Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Belle
My eyelids are heavy, but I manage to pry them open to look up at the three faces staring down at me. I glance to either side to take in my surroundings while I try to avoid meeting the curious eyes of the men hovering worriedly over my limp noodle of a body.
The last thing I remember is getting light-headed after realizing that thing I’m still struggling to wrap my mind around . I must have passed out, and someone managed to get me onto the brown leather couch in their open floor plan living room.
“How long have I been out?” I ask, wondering how embarrassed I should be. A short blackout is understandable. Amusing even. A longer pass out where I might have been lying unconscious, drooling, and who knows what else? Not so cute.
None of the guys respond immediately. I reluctantly return my gaze upward, eyes searching each of theirs as I implore them to answer. All three wear similar scrunch-faced expressions of worry.
Rhys eventually answers, his voice deepening into a parody of a raspy, old man to tell me, “You’ve been asleep for eighty-four years.”
The man next to him with smooth, brown skin and black hair rolls his eyes and smacks the back of his hand against Rhys’s gut. “Don’t tease her,” he says. I give him a brief once-over, taking in his neatly trimmed facial hair across his jawline and over his upper lip. There’s even a smattering of dark hair peeking out from behind his pastel green sweater.
“Hi,” I blurt out.
“Hi.” His smile is wide and warm, showing off two rows of perfect teeth. “I’m Percy.”
He smells like apples. The smell is sweet but subtle, and I can’t help but inhale deeply, trying to get more of it. When he catches me, I feel my cheeks warm with a blush.
“I’m in your house.”
“I know.” His eyes crinkle near the corners as his smile grows impossibly wider. He’s amused by me.
Good grief.
The world’s sexiest three men have just taken me into their home, and for two of them, this is their first impression of me. A silly little mess of a woman passing out in their doorway. Which somehow still seems like a better start than Rhys finding me stranded on the side of the road from a minor car accident.
Is this what rock bottom feels like? Omegas fantasize about the possibility of finding a scent-match, and here I am making a mess of things.
I clear my throat and try again, “I’m Belle .”
“Nice to meet you, Belle.” Percy’s voice is so smooth that my name sounds like butter rolling off his tongue. My lower belly clenches with interest.
“How do I smell?” I blurt out the question without thinking it all the way through.
Rhys snorts out a laugh that’s cut short when the third man turns a sharp glare his way. Percy’s lips twitch, but he manages not to laugh at me.
“You smell amazing. Like cinnamon,” Percy answers wistfully. He starts to reach out for me before stopping himself short, though the effort seems to take a lot out of him because his breathing turns shallow.
Together we smell like dessert, maybe a warm apple pie. I wonder if we could top each other with ice cream…
Wait a second. Stranger danger. I need to stop thinking with the part of my body currently leaking slick so that I can focus on the serious situation at hand.
I have so many questions. “Why are you three living hours from town?”
The other two men snap their heads over to look at Rhys. I guess he’s the one responsible for them living outside of civilization in the middle of nowhere.
“Once you get used to the distance, the drive feels like it could be thirty minutes.” He shrugs one shoulder playfully and winks at me while ignoring the stares from his packmates.
Carefully, I push up to a seated position on the couch, and the three of them take half-steps backward to give me room to sit up.
While I should be grateful they seem to observe personal space, I kind of hate it at the same time. I’m longing to be close to them, as unfamiliar as they are to me.
“Do all of you work from home?” They have to make money somehow because their home looks like it was decorated by an interior designer–between the high-end looking leather furniture, curated matching art hanging on the walls, and perfect accents of plants and books everywhere.
“Pretty much,” Rhys answers slowly.
“Are you single?” I look around wildly between the three of them. What if they aren’t? “Are you looking? Is there space for a nest here?” They live in the middle of nowhere... “Does your pack already have an omega?”
I guess being chill has flown right out the window and under a pile of snow. But I need to know. My omega needs to make sure there’s no threat waiting around.
“Woah.” Percy puts his hands up to calm me like a wild animal. “The only omega our pack has eyes for is you, Belle, and you seem like you’ve had enough excitement for one night. There will be plenty of time for us to answer your questions tomorrow.”
“And for the next few days,” Rhys adds, “since we won’t be able to get you back to town for at least a few days.”
Percy frowns at him. “Are you sure? Because–”
“I’m sure,” Rhys cuts him off. “You know how icy the main road is out here after a big snow. I’m sure we’ll need to wait at least three or four days before we can safely drive hours to take Belle back to town.”
The two men pause, studying each other intensely for a moment.
“Right, yeah, of course.” Percy nods. For my benefit, he adds, “Rhys here is the only one of us three who makes the drive into town regularly. Knox and I don’t need nearly as much social interaction as our Golden Retriever alpha here.” He pats Rhys affectionately on the back.
Golden Retriever? I feel like I’ve heard that description before, but my mind is still too cloudy to connect the dots.
So, the third guy’s name is Knox. He hasn’t spoken a word, and his face seems fixed in a permanent frown. I guess he isn’t as ready to welcome an unexpected house guest as his two pack mates.
Does he not care that we’re a scent-match? That part of me longs to launch myself at them so that I can rub all over them and carry their three scents around with me? How does he seem so unfazed? He must have the willpower of a god... or he’s just a special kind of asshole that doesn’t care.
The thought must have my scent changing, alerting the guys to my internal thoughts. Percy and Rhys look over at Knox, who is staring at me with his eyebrows furrowed in frustration.
Surely, he doesn’t hate me already? Maybe I came on too strong. What if he doesn’t want me? What if these alphas who are supposed to be mine decide they want nothing to do with me?
Well, sounds like I have a few days to make them change their minds.
“Are you sure you don’t mind that I’m stuck here?” I ask mostly for Knox’s benefit. I feel guilty that he clearly doesn’t want me here while I might be stranded here for days. “Maybe if I can borrow someone’s phone, I might be able to come up with a phone number I remember.” Even with my spotty memory, I must have muscle memory for at least one or two phone numbers I’ve memorized at some point in my life. A family member or a best friend.
Rhys shakes his head. “We don’t have a phone. Or a computer. No internet or cell signal at all, actually. Not even cable.”
They have a huge television hanging on their wall...
“We only use the TV for video games and DVDs,” Percy explains as he follows my gaze.
“Oh.” I don’t know what to say. Their house must be even more secluded than I realized if they don’t even keep cell phones. “What do you do if there’s an emergency?”
“Rhys has experience as an emergency responder,” Percy says.
The alpha nods proudly at the mention of his skills. “I also once binge-watched an entire medical drama series, so at this point, I’m practically a surgeon.”
I giggle at his sense of humor. Except his face looks pretty serious. Maybe he isn’t joking?
“And there’s an older couple down the road who have a landline if there’s ever an emergency we can’t handle. We would never let anything happen to you, Belle. You’re safe here with us.” Rhys puts his hand over his heart like the very idea of me feeling endangered hurts him.
Knox scoffs.
Rhys and Percy both look over at him with guilty, slightly downcast expressions. Clearly, Knox doesn’t want me here, so I guess the guys feel guilty for trying to reassure me and make me feel welcome.
I feel guilty, too. Knox should be comfortable in his own home... It’s just that even if I knew where I’m supposed to be right now, I wouldn’t know how to get there in this weather with my car left wrecked in a ditch. Knowing I’m scent-matched to his pack also makes me worry. Once he’s not forced to live with me instantly, will he give me a chance? If my scent-matched pack doesn’t want me, I’ll be heartbroken.
My chest already aches at the prospect.
“This is bullshit,” Knox announces. The first words I’ve heard from him, and they make the aching feeling creep up my throat.
“Knox...” Rhys gives him a pleading look.
Knox shakes his head and storms away, toward the front door that he yanks open so hard I’m surprised he doesn’t pull the door completely off of the hinges. He walks out, slamming the door behind him and disappearing out into the night.
What are the odds I would crash my car and just so happen to be rescued by a scent-match? Based on Knox’s reactions, I think fate must be playing a cruel joke on me if she brought me my scent-match only to deny me the pleasure of joining their pack.
I don’t think I should get too comfortable here.
“Will he be okay?” I ask quietly, nervously nibbling at my bottom lip.
“He’ll be fine,” Percy reassures me.
“Knox is just complicated.” Rhys offers me a hand to help me up from the couch. “Everyone will feel better after a snack and a good night’s sleep.”