Chapter 27
Spencer
“We can’t keep her here forever, no matter how much you want to,” Chase said as I cleaned up the kitchen.
After breakfast, Flora had retreated to her room, saying that she needed to shower.
We all knew she was avoiding us. Who could blame her? None of us had been acting rationally when it came to her. Anytime I thought about her going to class, being out in the open, at risk, my chest got this tight feeling I wasn't used to.
Anxiety. I was anxious about her safety. I never cracked. I had been shot at, chased by criminals, had car accidents, and so many more disasters—yet none of those incidents had elicited this emotion.
I sighed. “What’s her schedule for the day after tomorrow?”
Chase grinned. “You don’t have it memorized?” he teased. “Well, she’s got economics at twelve and international finance in the afternoon.”
My mind started running through the logistics of where those classes took place. Economics was in the same building as Percy's classes, so I knew it like the back of my hand.
“Where is the international finance classroom?” I asked.
“You're going to love this. It’s literally one building over, and it’s a carbon copy. Same room layouts and everything.”
That would make watching over her much easier. Knowing all the entrances and exits was important.
“How do you propose we do this?” I asked, turning to face him. “There are only three of us, and someone needs to be with the Garnetts. Someone needs to go with Percy to his classes. Someone needs to be with Flora at all times, and someone needs to go to her old place.”
Whichever way I thought about it, there weren’t enough people. Henrik and his pack were in the country, but it would take them a few days to get to California. They had been working a job in the remote Alaskan wilderness.
“Percy goes to half of his classes on his own. He’s no longer a hockey player and doesn’t need that much protection. Why don't you talk to Devin and ask what he would rather we do? One of us could stay with the Garnetts or follow Percy.”
Devin was a reasonable alpha. He was their pack leader, and I respected him… most of the time.
I still thought he was a bit of an idiot for leaving his pregnant omega to go and play hockey.
“You talk to Devin. I’ll go with Flora tomorrow—Are you happy to clear her apartment?” I asked.
Chase felt like the natural choice, if there was a chance he would find any hidden bugs or cameras. Bear and I could recognize what items were, but we didn't understand them the way Chase did.
“Give me a few hours, and I'll have her apartment spotless. Shall I also put in her notice for her?” he asked, smiling knowingly.
“Yes, and make sure she gets her security deposit back.”
“If the idiot who runs that building tries to withhold it, I will swiftly set him straight.” A deadly smile spread over Chase’s face, and I had no doubt he would do whatever it took to get that deposit back for Flora.
I swallowed, putting down my phone. “Do you want to take her shopping?” I asked through gritted teeth.
His eyebrows rose so high they almost vanished into his hairline. “Are you okay?” He placed one hand on my forehead, mock concern written all over his face. “Do you have the plague, after all? Are you dying?”
Truthfully, I wasn't the kind to relinquish any kind of control. Maybe I was a control freak, but that was useful in our line of work and in my role as leader of our pack.
“As much as I hate to admit it, she does prefer you to me.”
“Of course. Everyone likes me better,” Chase said nonchalantly, but he was unable to keep that smug grin off his face.
I wanted to hit him. Instead, I made do with leaning against the kitchen counter and giving him a stern look.
“I'm trying here,” I said through gritted teeth.
“Maybe going shopping together will help you both?” he suggested. “She's more likely to spend your money. With me and Bear, she'll feel like she owes us. With you, she'll be getting revenge.”
I cocked my head to the side. He had a good point. If going with me meant she would buy more nesting supplies, I would do it in a heartbeat.
“It’s lunchtime. Why don’t you feed her first? Food makes everyone happier. It sure as fuck puts me in a better mood.”
Food was a good idea.
I nodded.
“Just please, for the love of God, don’t feed her a protein shake. She may go crazy and slice you into bits, and I wouldn’t blame her in the slightest.” Chase threw me a pointed look, unable to keep a straight face.
Glowering at my pack mate, I grabbed my phone off the kitchen counter and left without another word. I was halfway out the door when Chase spoke again.
“Don’t mess this up for Bear,” he muttered in a hushed tone that stopped me in my tracks.
“I won’t,” I said, turning my head back to him.
“I know she won't admit it, but she spent the night in his room. Those two are connected, and this is a real opportunity for Bear. He’s got the chance to be happy. Hell, we all have the chance to be happy here.”
“I’ll do my best not to ruin it,” I sighed before going to find Flora.
I've been so caught up in my own emotions regarding the small omega that I hadn't thought about what this signified for Bear.
Sure, I was happy that someone was interested in him, but this was more than a passing attraction.
He was clearly smitten. And if Flora was seeking him out for comfort in the night, she was, too.
Part of being in a pack was a case of balancing multiple personalities. Mine was a bit more possessive and controlling than the others. The last thing I wanted was to damage Bear’s chances.
Flora liked him. She liked all of us. Only, I refused to let my mind fully go there. If Flora was the omega for us, that was something to consider once she was safe.
It was already past midday, so it was the perfect time to get lunch and go to the supply store before the traffic got bad.
The entire apartment smelled like honey and rose. Even though she had only been here for less than a day, I was struggling to remember what it had been like before her.
The door was open, and she was sitting on the bed, textbook open in one hand, a notepad in the other.
Bear had subtly replaced several of her destroyed notebooks and she was making quick work of filling them with notes and little doodles.
She was wearing a hoodie that swamped her. I immediately recognized it as Bear’s.
“We’re going for lunch and to get nesting things,” I said.
Flora looked up from the textbook in surprise, narrowing her eyes at me. “I said the stuff from Mable was plenty.”
“You barely chose three items. You need more. We’re going to provide more.” I kept my tone simple, leaving no room for disagreement.
“If you’re going to let me out of the apartment, I’d rather go to class than shopping.”
Naturally, she disagreed. It took a considerable amount of strength to hold back my smile. Why was her stubbornness so amusing to me?
“And you will. Tomorrow.” I informed her casually, knowing that I was telling her exactly what she wanted.
Flora’s face lit up, and she sat straighter. “Are you serious?”
I nodded. “I'm not completely unreasonable. We’re going to take a few steps today to make sure you’re well protected, and one of us is going to follow you to class.”
“Oh, so you’re just moderately unreasonable, then?” she asked.
Usually, comebacks and smart-ass replies would have infuriated me, but there was something about the way Flora said it that made me bite back a smile.
“Exactly.” I grinned. “Now, come on. I’m hungry.”
She scrambled off the bed. “Wait, where are we getting lunch?” she asked, grabbing her bag. “I don’t want to eat health food trash!”
I strode out of the room, Flora hot on my heels. She really was allergic to eating anything healthy, wasn't she? “I was thinking tacos.”
Behind me, she made a small, excited squeaking noise. “I like tacos,” she whispered.
“Then, I guess you’d better get in the car so we can go eat.”
“Sir, yes, sir!” She jokingly saluted me as she practically ran into the elevator. We rode it down to the basement in calm silence.
Once we were in the car, I handed Flora my phone, open on the music app. “Pick something to play,” I said gruffly as she settled into the seat.
“You’re trusting me?” she asked dubiously.
“Yes.”
A small, evil smile spread across her face. “Okay!” she smiled brightly, and three seconds later, what I could only describe as bright-pink bubble-gum pop started playing through the speakers.
There was no way she actually liked that kind of music; she was purely doing it to fuck with me.
Fuck my life.
The nesting supply superstore was overwhelming, to say the least. We had parked outside while Flora looked dubiously at the entrance.
“Come on, princess, let’s go get some fluffy things.”
“Princess?” she asked, sliding out of her seat and joining me. Due to a difference in height, she had to walk a lot faster than me to keep pace.
“It just sounded right,” I said with a shrug. I didn’t know where the nickname came from, but it had slipped out of my mouth, and I was going with it.
I wanted Flora to like me.
I needed Flora to like me.
If I were being honest with myself, she and Bear weren’t the only ones with the connection.
Flora had somehow managed to worm her way into all our brains.
Still, as the automatic doors opened and we stepped into what I could only describe as blanket nirvana, I had to keep in the back of my mind how important not screwing this up was.
This omega needed to be treated with utmost care. I was used to doing whatever it took to protect someone, but this was different.
I kept telling myself this was just another job. Something I was doing pro bono. The reality was; it had never been a job. I had needed to protect Flora from the first moment I had noticed her stalker. Then I got to know her, and walking away was impossible.
“Go wild,” I said, gesturing to the walls of blankets and bins filled with pillows. The store was set up to be easily navigated. There were several nests dotted around the space, displaying some of the featured products.
Flora shot me a withering glare before walking toward the back of the store.
Toward the discount section.
My hand darted forward, wrapping around her waist and stopping her in her tracks. “Where do you think you’re going?” I asked.
She huffed, turning to me. Her front was plastered against mine, and I had to exercise considerable restraint not to reach out and touch her further as the baser part of my brain was very pleased at her proximity.
“I’m going to pick out an item or two, isn’t that what you wanted?” she asked, cocking her head to the side in confusion.
“Not from the back.” I shook my head. Why was she headed straight for the discount section? Everyone knew that was where the worst quality stuff was. Flora deserved the nice, luxury items they had up front.
“It’s cheaper back there…” She trailed off, giving me a look as if to say obviously.
“It’s also worse quality,” I pointed out.
“It’s what I can afford, and I like that stuff!” she hissed, giving me a death glare.
I narrowed my eyes at her. “That was only half the truth.”
She squirmed under my gaze. “You insisted we go shopping. Now you're complaining about what I’m choosing.”
“You haven’t chosen anything yet,” I pointed out.
“So let me, then.”
“I will. But not from the bargain section.”
“Well, that’s what I want to buy.” She crossed her arms, stubbornness overtaking her face.
If she wanted a battle, I was more than happy to meet the challenge. She was headstrong, but I was as much, if not more so.
“I want you to pick out some quality items.”
“The stuff at the back is good quality! It’s just not ultra fancy high thread count and such,” she said, her hands resting on her hips.
The urge to grin was almost overwhelming. It was rare someone decided to go toe-to-toe with me, and deep down, I fucking loved that Flora was comfortable enough to sass me.
“Okay,” I said, holding my hands up in surrender, “You go buy whatever you want…” I trailed off, moving away to grab a shopping cart.
Flora’s triumphant expression faltered when I started grabbing luxury throws and tossing them into the cart.
“Spencer! What are you doing?” she hissed.
“Shopping,” I said simply.
“Wait—no!” She picked up the fluffy throw from the cart and shoved it back on the shelf, turning to shoot me another withering look.
I grinned in return.
“The choice is yours, princess. You can buy a few high-quality items, or I'm going to buy plenty of them.”
“Has anyone ever told you you're a complete ass?” Flora hissed.
I considered for a moment. “My pack mates do on a regular basis. I like it, it keeps me humble.”
Flora snorted. “You are many things, Spencer, but humble is not one of them.”
“That’s a matter of opinion,” I quipped. “Now, are you going to shop sensibly, or am I going to do all the shopping?”
She stared at me for a moment, her gaze full of venom.
“Fine!” she growled, throwing her hands up in annoyance
After that, the shopping trip went surprisingly well. Flora walked through the aisles, picking up several high-quality items. Blankets, throw pillows, sheets. She even grabbed a large, lemon shaped throw pillow. She glared at me every time she put one in the cart, but it was well worth it.
“You’re an ass,” she muttered when we got in the car, the back loaded up with all manner of soft and squishy things.
“But I’m your ass, and now you can make a proper nest.”