9. Lainey
I should be feeling something bad, right?
I mean, there’s obviously the metric ton of guilt for even the thought of allowing this pack to buy me things.
But what about everything else I should be feeling?
Devastation over my dorm burning down and losing all of my worldly possessions and my nest. Suspicion over this pack of strange alphas that showed up and claimed to be my scent matches.
Being “invited”, but actually ordered , to live in their home with no end date in sight.
Any one of those things would send an omega into a full blown meltdown, so why am I following Rhys around like a lost puppy with butterflies in my tummy after that kiss?
Maybe I have finally cracked. All the stuff with my mom, losing the store and my home, and now all of this? My brain has just decided we don’t have the capacity to be process any of it so I’m coasting along like a perfect little trophy omega for them to pose as they please.
But that’s not true either, is it? Because I was mean to Lucky — again — and they just laughed like I was being funny. Not a hint of disappointment or irritation at me being rude to one of their pack mates. Just genuine amusement, like my ire was cute.
It’s kind of irritating, if I let myself think too much about it.
But I don’t, because Rhys is opening a set of double doors to the most beautiful bedroom I’ve ever seen in my life, and I forget all about my budding irritation.
On the back wall in the middle of the room is a massive rattan bed that looks like it could fit five or six grown alphas comfortably, outfitted in plush bedding that’s the most gorgeous soft butter yellow.
There are just enough pillows that the bed looks like a cloud, but not so many I couldn’t hop in for a nap right now.
And on either side are matching rattan nightstands in a beautiful light oak.
The walls are white, but not offensively so.
More of a gentle cream color than a true white that would hurt sleepy eyes in the morning.
Massive picture windows line said walls and behind the gauzy curtains is a view better than any painting I could imagine.
The house sits at the edge of a private beach, meaning this room looks out over the ocean, with a large lighthouse just visible from the edge of the window.
Further into the room is a cozy seating area and when my eyes land on the couch, I gasp, hurrying over to it.
That’s my couch. I turn to Rhys with wide eyes to find him already watching me.
There’s a quirk to his brow and a small smile on his lips, but I have no idea what he’s thinking. “This is my couch.”
He cocks his head, that brow inching higher and making his piercing glint against the afternoon sunlight. “What do you mean, darlin’?”
I sink down into the plush pink cushion, squealing in delight. Rhys follows me over, taking a seat next to me and groaning as he does. “Holy shit, is this thing made of clouds?”
I shake my head, amused but also confused. “Didn't you sit on it before you bought it?”
“Nah, Lucky furnished this entire room himself. I know Wyatt helped him get some of the heavier things up here, but he got a bug up his ass a few months ago about finishing this room and wouldn’t let any of us in here before now.”
If my mouth was open any wider my jaw would probably hit my knees. I try to speak, but he continues. “I guess now we know why he was so insistent. He spent enough at that little home decor shop in town that it probably paid several month’s of their rent.”
My eyes fill with tears, and Rhys sits up straight, immediately pulling me into his lap and cuddling me close.
His deliciously sweet sugar cookie scent fills my nostrils and it relaxes me exactly the way it did in the hospital.
“Woah, hey! I’m sorry. I’m sure it really wasn’t that much money.
I was exaggerating because Lucky tends to go overboard. ”
A hesitant, rattling purr starts in his chest and my body sags into it involuntarily. No one has ever purred for me before these men. Not even my dad when he was still around. “It’s not that,” I hiccup. “That was my store.”
There’s a break in the purr before it kicks up again twice as loud. Rhys soothes one large hand up and down my back, which does wonders to distract my system from the sudden deluge of sadness. “What do you mean when you say it was your store?”
I feel pathetic crying in his arms like this when he’s still little more than a stranger, but nothing about it feels wrong .
I just feel like a needy omega, and being a needy omega was unacceptable in my house.
“My mom opened that store after my dad left. I was maybe eight? I helped out from day one, but when I turned sixteen my mom gave me free reign to do as I pleased, and I all but took over. I did the ordering, inventory, I worked every day and did school right there at the front counter between customers. I was even set to take over after graduation. And I was obsessed with this stupid pink couch that felt like a cloud.” I glance up to gauge Rhys’s reaction, but he’s stoic.
“That is actually how I ended up in the dorms in the first place,” I sigh heavily, turning my face into his neck for a less than subtle hit of his scent.
Talking about my mom sends my anxiety through the roof, and I worry these alphas are going to agree with her.
I’m too much, too needy, too omega . “She sold the store with no warning so she could retire to Florida with her latest shitty boyfriend. Only she didn’t just sell the store.
She sold the apartment above it, too. The apartment we had lived in for the last eleven years.
I had to move into the dorms and take whatever convenient last minute room they could find mid-semester. ”
Rhys’s jaw is clenched when I finally gain the courage to look him in the eye again.
There’s a muscle ticking there too, but his hand is still so gentle on my back.
He clears his throat roughly, taking a deep breath.
I know my scent is probably acrid right now, but being this close to him has it sweetening by the second.
“So let me get this straight.” He grumbles angrily.
“Your mother sold your future out from under you, sold your home , and you had to move into communal housing—all so she could chase some tail?”
I snort a laugh, but his expression doesn’t change.
He looks truly angry. But not at me— for me.
I nod slowly, placing one hand on his chest and rubbing small circles over the center.
His purr has stopped, but his scent swells around us with each breath.
“She did do all of that. And I was really angry, but…”
His head whips up, expression guarded. “But what?”
I sigh, not sure if I’m ready to admit this is probably the best case scenario in my current situation.
“But, if none of that had happened, I wouldn’t have met Lucky.
And if I hadn’t met Lucky…” I trail off, but place a hand on my bloated lower stomach.
I don’t have a true bump yet, but it doesn’t stop Rhys from catching my meaning.
His blue eyes blaze as his tattooed hand covers mine. “So I guess I should be thanking your mom?”
“Oh god no,” I laugh, lightening the mood. “Don’t thank that woman for anything. She’s a nightmare on the best day. We haven’t even spoken since she left.”
Understanding dawns. “That’s why you don’t have health insurance.”
Oh, fuck .
Rhys must see my panic because those big hands immediately move up to cup my face. “We’ve got you, darlin’. You aren’t alone in this anymore. We’ll figure it out. Okay?”
I nod, and he smiles. “Good. Enough of the heavy shit. Ready to see the rest of your room?”
I nearly choke. “There’s more?”
He just laughs like I’m being cute again.
I’m not sure how I feel about all of this amusement at my expense.
I’m not cute , damn it. I’m a strong, intimidating, independent woman.
Though that idea is almost proven false when he scoops me up like I weigh nothing and carries me across the room to two closed doors.
Just as he reaches for the handle on the first one closest to the front of the room, a tentative knock sounds and Wyatt pokes his head in.
When he sees Rhys’s hand outstretched, he grins shyly. “Oh good, I didn’t miss it.”
Rhys looks as confused as I feel. “Miss what?”
Wyatt’s teeth sink into his bottom lip, exposing a small gap between his front teeth I somehow didn’t notice in the hospital. “I wanted to be here for this part. It’s the one thing I didn’t let Lucky touch in here.”
Rhys steps back to let his packmate lead the way, and it makes me smile. I’ve seen too many alphas get territorial once an omega enters the picture, and the fact that Rhys is willingly stepping aside to give Wyatt the spotlight endears me to him even more. Maybe he’s not so scary, after all.
Wyatt nearly bounces on his toes, but I can’t tell if it’s from nerves or excitement.
He opens the door to what I can only describe as paradise.
A massive freestanding bathtub sits inside of a fully tiled open shower that could fit the entire pack easily.
Where the bedroom is light and airy with bright colors everywhere, the bathroom is a serene mix of sage greens and light wood tones that match the rattan furniture in the bedroom.
I’m so busy gaping at the bathroom of my dreams that I don’t notice Wyatt until he’s right in front of me with a hand held out cautiously like he’s afraid I might bite.
Which, to be fair, I probably would if it was Lucky in front of me.
His sheepish smile is everything, and I can’t help but smile back as I place my hand in his. They’re not as big as Rhys’s, but they’re warm and calloused which makes sense if he works out a lot for football. “Come on, I’ve been dying to show you this.”