6. Avery
Avery
M y head was still a mess when I walked into Whitaker’s Brews. I half expected my brothers to see the guilt on my face or figure out what I was hiding.
The sharp corners of the business card were digging into my hand where I clutched it inside my pocket so they couldn’t see. I wasn’t sure why I was being so cagey about it; mates weren’t exactly a secret.
No matter what my underlying worries were, I wasn’t quite ready to tell them about the mate I’d just found. I’d barely processed it myself and he seemed just as skittish as I was about it.
Plus, it might be kind of weird for the youngest sister to be the first one to find her pack.
Well, maybe not first. Cameron found his mate first and then threw it all away. He was scared, even if he never wanted to admit it. I suppose he thought if he pushed his mate, Oriana, away, and broke up with her, that he wouldn’t ever have to be hurt.
Instead, he hurt her by ripping away all the plans they’d built for the future. She’d been nothing but supportive and he didn't care. I knew one day he’d wake up to regret it, I just hoped it wasn’t too late.
Oriana was amazing and like a sister to me. Little did he know that I still kept in contact with her from time to time because she didn’t deserve the way he treated her, and I refuse to just abandon her.
I still held out hope that he’d come to his senses at some point.
Growing up, everyone expected my brothers to pack up. It wasn’t unheard of for brothers that close to be pack, but mine broke the mold. Cameron found Oriana, and she wasn’t the others’ mate, but long before that we all knew they were far too different to end up with the same life.
Which was why my dads bought and divided the land into five, one for them, and one each for all of us kids. They knew we’d all need the separate spaces but wanted our family to always be close.
I paused as I approached the front doors, taking a breath and trying to make sure my face wasn’t full of guilt. Mama always said I wore my emotions like a neon sign.
The guys were already settled at the bar waiting for me. Maverick had his laptop open, checking financials since he handled the administrative side of things. A stack of papers were next to him and a pen was tucked behind his ear.
Thick glasses rested on his nose, a new addition I hadn’t seen before. I swallowed down the sadness rising. I’d missed so much because of my exes and it was yet another reminder.
You’re fixing it now , I reminded myself as I leaned against the wall, taking them all in. It was crazy how much I missed them and didn’t even realize it.
Nash was behind the bar with a clipboard, checking off inventory and looking through the stock of bottles. Every few minutes he’d mark down a note and move on to the next. He was always the wild one growing up, so it was funny to see him so meticulous.
Cameron had the front of the jukebox open with a toolbox next to him, tinkering with something inside. He let out a soft curse every so often but clearly he was accomplishing something since he wasn’t getting truly worked up.
Even if they didn’t want to admit it, my brothers had done a damn good job of keeping this place together and in working order. It may need some updates, but it was taken care of.
“There’s our long lost sister,” Nash called out, giving me a wink to show he was just teasing, even though his voice held sarcasm. “Ready to rope us into something?”
“You know she was always the one to get us into trouble,” Cameron called out, turning around and narrowing his eyes playfully. “Don’t act like you didn’t throw us under the bus to Mama more than once growing up.”
I blinked at him innocently. “Who, me? I was an angel, and Mama knew it.”
That had all three of them cracking up. Cameron set down his tools, and Nash and Maverick put their stuff aside as well.
Now I had the full focus of the triplets right on me. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing, or a bad thing. I guess we’d see after I laid it all out for them.
“So, we hear that you’ve got some ideas for us,” Cameron said, wiping the grease off his hands with a shop towel. He didn’t bother to sit, just leaned against the bar, focusing the full force of those hazel eyes on me.
My chest ached as I stared at him. The older they got, the more they looked like one of our alpha fathers. Grady was handsome, and they had the same smile and dark hair that he had, although Maverick’s was a little bit longer, always tied up in a neat bun. Cameron kept his shaggy, while Nash’s was always meticulously styled, cropped short on the sides and longer at the top.
That was where the differences ended. They had the same chiseled cheekbones, strong jaws, and sharp noses that our father did.
Their hazel eyes were all the same, though they lacked the kind wisdom that dad’s held.
Nash’s had a slight crinkle next to them because he was always smiling. Maverick’s were framed with his thicker eyebrows. And Cameron almost always had a scowl, making them seem darker than the others.
“Actually, I do,” I said, refusing to back down from this. “So, the company that I worked for?—”
Cameron cut me off, his voice gruff. “Before your asshole exes decided to ruin your life. Yes, please go on.” He waved his hand and I had to bite back an eyeroll. I didn’t let his snark derail me, I was used to him by now.
“Yes, before all that, I worked as a social media manager. It sounds super easy for all the shit that I did, but I really think this is something that could help not just our business, but the town.”
“I’ve doom scrolled my fair share of videos. Why do you think any of that’s going to help us here?” Nash said. There wasn’t judgment in his tone, he was genuinely curious.
At least they were hearing me out.
“First of all, let’s be honest here. You guys are handsome and single. That’s enough to draw people in. I would be managing most of them, so you guys would have to be the face in most of the videos.”
“Oh, and you don’t think a single omega bartender would be a selling point? They’d love you just as much,” Nash said, raising his eyebrows in challenge. They weren’t going to let me off that easy.
“What would your job be?” Maverick asked point blank. I knew he was going to be the hardest to convince.
“I would be following trends, monitoring our messages and emails, creating the content, making the graphics that go with the accompanying blog posts, scheduling them and screening comments, the works. Anything behind the scenes will be up to me, all the way down to editing the videos.”
“That sounds like a lot of work. Are you really up for it? It’s not exactly a paying job we have here.”
“No, it’s not,” I agreed. “So, at first, it’ll be me working my ass off for nothing, but eventually, we’ll be making more. Plus, I’ll be working the bar with you guys from time to time. I’m sure there’s freelance stuff I could do on the side.”
Nash froze, turning to me with an excited expression. When he got excited, he talked with his hands and Mav had to save his papers before they were knocked away.
“You know, Mayor Adams was talking the other day about wanting to do something to get the town back on the map. I think he was hinting at us starting things back up again. You should give the same pitch to him. I bet they’d budget something out. It might not be a lot of pay, but maybe between all the odd jobs, you could make it work.”
“Maybe I will go talk to Mayor Adams,” I mused, drumming my fingers on the bar while I thought it over. “If they agreed to pay me, I’ll gladly make a PackVlog page for Rockwood Valley. I could showcase the small businesses and views. Make it look quaint and inviting.”
I wanted something to reclaim my life, maybe this was it. I’d have to really think over a plan and present it well if I wanted to land it.
“You know, if this works and we bring enough people back, maybe it would be time to start talking about the Artisan Fair again,” Cameron hedged. His voice hesitated like he’d brought it up before and had been shot down. I glanced around at the others, Nash was nodding slightly, but it was a barely there movement.
Then I looked at Maverick. Now I got the others’ worry. The moment the words were in the air, Mav tensed, his eyes narrowing and all hints of playfulness gone.
“That was our dads’ life, not ours.”
“Then don’t be a part of it,” Cameron said, indignation making him square his shoulders and glare at our brother. “If this is a thing that could put us on the map again and bring back tourists, then why wouldn’t we try? Why would we let our fathers’ legacy die because they did?”
“I’m going to have to agree with Cam here,” Nash chimed in, his voice hesitant but I could tell he meant what he said. “It’s a damn shame what happened to them, and it’s not like we’re going to just magically be over our grief because we start the Fair up again. Do we really think they’d want us to just not care anymore, to let it go forever?”
I walked over and rested my hand on Maverick’s bicep. He was still so tense, but he glanced down at me, his gaze softening a little. He was always more gentle with me than the others.
“It wouldn’t be right away. It’s just… what if this could bring life back to Rockwood Valley?”
There were a lot of businesses on the line and I wanted them to thrive, to have our town be what it used to be.
“So, you’re really staying?” Maverick asked, ignoring everything about the fair and focusing on me again.
“Yeah, I’m home.”
Smiles were back on all of their faces, and I was crushed into a hug. Usually, an Omega wouldn’t love being squished between three alphas, but when they’re your brothers, you couldn’t feel anything but safe.
My phone rang then, breaking apart the moment. I pulled it out and saw it was my lawyer’s number. I held up a finger to tell them I’d be right back before answering the call.
“Hello,” my voice sounded more timid than it usually did, but I just knew that my exes were causing a shitstorm that he was dealing with.
To his credit, Lance was a take-no-shit kind of lawyer. I hired him for a reason.
“Hey, Avery, I just wanted to give you a little update. I meant to get back to you yesterday, but it ended up being a crazy day. When I first spoke to your exes, they threw around some bullshit about the damage you did to their property. I reminded them that the law is on your side, not theirs, and that a packed-up omega, when threatened, couldn’t be held responsible if their instincts took over. They would have a hell of a time proving otherwise.”
I let out a small chuckle. Honestly, I felt a bit feral at that moment. I was glad Sidney took pictures of the destruction so she could remind me not to fall for anyone’s bullshit again.
Now Lance was laughing with me. “I saw the pictures, and I’m kind of impressed, Avery. I think that only adds to my point. Anyway, after I said all that, I outlined all of the contributions you made to that pack, including your final paychecks and the furniture that you provided for the house that they ruined. In that case, you were entitled to compensation.”
“I don’t want their money.” The thought of it made my skin crawl. Thank fuck they weren’t able to touch my inheritance or I think they would have drained me dry.
“Well, for one, you have to pay me,” he reminded me, matter-of-fact as always. “But outside of that, this is not their money. It’s yours, Avery. The more I dug into that dynamic, the more they let slip in their petty annoyance. Let’s just say that I am very happy that you are where you are.”
I let out a bitter laugh. “You know we weren’t even scent matches? When my brothers were there packing me up, they found pheromone cologne. Not just the kind that can attract omegas, but the kind that’s banned.”
Lance cursed. “Tell me they took a picture.”
“Knowing my brothers, I would almost guarantee it. I’ll ask them to send it to me, and I can send it over.”
“Good. We’re going to hold off on that little check for a minute because the legality of this is worth so much more. Please tell me that you’re going to give me full control to ruin these men.”
He paused, letting me mull over his words. It wasn’t something that was going to take me long to figure out. Did I really want to ruin their lives, their standings, their reputations, the works?
Oh, I was absolutely willing. Because every time I thought about them, I could just picture the scene I walked into. I could feel the way my entire chest burned with embarrassment and shame and betrayal.
“Ruin them, Lance. Make it good.”
“Then get me those pictures,” he said before ending the call.
When I turned back around, it was clear that my brothers had been listening in. They couldn’t hear Lance’s side, but I’m pretty sure they figured it all out.
“Well, I guess there’s no point in hiding it. Did you take pictures of the pheromone cologne they were using?”
“Oh yeah,” Maverick said. “Do you think we’re amateurs? We took pictures of the office. We took pictures of the identifying things next to the bottles so that there was no question that it was theirs. In fact, they were stupid enough to put a receipt in there, so I took a picture of that as well. We thought we might need blackmail in the future, but they’ve stayed in their lane so far.”
“Can you send me all that so I can forward it to my lawyer?”
“Oh, absolutely,” Maverick said, his spirits lifting even more at the prospect of fucking over my exes. Though in reality, they’d fucked themselves over.
What they did was not only illegal but so morally low that it made me sick.
The last thing I wanted to do was to get involved in having to face them in court, but I had a feeling that they would settle outside of it. Their reputations were too important to them to ruin it now.
Instead, I was going to put every bit of my energy into helping my family fix our business and to bring back my fathers’ legacy.
I’d only been here in town for two days, and I already felt more alive than I had in the last seven years.
I never should have left home.