Chapter 21
CHAPTER 21
MCKINLEY
B londe hair is piled in a messy bun, black yoga pants molded over her perfect ass, and an Orion Otters long sleeve shirt is on the barefoot omega. She’s standing next to Apollo, who is talking to the men who set up the new furniture Clover had picked out.
At the store, she sat down with Ariel and sketched out how she wanted everything set up. The material she wanted draped around, any lighting that she needed done, was all set up now. Apollo had made sure that everything was paid for and expedited for the Omega.
His hand slid to her lower back, as she bounced on her feet. It was adorable how excited she was about the nest. Seeing her beside our lead Alpha, in our home, set something possessive off in me.
Clover bit her lip, pushing her head against Apollo. Her face nuzzled into his ribs as her scent slid over all of us.
“Jesus fucking Christ, can you let the little weed set up her nest now? She’s been a very good girl waiting to do it.” Her head snapped, looking at Griffin and giving him a smile.
Her head was nodding as she bounced a little more.
“I have been a good girl. A very good girl. Please, can I start putting it together? Please?” The sweet Omega was vibrating as Apollo tried to ground her.
She was too excited to be grounded now.
He nodded his head and she dove away from us all, slamming the door behind her as she started nesting.
Apollo shook hands with the men, letting them out of the house, and leaving me with Griffin and Vaughn.
Vaughn was staring at the door, something written across his face as he stared at the room like there was something in there that he was trying to come to grips with.
I had only ever seen him in a relationship with Terry. He had been a good boyfriend. Making sure that he took care of her first. That had caused some issues with hockey for a while and the pack. Maybe it was because of how much energy that he put into the relationship with his ex, but when everything happened at the end of the relationship, Vaughn shattered.
Vaughn loved deeply. He gave himself so fully to a relationship that he lost a bit of himself in it. When his family imploded, because of Terry and his father’s actions, it had taken everything from him. Now he was trying to figure out who he was and where he stood.
Griffin had tried to heal him. Tried to do everything to bring him fully back to us. Now we had Clover and there was something about it all that made me feel like it was going to work out.
“It’s going to take her a little bit to get everything settled. Why don’t we give her some space and talk about our plan for what courting looks like?” Apollo runs his fingers down my face, smiling at me as he touches me, “I’m sure you have some ideas of how to court the sweet Omega, right?”
When Apollo flirted, my world tilted on its axis. I was thrown off kilter and could only focus on how good it felt to be loved and cared for by him.
I knew I was making heart eyes at him, unable to stop myself as he tugged me in for a kiss.
“What color do you think her nest is going to be?” Vaughn’s voice is so soft.
Griffin tugs his hand, tilting his head, like he has the sense to get us all away from her room.
We follow him to the kitchen, sitting around the breakfast nook as we all try to not focus on the fact that there is an Omega upstairs building a nest in our home.
An Omega.
Our Omega.
I needed them to make sure they all know she was ours.
“So I think after she does her nest we each give her the gifts we bought for her at the store. We should have time before my family gets here. I’m sure Mama Joy is going to want to spend as much time as possible with Clover.” Apollo announces, taking a sip of water as he leans against the sink.
He looks handsome in his white t-shirt and jeans. His blond hair doesn’t have the usual product keeping in all the curls. It looks good on him to be a little disheveled.
“Are we planning on talking about how she said that she doesn’t want to be exclusive or is that plot just going nowhere?” Griffin asks.
For being such a fuck boy, he is taking courting our Omega pretty seriously.
Good .
I needed him to be aggressive and focused on this.
“She needs to explore. She hasn’t been in her designation long enough to really understand things. As long as we’re looking out for her, she should be able to explore and see how we’re the best choice. Plus, how is it fair that we say she can’t explore when we all have?” I watch as their eyes are all on me.
So they didn’t think that I was going to speak up for her having freedom.
They’re all wrong.
It’s important that she gets some freedom. After years of having none, we could let her have some space.
Was I worried that the Omega Marcus was going to try something? Yes .
Was I going to let that stop me from getting our Omega? No .
We could give her some freedom without giving her up.
“Maybe we should do both group dates and one-on-one dates with her? I think if we normalize group dates for her, then she will get used to being in a pack. There will be times when us three will be around her and Apollo will be at an away game too. It just makes it easier if we try to get one on one time with her at least once a week.” Vaughn speaks up again, for the win.
Apollo cuts me a glance, like he’s telling me not to make such a big deal out of it.
I wanted to throw confetti at him and give him a ticket, since he was finally on board.
“I haven’t really dated much. Maybe we can start with group dates and then do one-on-one?” Hearing Griffin admit that he didn’t know how to date showed he was willing to be vulnerable.
Maybe I could make these Alpha’s actually worthy of the Omega.
“I think I’d feel more comfortable with group dating too. Even if it’s just us that sit with her at lunch at the university. A buffer would be nice.” It’s nice that Vaughn and Griff are so close.
The way the two of them lean on each other without fear is one of the reasons our pack is so strong.
I’m practically vibrating at the idea of really courting Clover.
Maybe I should feel guilty about telling them I would leave if we didn’t court her….but I don’t.
I want this so bad.
I want her.
An omega to center us all.
It’s what everyone dreams of.
“So we’re okay with it not being exclusive but, how comfortable are we really with that? Is she going to have sleepovers? Is it for a month and then she decides that we’re it? How do we tiptoe around the fact that others are going to be interested in her?” Apollo drums his fingers on the island, as he asks the questions.
It’s different for him.
Being in the league, he won’t have to see Clover interacting with others as much as we will on campus. He’s leaving this all up for us to decide. Not that he doesn’t want to do it but, because he knows it will affect our day to day more.
The idea of her fucking someone in her nest that isn’t one of us makes my hands ball into fists.
So, I’m a little jealous.
Yes, I said that I wanted her to explore but, there had to be limits.
That made me feel like an asshole.
“I think we should be honest with her. Let her explore for a couple weeks. Halloween can be the deadline? Maybe we can do something sappy like throw a party and have matching Halloween costumes. She could be Princess Peach?” Vaughn offers up and suddenly we’re all talking over each other.
“I’m Mario.”
“I’ll be Bowser.”
“I’ll be Toad.”
“Okay, if you’re Mario I’ll be Luigi.” Vaughn laughs a little, “Mick is right. She hasn’t seen a lot so we should make our dates fun. What will be more important is how we incorporate her in our daily lives. Like we all go to the gym in the morning and now they have those dance classes. Maybe we take one of those with her instead of doing cardio.”
Vaughn being in a relationship for so long is going to save us.
Even though he has been the most reluctant about this, he knows he has to rally for us to make this work.
“We do family skate times on the weekends. Most guys bring their kids, but we could teach her to skate.” Apollo offers. “And I have a game tomorrow night. I know it’s not ideal, but the night after, we can have a reservation after and take her to dinner. It will feel busy for her, but worth it.”
Now that we have some ground rules and plans, it feels better. Almost like we know what we’re doing.
Even if we don’t.
Apollo gets a text that his parents, minus his mother, are on the way to our place. Since it’s not far away, we all start busting our asses. Rushing around the kitchen to put together something to eat and some appetizers.
We manage to throw together a charcuterie board to snack on while Vaughn and Griffin start preparing steaks to be grilled outside. Apollo is working on baking potatoes and a vegetable when we all freeze, heads turning to look up the stairs.
The heavy perfume is wafting down the stairs.
It’s so thick that I can taste the grenadine syrup of our Shirley Temple Omega.
My cock goes from soft to hard so quickly that I have to grab the counter to avoid passing out.
What is Clover up to?
Griffin has officially given up on the steaks and is headed for the stairs. Usually, one of us would stop him. Tonight we just follow him up the stairs, inching closer to the Omega’s nest.
A soft hum is coming from her room and it’s clear that she is in there, satisfying her needs. A whine, barely, is heard through the door, but it’s enough that Apollo has to slam his mouth against mine. If he didn’t stop himself he’d break down the door and satisfy our Omega..
“Fuck.” Griffin whispers, palming his cock through his sweatpants. He’s stroking himself as we all listen to the Omega getting herself off in her new nest.
Vaughn makes a sound, his head nudging behind me. I turn, seeing my bedroom door is open.
One of the things we always do is close our doors. Since our scents are more concentrated in our space, it just protects the house from smelling like a gym. It also preserves our safe spaces for us.
Clover was building her nest. Could she have possibly needed something of mine to add to her nest?
The idea has me grinding against Apollo. His hands steady my hips, his eyes blazing into mine as we move against each other in a quiet, focused movement.
That is, until the buzzing stops.
We all stare at the door, listening as the sink turns on in her en suite.
She’s cleaning up the evidence. We should be cleaning up the evidence with the heaviest descenters that we have in the house. Vaughn meets my eyes, nodding like he knows what I’m thinking before taking off down the stairs.
We don’t want anyone smelling our Omega.
The door opens and Clover looks at us all. Her cheeks flushed, her body relaxed as she takes us all in.
“Oh, I didn’t expect you all to be out here. I finished decorating and was about to come downstairs to see you all. Is your family here yet, Apollo?”
She doesn’t know that we all just heard her get off.
She doesn’t look down at the tents that are pitched in the hallway from hearing her sounds of pleasure.
She doesn’t know just how crazy we are for her.
Yet .
“No, cherub. We have some food. Why don’t you come downstairs with us and have something to eat?” Apollo offers her his hand, somehow maintaining composure.
Griffin is literally still holding onto his dick. He must think this is Elementary School and we were playing freeze tag from how still he is being.
Clover is off with Apollo, chatting to him about something as I just stare at Griffin in shock. His eyes meet mine and I can see it as clear on his face as it is on mine.
We’re fucked .
“Hello darlings! Come say hello.” Mama Joy’s voice pulls us out of our staring contest.
I say a quick thanks for Vaughn having doused the house and neutralized the perfume that has been in the air. All of our scents spiked so I’m sure it’s still lingering a bit.
But there is no time to worry about that.
I know we’re about to go through a line of questioning from Mama Joy. And we better all have the right answers or she is going to have our asses.
We aren’t going to be able to give Clover all her courting presents in front of Apollo’s family. We want to keep that private. Something for our pack to share.
What a day it’s been….and we haven’t even had dinner yet.