Chapter 26
CHAPTER 26
CLOVER
P eople are good at all sorts of things.
Mama Joy is very good at spending money.
We started the day by going for a quick checkup. Joy had been concerned that my heat might come harder and sooner. Since I was around Alpha’s on a regular basis for the first time in my life it made sense. Having a blood panel done would give us a sense of when my heat would hit.
They recommended birth control, since I wasn’t officially bonded in a pack yet. It would be a shot that would work for three months and would just protect against pregnancy without making my hormones go too crazy.
Mama Joy said it was my choice so I got it despite the fact I was still a virgin. Something that did come up in the appointment.
A lot of questions were asked about if I felt safe and if the pack was treating me okay. Talks about sex always made me feel uncomfortable because I had expected to lose my virginity on my wedding night to my husband. That’s how things had been done growing up. Now that sex was more open I was trying to understand the big deal of it.
That’s why I wanted to explore with my toys first. See if any of it was worth trying the real thing. Maybe explore a little bit more with Griffin in the shower too.
It was a series of uncomfortable questions and talks about my body being made to take Alpha’s. Something that I didn’t fully understand, but nodded to anyway.
After that, Mama Joy said we should get brunch. This is my new favorite meal because they mix juice with champagne. It’s like getting the best of all words. Plus, they had crepes that were so delicious. I can’t wait to tell the pack about it tonight.
After we had brunch, she took me to a spa.
Hours were spent getting waxed, our hair washed and styled, nails painted, and drinking more champagne.
Did I mention how much I liked champagne?
It’s so good.
And it smells like McKinley!
The best.
Then we had lunch where we had more champagne with our food. Just a glass because we were giggly and had our arms wound around each other by the time we had gotten out of there.
Being around Joy was pure happiness. She joked and laughed. Told me about what it was like courting her pack. The way she spoke made it seem like there was no topic that was off topic.
So I told her about how my underwear had been stolen.
She nodded solemnly at that and took my hand, tugging me towards a lingerie store.
“My pack used to take my underwear. With Vaughn having just been in rut I bet he scented you and felt compatible. He probably used your underwear to help him through it.” She explained.
The way she said it was with such a casual shrug. As if it was a normal thing that happened. A fact of life.
I didn’t get it.
“What do you mean to help him through it?” She turned from where she was holding up a silky white robe. Her eyes widening as she seemed to understand that I didn’t know what was happening.
“Clover baby, you know Alpha’s have ruts like Omega’s have heats? So instead of hurting and aching for a knot they want to knot their Omega. Vaughn was using your panties as a place to come because he was scenting you and wanted you.” My whole body is tight at the explanation.
Knots. Heats. Ruts.
All my heats have just made me sleepy and feverish. I haven’t wanted to feel relief. Not like the relief the buzzing toy gave me from the shop. That was different. Was my next heat going to be asking an Alpha to knot me?
Did knots look the rubber bits on the toys I saw? Did they really stay inside me?
“Can you explain exactly how a heat works with a knot?” Joy blinks several times before taking my hand and leading me over to where the silky satin lingerie is.
She grabs several pieces and then asks a sales woman to start a room. I’m so confused as my measurements are taken and Joy asks for a rack of things as we’re building up the wardrobe.
Ushering me inside the room, she has me sit down, and sits next to me on the small bench.
“I figured we’d get a little more privacy in here.” She offers me a smile and I feel relief knowing she’s not mad at me for my questions. “I know you learned a little bit about this stuff so I’m just going to go over everything for you. I want to say first that sex is completely normal and is a very common reaction in scent compatible partners. I had plenty of sex before my pack with people that didn’t even smell good, but when I met everyone in my pack that’s when things got even better.”
I can’t imagine having sex with anyone that isn’t in Pack Mathers. That realization makes me squirm.
I can imagine having sex with every member of the pack.
When did that happen?
“You can also try anything out yourself. There are plenty of toys that we can look at or you can watch videos. Wait! That’s a good idea!”
She’s pulling out her phone and scrolling through things as I shift around beside her.
“I did buy toys at the nest store. And I did use one. I just feel like I don’t want to be with a cold toy when…” There’s four hot men in the house. One being her son.
Joy just gives me a smile.
“Your best bet is to go with Apollo or Vaughn. Apollo is the calmest of the bunch and can read people very well. I know he’s my son and trust me, I don’t need or want any details, but he will do right by you. Vaughn was in a relationship for a long time. I think he will understand things more. McKinley likes you too much. I don’t think he will push you as much as you need because he just wants to please you. And Griffin will push you too much because he will want you both to feel good.”
I know she’s right and yet I still feel a little resentment. All the Alpha’s and the Beta of the pack are perfect the way they are. All of them would be good.
Her eyes scan me and she smiles.
“Okay. This is a video of an Omega being knotted.” She shows me her phone and my cheeks flush.
On the screen an Omega is on her elbows, her breasts pushed against the ground, and her ass higher in the air. The Omega’s knees are spread wide, the shine of slick dripping down the back of them clear on camera. An Alpha is behind her, a thick cock slipping into her. A hand length above his base you can see his knot.
It’s thick and pulsing, teasing her entrance as he grips her hips, pulling her back. A gush of slick slides over it and he pulls her back more, the knot going inside of her.
“They’re locked together now. It will swell a bit more inside of her, but he can still move a little to bring her pleasure throughout it.” Joy explains. “The knots can last a few minutes, like during a heat, or sometimes a half hour, depending on the mood of the Alpha.” She rolls her eyes at this and if she wasn’t Apollo’s mama I might ask her if she had been on a knot for that long.
It doesn’t seem like an appropriate question.
How appropriate is watching porn in a lingerie store dressing room with the Omega mama of your pack lead?
Not that Apollo was my pack lead.
We were just starting to court.
And it wasn’t exclusive.
I wanted some freedom.
“Did you court other packs before you settled down? Or no?” Joy shrugs her shoulders, a noncommittal answer to my question, “I told them I didn’t want to be exclusive.” Her eyes widen and I know that’s not the norm.
For some reason, I really crave Mama Joy’s approval. I don’t know if I just like her as a person or if it’s the fact that she is Apollo’s mama. Something in me feels like I need her to like me though.
She squeezes my hand.
“If you want to see other people that’s normal. I think courting a pack should be taken seriously. If you want a future with them I would give it a chance. If you’re just looking for fun and a heat partner, that’s different.” I know what she is about to say next isn’t going to be good because she looks away from me, “I also think it’s worth thinking about how you would feel if they decided to court you and not be exclusive. How would you feel if they were courting another Omega?”
A snarl comes out and I jut forward as if I’m trying to nip at her.
My hand covers my mouth, a horrified look on my face as Mama Joy just smiles, and squeezes my thigh.
“I think you have your answers.” She stands and claps her hands together, “Now, you have some panties to replace and a credit card that needs to be used. Let’s get to shopping.”
Walking into the arena, our arms are linked as we head to the elevators. Apollo’s fathers had met us at the hotel after we had finished shopping. They had arranged for my purchases to be sent to the pack house and took us to the game.
They also made us drink water because they said champagne wasn’t going to hydrate us.
I liked being around them. Seeing how they treated their Omega made me think about how I wanted to be treated. It gave me hope for a future and a life.
The doors to the elevator open and we walk down a hallway. There are a bunch of sports photographs on the wall. Joy lets me walk slowly to admire them, pointing one out proudly.
It’s of Apollo on draft day.
The hat pulled down over his blonde hair but his dimples are on full display as he smiles widely. He looks so much younger and it’s only been a few months since the picture was taken. Being the leader of his pack is taking a lot out of him. Aging him and turning him from that boy to a man quickly.
“Apollo is so handsome. He looks like he should be on the cover of magazines.”
“It’s all my good genes.” Henrik jokes with me as Joy rolls her eyes. She leans in to kiss her Beta though.
The easy affection between them is so nice.
He stops, opening a door, and letting us enter the space we will be watching a game.
It’s a lot different from college hockey games.
Instead of being small folding seats, there are two couches of gray leather. They have soft turquoise pillows made from a hockey jersey material, and fuzzy blankets with the team’s logo are thrown over each couch.
On one couch is a box wrapped up with a silver bow. On top of the box is the Orion Otter’s mascot. It’s a stuffed otter holding a puck. The otter is in the dark turquoise green color of the home jersey and a little black hockey helmet made out of shiny black fabric.
He is the cutest thing in the world.
“Looks like our son is making sure to take care of his Omega.” Jean comments. He has a soft accent as he speaks and looks affectionately at Joy when he talks. It’s like he’s remembering what it was like to court her.
My cheeks blush as I walk over, picking up the stuffed animal and giving it a squeeze before setting it back down. Opening the box up, I gasp at everything inside. There’s two jerseys inside. One is white with the dark turquoise green otter on the front and the other is the turquoise color with the grey otter on the front. Both of them have the last name Mathers on them with the number 28 stitched on the back.
Also inside the box is a white hat with a gray pom-pom on top and the otter stitched on the front. A few other pieces of merchandise are inside for me to be able to wear to games. It’s showing me that he wants me to attend more in the future and I love that
I see a card and tug it free.
Cherub,
I hope you enjoyed your day out with Mama. I hope you spoiled yourself like we plan on spoiling you in the future. This is my first courting gift to you. I want you to always have something to wear to my games or around campus to show everyone that you’re mine.
I also want to ask you on a date tomorrow night with the whole pack.
Would you do us the honor of going to dinner?
I’ll save the puck from my first goal tonight for you.
Always,
Apollo
A date.
A real date.
With the whole pack.
Biting my lip, I tuck the note inside the jacket that Vaughn gave me yesterday, and pick up the winter hat Apollo gave me from the box. Wearing gifts from the Alpha’s makes me feel good. It makes me feel cared for in a way that I never have before.
“Are you Clover?” A woman is guiding people in with trays of food that are being set up on a bar top in the suite. I nod my head and she holds up a dark green turquoise tumbler. There is a sticker of the Orion’s team logo and ’28’, Apollo’s number on there, “Mr. Mathers said to bring this for you. He didn’t want you to be dehydrated.”
Alpha’s and their obsession with having Omega’s drink water.
I take the tumbler with a smile, just as the rest of Pack Mathers stroll into the suite.
McKinley is in a grey shirt and jeans. A beanie with the mountains and university name stitched on the front. He stops to say hello to Apollo’s family. His eyes drifting to me once, but being pulled into the conversation with everyone before he can get to me.
Vaughn pauses in the door, his hand rubbing at his jaw as he takes me in wearing the coat he gave me. He’s wearing a pair of gray sweatpants, white shoes, a white shirt hanging out the bottom of the gray hoodie he is wearing, and a backwards baseball cap.
Something about his outfit makes me need to clench my legs together.
As soon as I do that Griffin is in front of me.
He looks good in a pair of black light track pants and a white tee shirt with a letterman jacket from the school over it. I don’t really get to appreciate his outfit because his hand is tilting my chin up and his lips are pressing a soft kiss against mine.
It’s gentle and sweeter than I thought he was capable of. It does nothing to help the slick threatening to make a mess of my bottoms. His hand slides under my jacket, into the small of my back to pull me against him.
“Missed you today, little weed.” He mutters into my hair. It’s so sweet. So unlike him that I melt, wrapping my arms around his tapered waist.
“Not as much as I missed you.”
And the crazy thing is, it’s true.
I’ve missed all the boys today. I had grown so used to seeing them around campus and at home. Being out all day and not around them felt good but like a part of me wasn’t there.
“Make her a plate, V.” He calls to his friend before nuzzling in to scent me. He rubs his face against me to take my scent for himself. I love that he wants to smell like me, “ I want to hear all about your day today, baby.” Griffin is sitting on the couch, pulling me onto his lap. He doesn’t care that Apollo’s family is there. Too busy tugging my jacket tight around me and fusing over me.
I eat up every second of it; this feels right. This feels like everything I’ve been waiting for.
It also reminds me of what Mama Joy said about being exclusive. Maybe I am ready.
“Lemon drop!” My eyes look up as I see Marcus in the door. My heart is dropping in my stomach because he’s not alone.
He’s not with the two Alpha’s from the university team anymore.
It’s much worse this time.
The Alpha to his left squeezes him tight, Marcus smiling up at him with his golden eyes worshiping the well known man. The monster doesn’t give the beautiful Omega a glance because his eyes are locked on me.
Bryce Weaver found me.