Chapter 31
CHAPTER 31
APOLLO
D ate night.
We were taking our Omega on the first official date in this courting process.
After the afternoon with the police, she needed it.
My Mama had come over to watch the cat because Clover was afraid to leave him alone in the house. Since he had shit on Vaughn’s rug already, it seemed smart to have someone watch the cat.
A fucking cat.
I was still ready to kill Griffin over the suggestion.
Even though Clover had been so excited all day over the orange poof ball. She had held him on her lap during the police interview, her scent never getting too upset since it calmed her to stroke him.
Ugh .
Why did it have to have a positive influence on her?
“Are you ready?” Mickey was walking into my room. Looking too good in the khaki colored slacks and burgundy knit long sleeve shirt. He smelled so good, all the clean Beta sweet champagne scent of him filling the room.
My arm wraps around him, turning him so that we were pressed against each other. Our lips clashing in a needy kiss.
I loved him endlessly and need him to always know that.
“Mhhh, what was that for?” He teases, unbuttoning the top button on my white long sleeve shirt.
I had gone with navy blue dress pants and a white shirt. We had agreed to take her out to eat followed by a sip and paint night under the stars. We also planned to give her our group gift tonight.
There was a lot going into tonight.
I was nervous as hell. What if we didn’t go enough? What if the courting gift wasn’t good enough for her?
“Honestly, should I be nervous? I feel nervous.” Griffin walks into my room without knocking, tugging on his leather jacket.
Of course he went all black with a black tee shirt, black dress pants, and his black leather jacket. He wants to always have that cool look about him. He’s keeping up with his pretty boy meets bad boy look.
Loser .
“I mean, you actually like her.” Mick comments, smirking at him, “Have you ever seriously dated someone before?”
Griff makes a sound like he is about to complain about us not taking him seriously when there is a knock on the door and Clover walks in.
Holy actual fuck.
“I didn’t know what to wear. Vaughn said anything would be fine but anything is bland! I got this dress yesterday when I went shopping and thought it might be nice. Is it okay? If it’s not okay I can go and change. I just-” I’m stepping forward, twirling a strand of her blonde hair around my finger.
She had curled it and left it hanging over her shoulders in pretty waves. A velvet blue bow is pulling some of her thick hair back from her face so that we can see she had put on a little makeup. Just enough blush to highlight her cheeks and mascara to darken those long lashes of hers.
Had there ever been a more beautiful Omega?.
Clover’s navy blue dress is covered in silver star shapes. It has sheer long sleeves, a corseted top that is pulled tight and has her breasts almost spilling out of it. The tutu style skirt is so short that I worry we’re going to be fighting someone tonight.
Her feet are bare and for some reason seeing her toes painted a pretty ballerina pink has me dizzy with need.
I’m not a foot bro but the idea of holding her feet as I push into her is alluring. Or maybe her resting a dainty toe on my shoulder as I stretch her.
“Cherub, fuck.” I’m kissing her because I’ve gone stupid. No words are good enough for her. Nothing is right enough to tell her how absolutely stunning that she looks.
A soft gasp and she’s pressed tighter against me. I can scent McKinley and realize he has her sandwiched between us as he kisses her neck. I hope she likes being in tight spaces because we’re a close pack and she’s going to be getting it a lot.
She smells heavily of Vaughn still and I want to add my scent. I pull away from her lips, scent marking her as I kiss at her neck.
“So beautiful, Omega. So fucking beautiful.” Her eyes land on Vaughn, who finally joined us.
What a diva needing to make an entrance. He’s been hanging out with Griffin too much.
A soft gasp makes me look down, where Griffin is currently holding one of her feet, sliding a silver heel on for her. He’s giving our Omega the princess treatment. His eyes looking up at her as he kisses her ankle before grabbing her other foot and repeating the motion.
She’s slightly taller now.
Not close to how tall we are…well maybe Griffin who can’t accept the fact that he isn’t 6’4, but she’s a few inches closer to my lips so I need to kiss her.
“Alright, share.” Griffin has his arms around her as he lifts her away from us, smiling at our Omega, “Ready for date night, baby weed? If you sit next to me I’ll finger you under the table.” Her cheeks bloom that pretty pink color.
God damn Griffin and his filthy mouth.
Also bless that boy for being so foul and making her cheeks turn such a pretty color.
“Promises, promises.”
“Oh my God, you’ve corrupted our Omega!” Mick is wrapping his arm around her as he leads her to the door.
I try not to watch the way her hips swing as she walks in the heels. I try not to admire the way her legs look as she walks down the stairs. I really try not to look down her dress. I already know her breasts must be jiggling with each step she takes, testing the strength of the corset top she is wearing.
I fail.
I fail so badly that I think about offering to let someone else drive so that I can sit next to her in the backseat. Maybe I can finger her in the backseat and make the pretty Omega come as she rocks between Mick and I.
Maybe Griffin has corrupted me.
I’m going to have to sit through dinner with a hard cock. Which isn’t really anything new. I feel like since Clover has been in our lives my cock has been hard.
It’s not just the fact that she’s gorgeous or that she smells like perfection. Clover is so kind. She is always checking in with us and making sure that we’re okay. The way she throws herself into supporting us at games and asks the silliest questions about the game. She wants to know everything and I love it.
Plus, my Alpha instinct is riding me hard. This part of me wants to have her around us all the time. The worry I used to have about providing for her is now more of an excitement about getting to do that. It feels like less of an issue now that we’ve opened our minds to her.
Mick gives me a look and I smile.
He wanted to leave for her. Knew right away that she was perfect for us. I had thought that I’d do anything for him, but I realized he saw how perfect Clover was for us before we could. He just gave us all the push we needed to be happy.
Is this happiness?
“Is she on birth control?” Vaughn asks softly as Mick helps her into the car.
My head snaps to look at him as Griffin lets out a growl.
“Fuck, you could have gotten her pregnant. Why do I want to try and get her pregnant? Is this an Alpha thing? This has to be an Alpha thing because I’ve always worn condoms before and never wanted to fuck a pup into someone this bad.” Griffin is bouncing on his feet and I have to take a deep, calming breath.
Vaughn is the most like me. He’s calm and collected. He doesn’t act irresponsibly.
Coming inside our virgin Omega’s pussy the first time they fool around ,without any talk about birth control, feels pretty irresponsible to me.
I try not to think about where we would put a nursery in the house. There is no way it would fit. We need to move. We need to move and all the work she just put into her nest needs to get redone. Clover is going to be unsettled again. Will the new house be close enough to school for everyone to walk to? Is someone going to drop out so we don’t leave our pregnant Omega home alone? Should I stop playing so they can go for their dreams first? Could I be a stay at home dad?
“Who broke Apollo?” Mick’s voice makes me blink out of the spiral that I had been going on.
“Vaughn got Clover pregnant.” Griffin supplies easily, like our whole life isn’t about to change.
She would look adorable with her belly all full of our pups.
Not going to-
“She’s on birth control. Mama Joy took her to get the shot. Why didn’t you ask that before you came all inside of her?” This right here is why I love my Beta.
He’s smart and knows what’s going on. He’s an absolute treasure.
My arm goes around his shoulder and I kiss the side of his head. Breathing doesn’t feel like the hardest thing in the world right now, which I appreciate.
“Dream killer.” Griffin mutters before getting in the car.
I shake my head. Clover has no idea what she is getting into with courting our pack. Hopefully she sees how much we’re willing to care for her.
Dinner went very well.
So well in fact that as dessert gets brought out I’m terrified. Something has to go wrong. That’s how life works. Things go wrong and I have problems to solve. That’s my job in the pack. Fix things.
A hand squeezes my thigh and Clover is looking at me, eyes soft with concern.
“Hi, you okay?” She tucks herself against me. Leaning in so close to me that I get a heavy breath of her scent. It calms me down. It makes it so that even though the table is full of our pack we have this sense of privacy between us.
Twirling a piece of hair around my finger, I bring it up and scent her more. It calms me down a bit more and makes me less tense than I had been a second ago.
“I just want us to be good enough for you. I want us to have open dialogue and talk about the past and how things were for you growing up. It’s important to me that we provide for you and we talk about not only what we want right now, but in a year from now. I want to make sure that you’re cherished. That this is more than just a moment in our lives. You’d be a beautiful blip in our timeline, but you’d be a gorgeous forever.”
Growing up my family always talked about how when you know, you know. It’s different when it comes to Omega’s because there is a connection that can’t be denied.
We had all been trying to ignore the pull to Clover the first week she had stayed with us. A lot of good that did us. The pull was there and it made it harder to ignore everything that was possible between us.
Clover hums out with a smile.
Her other hand slides up, cupping my cheek.
“You’re going to make falling in love with you so easy, Apollo.” Her lips kiss mine and my head feels foggy.
Love ?
She thinks she’s going to fall in love with me?
Oh fuck. I’m too old for the way my heart is hammering out of control. I can’t stop it though.
I pull Clover onto my lap as the waitress comes by, stroking the skin of her thighs as she lays back against me. Comfortable with the physical touch that we’re sharing.
“Can we talk about courting us now?” Mick has been so patient with everything. I know that he wants to talk about what things will look like for us moving forward.
“Aren’t we already courting? Did I read this wrong? I got gifts from Apollo and Vaughn. They were courting presents. This morning I…Vaughn…we….touched? Griffin and I have touched. There have been so many kisses. You took me to get a nest. We slept in my nest and-”
“And we want you to be our Omega so we are trying to make sure you’re comfortable with us so that we can have you join the pack. You’ll be the center of our world.” Griffin is unusually serious. “We all have goals and it’s important that we tell you about those because they do take up a lot of our time. You’ve been around us for a little bit so you can see our schedule. Do you have any concerns before we go over things?”
Clover catches the tip of her shoe on my calf, rubbing it there as she looks around. Her mind is whirling as she tries to think about everything.
“I mean…I know you all play hockey? I like going to games. I know that you practice and workout a lot. That it takes up a lot of time. Sometimes you travel for it?” They all nod their heads in agreement.
“Apollo will be going on a small road trip coming up on Thursday. It will be for a few days, but we’re playing in games Friday and Saturday. He’ll be back this weekend so it won’t be a big deal. That’s about as long as he usually goes away because of pack regulations. Once you bond, the team does allow travel, for the bonded with the team.” Mick explained, “Would you be comfortable traveling with the team? What sort of goals do you have for your future?”
The way she tenses on my lap makes me on high alert.
My eyes meet Vaughn’s and he seems to be thrown off by her reaction as well.
“I want to work. I’ve worked my whole life and pulled my weight. I don’t think it would be fair to stop doing that now. I’ve been thinking about, maybe, doing some work as a seamstress. I did a lot of that in the village. I made clothes for the children and women, but I also would hem mens suits and work on them as well. I don’t really know how to go about that, but I think that would be what I could do best. I could open a store? Something that is my own?”
She’s unsure and I feel like we’re pushing her too hard. We’ve worked our whole lives to play hockey. Played since we were just kids. Clover just broke free from a life she had expected to live. She just learned she was an Omega.
We’re not coming across clear.
It’s like we’re just setting up more rules for a life with her and that isn’t what we wanted to do.
“You don’t have to pull your weight. You don’t have to have anything figured out right now. All we need to really know is if you’re okay courting us. It’s clear we’re scent compatible and we’re all drawn to you. You’re the first Omega we’ve ever courted and things are already moving quickly for us. It’s common for pairs to bond after a few months. Our instincts rule us and we’re just trying to make sure that we don’t push you too hard.” Vaughn explains everything way better and Clover relaxes a bit in my arms.
“I’m still learning what it’s like to be an Omega.”
“That’s fine. Griffin is still learning how to pee standing up.” Mick ducks the smack Griffin aims at him, “This process isn’t going to be perfect, but we want to go through it with you, little Omega.”
Clover rests one of her hands over where I’m stroking her thigh. Her thumb tracing over my knuckles as she bites at her lip.
“I liked you all so much. Are you sure you want to court me though? I don’t really know what I’m doing and there are so many other Omega’s who don’t come with all the problems I do. I mean with Pack Weaver and growing up in a Beta only village-”
“Little weed, you grew up in a cult. It wasn’t a Beta only village. I mean it was, but they literally taught you that Alpha and Omega designations were bad. And I can’t even imagine what it’s like to now be an Omega. You’re so strong and smart. So brave for embracing your designation. And that makes you the perfect Omega for us. And, if you didn’t see already, I have no problem beating the fuck out of any other Alpha who looks at you. So Bryce Weaver and his pack of douchebags aren’t a concern.”
Her hand squeezes mine and the silence hits.
Clover likes to babble when she’s nervous. She talks about things in string-on sentences to ease pauses in conversation. She talks to make sense of things. Her silence is something new that we’re learning now to handle.
She doesn’t ask if we want her or ask for more reassurance from us. There is nothing about her body language that seems shy or unsure.
She’s just quiet.
We let her sit in her silence. Sipping our drinks and just waiting for her to be ready.
“Okay, I’m ready to be your pack Omega. Exclusive. I’m ready for the full experience now. As long as I can say stop if things get too much and as long as I do have some say in things. Which I do? Of course I do.”
Thank fucking God.
Tilting her head back, I kiss her to quiet that sweet babbling that she does. To let her know that she is mine.
Ours .
My teeth nip her lip making her gasp and giving me the space to kiss her deeper.
Fuck.
She’s an addiction. She’s going to make me lose my mind from falling for her.
“Okay, enough of that. We have a gift.” Clover pulls away as Griffin looks at McKinley. The Beta pulls out the wrapped white box with the silk pink ribbon.
We had picked out this gift over the weekend and had gone in to get the imprints of our canines done for it.
Clover takes the box, sitting forward, as she tugs at the ribbon to undo it. She gasps as she sees the four bracelets inside. They’re all silver cuffs, but at the ends are our individual canine teeth. The bracelets go on easily, but our teeth can dig into her skin to mark her if she presses down. Not like the permanent bonds we’ll leave on her but just a mark that she is ours. There is a small charm with each of our initials on each one as well as our birthstones and a small charm we each picked out.
Vaughn has a green emerald on his and for his charm, he picked out a Phoenix for Clover. He said that she is his second chance at family and happiness. He’s putting so much hope into her. It was important to him that she also knew that this was her rebirth at life too.
Griffin has a red ruby dangling from his bracelet. For his charm he got a clover design, which seemed a little on the nose for my taste. I know he calls her his little weed and technically clover is a weed. He says she’s strong and he’s lucky to have her. I know he put a lot of thought into the charm so I can’t fault him for it.
McKinley picked out an aquamarine from his birth month. He agonized over finding one in the perfect shade to match our Omega’s eyes. For the charm, he had picked out a key. He wanted to get something that showed she had opened new doors for us and to show her she could open all the doors moving forward without anyone holding her back.
As for me, I went with a Tanzanite gemstone. For the symbol I had gone with a silver globe of the world. I wanted to take her places and show her all the things that she hadn’t seen, but I also wanted her to know she was our whole world.
“They’re perfect.” She is already slipping them on her wrist. Shaking them so they made a tinkling sound that calms her. “Thank you for my gifts. You don’t have to buy me anything. I know you said it’s what people do when they court, but you do so much for me everyday.” Vaughn leans over, taking her chin in his hand as he looks our Omega in her eyes.
“It’s a privilege to spoil you, Clover. Don’t take that away from us.”
She smells so calm and happy. Her Shirley Temple scent wafting round us.
We did that.
We made her happy.
And we were going to keep her happy.