Emily
As much as I want to fit into this room of effortless cool people, I can’t stop the squeal that bursts out of me when the video call connects. Jack has been fiddling with the laptop while Griffin edges closer to Soren, eyeing him like a tasty sandwich he wants to slip under the grill. My palms are sweating in sympathy, and there’s a protective edge to my voice when I trot out our agreed cover story for Soren’s scent. I’m on the verge of making a hasty exit, when the tap of drumsticks on a metal surface draws my attention to the laptop, and I see a shaggy-haired guy with bright green eyes and a panty-melting smile grinning back at me. “Oh my God! Is that who I think it is?”
The sweet-looking brunette sitting next to him tries to hide her grin, but Silva Sterling’s smile just grows wider. “Hey, fuckaroos! How’s it hanging?”
“ Switcheroos ,” Jack corrects him with a roll of the eyes, still fiddling with the laptop. “Is my computer broken, or are you always this damn loud, Silva?”
“Just living my best life,” he quips back, wrapping a muscular arm around the brunette and smacking a kiss on her cheek. From what I can see, they’re on a beach, their tour bus parked up in the distance. “The weather’s great, the crowds are hungry, and Cass is feeding me so many treats, I’m getting a spare tire.”
He stands up suddenly, pinching the skin of his washboard stomach and giving us an up-close view of the damp boardshorts hanging off his slim hips. I almost swallow my tongue, but a glance around the rest of the group reveals expressions ranging from fond to amused. No one, except for Soren, looks as surprised as me.
“You’re switches?” I ask, then almost bite my tongue off, because I’m being a massive hypocrite after the way I defended Soren’s privacy.
But the most talented drummer in the world just laughs, twirling his drumsticks as he catches his mate’s eye. “How would you rate that knot I popped last week, babe? An eleven out of ten on the inflation index?”
It’s Cass’ turn to roll her eyes. “Please excuse Silva. He’s just excited to meet new people. I’m Cass, the band manager and mate.”
Of course, I’ve read about Cassandra Rain, the small-town baker and sister of the former drummer, Stephen “Stix” Rain, who caught the eye of the Sundowners and became their mate. It’s a story as tragic as it is beautiful, and I’m pretty sure I have stars in my eyes as Soren and I introduce ourselves. The conversation quickly turns to an update on their concert tour – and then I almost hyperventilate when a shirtless figure appears in the background.
“Keep up the fluids, darlin’. It’s hot out here.” The guy presses a chilled bottle of water into Cass’s hands, and when he drops a kiss on her head, my suspicions are confirmed. That honey-toned man with the big body and wild beard is Kobi freaking Grace, lead guitarist and Memphis royalty. He sketches a wave at the camera and then is gone, jogging down the beach behind them towards the waves. It takes me a moment to gather enough moisture in my mouth to say, “He really calls you darlin’.”
“He’s her favourite,” Soren says helpfully at my side. “When Lang bought her a Sweet Addiction tee, she almost melted the crystal embroidery off swooning over him.”
“Drummers have better reflexes,” Silva mutters with a pretend pout, before leaping up and disappearing off screen.
Cass gives me a small smile. “You have a daddy of your own, ? For some reason, they seem to congregate around switches, right, ladies?”
“Mmmm,” says Maddie, a coy smile playing on the elegant blonde’s lips. “I have a couple that qualify.”
“Us too,” Lexi says, catching Jack’s eye and laughing. “Only, one of them is Jack’s brother, so he probably doesn’t like hearing that.”
“We definitely have a few,” Kat says, earning a snort from Clark. “I mean, our guys would probably be insulted if they weren’t included.”
Given that her pack includes two international rugby players, a soccer star, and the former captain of the Argentinian polo team, I think they can all be safely classed as daddies, in one form or the other.
Soren, meanwhile, is taking inventory of our own pack. “Creed, maybe?”
This earns a nod of acknowledgement from both Kat and Clark, who know Creed through their gym. Clark’s eyes dance as they meet mine. “Yep, I’m pretty sure that guy has the daddy touch.”
“Lang is kind of bossy,” Soren grins, sipping on his cocktail. “But that could be the PILF vibe.”
“Professor Langston Fall,” Jack says with a waggle of his brows. “I’m not sure if the bike or the big brain is hotter.”
That leads to a conversation about Lang’s latest book, Jack’s new lab at the university, and the six degrees of separation that seem to connect this group. There are just too many linkages between us for it to be coincidental, and I have to wonder if it’s an outside influence like the soulmate phenomenon, or something more human but just as powerful…
“Finn,” I murmur, blushing as I realise I’ve said his name aloud.
“Excuse me?” I look up to find the whole club staring at me, Jack’s gaze borderline concerned. “You mean Finn Visser?”
“Hey!” Silver squawks, peering at me through the screen. “Are you trying to summon a demon, Red?”
I’d probably faint at the fact Silva Sterling just gave me a nickname if all my defensive instincts weren’t roaring to the surface. “Finn isn’t a demon! He’s gone out of his way to protect Soren and me, over and over. And he’s done more to help switches than you’ll ever know.” I bite my lip, realising I’m on my feet and lecturing the founding members of the Switcheroo Club. “I just mean, there’s more to him than great hair and soulful eyes.”
“She means soulless, right?” Silva quips, earning a nudge in the ribs from Cass.
“Okay,” Jack says, getting to his feet. “I think this calls for a bottle of bubbles.”
“Better make it a magnum,” Griffin says, uncoiling from the couch like a silky snake. “In fact, I want another look at that wine cellar of yours.”
The two omegas head towards a door across the room while Lexi asks Dr. Finchley a question about her article, no doubt to take the heat off me. I almost fall back onto the couch, Soren scooting over to cuddle me close.
“I wish I’d recorded that,” he murmurs in my ear. “There’s no way Finn’s not biting you after a declaration of love like that.”
I turn to look at him, taking in his hazy eyes and soft smile. It’s hard to concentrate on anything when he’s so close, his spicy-sweet scent in my nose. “I was defending Finn, not declaring anything.”
He cocks a brow at me. “Sweetheart, haven’t you worked out that protecting each other is our love language?”
But now I’m worried I’ve blurted out pack business instead of keeping my mouth shut. “I said too much, didn’t I?”
“I’d say just about the perfect amount,” he smiles.
I grab my cocktail and take a healthy swallow to douse my dry mouth. The group’s reaction to Finn has ignited an itch under my skin and I squirm as I try to pick up the thread of the conversation. I’m pretty sure I haven’t summoned a spirit by mentioning Finn, but the discussion seems to have taken a darker turn.
“Do you think trauma has something to do with it?” Maddie asks, looking around the group. “Could negative upbringings or other types of harm be part of the switch equation?” A familiar pain flickers in her eyes, like she’s poking at an old bruise. “It's just that we have foster kids, bad parents, and other stuff in our backgrounds. Could that be a common link?”
“What do you think?”
Dr. Finchley directs the question to me, but it's Soren who pipes up. “I thought the same thing until my mate said that while good families are a gift, and bad ones a curse, packs are always a choice. Maybe on a cellular level, I triggered Em, but I believe that the part of me that makes good decisions chose Em. And for some crazy reason, she chose me.”
Jack and Clark are returning from the cellar with the champagne, and Griffin tips his regal head at Soren as he opens one of the bottles with a flourish. “I like that theory. I don’t know if it’s biology, fate, or instinct, but if I was in the same situation again, I know I’d choose Maddie.”
Maddie’s eyes tear up and she gives her omega the kind of kiss that makes my toes curl. They’re murmuring something in French, and it’s hard to look away from such open adoration, but I quickly turn my gaze to the champagne Clark passes me.
“I'm also wondering if it's our beta’s influence,” Clark says with a mischievous grin. “We were all pretty attached to our betas before we switched.”
It reminds me of his beta sandwich story, and as Soren gives a throaty chuckle, I feel my ears burn at all the shared moments with Derek. But the attention seems to have turned to Lexi, whose blush is even brighter than mine.
“Okay, okay,” she splutters, waving her hands. “Mattie has graduated , okay? And I’m no longer his teacher, so you can all stop sniggering like a bunch of school children.”
I’m not sure who Mattie is, but Jack is laughing so hard he almost pours champagne on the floor. “But Miss Novak,” he says in a throaty growl, “you’re always going to be poetry to our ears.”
“That’s music , mate,” Silva says from the screen, his arm back around Cass and a beer raised to his lips. “And if you want to talk about betas with superpowers, you should drop by the next time I go alpha…”
“No more knot stories,” Cass admonishes him, grabbing his beer and taking a sip. “They’re all going to think we’re sex-crazed rockstars.”
“Like I said, living the dream!”
Everyone laughs at Silva’s ear-to-ear grin and Maddie sits forward, holding up her glass of champagne. “I think we can all agree that our beta mates are definitely a gift.”
We all raise our glasses, toasting the betas in our lives, and then Silva turns his electric eyes my way. “Speaking of superpowers, what’s yours, Red?”
“What do you mean?”
Maddie can obviously see how starstruck I am, because she reaches over and pats my hand. “Well, when you bond your pack, you often inherit a little something. Like a new ability. For me, it’s languages, because one of my mates has a very fancy tongue.”
“Only one?” Griffin asks, sliding her a look that could melt the butter out of a scone.
“True,” she admits, brushing the man’s flawless cheek. “I got extra lucky.”
“For me, it was a power boost,” Kat says quietly. Instead of champagne or a cocktail, she’s holding a glass of dark liquor, and she swirls it as she looks around at us. “It happened just before my championship fight, which is one of the reasons I went public as a switch. It wasn’t fair to face my opponent when I’d just had a Hudson Hooker upgrade.”
I gulp, wondering if that’s code for something sexual. I know it’s not polite to think that about your friends’ mates – and I’m hoping that this club might one day call us that – but Hudson Hooker in a pair of tight rugby shorts is practically a national monument.
“Cass’ superpower is singing like a songbird,” Silva pipes up. “Next time we’re there in person, you should definitely break out the karaoke machine.”
I can’t tell if he’s joking, because Cass gives another roll of her pretty eyes. “My superpower is actually putting up with five guys on a tour bus for months on end.”
“You love our bus!” Silva is clutching his heart like she just stabbed him. “That’s where we got to pop our switch cherries.”
“Ew.” Cass slaps his arm. “Too much damn information, Silva!”
“It’s really not,” Soren smiles, fluttering his lashes. “This is so much better than the book club I was forced to join during high school.”
There’s a ripple of giggles at his obvious thirst for gossip, but he leans on me suddenly, his arm heavy, and his eyes glassy. “Um, babe? You know what you said about being lucky to be here? Well, I think our luck’s about to go up in flames.”
It takes me a moment to realise what he means, and then I’m on my feet, dragging him towards the bathroom door. It’s as glamorous as the rest of the penthouse, but I barely take it in as I press my hand to his forehead. He wasn’t kidding about the flames. “You’re burning up. Quick, take your shirt off and put this around your neck.”
I hand him a damp hand towel and while he slowly disrobes, pull my phone from my pocket. Creed answers on the first ring. “I think Soren’s going into heat.”
“I’m on my way to you.” He mutters something to someone in the background and then I can tell he’s on the move. “Are you safe?”
“We’re fine. We’re in the bathroom.”
“Stay there. I’ll call Finn.”
I gulp but place my phone on the counter, and reaching into the shower, turn on the water until it’s lukewarm. “Creed is coming, sweetheart. Why don’t you take a quick shower to feel more comfortable?”
He’s still fumbling with his shirt buttons, and when I move to help him, he engulfs me in a searing embrace. His scent – now spicy like tea but sweet as vanilla slice – floods my brain, and my knees almost collapse under me as he nudges me up against the counter. His erection rubs against my belly, deliciously hard, and a whimper escapes my mouth. He purrs back at me as he starts sucking on his mating mark. “I need inside you, Em. Come into the shower with me.”
It takes everything inside me to resist. “We need to get you home, sweetheart. Don’t you want to be in our nest?”
He pouts but lets me strip him off and steer him under the water. He shivers and leans against the wall as I hear a tap at the door. “Everything okay in there?”
I’m relieved to hear Clark’s voice, and crack the door open a few inches. He takes one look at my flushed face and hands me a tall glass of icy water. “Is he in heat?”
“I think so.” I can see straight back into the lounge, and the rest of the group are on their feet, staring up at us in concern. “Creed is on his way…”
I barely get the words out before there’s a commotion at the front door and Creed strides in, another alpha on his heels. Behind him are three dark-haired alphas, one in the kind of runway clothes that would stop traffic, with a bright pink mohawk and colourful tattoos climbing his neck. I don’t recognise him, but the way Jack and Lexi gravitate towards him makes me think he must be either a Cliff or a Lyall. The other two alphas are slightly older, exuding enough confidence and wealth to draw all eyes. The taller one moves straight towards Kat, while the other one starts talking to Maddie and Griffin in a mixture of French and English.
Creed casts a searing look in my direction, earning an “oh my” from Clark. I try to give him an encouraging smile, but he strides towards me with his phone out. “Finn’s been trying to call you. You need to speak to him.” He presses his phone into my hand and slips around me to check on Soren.
“Finn?”
“How is he?”
The curt greeting would annoy me in any other circumstances. “He’s hot and his eyes are glazed. I’ve put him in the shower. His scent has also changed, more sweet than spicy.”
“What about slick? Is he experiencing any pain?”
I duck my head through the door to ask when an alarm splits the air, loud enough to make me wince. The other alphas in the room go on high alert, but Creed just keeps stroking Soren’s back and talking to him in a low voice. “I don’t know,” I tell Finn, rubbing my temple, “but Creed’s with him. We have another problem, though. Someone’s pulled the fire alarm.”
“Don’t worry about that,” he replies, a whoop-whoop sound building in the background until I’m almost drowning in noise. “I’m on my way.”
He rings off and I look at Clark, but he’s headed towards the knot of alphas in the center of the room. Another one has joined them, tall and blond, with a hard stare that sweeps the room before settling on me. “Is Creed in there? Tell him to stop messing with my hotel.”
I blink at him, my spine stiffening at his tone, but Creed is a warm wall of muscle at my back. “It’s not me,” he says in a voice that makes my skin ripple. “But if you bark at my packmate again, Cliff, I’ll do a lot worse than lock down your elevators.”
“Are you shitting me?” The alpha with the mohawk walks up and grabs Cliff’s arm. “Has that psycho hacked into your system again?”
The other alphas are suddenly firing questions at Cliff, who glares at Creed. “Get Visser on the phone.”
The device in question suddenly feels like a hot coal against my palm, but Creed just draws me back against my chest. “Trust me, locking down this floor is for your own safety.”
The mohawk alpha’s eyes bulge in his pretty face. “Who the hell are you to give us orders in our own damn hotel?”
“I trust him,” Kat says quietly, walking towards us with the confidence of a trained fighter facing a confrontation. “I know Creed, and he would never put any of us in harm’s way.”
“And we all know his psycho packmate. Everyone here has had the shitty luck of running into the arsehole…”
“Stop.” I glare at the sneering alpha. “Don’t insult Finn. He isn’t the problem here.”
“Take a step back, Noah,” Lexi huffs, worming her way in front of him and giving him a little push. She might not be a schoolteacher anymore, but she still has a voice of authority, and her alpha flicks her a brooding look. “These are our guests , and you’re embarrassing me right now.”
“Can someone turn off the alarm?” Kat asks, sticking a finger in her ear. “Then maybe we can all sit down and talk this out…”
I shoot her a grateful look, but my gaze is drawn past her to Finn, who is entering the room from another door. His face is an implacable mask as he looks around, only softening when his gaze comes to rest on me. “Are you alright?”
I nod, but no one else in the room looks happy to see him, retreating into their pack groups as he strides towards me. I glance at Noah, worried he’s going to try something, but it’s his blond packmate who pulls a gun and points it at Finn. “I have every excuse to shoot you right now,” Cliff growls.
My stomach lurches up into my throat, but Finn just waves a hand. “ Calm .”
It’s a command I’ve heard before, but never with a snapping echo that makes my hair stand on end. Cliff drops the gun, which skitters across the floor, but Finn keeps his hands up. “I’m sorry for commanding you, but I need to examine my mates. Step back from the door and give us room.”
“Get the fuck out of my hotel,” Cliff spits, but steps back, herding Noah and Lexi behind him.
Only Kat holds her ground, and she shoots me a concerned look. “You’re not in danger here, right?”
“No.” I flash her a wobbly smile. “But Soren is going into heat, and Finn is taking all precautions.”
She nods, drawing away, and then Finn is wrapping me in his arms. He murmurs more calming words in my ear, then grips Creed’s shoulder. “We’re leaving. Do I need to sedate him?”
“No,” a small voice huffs behind me, and I turn to find Soren struggling into his clothes. He gives up on his buttons, raking a hand through his wet hair and padding barefoot to our side. “There was some descenter in the shower, and based on the pain level, I should be okay for the drive home.”
“We’re not driving,” Finn says in that calm, neutral tone, but he pulls Soren in for a tight hug. He murmurs something in his ear, then nods at Creed, who takes up position at Soren’s side.
I grab Finn’s arm. “I don’t think they’re going to let us rent a room.”
He smiles down at me, one of those lightning-fast quirks of his mouth that makes my heart flutter. “I’ve been circling the city since you arrived.”
I’m not sure how that helps, but I’m too focused on getting out of the hotel to question him. Finn presses something on his phone and the alarm stops, but he doesn’t speak as we move through the silent room. I catch Clark’s eye, wincing at his pale face, but Lexi and Jack come rushing towards us with carrier bags in their arms. Their alphas both snarl, but Lexi gives them a look that would make me slink under my desk if I was in her class. “There’s a blanket for each of you in here. Nice and soft, so it doesn’t chafe your skin. There’s also water bottles and some pain medication.” She looks up at Finn, her gaze polite but unwavering. “I take it you parked on the roof again?”
Jack snorts but focuses on Soren and me. “Helicopters aren’t much fun in a heat. We popped a couple of pairs of earbuds in there, in case your alpha’s model doesn’t come with the usual creature comforts.”
I’m not sure if he’s joking, but their kindness has me biting my lip as I grab both bags. “Thanks so much. And sorry for breaking up the party like this.”
They wave off the apology, but Soren is whispering in Creed’s ear, and he finally pulls away and faces the room. “You deserve better than us rushing out like this, but I want you to know that Finn is protecting you as much as me. No time for all the gory details, but I'm probably why you had those run-ins with Finn. I volunteered for an experimental treatment a few years ago and it messed me up so bad, I got stuck mid-switch.” There’s a shocked murmur around the room, and Soren winces. “Yeah, it’s as bad as it sounds. All the heats and ruts with none of the happy endings.” He takes a deep breath and sneaks a glance at Finn, but I’m relieved to see he’s watching Soren with soft eyes. “This is my first heat in a while, and we're not really sure how it's going to go, so Finn is on high alert. He needs to get me home quickly so he can monitor any changes, although the whole storming the White Castle is a bit much, even for a prince like me.”
His joke is met with a ripple of uneasy laughter, but Dr. Finchley steps forward and takes his hand. “It sounds like you’ve been through a lot, my dear, but you’re not alone in this. Anything we can do to help, just ask.”
Tears trickle down my cheeks at the shocked look he gives her, like he can’t imagine any of these strangers putting themselves out to help him. But Clark and Kat both echo her offers of help, until Cliff steps forward and says, “Thanks for explaining this to us, but you should go now and be with your pack.”
He doesn’t look at Finn or Creed, but I get a faint nod as we walk past, and then we’re climbing a small stairwell to step out into the balmy night air. As fraught as everything was inside, I’ve still got enough energy left to exclaim, “You weren’t kidding about parking on the roof!”