37. Seraphina
37
SERAPHINA
I t took no time at all after I’d flounced into Dean Bennett’s office Monday morning with not only an official (unnecessary) courtship document in my hand but also bite marks decorating my neck for the news of my scandalous bonding to spread like wildfire around the OFS.
“Everyone keeps staring,” Paige whispered as we took our seats in our accounting class.
“You mean judging,” I replied. This morning I’d spent all of three seconds contemplating wearing a hoodie or high-necked shirt just to put off the bullshit for a day, but I’d dismissed the idea immediately.
I was so damn proud to be Pack Montgomery’s bonded omega. Everyone could just start processing their shock now.
“Maybe,” Paige said, “but underneath the judgment, they are burning alive with jealousy, I promise you.”
While Henri had received his requested phone call last night on the drive back from the gym to the OFS, I saved Paige’s update for when I burst into her room, dragged her through the bathroom, and thrust her at my three bonded Alphas as they milled around my dorm room, waiting for me to pack my shit.
She’d gaped at them for a full five seconds, then burst into tears. I’d let her cry into my shoulder about how of course these pierced, tattooed, not-biker Alphas were perfect for me and she was so happy I’d found them and she was proud of me for taking the plunge into something I’d never thought I wanted. She thanked the guys profusely for their help saving her from Hart, and they’d charmed her from a safe distance. Wise move, because had they managed to get their scent on another omega, even Paige, it would’ve turned me into a raging little monster.
Then I’d packed my bag so I could be whisked back to the hotel suite, where everyone then passed out in my makeshift nest and slept like the dead.
“Eh, I don’t know,” I said to Paige. “They probably all think I just walked into a shady bar and offered myself up to the first pack that would have me.”
She laughed. “Well, they wouldn’t be totally wrong there.”
I scowled at her, then I left her to take notes for the both of us while I worked on my doodle of Blaze’s dragon now that I’d been able to study him in all his scaled glory on Blaze’s naked skin.
By the time lunch rolled around, I was nearing full-blown grouch mode. I missed my pack, and I was starting to second-guess my enduring commitment to getting my degree if it meant five times the usual eye rolling and snide comments from the student body.
“Ugh, great,” Paige said as we sat down at our usual spot in the dining hall. “Looks like the head of the bitch brigade has decided she needs to come over here and make her thoughts known.”
“Paige Hayes,” I said with a theatrical gasp. “Did you just say something catty? Insult a fellow student? I love this. Maybe I’m finally starting to rub off on you.”
She rolled her eyes. “The horrors.”
The bitch brigade did in fact make a stop at our table. Bianca, the aforementioned leader, stomped her little suede boots, threw her shiny dark hair over her shoulder, and crossed her arms like she was a CEO about to make a demand of her underling.
“So it is true, then,” she said, sneering. “You went out and got yourself some bites. Was this supposed to somehow save you from taking the expulsion you deserve?”
I pretended to think about it. “Yes, actually. The dean and I came to an understanding.”
She scoffed. “I doubt that understanding included parading bonding bites around like a harlot . You never even had a courtship! That is not how things are done here.”
Allison, the vice president of the bitch brigade, elbowed her. “She probably went out and screwed those insane bikers from the party. Alphas like those would be the type to bite any omega they could get their hands on. Not like the class of Alphas who court here. Ones with pedigree and taste .”
Paige pushed her chair away from the table like she was about to get up and throw hands. “You don’t know anything, you atrocious cunts .”
“Paige!” I exclaimed, clutching my imaginary pearls. “What has gotten into you, and can I have some?”
One of the junior girls, who was, as usual, stuck to Bianca like a bad smell, elbowed her. “Oh my God , who are those delicious Alphas with the dean?”
Every omega in the dining hall craned their neck toward the entrance. Dean Bennett bustled in through the arched double doors, her deep purple pantsuit a stark contrast to the sharp gray suits worn by the Alphas flanking her.
Warmth flooded my bonds.
The dean stopped just inside the door and gestured in my general direction. She shook hands with Loki, exchanging a few words and a cordial smile, and then she disappeared back out the door.
I sighed happily. Bianca and her groupies were tittering away, but I could no longer hear them.
Loki, Blaze, and Hawk stalked toward me.
Or, rather, Gabriel Montgomery, Alexander Cruz, and Jasper Dallas began to stride purposefully in my direction, all three of them wearing tailored suits, dress shirts open at the collar, and shiny shoes. They were embodying their wealthy-heir personas today, and I’d be damned if I didn’t find it just as hot as the weapons-laden tactical badass versions of them I first fell in love with.
Paige barked out a loud laugh and relaxed back into her chair. “Thank goodness. I’m not sure I’d have been able to defend your honor, Seraphina. I don’t actually know how to throw a punch.”
“I’ll teach you,” I murmured, my eyes still glued to my Alphas.
“They’re coming over here!” Allison whisper-screeched. “Tabitha! Eleanor! Anyone without a courting commitment, stand up straight!”
Bianca stepped away from the huddle and right into the guys’ path. Loki stopped, frowning like he was confused that a random omega had stepped in front of him. Blaze chuckled and sidestepped Bianca to continue towards me, but his smile vanished when he was waylaid by Allison. Hawk rolled his eyes and stalled next to Loki in solidarity, his gaze never leaving me.
It didn’t shock me that these girls failed to recognize my pack as the bikers who’d tossed the handsy Cates Alphas around the all-college party like rag dolls. As striking and memorable as I always found them, no matter what they wore, Bianca and her ilk would’ve dismissed them completely when they thought my boys were beneath them. Now, they perfectly looked the part of a polished and wealthy courting pack, and these girls had noticed.
“Hello there,” Bianca said, beaming a lusty smile at Loki. “Are you a new courting pack? You must know the dean well if she’s allowing you to introduce yourselves to us outside a courting event?—”
“Excuse me,” Loki said politely, distracted like her presence had barely registered. He stepped around her. “We’re here to see our omega.”
I finally burst from my chair and jumped into the first arms I came to, which were Blaze’s after he’d narrowly escaped Allison’s attempt to introduce him to her cousin.
“Hi,” I said breathlessly. “You look nice. What are you doing here?”
He sucked in a huge hit of my scent, his nose pressed against the shiny scar on my neck that belonged to him. “Just closing out our special arrangement with the school since the OFS portion of our investigation is officially over. The dean graciously allowed us to come say hello to our omega before we take off.”
Hawk butted into our embrace, throwing one arm around Blaze’s neck and wrapping his free hand around mine to pull me into a searing kiss. “Hey, Little Flame. Missed you.”
“Missed you too,” I replied. “It’s silly. It’s only been, like, four hours since you guys dropped me off for school this morning.”
He kissed me again. “Not silly when we’re newly bonded.”
Loki arrived and stole me from Blaze. “Lamb.”
I wrapped my whole body around him. “ Gabriel ,” I purred. “Why are you three dressed in courting Alpha uniforms? Not that you don’t look insanely hot.”
“We are about to take all of our mothers—including yours—to lunch,” he replied, “and they don’t know how to eat in a restaurant that doesn’t require a jacket.”
I rolled my eyes. “True. I hope you brought your black card.”
“Obviously.” He pressed a little kiss to the base of my throat, his lips skimming his bonding scar. “You still smell mostly like you,” he whispered. “I know it’s only temporary, but I’m probably going to be a surly asshole until I have my lamb’s luscious scent back.”
That was the other thing I’d had to grab from my dorm room last night. Loki had finally gotten his wish to see the inside of my safe when I’d accessed my extra supply of the super-illegal suppressants that allowed me to pass as a beta.
I’d taken the dose last night, just to ensure I had enough lead time before our planned op on Saturday to thoroughly snuff out the omega pheromones. I’d be doing a lot of swimming later this week and using the chlorine to hide my lack of scent.
It also meant we were on a knotting hiatus. The boys had pouted something fierce about that one.
“You mean until you have my luscious pussy back,” I teased.
He growled. “That too.”
The hushed whispering intensified around us, reminding me that we were, in fact, in the middle of the packed dining hall during lunch at the OFS. Loki set me on my feet, and my Alphas crowded around me.
Bianca, Allison, and the rest of the brigade continued to just stand there and gape.
Hawk rubbed my back and smiled down at my bestie. “Hey there, Paige. How are you?”
Paige looked so fucking smug. “I’m very well, thank you, Jasper. It’s so nice of you three to stop by to see Seraphina. She’s been missing her Alphas.”
“We’ve been missing her too,” Blaze said. He dropped a kiss on the top of my head. “It’s tough to be away from the woman we love so soon after we bonded.”
Bianca began to sputter. “Just who?—”
“Are you guys taking your moms to Bistro Lumière?” Paige asked. She leaned an elbow on the table and rested her chin in her hand, blinking big innocent brown eyes at them. “It is Camille’s favorite.”
“We are,” Loki replied with a sage nod. “Our mother-in-law does have exquisite taste.”
“What the hell is this ?” Allison hissed at Bianca, gesticulating wildly in our direction.
“Oh, did we need to do introductions?” Paige asked the group, her brows pinching like she was a little confused. “I’d just assumed everyone recognized Seraphina’s Alphas. Their families practically own the entire city of Fort Wayne.”
Well, that was stretching it, but I wasn’t about to correct her.
Blaze leaned down and pressed his lips to my ear. “What pissed Paige off?” he whispered.
“Bitches,” I replied.
He chuckled knowingly.
“That tall blond drink of water there,” Paige went on, waving a hand at Loki, “is Gabriel Montgomery.”
One of the minions behind Bianca gasped.
“And that suave-looking gentleman with the gorgeous hair is Alexander Cruz,” Paige said, pointing at Blaze. “And, of course, that adorable cherub with the curls and the ink is Jasper Dallas. I suggest you ladies do some Googling if you don’t recognize the names.”
Phones were definitely out all over the dining hall now, the hushed whispering intensifying to full-volume gossip.
“Well,” Loki said with an amused smile, “we will let you get back to your lunch with your best friend, Lamb. Our mothers will be displeased if we’re late.”
“Understatement,” Hawk muttered.
I sighed, pouting at the thought of our parting. “Okay. Please bring a cheesecake home for me for later.”
Loki gripped my chin and planted a slow, delicious kiss on my lips. “You got it, doll.”
Hawk and Blaze also left me with kisses that were borderline inappropriate for public spaces, and then the three of them strode from the hall with all the entitled confidence of pedigreed courting Alphas swaggering around an OFS.
Tearing my gaze from their perfect butts as they left, I collapsed back into my seat across from Paige. “That was nice of them to come see me,” I said, popping a french fry into my mouth.
“Well, they are obsessed with you,” Paige replied lightly. She glanced beside our table and frowned again with exaggerated confusion. “Did you ladies need something else?”
That snapped Bianca out of her fish-mouthed gaping. “No,” she said tightly. “Congratulations, Seraphina.” Her face contorted like she’d bitten into a lemon.
I beamed at her. “Thank you. I’m sure your bonding with the bland assholes who put that ring on your finger will be ever-so-magical too.”
She huffed and turned on her heel to stalk away, snapping her fingers at the rest of the brigade, who trailed after her like a bunch of confused little ducklings.
Had I ever had such a great day at school? I really didn’t think so.