Chapter 26
Twenty-Six
Lance
I tried not to wait at the door for Otillie-James like a lovesick hound every day, but so far, I was failing. Even though I’d said I could take care of the rescues for now, she still came out every day. Not because she was obligated, but because she wanted to. And I liked having her here.
I wasn’t sure why I’d offered this place up when I’d been trying to extract myself from Otillie-James, but there was something about her that just made me want to solve all her problems.
And honestly, Matt would have loved her. She was everything an Alpha dreamed about. Everything a man could ever want, Alpha or not. And Matt had never wanted us to feel alone.
I heard a car coming down the drive, and Akio’s ears perked up. He was such a smart dog; he knew the difference between cars he knew, and those of strangers. So when I stuck my head out and saw Sonny’s Range Rover coming down the driveway, I tried not to feel irritated. I liked Sonny—he seemed to genuinely care about Otillie-James, and despite our minimal interactions, me. It wasn’t the self-important kind of caring that was for show, or to make himself feel good, like I’d seen so often after returning from active duty. No, much like Otillie-James, he saw a creature in need and he wanted to help it.
It would be interesting to meet their parents. They’d both raised kids with very similar values, considering that they hadn’t met until Otillie-James was sixteen, according to Sonny. Maybe it was fate?
Sonny climbed out of the driver’s seat, walking around to open the door for Otillie-James. Old-school Alpha chivalry wasn’t dead. Then he walked to the back and pulled out a cooler. Setting it on the ground, he bounded up the front steps and knocked on the door.
I waited a few seconds so they didn’t realize I was watching them out the window like a weirdo, then walked toward the front door.
Smiling brightly at me, Sonny was leaning against the porch railing. “We’re having a picnic, and we’d like it if you joined us.” He looked down at Akio. “You too, buddy.” He stepped closer, blocking my view of Otillie-James. “I’d be honored if you’d assist me in courting our Omega. If joining my Pack is something you’d want. No pressure.” His eyes were serious, despite the smile on his face.
He was telling me, very gently, to shit or get off the pot. I couldn’t have this half-life with her, and I knew it. I did. But could I risk letting anyone else in? The idea of losing Otillie-James—of letting myself care for and even love the rest of the Pack—filled me with dread, and I wasn’t sure I could survive that pain again.
But was I even living now? What would my team have wanted?
That was easy. They’d want me to get the girl.
Swallowing hard, I nodded. “I’d like that. I…” Fuck, how did I tell this man that I was all sorts of messed up? That the Lance he knew was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to baggage?
Sonny reached up and clapped a hand to my bicep. “Welcome to the Pack, man. We’ve got your back now.” Stepping away, he tilted his head toward our Omega. “I saw a pond toward the back of the property. She’s always loved being outside.”
I knew the spot. I also knew something else she’d like. “Meet me at the garage.”
Four-wheeling hadn’t much interested me, but listening to Otillie-James squeal her joy made it a whole new experience. Sonny had let her ride with me, and honestly, the guy deserved a sainthood. I wasn’t sure that in his position, I would have handed over her safety to anyone else. I guess he was serious about being a Pack, and including me in it. He was driving along at a slower pace behind us, with Akio on the back and the cooler strapped down.
It definitely wasn’t Akio’s first time on the four-wheeler, and I wondered how often Matt must’ve brought him out for him to be so comfortable. I wondered if the dog missed him as much as I did. I also wondered if Otillie-James’s ragtag bunch of animals was filling the hole in his heart the way they were with mine.
We cleared the small wooded area between the big house and the barn, and traveled along the bike path to the pond. Otillie-James pointed to the water, and sure enough, there was Gert, with a bunch of stolen baby wood ducks. There was probably a pissed-off mama duck around here somewhere.
I pulled up a little away from the water, so I didn’t scare the mean old goose or her new stolen progeny. Otillie-James climbed from the ATV and walked straight over to the pond. “Gertrude Rita Baler, they are not your babies! Take them back this instant.”
Gert hissed in her direction, defiantly leading the babies to the middle of the pond. I saw Spartacus the rooster sitting on the edge of the pond in the sun, pecking at bugs around him. That chicken was smitten.
Laughing, I led Otillie-James back to where Sonny was setting up the picnic rug. It was really nice out here.
It was even nicer when she was here too.
Sonny pulled out containers filled with all sorts of food. Chopped fruit, fried chicken, finger sandwiches, potato salad. He must have been cooking for hours to make this spread. He was making an effort to court her, even though she was basically his now. I was glad he was still doing things the right way, because Otillie-James deserved to be fussed over. She deserved for the whole world to know how perfect she was.
The rug was huge enough to fit a whole Pack, so there was plenty of room for the three of us, and Otillie-James lowered herself regally before flopping onto her stomach and kicking up her legs. Sometimes it was really obvious that despite the big house she lived in, and the trust fund allowance, she definitely hadn’t been raised in high society. Me either.
“This looks amazing, Sonny. I’m not going to lie—I’m kind of glad your apartment was getting ‘exterminated.’” That really had been the worst lie ever. “I’d forgotten how good you were in the kitchen.”
He leaned forward and rolled her onto her back, so he could nuzzle her throat with a mock growl. “I’m good in every room, baby.”
“I mean, I guess you’re okay in the laundry too,” she teased, and he launched himself at her playfully. She laughed and slapped at his back, and while it should feel like I was interrupting a moment, it didn’t. When his hands came up to tickle her, she squealed. “Help me, Lancelot!” she giggled, reaching out a hand to me.
I took her fingers. “Sorry, Tills, you poked the dragon, and now you have to pay your dues.”
“Traitor!” But she still wiggled out from underneath him and crawled over to my lap, hiding herself beneath my arms.
Sonny leaned back on his elbows. “Oh I see, you brought in a knight to save you. Well played, little Omega.”
She snuggled firmly into my arms, nestled between my thighs, with her body pressed right along mine. I’d never felt anything more perfect in my entire life.
As she laid her head on my chest, the warm afternoon wind picked up pieces of her hair and blew it across her face. “Thank you for saving me again,” she murmured, her big eyes looking up at me. “Do you want me to move?”
God no. I never wanted her to move again. I wanted to stay in this moment forever, with her resting between my thighs, a smile on her face and mine. This was the most picture-perfect moment I’d ever experienced.
So I shook my head. “I like you right there,” I told her softly, and was rewarded with a smile so brilliant, it threatened to steal my breath.
Her face was still tilted up to mine. “I like it too.”
God, I wanted to kiss her. Just a little. My eyes flicked to Sonny, and there was no jealousy on his face. If anything, his face was encouraging me. His expression screamed do it! I still couldn’t believe he was so open to letting me touch the girl of his dreams.
But when I leaned down and brushed my lips across hers, barely a whisper of a kiss, it changed my whole world. She sighed happily, her eyes closing briefly, and I knew she was it for me. I could fight it as much as I liked, but there would be no other girl for me, no other person on this planet who could make me feel what Otillie-James did in that moment.
She didn’t deepen the kiss, or push for more than I wanted to give. She just rested her head back against my chest.
I loved Otillie-James Baler.
And it scared me down to my very core.
Sonny passed me a bottle of Coke and one for Tills, and the day went on, like that one moment hadn’t changed my entire life. She stayed in my arms, with Sonny feeding her pieces of food as they talked about things and people. Most of them, I didn’t know, but a few I did.
She told us her theory about the guy she saw in the police lineup being in the back of an episode of that animal rescue show she watched, and I had to admit, it was kind of hinky. It could be a coincidence, but my gut said that there was more to it, and I always trusted my gut. Strat had told the cops, but I knew that look in Otillie-James’s eye. She wasn’t going to let it drop.
It was the same determined look she’d had in her eye when she was just going to “run surveillance” on the garage where she thought they were having cockfights.
I still had nightmares about how wrong that could have gone. I’d been out at a VA group therapy session that night, but I definitely would have gone with her, if I’d known she was going to break in and steal the damn chickens. I hadn’t known her plans until she’d appeared with a half-dead rooster and a police escort.
Shuddering, I bundled her closer. She was a handful, but I wouldn’t have her any other way. Who wanted a boring, docile Omega when you could have someone like Otillie-James? You didn’t know if you were going to have to hand-rear a baby lizard or bail her out from the police station. Maybe it was handy that she now had two lawyers in her Pack.
Her and Sonny were softly talking about their parents arriving tomorrow, and what that would mean for them.
For the Pack.
Our Pack.
“I’m going to have to move out,” she said, her sigh brushing across the skin of my bicep. “I can’t imagine going through my heat in that house, and I’m not sure Citrine would appreciate another Omega there either, despite the fact she loves me.”
Sonny had her foot in his lap, massaging the arch. “You can always move in with me. Or Truett has a spare room that’s just housing his gym equipment.”
She frowned. “Won’t your Alpha get upset if I was spending more time with him?”
That was the thing about the designations. It made the disparity between your head and your heart even more pronounced. Because while Sonny might see the logic of her moving in with Truett, his Alpha would be riled by the fact that she smelled more like him. Spent more time with him. Slept in his bed every night. Not that she had to create a roster and follow it religiously, but jealousy could spring up from the smallest of slights. Not to mention Strat, and how it would go with another Omega.
No, I wasn’t sure that was a solution at all.
“You could move in here,” I told her casually. She glanced up at me, surprised, though I wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t like all her animals weren’t already here. “You could all move in here, if you wanted. It could be, like, a Packhouse.” I said the words lightly, like it wasn’t a turning point in our relationship, in our lives, to move in together. One step closer to being a bonded Pack.
I could feel both of their gazes running over my face, probably appraising whether I felt obligated to do this out of some weird sense of gratitude. I could have told them I didn’t—this house had come to me for a reason, and the more I thought about it, the more I wondered if maybe Matt had been taking care of me from beyond the grave, nudging Otillie-James my way.
It made me feel less guilty when I thought about it like that. When I was happy and not drowning in survivor guilt, it made me feel like I was just following orders once more.
So I gave them an encouraging look. “I mean it.”
Sonny still seemed hesitant. “Are you sure?”
I nodded, and Otillie-James let out a joyous peal of laughter. “Then yes, I would love to move in with you, Lance Alcott.” She gripped either side of my face and leaned forward to kiss me, but stopped just shy of my lips. “You know I want you to be part of my Pack, right? That you’re mine, if you want to be? That you’re part of this Pack we’re building?”
Bobbing my head as much as I could in her tight hold, I gave her a soft smile. “Yes.”
Then she kissed me, and there was nothing soft or delicate about it. She claimed me as hers, and I claimed her right back.
A frantic splashing had me dragging my lips from hers. Spartacus the rooster was trying to swim out to Gert and the baby ducklings, but chickens still couldn’t swim.
Pulling back, Otillie-James groaned. “For Christ’s sake, Spartacus, you’re a damn chicken!”
“Rock, paper, scissors for who has to go out and save the drowning rooster?” Sonny asked me, and I nodded.
That was how I finished the most perfect afternoon, swimming into the middle of a dirty pond to fish out a former fighting cock, who was in love with a goose.