Chapter Twenty-three — Trinity
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
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TRINITY
Iyelped, suddenly enveloped by strong arms, the scent of rich chocolate and cherries, and a face pressed into my neck. My body melted out of sheer instinct at the scent and the same kind of pull I felt to the others. What the hell?
A second later, I was pulled free by Bastian. Anchored to his body.
The newcomer stared at me, desire pouring off him like a physical thing. Dark hair, blue eyes, tall and gorgeous. He shook his head. “Fuck, I’m sorry.”
He had an accent, and it made him just a little hotter than he already was.
“That’s what you all were about to tell me? That she’s our scent match?”
My mouth fell open. “Our?”
Theo cleared his throat. “Aiden, meet Trinity. Trinity, meet Aiden.”
I stared at my Alpha. “No fucking way.”
“Believe me, the last thing I expected was to walk inside and have a pack bond snap into place.”
It was like my brain had short-circuited. My day had been nothing but editing. My brain was mush. I hadn’t even had the time to text Ocean and Isolde, and now I had even more news.
“The DuPonts are going to lose their shit,” I blurted.
Aiden laughed. “Fuck, I hadn’t even thought about that. Guess I need to thank them. They’ll probably ask me for a discount on my services.”
My mind started to spin. How did I navigate this? Because I was with the pack, and now he was with the pack too. Did he know about our dynamic? Did I ask? Did they tell him?
Did I—
“Aiden,” Logan said, seeing my spiral, “if you don’t mind, we need a couple minutes with Trinity. We’re going to step out for a second. Make yourself at home.”
The Alpha nodded, but his eyes never left mine. “Of course.”
Longing lived in that gaze, and if he was a scent match too, I understood it. He smelled incredible and was hot as fuck, but that was a lot for a first meeting.
Bastian still had his arm around my body. “Your room.”
I obeyed, heading straight there. Kicking my shoes off, I rescued the mini-safe from my purse and dropped it into my bedside drawer.
My four Alphas spread out around the room, and I looked at Theo. “What the fuck.”
He laughed. “I know. He fits the pack, though. Played rugby, and I’ll let him tell you himself, but he’s also a kinkster.”
“Pack or not, I’ll have to get to know him before the dynamic includes him.”
“We wouldn’t have it any other way,” Logan said.
“But we want to know if you’re comfortable with him being here in the apartment.
I think I can speak for us all when I say any free use won’t take place in front of him until you decide your feelings one way or the other.
But your comfort is more important than him moving in. ”
Turning inward, I examined the feelings I got from him. Not much to go on after a five-minute encounter, but in the same way I hadn’t had any fear or nerves when I met them, I didn’t have any about Aiden.
Thank fuck for instincts. I knew very well how it felt when my Omega didn’t like someone. She liked Aiden just fine.
“No,” I said. “My instincts are okay. I would be lying if I said I didn’t find him attractive. It’s good with me. I’ll have to get to know him somehow.” Then I laughed. “And by that, I mean dinner, not a scene.”
They all laughed with me.
Logan scrubbed a hand over his face. “My mother is going to lose her mind.”
“Why?”
Brooks snickered. “She’s a little over the top when she’s happy about something, and she loves an excuse to throw a party.”
“I’ll call her,” Logan said. “Maybe the six of us can go over for dinner Tomorrow.”
“We’re still keeping it quiet, right?”
“Yes,” Theo said. “And we’ll tell Aiden why.”
“Okay. I don’t think your mom will be able to throw a party. Val, Paige, and Matt aren’t big party people.”
Logan shrugged. “She can be pretty persuasive.”
I covered my wince. My father’s pack didn’t care about the persuasion level of anyone. It was their way and no one else’s. No exceptions.
The way Logan still looked at me told me I might not have covered that as well as I thought.
“We probably shouldn’t hide out in here,” I said. “He’s just out there by himself.”
Theo chuckled. “He locked himself in an empty warehouse, pretty sure he’s okay with alone time.”
“Still.”
My Alpha approached the bed, arms crossed. “I had planned to occupy your time this evening.”
“How?”
A smirk that sent a delicious shiver of arousal down my spine. “Don’t worry about that. You’ll find out.”
I frowned, trying to find the words. “That makes me anxious.”
Theo brushed a strand of hair behind my ear. “I can’t tell you what we’re doing because I haven’t decided yet. But there’s nothing to be scared of. It’s just me.”
“Right.” My stomach still twisted with nervous energy of the unknown.
“There’s nothing any of us can do about you being anxious. The only thing that will change it is time and trust.”
That was true. “Is he staying here tonight?”
“Probably not,” Bastian said.
“Okay. I’ll say goodbye to him, and then I need to call my friends because I didn’t even have a chance to tell them about the scent match, and now,” I gestured broadly to the air.
Theo helped me off the bed and kissed me lightly. “Perfect. And after you’re done with your call, go to my room.”
“I will.”
He grinned and pressed his lips to my ear. “When you and I play, the right answer is ‘yes, Sir.’”
It felt like the world dropped a foot beneath me. I had to grab onto him so I didn’t fall over. My voice rasped when I found it again. “Yes, Sir.”
Pulling me close and giving me a hard kiss on the temple, he walked with me back toward the living room. “I can’t wait to get my hands on you.”
Aiden sat in the living room, typing on his phone. When he saw me, he stood immediately. “I’m sorry for pouncing on you like that.”
“It’s all right, I understand.”
He offered me a hand, and I took it. “Allow me to introduce myself to you properly. Aiden Fletcher.” Lifting my hand, he kissed the back of it. “It’s an honor to meet you.”
“I, um,” I cleared my throat. “It’s obviously unexpected. Before anything further, I need to get to know you more.”
“I would expect nothing less. What does your schedule look like, and what would you like to do?”
I smiled. I liked his directness and already saw how it would translate into him being dominant. “Well, my evenings are occupied by these guys right now, so work it out with them. As for what I want to do… show me what you’ve got.”
A slow smile spread across his lips. “Challenge accepted.”
“Let me give you my number.” Then I paused. “You’re a hacker. Do you already have my number?”
“I mean, I could certainly find it, but I didn’t look it up, no.” He passed me his phone.
“Let me know where and when. I’ll be there.”
“I will.”
He looked at me with such intensity and wildness that I felt a little bad walking away. But it also told me the truth—my instincts liked him. Didn’t fear him. He felt right too, even if we only just met.
Bastian kissed me on the shoulder. “Go call your friends.”
“Make sure he does the list,” I whispered.
Bastian smirked and gave me a wink.
I escaped with one final glance at Aiden.
Five. I had five Alphas. Holy fucking shit.
As soon as I was out of sight, I sprinted the rest of the way to my room and practically dove onto the window seat. Three-way video call, here we come.
Ocean answered first. She was coming out of the lovely greenhouse on her grounds. It was where she bred hybrid flowers in between designing floral arrangements for high-end events that were rooted in floriography. Flower language.
If I ever needed a petty message to send, Ocean was my girl.
“Hey,” she said with a smile. “You surviving over there in the land of hot Alpha?”
I rolled my eyes. “You have zero room to talk when you live there every day.”
“Now all of us do. I can’t help but notice how you avoided the question, Miss Journalist.”
“I’m waiting for Isolde to hop on. Might as well tell you both at the same time.”
“That doesn’t sound like it’s good news?”
“I wouldn’t say that.” I laughed. “Unexpected news.”
Isolde joined the call curled up in a blanket and with sleepy eyes. “Hi.”
“You look like you just had the best massage of your life.”
“Close,” she said. “Cade just tied me up and suspended me. I can’t even explain how relaxing it is.”
I snorted. “While getting fucked?”
She shook her head. “Not this time. This was purely a relaxation and stress-relief suspension.”
It wasn’t all that different from the way Bastian immobilized me yesterday. Took all my thoughts away and just let me breathe. I saw the appeal.
“But I’m not the reason you called. What’s up?”
Energy suddenly buzzed under my skin. I had to stand and started to walk back and forth. “Okay, so this is like… very big, and I still haven’t wrapped my head around it yet.”
“Oookay,” Ocean said. “Spill it.”
I swallowed. “All the list stuff went great. Their lists and mine are basically mirror images, which is crazy but also makes sense.”
Isolde grinned. “That’s amazing. What are the chances of that?”
“That’s what I said. Until after we’d gone through it all and agreed what we all wanted. Then they told me the real reason they stepped in at Element. They’re my scent matches.”
Screaming erupted through the phone. I was blushing, and I had to grab a pillow to hide my face in.
Isolde was sitting up now, face inches from the camera. “This is the best fucking news. Ever. Seriously.”
“And it’s about time,” Ocean said. “Seriously, Rin. I’m so happy for you.”
I peeked over the edge of the pillow. “There’s more.”
“More than that?”
“Yeah. Well, today Theo went to meet Aiden. His office is over in the warehouse district, and they didn’t want me going over there by myself to meet a stranger.”
Isolde made a face. “Which, fair.”
“He went inside to meet him and a pack bond snapped in between them. Which I found out when I came home, walked into the living room, and had Aiden pouncing on me because my scent hit him.”
Both my friends’ mouths were open. Which was exactly how I felt inside. “Pretty much, yeah.”
“Holy shit,” Ocean whispered.
“I’m going to get to know him before anything else, but he is… equally as hot as the rest of them. Plus the Albion accent. He kissed my hand when we were saying hello the proper way.” Which, come to think of it, so had Logan. I’d just been more overwhelmed at the time.
“Not going to argue with that.” Isolde snorted. “Ocean, your husbands are going to freak out.”
I laughed. “That’s what I said.”
She looked over her shoulder and then back at me. “Can I tell them?”
“The only people we’re keeping it quiet from are my dad and Liz. So that’s fine. Unless your husbands are suddenly friends with my father all of a sudden.”
She snickered. “As funny as that interaction might be, I think we’ll be okay.”
The camera moved with her as she walked through their home, looking for her husbands. She found them in one of their offices. The three of them had been working from home more often. “Hey.”
“Hey, princess.”
“I have something to tell you.” She flipped the camera on the phone so I could see all three of them. “Remember the other day when you gave Aiden’s contact information to Trinity?”
“Yes,” Cameron said.
“She just met him. I’ll spare you the details, he’s her scent match.”
All three of them stared so blankly for a second that I laughed out loud. “I’m not sure if that’s a good reaction or a bad reaction.”
Micah cleared his throat. “It’s a stunned reaction.”
“We knew him in college. He’s honorable, even if he paints outside the lines sometimes,” Everett offered. Then he grinned. “Think he’ll give us a discount since we helped him find his Omega?”
“He said you’d say that.”
They laughed. “Of course he did.”
Ocean took us back away from the office once more. “Other than that, how’s it going?”
“It’s good. I’m overwhelmed. I apologize for all the shit I gave you guys. Didn’t realize it would feel like this. I haven’t been with all of them yet, and it feels so slow, but it also feels right and I’m in over my head at work—”
I cut off my own rambling.
“It’s going well. There’s just so much happening that I don’t think I’m processing all of it.”
“I don’t blame you,” Isolde said. “It is a lot. It is disorienting. Just do what feels right. It’s the only way.”
“I’m trying. Hey, do you guys want to go to Cream Dream on Monday instead of the usual brunch? I need to catch up a bit this weekend and I’ve been craving waffles.”
“Works for me,” Ocean said.
Isolde yawned and gave a thumbs-up.
“Perfect. I should go.”
My friends both had knowing smiles. “To do what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Bullshit,” Isolde said.
I shook my head. “Actually, it’s not. I asked, and he said he hadn’t decided yet.”
“Which one?”
“Theo.” My cheeks heated.
Isolde waved. “Have fun. Tell us everything later.”
“Maybe.”
“Definitely,” Ocean said. “Byyyyye.”
They both ended their side of the call so I couldn’t procrastinate. It hadn’t been that long, so I wasn’t sure if they were even finished speaking to Aiden yet.
Was there anything I needed to do before I went to Theo’s room? He’d told me to go there after the call. He hadn’t told me to go straight there.
I changed into something a little more comfortable and plugged my phone in, leaving it. No distractions.
He wasn’t there yet, which was fine. I made a split-second decision, stripping my clothes off and going into his closet. I found a shirt that was large and soft. Perfect.
I wrapped myself in his clothes and settled down to wait.