Chapter 23
Pace
I expected to be kicked out of the over-the-top mansion, escorted from the charity ball by security after insulting and vaguely threatening the host, so imagine my surprise when I’m left alone by the large alphas stationed near the door, arms crossed behind their backs, faces neutral, and postures stiff as they stand on guard.
“It’s probably because Alek has put the idea that I’m a part of the mafia into their heads,” Munro snickers, glaring in the direction I know Cynthia scurried to after her verbal beat down, taking little, puny Philip with her.
Glancing over at my omega’s mother, I find her watching our table, eyeing the twins as they chat to Professor Champion and two other members of Alek’s pack, a little tidbit I wasn’t aware of. Silver never once mentioned that Barnes Champion, the art professor at North U, was basically family to her. But there he is, casually conversing with the twins out of school hours, relaxed and completely at ease. It’s a trippy development, and I find myself more amused than anything.
“Yeah, probably. Your brooding finally came in handy, brother,” I comment, looking over at Munro and rolling my eyes at him. Slouched in his seat with one arm braced over Aero’s seat while his other hand remains tucked in his pocket, he sits like he hasn’t a care in the world. His shirt splayed open to reveal a shitload of ink, his hair is a little mussed from where Silver was gripping him to kiss in the middle of the dance floor, and there’s a perma-scowl etched on his face as he continues to burn a hole in Cynthia’s head.
Munro scoffs before finally taking his eyes off the vile woman that produced the perfect woman, lazily looking over at me before he drawls, “Happy to be of assistance.”
My lips twitch before I look away, my eyes landing on Silver the moment I turn. It’s like my eyes simply seek her out now, whether it’s done consciously or not. I don’t mind. I’d watch that woman every hour of the day if it wouldn’t annoy her.
Standing with her cousin and Lazarus, an easy smile on her face as she fixes Alek’s suit jacket while nodding to whatever he’s saying, I watch with rapt attention as she throws her head back and laughs, her pale hair falling away to reveal her slender neck that teases me from where I’m sitting. The urge to run over and sink my teeth into her is one I fight with gritted teeth, my instincts warring inside me. Ever since Cynthia decided to try her hand at matchmaking once more, bringing with her the dull alpha who stinks of almonds, there’s been a pressure in my chest that I’ve been forced to ignore. A pressure that demands I bond with the omega currently talking animatedly with her hands, making the two alphas laugh loudly.
Grinning, Silver turns her head toward our table, and our gazes collide. I watch with my heart hammering as my omega’s face softens, her grin gentling, almost turning shy, before she turns back to reply to something Lazarus tells her. But that one look sears itself into my memory, not that I need to, because Aero blurts, “Yes! Got it.”
Frowning, I ask, “Got what?”
Instead of answering with words, Aero lowers his cell phone and shows us the screen, and what’s on there makes me smile widely. Silver, in all of her beauty and glory, is captured in a photo that shows me it wasn’t my imagination that painted her face in a soft fondness that borders on being shy. It’s right there, immortalized, and I point at the photo, demanding, “Send that to me.”
Aero winks and does as he’s told. “Already done, bro. Check your cell.”
Sure enough, my phone pings a moment later, and I pull it from the inside pocket of my tux jacket. The moment I unlock the screen, I’m heading to my messages and downloading the photo waiting for me, instantly replacing the generic lock screen I’ve had since I got my phone two years ago to the photo of Silver looking at me like she’s…
I want to say in love , but I feel like that might be my wishful thinking. Sure, I heard every word between her and Meemaw, and Silver didn’t deny her feelings when Meemaw suggested that the look of love on her face suited her, but I don’t want to assume. One thing’s for certain, there’s no doubt in my mind that I’m falling for Silver. Falling hard, fast, and willingly.
My eyes fall back on Silver when Munro and Aero end up in a conversation that I pay no attention to, and I find her head snapping back quickly as though she was watching me and didn’t want to be caught. I watch as her cheeks turn pink at whatever Alek says, and she flips him a subtle middle finger that has him grinning wildly before he tugs her into a bone-crushing hug. I’m convinced I can hear her grunting in pain from here, and I make a conscious effort to remain in my seat instead of vaulting over the damn table to pluck her from her cousin’s hold.
Before I can consider the pros and cons of caving in to my urges, there’s a tapping of a microphone that sends a buzz of static through the room just as the harpist ends her song on a long, vibrating note.
My attention diverts from Silver to Meemaw, who stands elegantly on stage, her dress held in one hand to prevent tripping while the other holds a black microphone that looks brand new.
“Hello, everyone,” Meemaw begins as soon as the mic is pressed to her lips. “Thank you so much for coming tonight to support a worthy cause that will aid in future generations of omegas who, like myself and my beautiful granddaughter, have faced the struggles of their designation and will be offered the necessary resources to learn who they are in a safe and stable environment designed for them. I know you all value the omegas of our society, just as deeply as we value betas and alphas, and so I want to offer you all a chance to become an integral part of a new system that will help the omegas of the world flourish into who they’re meant to be.”
A round of applause follows after the speech, and I sit back as my eyes go in search of Meemaw’s granddaughter. I find her hugging a woman with pale-blonde hair much like hers and Alek’s, the woman’s arm banded around Alek’s waist as she whispers into Silver’s ear and makes her smile.
“For the next portion of this evening, we will be hosting an auction that has been compiled of a wide range of donated items that I’m sure will appeal to you all. Each benefactor here tonight has offered a range of lavish prizes, from a trip to Paris, to a brand new Rolls-Royce that you could drive away with tonight. On each table, you’ll find a catalogue of each item available for your bidding pleasure. The auction will start in twenty minutes or so, so have your wallets at the ready, folks. Let’s raise some money for a cause worth supporting,” Meemaw concludes, smiling at the crowd as she receives another round of applause before stepping from the stage with all the grace of a queen.
As soon as Meemaw is floating across the dancefloor, heading in the direction of Silver and Alek, my eyes go to my omega like she’s a magnet I’m drawn to. Only, she’s no longer standing where I left her, and I frown when I watch the woman with pale-blonde hair wrap Meemaw up in a rocking hug that she reciprocates.
“Who’re you looking for?” a sweet, raspy voice breathes in my ear, and I flinch before my head turns quickly toward Silver.
She’s smirking at me, a knowing look in her pretty, gray eyes, and I can’t help but smile at having been caught watching her again.
“You,” I answer honestly, wrapping an arm around the backs of her thighs and dragging her close enough to inhale the mouthwatering bubblegum scent I’ve grown obsessed with. Silver comes easily, dropping one hand to my shoulder as she leans toward me, and I run my hand up and down the backs of her knees as I tell her, “Auction starts soon. Are you bidding on anything?”
Like a kid in a candy store, Silver’s eyes light up like a freshly-sparked firework, and I bite back a smile as she nods enthusiastically. “Mac and Ford, the twins in Alek’s pack? They own one of the companies who are financing Meemaw’s charity. Alek told me a couple of weeks ago that they’re auctioning off a vacation to the Bahamas for fourteen days. Since putting the money Meemaw gave me as a trust into investments and stocks, it’s accumulated enough money that I’m going to bid on that vacation and a few other things. It’s my way of giving back to Meemaw for all she and my Paws have done for me over the years. Meemaw gets more money for the charity, and I hopefully win a couple of sweet prizes along with an adrenaline rush being at an auction brings.”
Munro is openly watching her with, eyes filled with a renewed flood of want for her, a new development since they shared a kiss in the middle of the room before Alek burst their bubble.
Aero is snickering into his hand before he says, “Baby, I’ve never seen you look so excited to spend money, and I’ve seen you buying pizza.”
“I don’t know what it is about auctions, but they’re a rush. When I won my Ducati in the garage? Some teen racer who I was bidding against lost his shit and threw his paddle at the auctioneer. It was crazy,” she breathes, grinning with genuine excitement to spend fuck knows how much money in an auction. The fact that it’s for her grandmother’s cause makes it even better, knowing the money spent will be going towards a worthy cause.
Professor Barnes overhears Silver, breaking free of his conversation with the twins, and smiles at my omega as he says, “I told you that guy was going to go postal.”
“You really did. I wasn’t expecting the paddle launch, though,” she agrees, shaking her head like she’s envisioning it all over again. “He gave it some welly, to be fair. Almost clocked the auctioneer in the eyebrow. Ten out of ten for effort.”
“That’s what happens when you spoil children and they don’t get what they want,” Professor Barnes snickers, before he stands from his seat and declares, “I’m going to make sure Alek doesn’t spend his entire life savings on the yacht the Johnsons are auctioning. Good luck, kid.”
Silver grins at the professor before claiming a seat between Rage and me, sliding a catalog from the table and peering inside with as much interest as a child in a toy store. It’s too adorable, and I can’t help but sit back and watch the emotions play across her pixie-like features as she eyes something she likes and wrinkles her nose at something she doesn’t.
I’m still watching when she pauses and frowns before lifting her head and leaning towards the twins. Rage drops his hand to her thigh as soon as she does, and she relaxes a fraction, only to ask him, “This isn’t going to make things weird between us, right? With the whole money thing? These auctions tend to get a little crazy, and I’ll probably spend a small fortune, but I don’t want it to get weird.”
Rage’s face softens, even as regret filters through his eyes, and he leans in to whisper, “I’m sorry I made you feel like you have to check in about that. It’s your money to do with as you please, Sunshine. If that means buying shit to make sure Meemaw gets the money she needs for her charity, then I’ll consider it a noble cause. Even if it wasn’t and you were just spending money because you wanted to, I’d be more than okay with it. It’s not my place to censor your spending or manage it, and I shouldn’t have acted like an asshole before about it. Trust me when I say I have learned my lesson. So long as you’re happy, I’m happy. Okay?”
The more the bastard speaks, the bigger Silver smiles.
“So, what if I bid on, I don’t know, a trip to the moon?” she queries, a spark of amusement in her eyes.
“I’d think you were weird for wanting to go into space, but I’d support it, so long as you don’t get lost floating among the stars,” he answers with mock seriousness, making her snort.
“Okay, what if I bid on a box of puppies?” she tests, laughing when Rage cringes.
“I’ll help take care of them, I guess, but I’m not dealing with their shit,” he shrugs, even though I know he hates dogs, a bone-deep fear of his after a nasty dog bit him and left a scar on his leg when he was a kid.
“What if I bid on a sex bed?” she challenges, raising her eyebrow.
I’ll be damned if that doesn’t capture all of our attention, and it’s Aero that blurts, “There’s a sex bed up for auction?”
“Oh my god,” Silver laughs, shaking her head just as Meemaw returns to the stage, a catalog in hand.
“Alright, everyone. Are we ready to empty our wallets?” she calls into the mic, receiving a wave of cheers and claps. “Then let’s begin. First up, we have a weekend staycation getaway at Bromley's country home. We’ll start the bidding at five hundred dollars.”
Several paddles go up and the action begins, with the weekend at Bromley’s country home going for eight thousand dollars. After checking the catalog and seeing the usual cost of a mere weekend at the fancy country home sitting at double the cost, I decide that this madness can be left for the wealthy. Not that I planned on bidding, knowing I couldn’t afford the car ride to such an estate.
People with money are crazy.
I eye my omega carefully, watching as she folds pages in her catalog, and shake my head in horror. I bagged myself a crazy omega.
When she looks up and grins at me, I decide it’s worth it. Fuck it all. She can bid on a trip to space and I’ll sit back and watch her happily.
The auction goes on for a while after the first item on the list sells, and I realize quickly I’m sitting in a room with people with more money than sense. The numbers that are thrown about are wildly first-world numbers, and I’m blown away by the staggering amounts some people will go to in order to win.
Silver tries her hand at a few auctions, earning a narrowed gaze from Meemaw, and she somehow wins a chocolate hamper the size of her body, filled with luxury candy that would take a year to get through, a weekend spa treatment at some fancy resort that costs more than I earn in half a year, and years’ worth of meals cooked and delivered by some famous restaurant owned by a master chef I’ve seen all over the television.
I’m beyond amused watching her, as are the others, each of us enraptured as she continues to smile cheekily at her Meemaw with every win she takes home. It doesn’t escape my notice that a certain bitch is staring at her daughter from across the room, her eyes narrowing every time Silver’s paddle flies in the air, but Silver either doesn’t seem to notice or doesn’t care enough to offer her energy to her mother.
It’s as soon as Meemaw announces the next item in the auction that a flip is switched inside Silver. Gone from the chill, goofy girl bidding on silly things just to spend her money on Meemaw’s charity is now a woman gunning to win the moment Meemaw says, “Next up, a two-week vacation to the Bahamas. All inclusive, private plane, and complimentary champagne included. An absolute steal. If I wasn’t acting as auctioneer tonight, I’d snap this up myself.”
Laughter floods the room, but not from Silver. Oh, no. That psycho omega of mine is locked in, her gray eyes full of focus as she slides to the edge of her seat in preparation.
“Should I find that look on her face as hot as I do?” Aero whispers, his head tilted as he watches Silver.
I shrug, because I don’t know. I just know there’s something inexcusably sexy about her right now, despite the crazed look in her eyes.
“She’s always hot,” Haze quips, goofily grinning at Silver, not that she notices.
“We’ll start the bidding at five hundred dollars,” Meemaw declares, and suddenly it’s game on.
Paddles are flying, the number is rising, and Silver is locked in. She’s the embodiment of focus, of speed, her paddle spending more time in the air than on her lap. Eventually, the bidding whittles down to three people. Silver, some dude with a toupée that looks two shades darker off from his natural color, and fucking Cynthia .
When Cynthia smirks and holds her paddle up with the next offer, the guy bows out, and it’s down to her and Silver. I can feel Silver’s frustration, but she doesn’t display it, continuing with the bidding war until the cost of the bid surpasses what the vacation would cost if Silver bought it herself.
When it doesn’t look like her mother has any plan on backing down, her paddle going up with ease on the next offer, Silver bows out with a pitiful sigh that would make me laugh if the omega-worthy pout hadn’t appeared on her face. “I hate that bitch.”
Biting my lip to bottle my amusement, sure it won’t go down well right now, I finally give in to my alpha urges, unable to keep them at bay while she slumps in her seat with a dejected look that doesn’t belong on her face. So, without further thought, reach over for my omega and steal her from her seat and deposit her on my lap instead, her ass landing in her new seat with her surprised gasp.
Blinking rapidly, she eyes me with shock, though her body gradually relaxes into me as though she needed my touch after losing the auction she wanted most. Almost like she needed the contact but didn’t know it.
“Don’t sweat it, Tink. There’s still plenty in there to throw your money at,” I soothe, rubbing her back in circles until she’s melting into me with an annoyed huff.
“Not another vacation to the Bahamas,” she sighs, but opens the catalog that was still clutched in her hand, leaning into me as she peruses what’s left to be auctioned. “Guess I’ll have to find something else.”
“There’s always that other vacation. The one in Greece, is it?” Aero reminds her, and Silver nods, finding the listing and perking up a little. “Santorini. Oh, I’ve always wanted to go there.”
And, just like that, we’re back to business, Silver bidding from my lap, the guys all cheering her on or mocking that adorable pout when she loses, and spending the entire night letting loose and enjoying ourselves surrounded by the rich of society.
When it comes to the Greece auction, and Silver wins after one of Cynthia’s husbands hisses in her ear and slams her paddle down, causing a collective gasp to ring through the ballroom, it takes Silver a moment to realize she’s won. She’s busy eyeing the corner where her mother sits with an amused twitch of her lips, watching boldly as her mother scowls at her husband, displaying her anger before her expression smooths out and she crosses one leg over the other as though she’s trying to display an unbothered front now that she’s gained some attention from onlookers.
“Sweetie, you won the bid,” Meemaw declares through the mic with an unimpressed glare filled with love for her granddaughter, drawing Silver’s attention.
My omega frowns before shock explodes over her face. “What? I won?”
“You won. Come up and sign the paperwork before I pat your ass with that paddle for spending that much money,” Meemaw demands, lips twitching when the crows laughs, even as she tries to appear annoyed at Silver.
Silver doesn't go up immediately, still absorbing that she just won a two-week vacation in Santorini instead of the Bahamas. When it sinks in, her arms are in the air with a bold ‘fuck yes!’ that doesn’t go missed by the rich folk surrounding the tables around us. Some laugh, others mutter their disapproval, but Silver doesn’t care. Instead, she grins at all of my pack members before she slays me with her expression of pure happiness.
I’m not sure what possesses me to do it, but I’m a slave to my own burning need when I flash her a grin before pressing my mouth to hers. Silver doesn't react for a long, agonizing moment, but then she’s cupping the back of my neck and pulling me in for a harder kiss that sends blood rushing south in my body. My heart instantly stalls before it begins to beat at an unnatural speed in my chest, and I grunt against the softness of her lips as I kiss her like I’ve been wanting to for weeks. I devour her there and then, pushing every ounce of want I have for her in a kiss that sears my soul and cements Silver as the omega for me. The only fucking omega, the one I want with a desperation that bleeds from my veins.
A loud clearing of a throat forces us apart, and I fucking love the glazed look on Silver’s face as she looks at me, lips red slightly swollen and wet. She’s perfuming slightly, a hunger in her eyes that likely matches my own, and I swallow hard before whispering, “Go sign your paperwork, Tink. As soon as you’re done, we’re going home.”
Heat washes over her face, and she nods slowly before she does as she’s told, walking to the side of the stage to fill out the appropriate paperwork. I’m dying as I try to wait patiently, the guys all eyeing me like they know exactly what’s happening, but I don’t take my eyes off her as she signs the paper, collects her purchases and confirmations of delivery for the hamper, and returns to the table.
I’m out of my seat with her hand in mine as soon as she’s near, blurting to the others, “Let’s go.”
They all gather their things with knowing smiles and cheeky smirks of understanding. Before we leave, I wave a hand toward Meemaw, who continues with the auction and winks at me as we leave.
I’m dragging Silver away and into the limo before she can stop and think, her hand clutching mine tightly, and her scent growing stronger and thicker around us until it fills the entire space with bubblegum and sugar.