Chapter Sixteen
Jayden
Anathea was in our home.
For the first time, we had our scent match under our roof.
Standing in the foyer, looking like she was afraid to take a step forward.
“Anathea?” I reached for her hand. “Don’t you want to come in?”
“You’re safe here,” Elias said.
“I should probably go home. I’m turning your lives upside down with the chaos in mine.”
“If you do, we are all going along.” Letting her send us away a few hours earlier had been a mistake, but we didn’t want to push so hard she’d push us away. For some reason, the visit from the other pack member had only stiffened her spine. Maybe she didn’t want to put us in danger too?
Anyway, it didn’t matter why she made that decision. We didn’t go home. Instead, we staked out the neighborhood, parking on a low rise where we could see her door and periodically looping the block in case anyone tried to approach from the back or side.
And therein lay our mistake. We must have been on patrol when our omega forgot her promise to stay inside… Or had she? She’d promised to keep the doors and windows locked. And from that, we’d assumed she’d be on the other side of those barriers.
“You really would do that, wouldn’t you? You’d leave this beautiful home and come to my little place and sleep on the floor or the porch just to keep me safe.”
Carter nodded. “Yes, we would. Now, would you like the tour?”
The contrary female nodded, shook her head, and burst into tears. The tour could wait. Elias took her hand and we all ushered her into the kitchen. “Come have a cup of tea.”
She hiccupped. “I don’t want tea.”
“Why did you go to the store?” I asked. Were you looking for the cocoa and bear claw?”
“N-no.”
“Then what was so important that you risked your safety?” I didn’t mention the promise thing, since I wasn’t sure whether she had broken it. “Maybe we have it here.”
“If we don’t, we can get it,” Elias put in.
“I can’t. It’s just so silly.” She looked miserable, and my wolf didn’t like that one bit.
“Nothing is silly, omega. We all make mistakes. Please tell us what you need.”
“You’ll laugh.”
“No.” Carter eased her into a chair at the kitchen table and sat down next to her. “That is the one thing we won’t do.” He wiped her tears from her cheeks with his thumb. “Tell us, omega.”
Her sigh was so deep, it seemed to come from her toes. “This is so embarrassing. It was ice cream, okay? I just wanted some ice cream.”
Carter was so wrong.
All three of us burst into startled laughter, while our omega looked from one to the other, lips pressing into a thin line.
No more tears. Just rising anger. I struggled to calm myself and stop the guffaws escaping me before she got mad enough to punch us.
And we’d have not a single thing to say about it.
“I’m leaving.” She pushed to stand up, but we closed in around her, laughter stopped.
“Don’t go.” Elias reached for her hand, but she shrugged him off.
“Why shouldn’t I? You’re laughing at me, and you said you wouldn’t.”
“You’re right.” Carter was on his feet behind her. “And we shouldn’t have done it, but before you decide to hate us, can we show you one thing?”
“I suppose, if it means you’ll take me home afterward.”
Not something we would agree to, so we didn’t respond, just waved her to the door next to the sink, leading to the garage. If we’d parked in it, as we usually did, she might have already seen what we were about to show her.
Carter, our alpha, led the way with Anathea next and Elias and I bringing up the rear.
“You’re taking me to the garage? Why?”
“Shh.” Carter looped an arm around her waist, a brave move, I thought. “It’s right here, and as soon as you look, you’ll know why we went a little off the rails. Here.” He stopped in front of the glass-fronted freezer we couldn’t fit in the kitchen.
“Is this…is it all ice cream?”
“All of it. We picked it up from a store going out of business and decided it would be just for ice cream. If you need any, I think we’ve got most kinds available locally.”
She scanned the shelves from top to bottom. “I think so too. Wow.”
“Let’s have some and we can talk.”
Carter and Elias each grabbed a premium bar, and Anathea one of those big chocolate cookie sandwiches with the edges rolled in chopped nuts.
It seemed we were forgiven at least for the moment as we all returned to the kitchen table.
I selected an orange from the bowl in the center and we all started on our treats and hoped they would sweeten the omega’s opinions of us enough to get her to agree to stay with us.
After all, where else did she have to go? Her home was not at all safe—but it would be nice if that wasn’t her only reason for moving in here.