Chapter Nine
CHAPTER NINE
LAST NIGHT’S SHOW did not go as smoothly as I hoped. Technical issues arose at the beginning of Orbital Somatic’s performance, but luckily the tech team could resolve them quickly. And the band recovered quickly to reengage the crowd while the crew was working.
Today presents a new, slightly more difficult challenge- our first festival stop. Chicago’s Pack Reverence Fest has been on my bucket list for several years now. It’s a two-day event with over thirty different bands playing, merch tents, and enough food stalls to satisfy my best friend’s foodie heart.
Working the first day hasn’t been as fun as attending, but I have caught a few shows between tasks. Luckily, my band has just finished their set for the day. The difference between their performance at the previous two shows and today’s festival is obvious. Here, where the crowd can venture to other performances, the band is struggling to maintain their attention.
Part of it is nerves. Understandable since the festival sees an average of nearly one hundred thousand attendees every day. That can feel overwhelming for newer bands with smaller followings.
The biggest part is their stage presence, though. They’re missing something I can’t quite put my finger on. Letting my thoughts mull over their less than stellar performance, I wander across the massive venue to find the stage where Primordial Covenant will be playing.
Warmth at my back has my eyes rolling. Ridley has been clingier than a koala today. Constantly hovering behind me, entirely too close to be professional. Yet I can’t seem to convince myself to ask him for space. There are a lot of people here. Of all designations.
Growing up in a family who works in the DAU, I know all too well how risky being an unbonded omega in such a large crowd can be. I’ve seen the aftermath of alphas losing control one too many times.
Still, my bodyguard doesn’t need to have his hand at the small of my back to guide me through the crowds. It’s familiar in a way that has slick filling my scent-blocking panties. The urge to feel his hands all over my body is growing too large to ignore.
Damn, I need to get laid. I am absolutely sneaking out tomorrow to find myself a hot musician’s knot to ride.
Omen’s lilac hair is easy to spot at the front of the stage, where her guys will play in a few moments. Leaning against the metal frame beside her, I watch as she studies her camera. She’s thorough in her prep work before each show, methodical in finding the best potential angles for her shots.
“Do you think your guys would give Orbital Somatic some pointers about stage presentation?”
“My guys?” she replies with a frown.
She wants to pretend there isn’t a pull between her and Pack Graves? I barely suppress a roll of my eyes. She’s letting her family win by denying her instincts. It makes me sad. And angry. Why let the bad guys win? Tell them to shove it up their asses and prove them wrong. Life is more fun that way!
“Don’t play dumb, Oms. They need help. I think half the crowd left during their show this afternoon.”
“They seemed to do well at the other two tour stops.”
“I think that was only because the fans at those shows were suffering through while waiting to see Primordial Covenant. Here at the festival, they can leave to go check out whoever is playing on the other five stages.” I lace my words with the frustration I still feel about Orbital Somatic’s show. I don’t enjoy facing a problem I can’t solve. Impatience is one of my many flaws.
I barely hear her response, too busy fidgeting with my hair as I replay every aspect of the band’s performance in my mind. I’m going to drive myself crazy obsessing over this.
My attention snaps to Omen when she steps closer to me, forcing me to back up. Right into Ridley’s arms. He steadies me with firm hands on my waist, a purr rattling in his chest in response to my obvious stress. It’s like omega Xanax, and I melt against him.
Remembering where we are, and whose arms I am in, I push away with a scowl aimed at my meddling bestie. I’m the matchmaker here, not her.
Ridley grins, his blue-green eyes sparkling with amusement and desire. “You seem to enjoy running, Bea. Just remember my alpha loves the chase,” he smirks.
My body reacts to the image he is painting, instincts flaring to life and causing another burst of slick to coat my thighs. Packing all of my interest away takes a strength I wasn’t aware I possessed.
Turning away from Omen and my bodyguard, I nearly knock into Lex in my effort to escape. His eyes are as dark as Ridleys, the touch of our skin electric for the brief seconds my shoulder brushes against his chest.
Fucking hell, this night needs to go faster.
My phone rings as I finish using the bathroom. I hastily dry my hands and rush out to swipe the device off the table where I was working on a plan to help Orbital Somatic with their stage presence. The unknown number on the screen doesn’t faze me, but the sound of Primordial Covenant’s bassist voice on the other line does.
A Cheshire grin tugs my lips up as I loudly reply, making sure Omen hears me say Nebula’s name. Her eyes fly up to mine, narrowed to betray her jealousy. Yeah, she’s got it bad.
“We realized this afternoon none of us thought to get Omen’s number, but Pack Michaels had yours since you are their manager. I hope it’s okay that we called you to speak with her.” I nod along, fighting back an eye roll at their lack of forethought, all of them. If I wanted to get dicked down by the hot masked musicians, I never would have let them walk away without my number.
“You gonna ask my bestie on a date?” I ask Nebula, teasing him a little. The blush that crawls up Omen’s face as she listens has me cackling with glee. I listen to what Pack Graves called for before handing the phone to Omen.
Collapsing on the couch a few spots down from her, my heart fills with joy as I watch her eyes light up. That girl has been through hell in her brief life. Watching her find some small piece of happiness is a heady feeling.
Let’s hope they don’t fuck this up, otherwise I’ll have to fuck them up.
Her eyes meet mine as she shyly invites the band to join us on our Chicago foodventure to a hole-in-the-wall taqueria I’d heard whispers about on a foodie blog I follow. I flash her a big grin and two thumbs up, making sure she knows exactly how supportive I am of her little date tonight. Maybe while she’s busy with Pack Graves, I’ll find some drool-worthy musicians of my own to get dirty with.
Several hours after their call ends, we finally slide into the car we’re borrowing from the label to head into the city. I’m starving and so damn sexually pent up I’m thirty seconds away from begging Ridley to let me suck him off beneath the restaurant table. Spending the afternoon watching as he did shirtless pull ups in the doorway destroyed my self control. The way his muscles tensed, sweat dripping down his back —
Fuck, Bea, think of something else.
Scooting across the seat, I glance at Ridley where he sits in the front seat and damn near choke on my tongue. He has one arm wrapped behind the passenger seat headrest to look back at us, the backward ball cap on his head an unfair addition to his tight black t-shirt and jeans.
This alpha is trying to kill me. Death by horny omega vagina. Not exactly the way I want to leave this world.
Forcing myself to focus elsewhere, I beam at Omen beside me. “Your first date with Pack Graves! You’re finally putting yourself out there! I would weep with joy if it wouldn’t ruin my mascara!”
“We’re just hanging out,” she says with a shrug.
“Yeah, okay. Deny it all you want, Oms. Anyone with eyes can see how infatuated you all are with each other.” She isn’t blind to it either, just too stubborn for her own good.
“I feel a pull,” she admits, shocking the hell out of me. “My instincts are determined they’re mine.”
“Do you think they might be?”
“No,” she cuts me off, my lips turning down into a frown at the adamancy in her tone. “They can’t be my mates. Fate Matched or chosen. And they can’t be my pack.”
I’m spared from a frustrated response when Ridley asks her why. I know why she says that shit. Fucking fear.
Yeah, okay, her birth family are utter assholes trying to destroy our world with their anti-pack, anti-designation rhetoric, and they’ve done awful things to alphas and omegas in New Hampshire, but it’s been years since she was under their thumb. She’s being obstinate and letting her demons control her.
It’s annoying as hell and I kind of want to shake some sense into her.
Surprise parts my lips when Lex joins the conversation too, saying more than I’ve heard the grumpy alpha speak since we met last weekend. An irrational flare of jealousy crawls through me as he talks. I can barely process his words as I try to fight the feeling down. He doesn’t have any interest in Omen, or me, for that matter. He’s being nice and trying to help her overcome her fears, nothing more.
As annoying as both these alphas can be, I’m grateful to have them here to back me up when Omen finally agrees to stop pushing Pack Graves away. If she follows through, this could be exactly what my reserved best friend needs to break the grip her family still has on her once and for all.
Pulling up outside of the restaurant, I can already tell I made the right call by suggesting we eat here. A brightly colored mural spans the entire lower half of the building surrounding an intricate black door. A large outdoor seating area sits out front with colorful chairs around black tables. The large umbrellas covering each one are as bright as everything else.
“This looks incredible,” Omen comments, digging her phone out to snap a few photos to send to the group chat we have with my family. They love hearing about all the interesting places we visit when we travel, and they share pictures from their own trips as well.
The interior of the restaurant is all white walls with accents matching the colorful exterior. It smells fucking heavenly inside too, making my smile grow wider as we take a seat at one of the extra long tables.
Excellent food, a nice atmosphere, and friends. This is a life I could get used to.
“You aren’t originally from New York either, are you?” Nebula asks Ridley where he sits on my left, his arm casually over the back of my chair. I want to hate the way he’s absentmindedly playing with my hair, but I love it, so I keep my mouth shut.
“Nah, grew up in Ohio. Moved to New York after the Alpha Academy, and eventually got looped in with the DAU.” My brows furrow hearing he’s from Ohio. I wonder how close to home he was when we stopped there on the band’s tour two days ago. If he’d wanted to go visit his family, I wouldn’t have stopped him.
“How does one even link up with the DAU from Ohio? I know their reach is everywhere in the country, but to wind up as a security operative for them, I assumed you had a military background.”
Ridley shrugs, his t-shirt straining tighter across his chest with the simple motion. “Know the right people and you can get in anywhere.”
Nebula nods, distracted by something his pack mates are saying.
Ridley’s eyes turn back to me, a smirk tilting his lips up when he finds my eyes already on him. His warm brown hair is messier than usual from being trapped beneath his hat, the strands long enough to invite me to dig my fingers through them as I pull him close and-
“Ready to go?” Lex grunts from across the table. He’s sitting with his massive arms crossed over his chest, a scowl on his handsome face. Steel-gray eyes bore into me with an intensity that sets my soul aflame. Fucking hell, these men are going to ruin every pair of panties in my wardrobe without even trying.
“Yeah, let’s head out.” I keep my voice calm and level despite the need threatening to send me into a frenzy. Maybe a quick utilization of my favorite vibrator will be necessary before I head to the festivals’ after party later tonight.
I feel like a proud parent dropping their kid off on their first date. Okay, Lex did the drop off, but the feeling is the same. Omen is at Pack Graves’ hotel for a game night, and maybe a knot or two. Lucky omega.
Glancing in the long mirror on the back of my nest door, I turn to the side, checking to make sure my outfit isn’t too revealing for a late night hang out with the other festival bands. After parties are surely going to be my favorite part of touring. All the delicious musicians and road crew hanging about. It’s practically a knot buffet begging for this omega to fill her plate.
As long as I don’t sleep with anyone signed to the Soulbound Echo label, I can live life to the fullest and ride as many hot musician knots as my horny omega heart pleases!
Swiping a smudge proof pink lipstick onto my lips, I blow myself a kiss and walk out of my mini nest. Noise in the living area has my eyes rolling. I don’t want the bodyguard duo tagging along and preventing me from enjoying my freedom. I also know I don’t really have a choice. We’re all grownups. They can look the other way while I have some fun.
Stepping through the curtain separating the living and sleeping areas, their eyes immediately snap to me. Heat vivid enough to make my toes curl in my boots sears my body as they scan every inch of me. Slick soaks my scent canceling panties, reminding me of exactly why I need to go out tonight. A horny omega trapped on a bus with two delicious, out of reach alphas is a recipe for disaster.
“Where are you going?” Lex asks, his gray eyes narrowing.
Throwing my hands on my hips, I frown at the overbearing man. He barely says two words to me on a good day, and he eye fucks me every chance he gets, yet he has the audacity to demand answers about my plans? He isn’t my bodyguard and I don’t owe him shit.
“I didn’t realize we had plans, sunshine,” Ridley adds, gesturing to his basketball shorts and cut off tank top. Sweet Fates, I can see his abs through the gap and, fuck, do I want to lick every single one of them.
Shaking myself away from that train of thought, I focus on his warm brown eyes instead. It doesn’t do much to ease the desire pounding through my body, but it’s better than drooling over his athletic physique. “The festival is having an after party for the bands.”
“Ah, you want to go schmooze with the other managers and bands? Network a little?” He throws the towel in his hands back on the counter and goes to step past me into the back. Hopefully to get dressed.
“No, I’m going to find a knot to ride.”
Ridley splutters, freezing a few feet away. His blue-green eyes are wide. Hurt flashes through the orbs before they shift to humor and a touch of anger. A smirk stretches across his lips, his arms crossing over his chest as he stares me down.
It’s Lex who reacts the strongest. A growl rattles from his throat as he leaps to his feet. A single breath, a blink of my eyes, and he’s there. So close I can feel the heat from his body against every exposed inch of my skin. His large palm wraps around my throat, gripping just tight enough for him to control my body. He propels us backward until my back presses against the wall.
“Like fuck you are,” he snarls. The sound of his possessive demand nearly has my eyes rolling back into my skull, but the spark of stubborn defiance I was born with chooses that moment to rear its head.
“Excuse me?!”
Ridley ambles over, leaning one arm against the wall to my right, caging me in further. I’m frustrated I can’t smell them. The stupid scent blockers they’re required to wear for work steal the intensity of their closeness from me. I’ve spent entirely too much time wondering what they smell like. Taste like.
“Oh sunshine, you didn’t think this little ploy would work, did you?”
“You have no right to dictate who I can and cannot fuck.” My hands clench into fists at my sides, partially from the anger coursing through my body, but also to stop myself from pulling them closer. Giving in to the pull between us right now would be catastrophic. I need to put these assholes in their place, not beg them for their cocks.
“If you need to get off, you’ve got an entire box of toys in your nest you can use.” Lex’s body is tense as he grits the words between his clenched teeth. What would happen if he snapped?
“He’s exactly right, Bea. We’re here to keep you safe, and random hook ups with unvetted strangers would be a failure of our jobs.” Ridley’s face portrays stern empathy, but his eyes still burn with desire and anger, betraying precisely how unrelated to their job this decision is.
The reminder I am nothing more than a job to them is enough to douse the lust burning between us. My palms connect with Lex’s chest, forcing him to release his grip on my throat and take a step back. “This is fucking bullshit, and you both know it.” I step around them, heading back toward my nest.
Letting the curtain fall behind my back, I stomp to my nest and throw open the door. Even the comfort of my safe space isn’t enough to calm the racing of my heart. Fuck them! Using my safety as an excuse to knot block me. They’re just fucking jealous.
“Argh!” I pull my hair from its ponytail, letting the curls cascade around my shoulders so I can bury my fingers in the strands and tug. The small bite of pain helps to ground me through the tidal wave of pissed off omega hormones flooding my system.
If they want to play, I’ll make sure the rest of this tour is fucking hell for them. By the time I’m finished, their knots will be so fucking backed up it will take a rut to clear their system.
This omega plays to win, and I have no qualms about playing dirty to ensure my success.