Chapter 20
Hailey
We all sat in my tiny living room, squished on the two couches. Merrick and I on one, Wilder and Nolan on the other.
Nolan was glowering at Merrick. He clearly wasn't too happy at his intrusion, but there really wasn't anything he could do about it. I had chosen Merrick, and he had chosen me. We were bonded. So, Nolan could go suck a dick for all I cared.
“Okay, I need to ask the first question, considering you guys are being boring and not asking any,” Wilder said.
“Go for it,” Merrick said, his arms crossed, a smug look on his face.
“What’s your full name? That’s a dull one, but a good place to start.”
“Merrick Hermes Teller.”
I turned to him, my mouth dropping open. “Hermes?” I asked, temporarily forgetting about the other two.
He shrugged, turning to me. “My mother went through a Greek God phase around the time she was pregnant with me. My younger sister’s middle name is Hera. She wanted to call her Persephone, but my dads put their foot down on that one.”
“Dude, being named after a Greek God is so cool. My middle name is Jeffrey!”
“Wait, someone decided to name the child Wilder, but gave them the middle name Jeffrey?” I asked in surprise.
“I honestly don’t know how that happened.” Wilder shrugged.
“Do you at least have a normal middle name?” I questioned Nolan.
“I don't actually have one. Nolan Dale. My family just never bothered to give me one,” he admitted, his tightly crossed arms loosening somewhat.
“I personally think it's tragic,” Wilder said with a playful pout. “Okay, it's your turn to ask the question, cutie.”
I shifted in my seat for a moment, trying to think of a good question. I wanted to know more about them, but I also didn’t want to make the mood any worse than it was. “Do you guys have any siblings? Merrick mentioned a sister, and you said you had a few, am I right?”
“Four sisters,” he confirmed.
I nodded. “That explains so much. I am painfully an only child.”
“Where are your parents?” Nolan asked, cocking his head to the side.
“They decided as soon as I finished high school that they wanted to move to Florida. My mother and her three alphas are happily living the snowbird life out there. Never mind that we already live in a very hot state in California. They decided that Florida was where they wanted to go. Swamps and gators.”
Nolan frowned. “They just moved to the other side of the country, leaving their omega daughter?”
I nodded. “Yeah, they didn't even wait for my eighteenth birthday to be over. They were so excited to go. They check in every now and again, but we mainly keep to ourselves. I always said it would be better to make my own family.”
“Okay, but we definitely are not doing that to our child,” Wilder said. “I'm going to be a clinger. There's no way in hell I'm moving across the country when a child turns eighteen.”
The ice in my chest melted slightly at those words. While I had long since accepted my parents’ behavior, I knew that I would never do that myself, and having Wilder agree was oddly validating.
“Good, neither would I. What about you guys? Siblings?”
Nolan spoke next, leaning forward, engaging with the conversation, which I took as a good sign. “I also have an older brother, but the age gap is quite large, so he was off doing his own thing while I was in high school.”
“I don't have any siblings. My parents had me and realized they had perfection and decided they were done.” Wilder smirked, taking a swig of his beer.
A snort of laughter escaped Nolan. “That's a load of bullshit. His mother couldn't have any more children after him, so instead, they fostered. His mother is the type who bakes apple pies and goes to every school event.”
I nodded, absorbing the new information. “How did you guys meet and form a pack?”
A smile slowly spread across Nolan’s face as he recalled the memory.
“Preston and I grew up on the same street, so we were friends from a young age.
After he graduated high school, I decided to become a lawyer, and he was training to join the military.
We were no older than twenty and stupid.
One of our friends bet Preston that he wouldn't be able to streak across the football field. Well, he tried, tripped over his own feet, and broke his femur.”
Covering my mouth with one hand, I bit back a laugh. “That's an interesting mental image.”
What were the chances that someone had recorded that instance, and I would be able to get my hands on the footage? Because that was something I very much wanted to see.
“How do you think I feel? I had to actually watch it. No, I didn't just have to watch it—I also had to take his ass to the emergency room after.”
“Which is how they met me.” Wilder beamed. “I was doing some clinical rotations training to get my nursing credentials when they came in. We got along like a house on fire, and one thing led to another and before we knew it, we were an official pack.”
The story sounded so sweet and wholesome. How on earth did Preston become a convict? From the sounds of it, he'd been set up to do everything right in life. The desire to ask more about him burned in my chest, but I knew I couldn't approach that topic.
“Okay, time for a more fun one, then one of the boring ones can ask a question. How do you take your coffee?” Wilder asked.
They all looked at me, so I answered first. “That depends. Rarely, I have been known to drink pitch-black coffee while working. If it's a fun drink, though, it's usually an iced coffee with caramel sauce and a bunch of syrups. The more sugar, the better.”
Next to me, Merrick shuddered. “I don't know how you can drink that stuff.”
“Not everyone can be a health freak like you. This one only drinks water and occasionally beer,” I said, jerking my thumb in Merrick's direction.
“Okay, surely the nurse will back me up that water is the healthy choice.”
Wilder cocked his head to the side. “Sure, it's healthy, but it's sad. I personally am not a coffee drinker, but I have been known to chug a good number of energy drinks while on a long shift. The ones that taste like cotton candy are divine.”
“Am I the only one who drinks coffee normally? With a splash of creamer?” Nolan asked.
“Apparently so.” I laughed.
“My turn,” Merrick said, before finishing his beer in one large gulp. “Where the hell are you guys from? Don’t you have lives to get back to?”
“I took an extended leave,” Wilder replied. “If I’m honest, the administration at my hospital was pissing me off, so I’m not too concerned about going back. There are plenty of places I can work and help people.”
“But it’s your home,” I said softly.
Wilder shrugged. “Not really. We actually moved to Seattle when Nolan got into law school. We all grew up in Tacoma.”
“How old are you? I never thought to ask. I’m twenty-six.”
“Thirty-two,” Nolan admitted, his ears going slightly red. “Preston is the same age, albeit a few months younger.”
“You do give off oldest-sibling energy.”
“I’m twenty-nine. What about you, man?” Wilder asked, looking at Merrick.
“Thirty.”
Right in the middle of them. Good thing I liked older men.
“Okay, my turn, why did you bond with Hailey?” Nolan asked.
Wilder’s eyes widened. “Dude, what happened to trying to keep it light and getting to know each other?”
“I think knowing his motivations is very important.” Nolan shrugged.
“It’s a fair question. I’ve had a thing for Hailey for years—it’s hard not to.
I’ve probably been in love with her since I saw her throat punch a drunk who was being an ass.
There was no way in hell I was going to let her go into such an insane situation as this one alone,” he said, gesturing vaguely to all of us.
“I can respect that,” Nolan admitted begrudgingly.
“Here’s one for you—why law?” Merrick asked.
Nolan thought about it for a moment. “It interested me. Preston was helping people in his own way, and I wanted to do the same, but contracts and law stuff just made sense to me. Maybe my brain is fucked, but I like it and decided to go for it.”
“You’re smarter than all of us here, then.” I laughed.
Wilder shook his head. “Nope. This one once accidentally brushed his teeth with jock itch cream.”
My mouth dropped open, and next to me, Merrick cackled.
“In my defense, you left the cream on my sink, and the tube was the exact same color as my toothpaste.” Nolan glowered at Wilder.
I winced. “That had to taste horrible.”
“Vile,” Nolan agreed with a grimace.
I couldn’t hold back my giggle, so I decided to add my own humiliating story into the mix.
“I once took a bite of wax fruit. It looked so good, I thought it was real. We really need to be more careful about what we put in our mouths.” I giggled, smiling at Nolan, whose eyes darkened at my words, hunger leeching into them.
Maybe it’s a little early to talk about putting things in our mouths…