Chapter 38
Chase
“Are you sure you don’t mind me taking you to class?” I asked as Flora fidgeted in the passenger seat.
She shook her head. “I don’t mind. It just feels weird,” she admitted. Her hand absentmindedly went to her neck, over her bond mark with Bear. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous that she wore his mark. Even though we had all participated in her heat, only Flora and Bear had taken that step.
All in good time.
“If he could have come with you without drawing a lot of attention, he would have. But he isn’t far away. He’s one building over,” I said, resting my hand on her knee in what I hoped was a soothing gesture.
Their bond was new, so any distance was mildly painful to them.
We knew it was bad when Flora mentioned skipping class so she could stay near Bear after her heat.
She had already missed a few classes due to the heat itself, and the last thing we wanted was for her to miss more and have issues with getting her degree.
Flora was officially part of our pack, and we wanted her to achieve all her hopes and dreams. Just because she and Bear had bonded didn’t mean we wanted her to give up on going to college. Getting her degree meant so much to her.
We’d figured out a compromise, though. Bear was in a car behind us and was heading to one of the nearby coffee shops, so their distance wasn’t so vast that it hurt.
Flora had spent all morning snuggled up with him. Her scent was slightly burned, making it clear she dreaded the notion of being apart from him.
When they had bitten each other, all our lives had changed forever. We hadn’t discussed it as a pack yet, but there was no way we would be able to go back to our old ways. How would we go on foreign missions with an omega? Flora wasn’t trained like we were. She couldn’t handle stealth operations.
If we were lucky, we would be able to take jobs like protecting the Garnetts, where we could have a base nearby. Whenever one of us went upstairs to talk to the Garnetts or watch their floor, we could be back to Flora in minutes.
Granted, at this point, she only needed to be close to Bear, but I couldn’t help hoping that one day, she would need all of us that way.
“We could just go back to the apartment,” Flora’s voice was hopeful.
I raised an eyebrow at her. “As much as I enjoy your company, get the hell out of my car and go to class,” I insisted, doing my best to keep my voice serious.
She pouted. “Spoilsport.”
“Go learn stuff,” I said, waving her off.
A small smile graced her face, and she leaned over the center console, planting a kiss on my cheek. Her sweet scent of rose and honey infiltrated my senses in the best way.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Before I could reply, she opened the door, slid out of the car, and started walking toward the building.
After getting out of the car, I closed the door and followed her. We had discussed how we would watch over her. Flora agreed that entering the classroom with me would be somewhat obvious, so I agreed to go in a few moments after her.
As I took my seat a few rows in toward the back, I watched as she unpacked her books. Flora wasn’t paying attention to any other students, but they were paying attention to her.
In fact, several males were paying attention to her.
One man behind her was watching her intently—not in a creepy stalker way, but in an oh, that’s a pretty omega way.
I didn’t like it one bit.
Only, I couldn’t do anything to scare him off without making it obvious to Flora—and the entire class—which would only piss her off. It seemed our girl only had eyes for my pack and me, though, and deep down, that made me ridiculously happy.
I was a possessive bastard. Even though I did my best to keep my baser instincts under control, I couldn’t change who I was fundamentally.
Flora was now part of our pack.
She was ours.
And we protected our own.
The class itself focused on something mind-numbingly boring, and I sagged in my seat. Flora was engaged, though, glancing between the professor at the front of the class, the slides he was showing, and her notes.
My phone buzzed, and I stealthily looked at it under the desk.
Bear:
I think I just bought half of the university bookstore.
Chase:
Why did you do that?
Bear:
I bought all the books she uses at the university library so she’ll have copies at the apartment. That way, she won’t need to do late night study sessions there.
Chase:
Actually, that’s not a bad idea. Though, if she does need to go to the library, one of us is going with her.
Bear:
Of course. She’s not going anywhere on her own. With a stalker around? Fuck no.
Spencer:
It’ll be a cold day in hell when that happens.
The group chat was quiet for a moment.
Bear:
We’re not smothering her, are we?
Chase:
I think she would tell us if she was feeling that way. Judging by how she was snuggled up to your side and almost refused to leave this morning, I’d say she was feeling the opposite of smothered.
Bear:
That’s a good point. I’m just worried about her.
Spencer:
She’s pretty good at sticking up for herself. My side still hurts when I think about that tasering she gave me in the library.
I had no idea when someone had last gotten the drop on Spencer, so the fact that the tiny omega he was obsessed with had managed it was the icing on the cake. None of us would let him live that one down for at least a month.
Chase:
And to think, Bear is ordering her an even better taser.
Spencer:
Do you think that’s a good idea? She may use it on me.
Bear:
If she uses it on you, I have no doubt you deserved it.
Spencer:
Oh, sure. You get one bite mark, and now loyalty means nothing.
Bear:
I would have cheered about Flora tasering you long before the bond.
I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing out loud. Flora had brought out the sassy side of Bear, and I was so here for it. Not least because it annoyed Spencer so much.
When class ended, Flora made a beeline for me. “Home?” she asked excitedly.
“Don’t you have any tutoring to do?”
She shook her head. “Nope! I could do with going to the library to pick up a book or two, but honestly, I just want to go home and snuggle. One class, and I'm already exhausted.”
I chuckled. “That’ll be the heat. They take a while to recover from. We’ll head home and stop by the library on the way. Though I'm pretty sure Bear has been at the university bookstore today.”
“Why?”
“So you can study at home.”
A smile spread across Flora's face. “He’s too good to me.” She sighed, pulling out her phone as I took her bag off her shoulder. “I've got so much to do, I’ve fallen behind in all my classes. I need to catch up with everything.”
“You were only out for a week. Surely you didn’t miss that much? I know college can be intense, but geez.”
“I’ve only attended one week out of the last three,” she pointed out as we walked. “I missed a week when my apartment was first broken into, attended for a week, and then took a week off for my heat. Before long, finals will be here.”
“Shit. I hadn’t thought of that. Well, what can we do to help?”
“You’re already doing everything. Bear getting me textbooks will help so much. I should be doing something to thank you guys. I don't suppose you need a bookkeeper for your security business?” She asked the question with her nose scrunched, her face rumpled.
“You and Spencer are going to be hilarious during tax season. Do you really think the control freak lets anyone else near paperwork?”
“Ha! He’s welcome to do it. I thought I would just offer,” she said sweetly. “I don’t want to be useless.”
“Trust me, honeybee, you’re not useless in the slightest. In fact, you’re the best thing that’s happened to our pack in a long time.”
Her beaming grin was worth any hoops we had to jump through to make sure she was safe.
“Hey… Chase?” she said after a moment’s walking.
“Yeah?” Flora paused, chewing on her lip, and I could smell her scent twinging with something dark.
“Spit it out, honeybee.”
“Can I have your jacket?” she asked in a soft voice. “It’s silly, I know, but I’m feeling itchy being away from Bear, and having one of your scents close could, you know, help…”
My scent? She wanted my scent?
Fuck, yes!
Unable to contain my smile, I put her bag down and whipped off my zipper hoodie so fast that it snapped in the air.
I handed it over to her with a shit-eating grin, all too content to know she’d be wrapped up in something that smelled like me.
I felt a little ridiculous, but clearly, I was one alpha who was totally smitten with his omega.
“Here you go!” I declared excitedly.
A smile spread across her face as she gingerly took it and put it on.
It was a new request, but one I would happily fulfill any time she asked.
I needed Flora to understand that, if it made her comfortable, or happy in the slightest, no matter how strange or seemingly random the request, I would do it for her in a heartbeat.
Once I had her bag slung over my shoulder again, we resumed walking. She looked freaking adorable, bundled up in my jacket, which dwarfed her and hung down past her butt.
She typed on her phone as we walked, seemingly much more relaxed now that she was wearing it. And didn’t that just make me float on cloud nine. We were halfway to the library when her steps faltered.
“Honeybee?” I asked, pausing. “Flora?” She was staring intently at her phone, but she wasn’t answering me, just standing there, frozen. Instead of waiting for her to reply, I plucked it out of her hands.
Unknown Number:
How dare you taint yourself! I saw that bond mark! You’re mine, not theirs.
My stomach dropped, my pulse rushing as the words landed.
I shot a look at Flora, who was still staring into the middle distance, her hand on her neck.
That fucker was spying on us even now. God, and he’d seen Bear’s mark.
This was getting out of hand, and I still had no clue who this asshole was. None of us did.
“Flora, baby”—I put my hand on her shoulder gently, getting her attention—“you’re safe right now, okay? I’m right here. He’s not going to touch you.”
“He was watching, Chase. He was somewhere in the classroom or just outside it. I… I… Chase, he saw the mark and said—”
“I know what he said, honeybee. But we’re not going to let anything happen to you. You can count on us. The three of us are here to keep you safe.”
She shoved herself into my arms, burying her face in my chest. I held her, hating how charred her scent was now. All I could do was stroke her hair as I searched around us, keeping my eyes peeled for anyone I recognized from the classroom, specifically anyone who looked suspicious.
I swear, whoever you are, we’re going to find you, and you’re going to regret making our omega so upset.
Her stomach growling made me pause.
“Come on,” I said, changing direction.
“Aren’t we going to the library?” she asked, her voice small.
I shook my head. “Nope, we're going to the diner. I'm sure Bear will meet us there. Your stomach keeps rumbling loud enough for the entire campus to hear. We can help you study while feeding you.”
An adorable blush covered Flora’s face as she nodded shyly.
There was a diner on the edge of campus that I had become well acquainted with over the three years. No sooner had our butts hit the red vinyl seats of the booth than Bear was sliding into the seat next to Flora.
“Hi.” She beamed, wrapping her arms around him. It made me so ridiculously fucking happy to see her embracing Bear without a care in the world about what anyone else thought.
“Hello, little omega,” he greeted. “Did someone need feeding?”
Flora nodded. “And we are not telling Spencer that I am about to eat a pile of fried food.”
“Too late,” Spencer smirked from behind her.
Her face fell. “You creeper!”
He shrugged, sliding into the booth next to me. “I know where my pack is at all times.”
Spencer’s phone started buzzing, and he frowned at it. “Unknown number,” he muttered, picking it up.
“Who is it?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I don’t know.”
He accepted the call and lifted the phone to his ear. For a moment, we could only hear one side of the conversation.
“Yes. No. Yes. Okay. We will be there in twenty minutes.”
We listened with rapt attention, trying to figure out what was happening.
Spencer hung up the call, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“What’s happening?” Bear asked, his brow furrowed deeply.
He groaned and looked at Flora. “Apparently, when your mother didn’t hear from you during your heat, she got worried. She’s currently at your old apartment, kicking up quite the fuss. They called me because I put my name down as an emergency contact.”
“What?” Flora screeched, panicked. “My mother is here?”
Shit. That wasn’t good.
“Well, I suppose we’re gonna have to go see her,” I said, trying to inject a little brightness into the conversation. I was met with a sea of unconvinced stares.
Flora groaned. “This isn’t going to be fun.”