Chapter 44
Chapter Forty-Four
Harper
It takes approximately twenty-three minutes longer than three hours to get to Cressidan City, and by that time I’m itching to get out of the confines of the car. The limo has so much more legroom than Falcon’s S.U.V. It’s much easier to stretch whenever I feel the need.
Spending three plus hours watching a reality show about musicians trying to hit the big time has started to turn my brain into mush, and I’m hungry enough for my stomach to start grumbling at the mere sight of the first fast food restaurant we pass.
I loosen my belt to lean forward between the front seats.
“Tell me the hotel you booked has room service?”
Falcon laughs. “I’m pretty sure it does, and we’re only a few minutes away from their parking lot.”
“Pretty sure means nothing to my stomach,” I tell him. “What’s the name of the hotel? I’ll find out if I can do an online check in and place an order so it’s there when we are.”
“I knew I should have made more pancakes this morning,” Shayne says.
“Even if you had, I’d still be hungry now. It’s past my usual lunch hour.”
Shayne looks at his phone. “It’s barely five minutes past midday.”
“Those five minutes feel more like hours!”
Okay, that’s a slight exaggeration, emphasis on slight.
Jay chuckles quietly beside me.
He still has his eyes closed and his arms crossed, but, apparently, he’s awake.
I settle back into my seat, and I find out my battery has just given up the ghost.
Sighing, I shuffle forward again and hold out my hand.
“I need someone else’s phone for this…” I start, not bothering to finish the explanation when Shayne thrusts his phone into my hand. He hasn’t spent three hours watching a TV show, so his battery is barely under 100 percent.
“Whatever you order, times it by four,” Falcon instructs from the driver’s seat.
“I was gonna,” I grumble, sad that he thinks I wouldn’t order something for everyone.
“He means however hungry you are is how hungry we all are,” Shayne says, looking back to give me a wry smile. “It’s been a long trip and you’re the only one who had breakfast.”
“Well, you guys are all too macho for breakfast, apparently,” I joke, making Jay laugh again.
This time, he opens his eyes and shakes his head at me.
“Just get on with checking us in, okay?” he complains, letting out a huge yawn directly after.
“Go back to sleep. I’m on it,” I tell him, as I go into Shayne’s emails where the confirmation stuff from the hotel was forwarded on from Falcon.
I get us checked in, find out our room number, confirm that they do room service, and then I send an email room service order into them, which I use the wallet on Shayne’s phone to pay for up front.
By the time I look up, we’re driving into a parking building.
I pass Shayne his phone back.
“Get ready to use that to call the academy,” I warn him as he moves his hips to put it in his pocket.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be calling as soon as we’re in our room,” Falcon reassures me.
“For a minute, I thought all you were worried about was your stomach,” Jay teases.
“It’s an immediate priority,” I admit. “But I want to hear a meeting being arranged while I’m stuffing sandwiches and chicken wings into my mouth.”
“You paint such a pretty picture.”
“You know what I’m like when I’m hangry.”
I rest my head against Jay’s shoulder while Falcon finds us a good parking spot.
It takes a few more hours, by my slight exaggeration method of counting time, and then we’re finally stationary. I try to leap out of the car without unbuckling my seatbelt. It kind of hurts, but not really.
Jay unbuckles it while shaking his head. “Patience, Harp.”
“This is what patient looks like when I’m hungry and eager to meet my newest true mate.”
I untangle the seat belt, and it whips back into its resting spot before I exit the backseat of the car. Being on solid ground, even inside a parking building, instantly makes me feel better.
Stretching my arms and legs is heaven.
My hunger feels a bit more manageable now that I’m out of the car.
My mates exit, one by one, Falcon stretching his neck and cracking his knuckles, Shayne heading straight for the trunk for our bags, and Jay leaning on the roof watching me.
“Better?” he asks, with that knowing smile he’s almost always wearing.
“Much,” I admit, smiling back. “But I’m still going to cram sandwiches and chicken wings into my mouth the second they arrive at our room.”
Shayne pops the trunk, and Jay moves around to help pick out our bags.
We all packed light, as instructed by Falcon.
The only extra baggage is my violin, and that’s an essential.
I could have left behind everything else, even if I don’t know how long we’ll be out here.
Between them, Shayne and Jay handle the bags, and Falcon nods at me to follow closely as he heads to the door that leads to an elevator that brings us into the hotel’s reception area.
It’s a little fancier than I expected inside the hotel.
“Is this a five star?” I ask quietly, eyebrows raised at Falcon.
He glances at me and smiles. “You think I’d book anything less for my mates?”
“Uh …” I murmur. “I have no idea, but wow.”
It’s not like vacations have ever been a thing for us.
And it’s not as if we live in a mansion, or even a moderately sized house.
I know Falcon and Shayne have a lot of cash in savings, but I never quite felt the urge to ask about that until right now.
“We can afford this?”
It seems unreal.
The lady handing her expensive designer baggage over to a bellboy is wearing an outfit that must cost ten times our rent back home.
It’s the city, sure, but this has to be the glitziest hotel that exists out here.
Oh God. I asked room service for ham sandwiches and chicken wings!
We haven’t even picked up our room keys yet. They must think we’re savages.
I wish Falcon had told me what kind of place this was.
I can feel my cheeks burning as we approach the front desk.
The fancy lady is stepping into an elevator on the other side of the room, and she doesn’t look impressed when I happen to catch her eye. I can practically hear her thoughts from over here.
Ugh. When did they let in the riff-raff?
Those poor street urchins must surely be lost!
The elevator doors close and I turn back to see Falcon pick up our keys.
When I glance back, I see Jay and Shayne waiting for us a few feet away, standing close and talking, apparently not the slightest bit bothered by our surroundings.
Falcon talks with the receptionist in his usual stony, clipped manner.
He gets our keys which happen to be actual keys, and then turns around, glancing at Jay and Shayne and nodding toward the elevator.
I follow him over there, still a little flustered by the realization that we’re in a fancy hotel.
“You okay, Harp?” Jay asks, his voice low as they catch up with us.
He’s carrying our bags single-handedly, his other hand rubbing my back.
Out of all my mates, he’s the one who knows immediately when I’m uncomfortable.
“Yeah, kind of,” I murmur back to him as we approach the elevator.
He frowns when I glance his way, but I don’t want to talk about it in this big open space.
Omegas have a reputation for causing big, dramatic, emotional scenes wherever they go.
I don’t like that stereotype, so I avoid the urge to blurt out a barrage of questions while we wait for the elevator. Pressing my lips together, I ignore Jay’s questioning glances.
When the elevator finally dings open, my breath comes out in a rush of air.
Falcon steps inside and holds the door.
Shayne gestures to me to go next.
I step into the mirrored box, and I look at Falcon as Jay steps in after me and puts his arm back around me. Shayne comes in last, and the doors close when Falcon presses the button for our floor.
The second we start to move my patience snaps.
“So, was anyone ever going to tell me we’re rich?”
Falcon turns slowly to look at me, and I cross my arms as he raises an eyebrow at me.
“You know about my savings, Harper.”
“I know there’s always money if we need it for something important, but this isn’t that!”
I motion around us at the mirrored, golden gilded interior of the elevator.
Jay chuckles until my gaze lands on him.
Then, he shrugs. “Hey, I only know the same as you do, Harper.”
“I guess we never got into specifics,” Shayne admits, behind me, clearly speaking to Falcon.
“I guess we didn’t,” Falcon agrees, nodding.
The elevator comes to a stop, and the doors glide open.
Our lead Alpha steps out into the landing. “We can talk once we get to our suite.”
“Okay, but someone’s calling the academy first,” I remind him as I follow him out.
“I’ll call them while Falcon explains things,” Shayne suggests, prompting Falcon to throw a glance over his shoulder.
“I should be the one to make the call.”
Shayne nods. “Okay, sure.”
Jay shrugs when I glance at him.
I guess it makes sense that our lead Alpha makes the call.
Even if he does have some explaining to do.
I can wait to find out what our financial situation is.
It’s a whole lot harder to contain my feelings over the mate I haven’t had the chance to meet.