Chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Harper
Astrange kind of bliss settled over my pack last night, right after Falcon and Shayne surprised Jay and I with the news that we have another true mate.
Once the tough decisions had been made, we all became quietly thoughtful, and that shared state culminated in the four of us falling into bed together, snuggling up and falling into a deep, satisfying sleep.
It’s been a hot minute since we were so in synch with each other. I didn’t even think about complaining that no one was in a sexy mood.
There was a hint of lust in the air for sure, but the relief that Falcon was back was enough of a win to let us relax together for the first time in close to a month.
I wake up with a smile, my forehead resting against Jay’s back, body warm where I’m nestled against my lead Alpha. Falcon’s arm is curled around me from behind, palm against my chest.
It’s almost a shame to move, but we’ve got bags to pack and a hotel to check into, so I slip under the covers and wriggle my way out of Falcon’s grasp and out of our bed.
Everyone else is still sleeping when I creep out of the room and hit the shower.
It’s nine o’clock on a Saturday morning, and I’m out of bed.
Feels like a crime, even if I can’t stop smiling.
By the time I’m ready and I’ve packed my bags, it’s a little after ten, and Falcon is just coming out of the bedroom. He stops in his tracks when he sees me in the hallway, sitting on my overstuffed duffle bag. He raises an eyebrow, and then he actually cracks a smile.
“I see someone’s ready to get going.”
“If I could drive, I’d be out of here already,” I joke.
He shakes his head. “You should have woken me up.”
“Well, you’re up now. So, pancakes?”
He laughs. “You’re asking the wrong Alpha. I can probably fry up some kind of meat …”
“Forget it. I’ll get Jay to stop for pancakes on the way to the city.”
“Just ask Shayne to make them. He’s getting up now.”
Falcon heads into the bathroom, and I look over at the bedroom doorway until Jay steps out of the bedroom, yawning loudly without covering his mouth.
“I knew you’d be the first one up,” my Delta says, shaking his head at me. “You do realize you’ll have to wait for the rest of us to get ready now.”
“I think I can manage that.”
“I’m making coffee.”
“Oh, good,” Shayne says as he steps into the hallway, stretching. “I could use the caffeine hit.”
“Because you’re making pancakes?” I ask, giving him puppy-dog eyes.
He laughs. “I guess breakfast would be a good idea.”
I get up quickly and follow them into the kitchen.
“Are we calling the academy before we drive out there?” I ask.
Shayne shakes his head. “I don’t think we need to call them this early. It’ll take a while to get through there and check into the hotel. We can call them once we’re there.”
“Once we’re there? So, we might not even get to see her today?”
I don’t like the thought of that. This is way too important.
“Let’s not make any assumptions,” Jay says, followed by another loud yawn, from the side of the sink where he’s waiting for the coffee machine to fill his mug.
“I can’t help it. I want to know what she looks like. All this time we’ve had another true mate out there, and we had no idea. That’s kind of crazy when you think about it.”
And all I can do is think about it.
I have a true mate I’ve never met!
Even crazier, Falcon met her and yet he had no clue who she was, until last night, I mean.
He’s got to be the most oblivious Alpha on the planet.
It took him forever to see Shayne as his mate.
Three weeks is a definite improvement on that.
“It was kind of dark, and I was taken by surprise when we bumped into each other,” Shayne admits, as he takes out the ingredients for the pancakes.
“She’s gorgeous, for sure, but she was quick to rush off so I can’t wait to see her again.
It seemed like she might be kind of shy.
The only other thing I can tell you is she has long red hair. ”
“Huh. Redheads usually aren’t shy,” Jay says.
“I barely met her so I could be wrong. It was just the impression I got.”
“I wish we’d been with you,” I lament.
“Yeah, well, we couldn’t take an Omega and then claim to be looking for one, so …” Shayne shrugs as he starts making the pancake mix.
“It’s fine, we’re going now.” Jay puts a mug on the counter next to Shayne. “It seems kind of weird that she was working at the academy. Any idea why?”
Huh. That’s a good question. I look at Shayne, curious about the answer.
“I’m guessing she feels safe there,” Shayne says. “After being looked after in their hospital wing, that would make sense. Shadow’s mate … Wait, I didn’t tell you that part yet.”
“Shadow was there? Your brother?” I stare at him in shock.
He hasn’t seen his little brother in years.
I can’t believe he didn’t mention this last night!
Shayne nods. “Shadow’s mated to the woman who runs the academy. That was actually the first surprise of the night, and it’s pretty much the only reason we didn’t get kicked out when her security team found Falcon wandering around areas he wasn’t allowed access to.”
“Sounds like a fated coincidence,” Jay says, giving Shayne a wry smile.
“I love fated coincidences!”
Those wonderful moments of serendipity that help guide fated mates toward each other, removing obstacles or helping them see what they might not otherwise notice, those moments only make it so much more obvious that true mates are meant to be.
It’s exciting that we’ve already had one of those.
Shayne smiles at me. “It was a nice one, for sure.”
“And how was seeing your brother?” I ask.
It’s kind of crazy that Shadow ended up mated to Goldcrest’s head administrator.
An Omega academy is the last place Shayne would have expected to run into him, considering he helped his brother escape that fate when he realized it was their parents’ intention to send him to one without his knowledge way back when they both still lived at home.
“Shadow’s doing good. He hasn’t changed one little bit.”
“I can’t wait to meet him,” I admit.
I’ve had plenty of encounters with Alphas over the years, good and bad alike, but I’ve never met another Omega, other than my mom, I guess. It would be cool to have one as a friend.
“I’m sure he’ll want to meet all of you, too,” Shayne says, as he starts to mix up the pancake batter. “His pack run security at the academy so it might be tough to find the time to spend with all of them, but I’ll make sure we get the chance to spend some time with Shadow when we’re in the city.”
“Awesome,” I say, pulling out a chair at the table.
I take a seat while Shayne makes the pancakes.
Jay stays by the side of the counter, nursing his coffee until he’s drunk every last drop.
He sets the mug down when he’s done and sighs, still not moving from where he’s standing.
When the sound of the shower cuts off, he pushes away from the counter. “Finally.”
The bathroom door opens, and he leaves the kitchen.
Shayne finishes up with the pancakes and puts a plate in front of me, before he moves back to the counter and grabs his mug of coffee.
I douse my breakfast in syrup before I start eating, taking my time since rushing isn’t going to get me to Cressidan City any faster.
“Thanks for this,” I murmur around a mouthful of pancake.
Shayne laughs. “You’re welcome, but don’t talk when your mouth is full.”
I chew and swallow before I answer, “Sorry. I forget my manners when I’m over excited.”
“I get it. This is kind of a crazy situation.”
“It would be crazier if any of us had real jobs to think about.”
“You get paid to lead the orchestra …” he starts, as if he’s just realizing it’s kind of a job.
“Yeah, but it’s part-time and they can get by without me. I already texted the conductor. I told him I was sick, and I might be off for a few weeks.”
Shayne nods, but he’s wearing a frown now. “Are you sure that’ll be okay? We can …”
“We can figure something out if it’s not, but it is,” I cut in, reassuring him. “It hasn’t been as much fun lately anyway. I’m looking forward to taking a break. How do you feel about being in the city again?”
He pulls a face. “It’s going to be a little weird, but I’m sure I’ll be fine once we’re there. It’s not like I have plans to visit my parents.”
“Was it weird being in the academy building?”
“A little,” he admits. “But it’s not the same as it was years ago, so it wasn’t awful. Shadow’s mate has changed things for the better. She seems like a good person.”
“I’m glad. That should make it easier for us to see Robin, right?”
He nods slowly. “It should. Honestly, though, I’m a little worried that Robin might not be ready to find out she has a pack of true mates.”
“It’s fated,” I remind him, before I cut and scoop up another piece of my pancake pile breakfast with my fork. “She’ll be into it.”
“That’s true,” he murmurs.
I eat the rest of my breakfast in silence, and while I do, Jay finishes in the bathroom and Shayne leaves the room to go shower and get dressed. I’m getting up to put my plate and fork by the sink when Falcon walks into the kitchen, dressed in a dark T-shirt and jeans.
“Ready?” he asks.
“Uh, yeah. I’ve been ready for like an hour …”
He nods to the door. “Help me take the bags out to the car and we can wait out there for those two. It’ll help them move their slow asses to catch up.”
“Uh, did you pack for them?”
He smiles, a faint twinkle in his gray eyes. “Why do you think it took me so long in the bedroom?”
Oh my God. Jay’s going to be so freaking mad if he didn’t pack all his favorite stuff.
“Okay, just let me grab something.” I follow him out of the kitchen and slip into the bedroom where Jay’s getting dressed while he waits in the hall.
I ease the door closed and Jay raises his eyebrows at me.
“I thought you wanted to get to the city as soon as possible?” He raises an eyebrow, and I can tell all he’s looking for is one word from me and he’ll start stripping like he doesn’t care who has to wait.
I’m more than a little tempted, especially after last night’s sedate cuddle session that went nowhere.
Shaking off the urge to start ordering my Delta around, I nod.
“I do,” I tell him, keeping my voice low. “Do you know Falcon packed for you?”
“I know, and it’s fine.”
“It is?”
Jay smiles at my shock. “It is. I know I can be a little fussy about some things, but when I looked for my spare pillowcase and that old sweater you like, he’d already packed them.”
“Oh. Okay, cool.” I can hardly believe it.
There was a definite change in Falcon last night, but I hadn’t been sure it was going to last.
But so far, there hasn’t been anything to worry about.
“Go help him load up the car. I’ll be there in a few minutes, too. I’m just waiting for Shayne, so he doesn’t feel abandoned. And I’ll do the dishes when he’s done with the shower.”
“Okay. We’ll see you out there.”
He moves forward and kisses me softly before he lets me go.
I walk out of the room like I’m floating on a cloud.
My mates are almost ready, and I’m going outside with Falcon now.
Nerves start to rise as we head for the car.
We’re about to drive out to the city to meet our new true mate.
I’m kind of glad we have a few hours of travelling ahead of us.
I don’t quite feel ready to meet her.
But I’m sure I will be by the time we get there.