7. Seraphina
7
SERAPHINA
T he good folks at the Eastern New Mexico Women’s Center found us a safe spot for our handoff. Sweetriver, Texas, located a few hours west of the huge metropolis of Fort Wayne, which was home to the North Texas OFS and the fancy pack my parents had promised me to like a fifteenth-century spare princess.
I pulled Jere’s SUV into the quiet back parking lot of the nicest hotel in town. Tori, who ran the Center, apparently knew the owner, so she was able to ensure all back-facing security cameras were turned off for our arrival and that the staff was on guard for anyone approaching the back lot other than my vehicle.
Daisy waited for us there, slouched against her Jeep as she sipped a canned energy drink and played on her phone.
She looked good. I had to admit that her move to New Mexico agreed with her, as much as we’d all been pretty dang devastated to see her go.
She still wore her straw-blonde hair cut just above her shoulders, and I could tell even in the dim lights of the parking lot that it was extra blonde now after a long summer in the sun. She’d grown a few inches since she left home and was now almost as tall as Dylan. She’d been scrappy and scrawny when I first met her, but her running shorts and loose tank top revealed limbs that were beginning to fill out with shapely muscle, all thanks to her gym routine and whatever other crazy shit she got up to.
We had that in common.
She’d just turned eighteen a few weeks ago, and I owed her a girls’ trip whenever I got free of my personal bullshit.
I leapt from the car and crushed her in a hug, and as she patted me on the head, I lamented the fact that everyone outside the OFS was so much fucking taller than me.
“Ooh, you smell like a fake beta,” she said, squeezing me. “Fun night?”
“Fun couple of nights, actually,” I replied. “I banged three hot Alphas, then ran into them again when I shot the guy they’d been investigating.”
She stared at me. “I see you’ve begun to blaze your way down the bridge you’ve been determined to set on fire.”
“All aboard the train to hell,” I said, grinning. “Toot, toot.” I pulled my imaginary train whistle.
Daisy sighed. “You couldn’t pay me to be an omega, even one as fancy as you.”
“Speaking of, come meet Rosa and Alissa.”
Daisy leaned into my open car window and offered the girls a friendly wave. She introduced herself and gave them the usual background on the Center and what they do for the girls there. She made sure to get a firm verbal agreement from both girls that they wanted to come with her of their own free will, and then they were off to the races.
After loading the girls into her Jeep, Daisy gave me another hearty squeeze.
“I expect a video call and a more detailed update on the Alphas you decided to take for a ride,” she said with a pointed look. “And obviously keep me in the loop on all the… other stuff. Just don’t burn the OFS down or kill anyone while you handle your arranged marriage problem.”
I scoffed. “I will not make either of those promises.”
“Fine. I’ll just have to make sure Dylan and Cam are keeping you out of trouble.”
“Come visit and keep me out of trouble yourself,” I countered.
Her smile was sad. “It’s better if I don’t.”
Right. I knew it, but I always tried. A broken heart was a helluva thing—not that I would know—but Daisy was kicking ass and blooming into a strong and confident woman since she’d left for New Mexico. If she needed to stay away to continue along that path, I wasn’t going to say shit about it and neither was anyone else who cared about her.
Mostly.
Daisy waved at me one last time as she pulled out of the parking lot, spiriting two more omega girls to safety and freedom. My work here was done, so I slid behind the wheel of Jere’s SUV and set the GPS to home.
Once I’d started working for Jere during the summers, I’d perfected the art of becoming a ghost in my own house. We’d return home a week or two before school began, and I’d get creative while I waited for the suppressant to wear completely off.
Up early, swim in the pool so I stank of nothing but chlorine, grab breakfast in what was usually a busy kitchen, then out and about under the guise of doing intern duties at headquarters, going to the library, or visiting Dylan at St. James & Co. I’d sneak back in, shower with the most fragrant bath products known to humans, then flit through the kitchen again to graze on whatever our housekeeper had made for dinner.
Tonight, though, we were having a formal family dinner. Classes started tomorrow, and I’d already moved most of my shit back into my dorm room at the OFS over the weekend. I was back to smelling like a ripe omega with no free will, so I didn’t have to chlorinate myself before traipsing around campus in my baggy Less Than Jake T-shirt and bike shorts.
I stalked into the dining room to find all five of my parents and my sister already seated around the enormous banquet table, sipping cocktails and chatting away.
“Gimme,” I said to my dad, Rodrigo, as I swiped my chubby-cheeked niece from where he bounced her in his lap.
He chuckled and crossed the tree trunks he called his arms across his chest. “Sure thing, sweetheart,” he said to me. “Since you’ve finally deigned to grace us with your presence.”
“Oh, was this dinner not mandatory?” I asked as I pulled up a chair. I snuggled Clarabella against my chest like a shield, and she clapped her tiny hands excitedly. “If attendance is optional, Clara B and I will take our plate of chicken nuggets and go splash in the pool.”
“Your presence is mandatory, Seraphina,” Andrew drawled. “We have things to discuss.”
I raised the glass in front of me with the hand not wrapped around my chunky little niece. “Here’s to hoping I choke on something during the first course, then.”
Isabella, Clara’s doting mother and my older sister, rolled her eyes from where she sat next to Mom at the head of the table. “Stop being so dramatic, Seraphina. And Clara’s already been swimming today, anyway.”
My brothers chose that moment to breeze into the room like a couple of happy fuckers without a care in the world. Austin, with his sharp haircut and crisp dress shirt, was ever the polished pack leader. Dylan called him “GQ GI Joe,” and it fit him to a T.
On first glance, Seth appeared to be his total opposite, with tattoos that decorated his arms and hands. His ears were pierced, and he had a thin ring around one nostril that my mom still had not gotten over. His worn T-shirt and tight jeans said casual, while Austin’s attire screamed professional. But they were really two sides of the same coin—a pair of dominant Alphas who were not only deadly in a fight, but also loyal, caring, and kind.
Too bad they were both on my shit list right now, along with the rest of my family.
They patted me on the head as they passed, then Seth plucked Clara B from my arms and pretended to take a bite out of her cheek while she squealed with glee.
What a dick.
“Where’re your better halves?” I asked my brothers archly as they slid into a couple of open chairs.
Seth situated Clara in his lap, and she became immediately fascinated by the colorful flowers inked onto his hands. I scowled at him, the thief. “Cam and Dylan are at the store,” he replied with a lazy grin. “Labor Day is always a banger at St. James & Co., so he’s helping her out.”
“Yeah right,” I said, still grumpy. “He’s making it worse. None of the ladies will ever leave the store with him in there.”
Austin eyed me. “What’s crawled up your ass?”
“Oh, gosh, I don’t know,” I snapped. “Maybe I’m not in the mood for a happy family dinner with the people who are selling me to the sons of their rich friends like a lightly used yacht.”
Mom sighed loudly, and Jere let out a displeased rumble. “Not at the dinner table, Seraphina.”
I ignored him, my imploring stare still on Austin. “How could you support this? After what they tried to do to you guys? After everything you’ve seen helping Dylan save omega girls from shit packs?”
My oldest brother blew out a frustrated breath. “Sera, I get it. I do. This is not ideal.”
“The laws that apply to unbonded omega women are still a major problem,” Seth added.
“But it is what it is,” Austin went on. “Your special dispensation from bonding laws ends at graduation from the OFS. You’ll have to prove an official OFS courtship with the intent to bond soon , or you could end up on the USDPU rolls after you graduate.”
“And f—” Seth cupped his hands around Clara’s ears like a pair of earmuffs. “—fuck that. We’re not letting that happen.”
“But—”
Austin held up a hand. “I know Dad has already told you that you can’t just take suppressants and run off to New Mexico and start a new life. This pack is too well-known, and people will start asking questions that could blow the entire Women’s Center project out of the water.”
I sagged in my chair. That was true, and I would never risk that place or the girls they helped.
“So, short of faking your death?—”
I snapped my fingers and pointed at Austin. “Now there’s an idea.”
“Enough,” Andrew said with a weary sigh. “Your brothers have already expressed to us their displeasure at this arrangement, Seraphina, but as they also are reasonable , they understand that you do not have any options left and that we’re doing the best we can for you.”
Jonathan, my father with the mildest disposition and least penchant for violence, gave me a hopeful smile from where he perched in the chair on Andrew’s other side. “We think you should just meet the Montgomery Pack, sweetheart. You might like them?”
Unbidden, another pack of Alphas floated through my mind. I shoved them away. A fantastic memory—that’s all they were. Before they went, though, I had to acknowledge that holding them up next to the idea of this mystery pack of boat-shoe-wearing rich boys from up north made my desire to meet my betrotheds sink even further into the pits of hell.
Which I didn’t think was even possible, but would you look at that?
“No.”
“Yes, Seraphina,” Andrew said. He sounded tired, and I had not one drop of sympathy for him. “I spoke with Thomas Montgomery yesterday. He confirmed that his son’s pack is en route and will be staying in the city for the next few months.”
“How wonderful for them,” I replied dryly.
“It will be so wonderful,” Mom said, beaming that smile that could slay a thousand Alphas. “You’ll see, honey. Bonding with your pack is so magical.”
Isa nodded sagely next to her, rubbing her tiny, rounded belly where my next niece or nephew was cooking. I mimed barfing onto my plate.
“Your first courting event is this Friday,” Andrew added. “You will attend a meet and greet with the pack on the OFS campus. Your mother has hired her favorite caterer for the hors d’oeuvres.”
Damn, I loved those little cheesecakes, but?—
“Still no.”
Rodrigo huffed, though the quirk of his lips said he was halfway amused. “You’re going, sweetheart.”
“Make me.”
He bared his teeth. “You think we won’t?”
Ugh.
Don’t you all realize this is war?
I took one giant bite of the fish taco in front of me, chewed it angrily, then shoved away from the table. “Fuck this,” I announced.
“Seraphina—”
“Let her go.”
That was Jere. How nice of him.
Ten minutes later, Austin and Seth joined me by the pool. I’d raided the outdoor kitchen’s fridge and snagged a mango margarita in a can, and I was drinking and brooding as I lay in a lounger, staring up at the darkening night sky. The stars had just begun to peek through the violet swirls.
Seth snagged my drink and took a sip before flopping onto the lounger next to me.
“Stop stealing my shit,” I snapped, but my heart wasn’t in it.
Austin knelt on the concrete at my other side. “Listen,” he said softly. He had Andrew’s golden-brown eyes and his same calming pack leader energy. I’d always loved that about Dad before he decided he was going to orchestrate the ruining of my life. “If you give this whole thing a shot and it really just doesn’t work out, we will figure something out, okay? We’re not going to let you be forced into a lifelong bond you don’t want.”
I snorted. “Thanks for not being a total asshole, I guess.”
“I don’t think our parents would allow anyone to force a bond on you either,” Seth added. “They just seem very confident that this could be the right thing for you if you… change your attitude.”
“Uh-huh, like they thought setting your choosing gala and forcing you to pick an omega with two weeks’ notice was the right thing for you?”
Austin sighed. “They mean well, but they still mostly think courting and bonding is all sunshine and roses. And for them and most of their peers, it was. They don’t understand your resistance, just like they didn’t understand ours.”
Seth handed me my drink, and I downed the rest of the can. I gave them both a hard stare. “You know I won’t go down without a fight, right?”
They grinned, and Seth said, “We’d be disappointed if you did.”