Chapter 11
Roman
“ T his is going to be so weird,” Oriana groaned. My hand was wrapped around hers as she clung to me so tightly it was painful. I didn’t mind, if she needed the support I’d willingly give it to her. I simply kissed the side of her head and offered a reassuring smile.
“Stormy, we got this,” I reminded her as we stared at the front door of the coffee shop, waiting for our ‘pack’ to arrive.
It started as a petty little joke, but the more we talked, the better it sounded. For her, it was a way to make her ex jealous to hopefully make him realize what he lost.
I knew how hurt she still was, how a bond like that never truly faded, so I would support her. However, there was no way I’d let this asshole hurt her twice.
Alpha or not, I’d kick his ass.
For me, I thought this would be good for her. Even if it was mostly fake, she deserved to know how a real alpha could treat her. They were trained to be every omega’s dream pack. That meant they’d treat her like a queen.
The door swung open and I knew right away it was them. The beta and alpha duo drew attention, especially with their luggage.
Plus, they were handsome, even I could admit that, and they exuded confidence.
The beta was tall and looked strong. He had on a band tee for a metal band I recognized and ripped jeans. Tattoos lined his skin from neck to hands, and likely where we couldn’t see.
Dark, midnight blue hair was combed and gelled back and he had a cocky grin on his face. The fierce teal eyes landed right on my omega.
The alpha was tall and stocky, broad shoulders pushing his leather jacket to its limits but tapered down to a narrow waist. He had a fierce look on his angular face, sharp, brown eyes assessing the room as his cut jaw tensed. His long black hair was straight, reaching down to his lower back.
The man looked like a natural protector and I suddenly felt even better about this arrangement.
The beta said something before they were coming our way. Ori’s grip went from just painful to desperate as she put on a practiced fake smile.
“Oriana,” the alpha greeted in a smooth voice as they approached. He froze for a second, smile faltering for a quick flash, before greeting us. “And Roman? Pleasure to meet you. I’m Hudson and this is Lane.”
The beta’s eyes widened on his alpha for a second before he also turned a smile on her and nodded in greeting at me. Instead of keeping his distance he dropped into the chair next to her.
“Are you excited?” he asked, eyes locked on her with an intensity that had me narrowing my eyes. The nonchalance was gone now, both men zeroed in on her like she was a meal.
Something was off. I just wasn’t sure what.
“Nervous,” she admitted. “I haven’t been home in thirteen years.”
“Well, we’ve got your back,” Hudson said. “Let me grab us a coffee and we can get to know each other a bit more.”
She nodded mutely as they both headed for the counter.
“Breathe, Ori,” I said, leaning in and placing another kiss on her temple and wishing we were bonded so I could help calm her more.
She took a deep breath and nodded.
“It’s weird they don’t have a scent,” she said. “People will notice, won’t they?”
“They probably have cologne or something,” I said, eyes locked on the others. They were hissing back and forth, both looking startled more than confident now.
I’d have to keep an eye on them. Maybe they were simply getting their stories straight right now, but I was a little uneasy.
When they sat back down their focus was back on Oriana. Hudson was the first to break the awkward silence.
“Usually we set up a whole persona,” Hudson admitted. “For some reason, I didn’t want to this time. Sorry, I took Lane by surprise.”
“Do you want me to use a different name for you? I don’t mind,” Oriana offered. The concern in her voice had his unease melting away. He leaned in a little, brushing his fingers over her hand before pulling back like she shocked him.
“No worries, Lane works. This was our last job anyway so it might be nice to hear my own name again,” he laughed.
“How did you keep it straight?” I asked. “It has to be strange having a fake name and whole identity to memorize each time.”
“You have no idea,” Hudson laughed.
“We would sometimes have to create business pages and stats, paper trails, you name it,” Lane explained. “We have some contacts who helped with that.”
“Did you ever run into anyone recognizing you from other fake dates?” Oriana asked, relaxing a little as the awkwardness between us faded. It was a bit too easy but they were well practiced.
“No, thankfully, but everyone knows the risks. It’s a part of the fake-dating world,” he explained. “My actual social media is locked down tight and I never really use my face. Though, I may start now since the names are out of the bag now.”
Lane pulled out a tablet and brought up some sort of questionnaire.
“Mind if we do a bit of a twenty questions thing?” he asked both of us. “We’ll need to get to know each other so we don’t fuck anything up. You both have to get comfortable with us, too.”
“Ask away,” I said. “What do you want to know?”
“Jobs,” he said. “To start.”
“I am… was, a real estate agent here in the city. I’ll have to get licensed for back home but I’ve already started the process,” Oriana explained.
“What’s the plan when you get there? You mentioned this is our pack moving back, right?” Hudson prompted.
“Right. I… uh… found out recently after some really awful side effects, that I’m allergic to heat suppressants. Don’t worry, I’m not asking for your help with my heat,” she quickly added. They both looked worried but she rambled ahead before they could speak. “My doctor suggested I find an alpha to help me through, but I can’t stomach the thought of non-pack and I had an alpha. This is me taking back control of my life. I’m going home where I belong and he can get on board or I cut him out of my life forever. If all else fails, the clinic can knock me out for heats or something.”
My stomach lurched at the thought.
“It won’t come to that,” I promised her, even though it wasn’t truly something I could make happen. This all hinged on an alpha who’d failed her before. I hated that I couldn’t do more, be more.
They looked like they wanted to say something, Hudson’s mouth opening and closing before Lane cut him off.
“Well, our job is to help make that happen,” he said quickly before turning to me. “Your job… Roman?”
He had to check the tablet for my info first before he had my name. That was the exact reason we needed this meeting before making our trip down.
“Art teacher. I also run an outreach program that sets up bi-weekly art sessions at a local nursing home for the residents and my students.”
“That’s adorable,” Hudson said. It would have sounded patronizing if he didn’t look sincere.
“And you two?”
“Let’s just say we’re looking to start over as well. We both worked in omega services as matchmakers maybe? That’s about as close to our real jobs as we can get,” Lane mused, looking at his alpha. “Maybe say we’re temporarily working in finance?”
“That works,” Hudson shrugged. “We’ll have to figure out where to go from here anyway. Maybe something in Rockwood Valley will spark interest.”
“It’s pretty small, but it’s amazing,” Ori said, her excitement painted all over her pretty face. “I’m sure it’s changed a ton but it’s also beautiful. I haven’t been camping in so long but we used to go all the time when I was a teen.”
“You camp?” Lane asked, letting out a little laugh.
She narrowed her eyes. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“No,” he said, holding up his hands. “I didn’t mean it like omegas can’t camp, more funny because our other pack member who’s joining next week is camping right now. He goes on a yearly trip to rebalance himself.”
“Oh,” she said. Her cheeks flared pink and she squirmed a little in embarrassment.
“We’ll have to plan something together when he gets back,” I said. “Do we give…?”
“Tate,” Hudson supplied.
“Do we give Tate the same backstory and job?” I finished.
Hudson shook his head. “Let’s just say he owns an online book shop.”
“He does?” Ori’s eyes lit up. “What kind?”
“Custom dust covers and sometimes sprayed edges. It was something his sister started and he kept with it,” Lane explained, then winced. “Just don’t ask him about her.”
The urge to prod was strong but I bit my tongue. We weren’t entitled to their life stories. We weren’t a real pack.
“I think there was a bookshop in town, unless it’s one of the shops that shut down. Either way, she didn’t do anything like that,” Ori said, still in awe. Jealousy started to rise for the first time.
I hated the attention this non-pack alpha and beta were giving her. It felt like pack and I was a bit worried that at the end of these three weeks, it would be hard to separate those feelings.
Oriana
Holy hell these two were going to be the death of me. The longer we sat and talked, learning little bits of information about each other, the more they flirted.
My cheeks hadn’t stopped burning since they walked in.
Not to mention, they were hot as hell.
Of course, that thought made me feel guilty with my mate right next to me. This was going to be the longest, most painful three weeks of my life.
“We took a train down so we could just drive together. Are you both driving separately?” Hudson asked. It felt like every time his attention landed on me the rest of the room faded for a moment. I swallowed hard and tried to find my words, but thankful Roman was keeping his cool.
“We both packed up what we couldn’t leave behind and had movers take it to Rockwood Valley. Then we sold our cars and got a new SUV that could fit us all. I saw the jade green Ford Expedition and fell in love,” I admitted. It was an insane expense, but I’d lived fairly frugally and had the extra funds. Roman, being Roman, chipped in what he could without draining his savings. I reminded him that we were pack and it was okay to offset based on our own assets. I wasn’t the type to expect my pack to pay my way.
“Oh, I saw that out there. Nice, shiny, and new,” Lane said with a grin. “Perfect. We’ve just got our bags so we can pop them in the back. I’m a great driver, so I’m fine driving if you’d like.”
“How far is Rockwood Valley?” Hudson asked, eyes locked back on me and making me shiver.
“Uh, about four hours,” I managed to get out, my voice only slightly squeaky. God, I had to get it together. They weren’t meant for me, this was just a ploy to get back at Cameron. A little petty revenge.
“What’s on the table with touching?” Lane asked, his hand lingering near my arm. “I need you to not jump every time we touch you, but we don’t want to make Roman uncomfortable.”
“Be respectful and it’s all good, she’s her own woman,” Roman said. “I knew what I signed up for. But if I find out that you hurt her or crossed a line. I’ll kill you myself.”
I’d never heard my beta sound anything but sweet and kind. This side of him had me squeezing my thighs together and both the others giving me a sly smile.
Oh god… did they notice?
Kill me now.
“Come on, Princess, let’s go get snacks for the road,” Lane said, standing up and offering me his tattoo covered hand. My eyes drifted to Roman first who gave me a smile before sliding my hand in his.
The contact had my heart slamming in my chest. What the hell was going on with me?!
At this rate, we’d be lucky to survive the week.