable tampering of my matches and everyone else’s, they need to match us.”
“Blackmail?” Alvaro snorted. “That’s just going to create even more problems.”
She deflated like a balloon poked with a needle. “Omega Match needs to change.”
We all agreed, but not even what happened with Kara’s sister was enough to cause any crazy changes. It wasn’t like any of us had any ideas about how it should be done. The most important thing was that omegas were protected, and Omega Protective Services and Omega Match did a good job of that.
“No one knows you weren’t at the meet and greet besides that girl you said helped you escape and your friend.
You could write a letter to Omega Match telling them that you really hope we’re in the fall match.
They know who you are, don’t they?” I didn’t think there were any other options, and if worst came to worst, we’d have to deal with it when the time came.
“I can do that.” She leaned her head against Alvaro’s shoulder and yawned. “I need a nap.”
The front door unlocked, and Anya stuck her head in, jumping slightly when she saw us all on the couch. “Am I interrupting? I come bearing gifts.” Anya’s timing was impeccable.
The wariness in Kara’s eyes faded and she jumped up, nearly kneeing Avery in the nose and flashing her bare ass at us. “Let’s go, boys. It’s time to build my nest.”
I had a feeling it was going to take a long time to set it up if the looks in all of our eyes were any indication.