Chapter 9
To Do List (like right away):
Huh. What else do we need to do for our little omega?
Jude looks over at Kai as he chugged his third beer.
Hmm.
To Do List (like right away):
Buy a puppy.
??? Buy a better version of Kai.
This was not an easy list to complete, and with Kai making this process difficult, it was going to take a miracle to convince Zayden to let them adopt a puppy.
For Sonnet’s sake, of course. Not because Jude had been asking for a pet for a very long time now, but because someone was afraid of animals.
Zayden never jumped out of his skin or screamed like a little girl, but he interacted with animals the way an out-of-touch man would interact with a baby.
You know, the classic hold them like a football instead of a living, breathing baby?
That was Zayden. The out of touch, football wielding, man.
To this day, one of Jude’s fondest memories was the last time they visited Felix’s family on their farm, and Zayden made enemies with a three-legged goat he swore was out to get him.
Zayden hated it whenever Jude mentioned it. He hated a lot of things. When was the last time he saw Boss Man enjoy anything but his whiskey?
There he was right now, pouring himself a glass and collapsing on a stool at the kitchen island.
Oh, God. Kai and Zayden are going to ruin every chance we have with Sonnet!
Felix leaned over Jude and stole his pen, adding three more things to the list: Restock the fridge, buy nesting supplies, and bake a welcome home cake.
“You think she’ll want to nest?” Jude asked, scribbling hearts, stars, and smiley faces on the notepad. “I don’t want to pressure her into thinking her only option is bonding with us.”
Felix shrugged his shoulders; his nose shoved into the pamphlets. “It states a nest is important for omegas, very symbolic and calming. With the guarantee of heat spikes, she’ll need a safe spot.”
“She just gets our nesting room? Just like that?” Kai growled, swaying back and forth on his feet. “That area has been sacred.”
Stupid drunk.
Zayden exhaled sharply. “We’ll get her supplies, but we shouldn’t burden her with the nesting room or omega suite. She’s already having to endure emotional transitions. Let’s not put her through anymore right away.”
Felix nodded and stole Jude’s pen again, adding a note for them to make sure Sonnet had a proper space to nest until she was ready for her permanent location.
It’ll be nice to finally have someone occupy that space.
Despite Juliana living with them for a short time, she wasn’t allowed access to that space. Kai put his foot down hard on that one, and Jude was grateful for it, especially with how everything turned out.
“Hey, you should make a welcome home feast, too! A comforting meal. Oh, with a bouquet of flowers!”
“And candles?”
Jude’s eyes sparkled. “Lots of candles.”
Felix grinned and added it to the list. Jude had never seen him so invested before.
He was always so quiet and independent. Jude was pretty sure Felix enjoyed reading about people more than he socialized with them.
Go figure, too, because he was the one who always received the best deals and gigs.
Felix modeled everywhere, was a part of major ads and runway shows, and had a fanbase bigger than the rest of them, even though Kai would never admit it.
Yet he was also the guy who couldn’t even hold a conversation for longer than two minutes.
Felix was happy. Like physically happy. There was a whole smile on his face and a blush on his cheeks, and he was participating in something other than producing music.
Felix is on our side!
Which, thank goodness for that, because Zayden and Kai looked determined to fuck up the best gift they’ve ever received.
Mess up. No more bad words for us.
Anything our omega wants, our omega gets.
“Enough!” Kai’s hands were in his disheveled black hair, tugging at the roots. “How can you be this excited about something like this? How can you all be so calm?”
“Because she’s meant to be ours. Kai…she’s meant to be ours.
” Jude knew Kai wanted to run. Being friends with him since grade school meant knowing him better than anyone, which was how Jude knew he wanted to run away from their pack instead of putting in the work to fix it, but everything was different now.
He couldn’t run away from this, from her, from them. “Everything has changed.”
“Nothing has changed!” Kai slammed his hand onto the kitchen island, looking at all of them with an accusatory gaze that made the pit of Jude’s stomach feel like it was carrying a box of bricks.
“Forming a pack was the biggest mistake I made, and this just makes that even more real. You all are fools if you think she’s going to fix or change anything.
You all are going to break her if you try. Just like you broke me.”
Ouch.
Jude stumbled backwards, his words like a punch to the gut, and looked to Felix and Zayden to make this right. They needed to make this right. But Zayden said nothing. Their lead alpha had given up on leading.
“Broken things can still be fixed,” Jude whispered. “You could try it. With her. With us.”
“How am I supposed to try with an omega I hate?”
“Take that back,” Jude snapped, clenching his fists together.
How could he use the word “hate” so easily towards her?
Kai’s dark orbs were filled with rage, guilt, and resentment.
“I only had two months left before I was free, and I never had to be a part of another pack, and I could find my own omega. Mine. But now she’s shown up and she’s—” His voice cracked.
“She’s taken my own chance of freedom and happiness.
I’m sorry. But I hate her just as much as I hate the rest of you. ”
“Kai!”
“Let him go,” Felix whispered, grabbing Jude’s arm before he could chase after him. “At some point, we’re going to have to let him go.”
“Why would you say that? He’s our brother. He’s our brother. We can’t let him go and leave our pack, not now that Sonnet has found us!”
Zayden set his glass on the table and stood.
Jude had never seen circles form faster under someone’s eyes.
“We shouldn’t pressure him to stay. None of us should forget that we all agreed to one year.
” Zayden looked at Jude specifically, his voice hard as stone.
“All of us. We can’t expect Kai to find hope in any of us or in this when we haven’t even scratched the surface in fixing anything in ten months.
We only have two left. Maybe he’s right.
Maybe by trying to fix us, we’re going to break her. ”
Jude’s shoulders sagged, the strength and optimism slowly leaving his muscles and dropping into a heavy pit in his stomach.
Zayden left for his room, and all Jude could hear was the background noise of Felix’s ridiculously old and loud grandfather clock he thrifted.
Its tick was echoing throughout the halls of this large and empty house they had chosen together a dark reminder that time was running out.
But two months still felt a long way away before giving up.
Jude almost had. Everything he loved fell apart in such a short amount of time that he had lost hope that they were meant to be a pack in the first place. But she was here now, his hope, their hope. If Jude had to fix all of this on his own, then he would. But he wasn’t alone yet.
“Are you going to stomp off to your room, too?” Jude cocked his head at Felix, who seemed strangely happy.
He scribbled something on the notepad before shrugging his shoulders. “It’s late and I’m tired. Don’t stay up too late. We’ll talk later.”
Jude’s eyes squinted as Felix sauntered up the stairs to his room. There was something fishy about his behavior. Something unnatural.
Check what he wrote.
Jude picked up the notepad, and there was a new task circled three times.
“Make this place her forever home,” Jude read out loud.
Jude crumpled the paper and shoved it in his back pocket and got to work.
He snuck into the laundry room, stealing a few pieces of clothing from each of them and bringing them to the guest bedroom where Sonnet would be staying until she felt ready to claim the omega suite and nesting room, which were currently occupied by the pack’s junk.
He looked at the clock before ignoring the time and unlocked the door to the omega suite. It smelled like dust and looked like a bad hoarding situation. But Jude grew up with maximalist sisters, which made this room look easy compared to theirs.
I can’t wait to tell my sisters about her. They’re going to love her just like I know we will.
Jude rolled up his sleeves. All he had to do now was clean out the space so that when Sonnet accepted the bond, she would be ready.