Chapter 15 Mable
Mable
“Hey! I know you!” the strawberry-jam-scented alpha said as he approached us. He looked as good as he had the first time I met him in the ice rink showers. Dark curls, a boyish grin that made me melt.
Jasper turned to me with a smile. “You know Saint, Maple girl?” he asked, his happiness radiating from him.
My heart was hammering so fast, my chest was starting to hurt.
Had I had sex with one of my pen pals? I’d had very few sexual escapades in my time, so the fact that two alphas I’d slept with were standing next to each other in a coffee shop, when I was already reeling from learning about Jasper, made my head spin.
“We’ve also met,” Percy, my coffee-scented savior, said.
Percy. P.
Oh, holy fudge… Was he the alpha with whom I had virtual study sessions and in-depth discussions about the hierarchy of baked goods on campus?
There was no way. There was no way I could have slept with two of my virtual pen pals during my heat and not realized it. I wasn’t the most observant of omegas, but that would be a new low, even for me.
They were here—the strawberry-jam-scented alpha and the coffee-scented alpha named Percy, who had helped me when I was deep in the throes of my heat.
“You’re pack mates?” I asked weakly, looking between the two.
Percy nodded. “We are. You know Saint?”
“We… We kinda…”
Jasper beamed, looking between us. “You’ve met Percy and Saint, Maple girl?”
“I helped her during her heat a few months ago,” Saint said. “You never called.”
“I showered and accidentally washed my hand, losing your number. Then I went to the store to get supplies and met Percy…”
“You didn’t call me, either,” he said, tilting his head to the side.
I ran a hand over my face. “I accidentally ran my cell through the washing machine…”
Saint bit his lip, trying not to laugh but failing miserably.
“Wait, you said you got pregnant during your heat. Does that mean we…?” Percy’s eyes widened as the realization hit him.
“I…” I didn’t know what to say; it was all too much. I had gone from meeting my internet friend to discovering the two men who had impregnated me.
“Is that baby mine?” the strawberry-jam-scented alpha asked.
“Maybe,” I whispered.
“Wait, you and her, during her heat?” Percy asked, turning to him. “She and I also…”
“Wait, she’s the omega you had sex with that you found at the grocery store?”
The tall, dark alpha, who I didn’t recognize, looked between us, a frown of confusion on his face.
“Did you, with both of us?” the alpha Jasper had called Saint asked me.
If that was his name, it kind of fit.
“I did,” I confirmed with a nod, before covering my face with my hands. I wanted the ground to swallow me whole. “I didn’t plan to have sex with anyone, and then it hit so suddenly and you both helped me. And then, of course, I’m an idiot and lost your numbers!”
Percy tilted his head to the side. “You managed to lose both our numbers? Now I kind of hate that we only texted through the online apps, otherwise you totally would have recognized my number!”
“Oh god. I wanted to call you guys and tell you, but I was such a dope. This is too much!” My words were rushed as I stood up.
The coffee shop was feeling claustrophobic, and I needed to get out immediately.
My head was already swimming as I tried to push my way out.
Thankfully Jasper moved and didn’t stop me as I stood.
Strong arms wrapped around me, pulling me into a chest that smelled distinctly of smoke and applewood. It wasn’t the dirty kind of smoke, but the sweet, slightly charred one that was masculine, dark, and comforting. The scent was undoubtedly alpha.
“Calm, omega,” the deep voice rumbled. It was the only alpha I had yet to be introduced to, the dark, angry-looking one who had hung back slightly, watching us. His touch was surprisingly gentle yet firm.
D. The surly pack lead.
He looked much too good, with dark brown hair that fell around his ears and a strong jawline. He towered over me, easily a foot taller than me. Instead of being daunting, it made me feel safe and at ease.
Despite it being rather embarrassing, I inhaled that scent, letting it comfort me. My muscles relaxed as the alpha I had only just met muttered soothing words. It was easy to see why he was the pack lead. He emanated an aura of control and power.
We were moving, out of the coffee shop and into the daylight.
“I think we all need to sit down and have a chat, don’t we?” D said softly, kissing the top of my head in a move that made my insides mushy. He was clutching my bag in one of his hands. Thankfully, he had the sense to consider grabbing it because I had been too flustered to remember.
“I don’t even know your name,” I mumbled.
It felt slightly wrong to leave a coffee shop with someone whose name I didn’t even know.
Although we had been talking for nearly two years, it still didn’t feel quite right.
In the blink of an eye, our relationship had gone from extremely online to feeling very real and in person.
“Devin. My pack mates are Percy, Saint, and Jasper.”
I pulled back, looking up at the alpha—at Devin—who was looking down at me warmly. It was nice to finally learn their names. Deep down, I knew that if I had simply asked them while chatting online, they would have told me, but I had enjoyed that bit of secrecy and distance between us.
Apparently, that was quite an idiotic idea of mine, because there was anything but distance between us, considering I had done the knotty nasty with two of the pack and hadn’t even realized it.
“This is a lot…” I mumbled.
“It is. Our place is near here. We all need to sit down and discuss everything from the start.”
I nodded dumbly. Part of me knew it wasn’t the best idea, but I was too frazzled to think clearly, and the thought of having the conversation I was sure we were about to have in public made my stomach turn sour.
“What’s your name, Maple girl?” Jasper asked.
His voice was full of hope and excitement, quite the opposite to my own panicked screech.
It dawned on me that in all of the panic and conversation, I had yet to actually tell them my name.
I finally knew their names. I suppose it was time for them to know mine.
“Mable… my name is Mable.” I spoke so softly, I almost thought they wouldn’t hear me. But their alpha ears were finely tuned.
Saint smiled. “Mable who smells like maple… perfection.”
The look on his face was almost adoring. I didn’t know what I expected when I finally ran into the alphas I had slept with again. Maybe anger for not contacting them or telling them I was pregnant, but I certainly didn’t expect the pure delight and excitement that was plastered on their faces.
My face heated at his words, and I was transported back to a few months ago, when he was whispering equally sweet things to me in the shower while he knotted me.
I needed to get away from them before I started to smell like the horny monster I was.