Chapter 23
Cameron
“ A re you guys done, yet?” Oriana’s exasperated yell struck right through the argument, all of us falling silent.
She was standing there, hands on her hips, with a new alpha by her side.
“Tate,” Lane gasped, his jaw dropping as he looked between the two. Tate was pressed to Oriana’s back, a possessive hand on her hip.
“Who is this?” I asked, barely keeping the growl from my voice.
“Apparently, her only mate keeping her from drinking a whole bottle of whiskey by herself while you measure dicks,” he said in a dry tone. I recognized him then. He was the alpha from the campground, the one who talked about hating omegas.
Oh, hell no.
I started to move but Roman held me back. My gaze shifted to the beta and his eyes pleaded for me to stop. Out of all of them, he seemed to know her the best now so I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
Fuck, I knew earning back her trust would be hard. I just didn’t expect to have to fight with half a pack that had no better standing than I did.
“I’m ready to eat and warm up by the fire,” my omega announced, raising her eyebrow as if challenging us.
Seeing the fire spark in her eyes was so much better than the despair written there the last few times we spoke. I hated that I caused so much pain.
I also hated that we had paid the price for so long. It just felt like by the time I could have afforded to track her down, too much time had passed.
“What can I get for you? A mix of things? It’s all stuff you used to like,” I offered. She smiled at me and nodded before taking her things from her chair and settling next to Roman. Tate seemed to be glued to her side and I swallowed down my jealousy that he just walked in and was already sweeping her off her feet.
Meanwhile I’d let my pride get in the way. Again.
I just kept failing her and that was a bitter pill to swallow. A soft hand on my back had me jumping. I didn’t realize that I’d zoned out but Ori was looking up at me, concern on her face.
“You alright, Cameron?”
“No,” I admitted. “But that’s not your problem, it’s mine.”
It was meant as reassurance but, apparently, it also pissed her off.
“You say you want in this pack and you’re going to just keep not talking to me?” she demanded, crossing her arms and staring me down.
“I just don’t feel like I have any right to complain or talk about how I’m feeling when I did this to you,” I tried to explain, blundering over my words.
“Cam. I see what you’re doing to fix this, and I’ll admit, I had every intention of coming down here and demanding that you put in all the work.”
“I should put in the work, I’m your alpha and I hurt you,” I agreed.
“But,” she said, cutting me off before I could apologize again. “I could have unblocked you, let you have a chance to explain yourself. I was just too caught up in my own pain. Then I went to the doctor and I had to fix things…”
She trailed off and all the blood drained from my face. “The doctor? What’s wrong?”
My breathing started to come out too fast and she had to put her hands on my face to calm me down enough to focus.
“Cam, breathe,” she demanded, voice harsh enough to cut through. After a few more breaths I felt my head stop spinning.
“Sorry, those happen sometimes. God, I’m a terrible alpha.”
“You’d be a shitty alpha if you were an unfeeling robot,” she snorted. “Now breathe. I’m fine, I’m just allergic to suppressors. I didn’t have an alpha and would have to go through heats alone. My goal was to come here and demand you either make an effort to fix things, or I’d finally move on and find an alpha.”
“You found an alpha anyway,” I said as I glanced at her pack, realizing as they talked to each other, that I wasn’t going to fit in.
“Apparently, I have three,” she agreed. “If you don’t want this, Cam, then walk away. Tell me now.”
“I want this more than anything, Oriana. I’ve wanted this since the day I sent you away,” I promised.
“Then keep fighting for me, Cameron. But you have to stop beating yourself up. I don’t know that I can trust you with my heart yet, but I’m willing to listen to what you have to say. My heat is a month away, I need you to be what I need by then, Cam.”
“I will be,” I promised. “Go on a date with me? Just us?”
“Okay,” she said, her smile back on her gorgeous face. Her ocean eyes lit up and I swear it chased away every damn bit of my anxiety.
“Can I hug you?”
She bit her lip and nodded. That was all I needed to pull her into my chest and wrap my arms around her. I breathed in her fresh rain, citrus, and saltwater scent. It always felt so calming and pure.
Right now it was laced in a sweetness that was all Oriana.
My omega.
We relaxed into the hug, her cheek nuzzling into me as she soaked in my scent. Her breathing turned shaky and I squeezed her tighter.
“I’m so fucking sorry, Oriana.”
“I know,” she said, placing a kiss on my cheek before letting me go. Her stomach rumbled loudly and I grabbed the plate I’d dropped and started piling it high before snagging a drink.
“I’ll carry it over.”
She walked ahead of me before settling back in her seat. I put her plate on her lap when she got wrapped up in her cocoon of blankets. It wasn’t often we saw the softer side of her and it brought up old memories of watching movies in her nest.
I wondered if she still had one, or if it had changed.
Before our date I’d have to go buy a few things to add to it if she wanted. Something with my scent, a pledge to her that I’d be ready for her heat. That I would earn her trust.
I stoked the fire while the others made plates, before finally grabbing one for myself. I wasn’t very hungry but I needed to eat so I snagged it.
The lack of conversation was painful. Ori met my eyes, chewing on her lip as she glanced away at the others.
“So, where are you guys from?” I asked, breaking the awkward silence. Ori let out a breath and I let satisfaction fill me at being able to ease this for her.
“We’ve traveled a lot the last few years,” Lane said as he shook his black hair out of his eyes. “For work. We’ve got an apartment a few hours outside of North Grove, but I don’t think we’ve spent more than a few days at a time there.”
“I’m surprised to see you here,” I said casually as I turned to Tate. He hadn’t shown any indication that he remembered me and I couldn’t just let it go. Was it a dick move to bring up what was said around a campfire like this? Yes. Did I give a shit? Fuck, no.
He studied me, eyes narrowed slightly before understanding dawned in his eyes. “You’re the one who talked about losing your dads and pushing your omega away.”
“And you’re the one who hated omegas.”
“She’s different,” he said, conviction in his tone. “And I already told her about that part of my past.”
“He did,” she said, reaching for his hand. He wrapped his fingers around hers without even looking away from me.
“Glad to see you’re figuring out how to fix it instead of drinking yourself to death.”
His words held sincerity and a warning.
“Glad to see you aren’t letting a bad experience with an omega keep you from the most amazing omega there is,” I added, my tone mirroring his.
He nodded once in agreement before we broke the standoff. Instead, he turned to her and used a much softer tone.
“Tell me about this antique shop.”
She blushed, her cheeks warming to a bright red and she turned my way, as if gauging my reaction.
“Yeah, apparently, my parents bought and renovated a storefront,” she said. “And Cameron found me one of the antiques I regretted losing. How did you find that, by the way?”
“A lot of searching,” I laughed, settling back in my chair and letting the tension drain away again. “I’ve been looking every few weeks on trading sites, and eventually had someone draw me a sketch and used it to post on a forum asking for help. Someone had a lead and I tracked down the woman who bought it. She loved it like you did, and when she heard the story, she was happy to sell.”
“You did all that for me? When?”
“About four years ago,” I admitted. “It was around the time I first saw your real estate listings. My plan was to come down there and try and talk to you. That same weekend there were some electrical issues at the bar and I had to fix it. We weren’t doing so hot and I couldn’t risk my Mama not being able to pay her bills. Then it was just excuses and fear.”
It was brutally honest, far more than I intended, but I couldn’t bring myself to not give her anything but the truth.
“So, what can we do to help?” Hudson asked. Outside of the argument, he’d stayed silent, simply observing.
Oriana was back to chewing on that abused lip of hers. Tate reached over and tugged it free, giving her a look that had her blush returning.
Damn, I couldn’t even be mad. In fact, I was grateful she had an alpha who had never lied or hidden anything from her. She needed that steady force.
“Are you going to stay?”
“We scheduled to wire your money back to you the day we met. It’s coming on the date our contract would end,” Hudson admitted. “Now that you know we’re scent matches, and you feel the same, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
She let go of Tate and rushed over, throwing herself into the alpha’s lap. Hudson chuckled and wrapped his arms around her.
Apparently, bonfires were just as healing outside of the alpha camp.
Our pack was a mess. There were obstacles standing in our way, but we were here, and all of us were trying.
“I used to tell myself that I’d never trust another scent-match, but I don’t want to rob myself of time with you guys.”
She peeked up, locking her eyes on me.
“Any of my guys.”
I swallowed hard, the question resting on the tip of my tongue but the fear of her answer kept me from being able to voice it.
“I deserve a pack and I want to experience it with no lies between us. Everything out in the open before we leave so we can move on together.”
“Lane wanted to tell you, it’s why he stopped blockers,” Hudson admitted. “I urged him to wait until Tate came.”
She moved out of Hudson’s lap and into Lane’s, who didn’t hold back from burying his nose in her neck.
“How long until they wear off?” she pouted. My girl was tipsy and vulnerable, making her filter fall away. Right now, she was an adorable mess.
“Soon,” Lane promised. “I hear there are ways of speeding up the process.”
“Oh really?” she laughed. “Let me guess, it involves the alphas knotting me and you fucking me?”
Yup, her filter was gone.
“Hm, maybe if you’re lucky,” she teased before going back to her chair.
“How are you handling this, Roman?” Lane asked, changing the subject. Roman had been the kindest to me so far. “You went from having just your omega, to having a full pack.”
“I’m alright,” he said, giving her a gentle smile. “She deserves to be happy, this was why we came to Rockwood Valley after all. I just didn’t expect to pick up more.”
“That’s how they crashed into my life, too,” Tate joked.
“Any other secrets you guys need to get out in the open?”
“Um,” I started, wincing as I realized there was another. “The account wasn’t the only thing I did over the years.”
“Cameron Whitaker,” she growled, though it held no heat. “What did you do now?”
“So, you know how we went antique hunting on weekends?”
“Yes,” she hedged, drawing it out.
“Mama and I still go,” I admitted. “I’ve got a storage unit full. This wasn’t the only piece I found.”
“Wait, what? Why? What were you going to do with it all?”
“Well, the goal was to convince you to come home one day. Then, when you were ready to open, at least you’d have a stock to start with,” I admitted. “And if you couldn’t forgive me, I figured I’d send it anonymously and deny my involvement.”
She shook her head and stood again, walking over to me this time and climbing into my lap. My chest ached at having her in my arms like this again, tears of relief threatening to fall as it resonated through my soul.
She put a hand on my cheek, my full focus back on her.
“Thanks for never truly letting me go,” she whispered as she leaned in and brushed her lips over mine. Her ocean eyes were full of emotion. I couldn’t look away as I tucked a loose strand of her copper hair behind her ear.
“That would be like letting go of part of my soul. Even though I was in pain and hurt you, everything in me protested those actions. I’ve always loved you and I won’t ever stop,” I vowed.
She leaned forward and rested her forehead against mine.
“Come home with us?”