CHAPTER TEN
A n hour later, Hannah is at my door. “Knock, knock, bitch!” she calls out, her knock muffled. I open the door to see her carrying three huge bags of chinese food and a bottle of wine.
“Did you order the whole menu?” I choke on a laugh as I let her in. She shuffles past me, her pink hair in a messy bun, leopard print sweatpants slung low on her hips, black tank top tucked in and black cardigan falling off one shoulder.
Reggie is hiding under my bed somewhere, like he always does whenever my loud friend Hannah comes over.
“I don’t know what our new friend likes, and I wanted to be safe.” She shrugs, plopping the bags on my coffee table. “I’m nothing if not considerate.” Hannah smirks.
“And a pain in my ass,” I mutter, and squeal when she picks up a pillow from the couch and pelts it at me.
A knock on my door has me straightening my own oversized shirt and leggings. My face is now free of makeup and my hair is in two dutch braids.
Opening my apartment door, I can’t suppress my smile when I spot the omega in front of me.
She’s fucking adorable.
I had texted her to let her know the dress code was “omega comfort-casual” and she sure as hell delivered. Her black hair is in two space-buns on top of her head, and she’s wearing a koala onesie. Freckles smatter her cheeks, and her amber eyes light up when she sees me.
“You must be Cady! I’m Wren. Can I hug you?”
“Songbird…” Brennan appears behind her, now in jeans and a t-shirt. “You don’t know if—”
“It’s fine,” I shoot him a smile. “Actually, yes, I would love a hug. I’m a little touch-starved.”
Brennan can’t even answer before Wren has me wrapped in a tight, cozy hug. Her apple cinnamon scent makes me feel all fuzzy inside, and I find myself closing my eyes and wallowing in her comfort. She’s probably an inch or two shorter than me, but damn, is she strong. She could probably hang off one of her guys like the koala she’s dressed as.
“You should have said something if you needed a hug. I wouldn’t have pelted that pillow at you.” Hannah’s voice has me opening my eyes and gently pulling back.
“Thank you, Wren. I needed that. This is Hannah, my best friend.”
Wren turns towards Hannah, her eyes wide. “I love your hair! I’ve always wanted to do something fun with my hair color like that.”
Hannah flashes her a grin. “Thank you! I’m a hairdresser, so I can definitely do something like that for you at some point.”
Her mouth gapes open. “No shit! For real?”
Hearing cursing coming out of this cute omega’s mouth has me giggling.
“Don’t be fooled, she has the mouth of a sailor.” Brennan chimes in from behind her.
She shoots him a glare, but there’s no heat behind it. “Boo-Bear, didn’t you say you were going to wait outside?”
“Cady, if it’s okay with you, I figured I’d play bodyguard a little longer and stand outside the door while you ladies have your girl time.”
“Oh, are you sure you don’t want to come in? It won’t be comfortable outside—”
“We brought a beanbag,” Wren says, looping her arm through mine and walking me to the couch. “He’s under strict instructions to finish ‘Gangbanged by the Gargoyles’, and tell me the actual feasibility of a scene in chapter thirty two.”
Brennan flushes pink as he flashes me the book in his hand with a grim smile.
“Okay, well…let us know if you need anything!” I call out after him as he shuts the door to my apartment.
“Holy shit, did you guys buy out the entire restaurant?” Wren gapes at the sheer amount of food on the coffee table.
Hannah and I burst into giggles, and I go to the kitchen to pull out some paper plates.
***
Ten minutes later, the three of us are sitting cross-legged around my coffee table, our plates piled high with sweet and sour chicken, egg fried rice, and veggie spring rolls. Wren took Brennan a plate a minute ago, and now I’m going through a play-by-play of the worst date I’ve ever had.
“He actually fucking snarled at you?” Wren asks incredulously.
“Yeah, and he was acting like he already had a claim to me because I’m apparently so old.” I roll my eyes, stuffing a spoonful of rice into my mouth.
“Fucker,” Hannah mutters, stabbing a piece of chicken with a fork.
“I’m just lucky Brennan was there. If I had met this pack out in the wild…” A shiver runs through me at the memory of how the blond asshole grabbed my arm. “They don’t seem to be the kind of people to take no for an answer.”
“Oh, I know the type.” Wren huffs. “I was with a pack before I met my mates. Not by choice, but they were exactly like Pack Dickface. Brennan is actually the one who got me out.” She looks at the door of my apartment wistfully, no doubt thinking about the alpha on the other side. “Well, I did stab one of them first. I…don’t like to talk about it, really. It was some pretty dark times. I’m just glad that you have the option to pick the pack you want instead of being sold off to the highest bidder.”
Hannah looks stricken. “I...that’s…that’s illegal.”
Wren shrugs with a wry smile. “Mafia families don’t really care about what’s illegal.”
Oh shit.
“Are you…are you still in danger?” I ask, my eyes wide.
“Oh no,” Wren chuckles. “Jonah, one of my other alphas, has a pile of incriminating evidence against my family that will get sent to the government the moment they make a move against me.”
“And your first pack?” I bite my lip nervously.
“In jail. They were rich, but not rich enough to be able to erase the fact that they filmed all their crimes against me and other omegas. Those files found their way into a judge’s email…mysteriously.”
She winks at us and holy shit is this girl badass. How can someone be adorable and fucking cool at the same time?
“Anyway. Enough about my tragic past,” Wren says, taking a sip of the wine Hannah brought over. “What now, Cady? You have another pack to meet tomorrow?”
“Ugh. Yes.” I sigh, running a hand down my face. “Though at this point, I’m considering just taking the loss and saying fuck it. Who cares if I have to give up the job I worked so hard for…” My voice strangles, and tears sting my eyes.
“Why…why would you need to give up your job if you don’t find a pack?” Wren’s brow is furrowed, and I realize I’ve said too much.
But…something is telling me that I can trust the little omega in the koala onesie.
“Well…” I swallow, looking down. “Have you heard of the Knotty Omega advice column?”
“Of course I have. I love that piece! I get a notification every time a new response is posted…” She trails off, piecing things together. “Oh, fuck! Are you the Knotty Omega?!”
I nod grimly, and she squeals, before slapping her hands over her mouth. “But why…oh. It’s pack advice and you don’t have a pack. How did they not know you don’t have a pack?”
“I may or may not have let my coworkers believe my cat was actually my alpha when I spoke about him…” I trail off, shrugging. “His name is Reggie.”
Wren looks shocked for a moment, and then dissolves into a fit of giggles. A second later, Hannah joins in, laughing with a snort, which makes me laugh, and soon we’re all lying on the floor, giggling like a bunch of teenagers.
“Mrow!” I feel a small furry head bump against mine.
“Oh look, it’s your alpha!” Wren sits up, pointing and laughing.
Reggie settles on my chest, his tail whipping back forth as I wipe the tears from my eyes from laughing so hard.
“Oh, fuck, I needed that.” I sigh, staring at the ceiling. We all huff a breath and then silence takes over as we all stare at the ceiling.
“You should still go,” Hannah says quietly, reaching her hand under the coffee table to grab mine. “Pack Dickface…they aren’t the norm. I think you’ll regret it if you don’t go. Worst case scenario, they’re also dicks, then you go back to OMS and try again. I would know. I've done it enough times.”
“She’s right,” Wren agrees. “Not all packs are like that one. Most are perfectly decent guys.”
“I just…I don’t even know if I really want a pack. To be honest, I cut the deal with the Editor in Chief with the intention of finding a way out of it at some point.”
“I know, babe.” Hannah squeezes my hand. “But…I think a pack would be good for you. Like I said before, pack life doesn’t have to look like how you grew up.”
“I know, but—”
Before I can finish my sentence, a couple of things happen. Reggie, apparently bored of this conversation, decides that the best course of action is to jump onto the coffee table. He lands directly on top of one of the take-out containers, which we left open, and sprays food everywhere. We all shriek in surprise and then Brennan bursts into the apartment, looking for the source of the panic.
“Holy shit, Boo-Bear! You scared us!” Wren scolds, throwing a pillow at him.
“ I scared you ? I thought someone broke in through the window with the way you three screamed!”
“Blame Reggie,” Hannah says, pointing at my cat who is sitting on the table, cleaning his paws.
“The cat?” He looks between us all incredulously.
“Excuse you, that’s Cady’s alpha you’re talking about.” Wren teases, and then we all collapse into a fit of laughter once again.