Chapter 28
Chapter
Twenty-Eight
Aries
Leon walked into the kitchen as I started plating up breakfast. His eyes were dark, face tired. Night shifts were rough at the gym. Not as many people came in, but some did, so we rotated those shifts.
“Slow night?” I asked, trying to keep my face neutral.
He chuckled. “Yes, and I’m starving. That cold sandwich and stale chips I got at three wasn’t enough.”
“Good thing I’m incredible at making french toast,” Ronan grinned. He’d rushed out of bed once his knot released us last night, letting the others in. Nikolai was angry, but Luca was apologetic.
“I’ve got coffee on, but you might not want that before sleep,” Luca offered him. The moment felt so strange and domestic. It was hard to wrap my head around.
“So, I uh… must have missed a few chapters,” Leon said, dropping his bag and pulling out a chair. He watched the guys carefully as he sat down heavily.
“We were assholes and should have been open with what is going on. I haven’t gone into the details yet, but we can over food,” Ronan supplied as he dipped bread in the french toast batter.
It smelled incredible in here, and it only had a small fraction to do with the cooking food and everything to do with pack.
My omega was buzzing with contentment. This, now that Leon was here, was exactly what she needed.
Finding mates was fucking weird. I was a prickly omega at best, far too serious according to the gossip I’ve heard. Now, here I was, feeling more comfortable with the men I met two days ago than most people I’ve known for years.
As I put the plate of bacon on the table, Nik pulled me into his lap. I rested there, back against his warm chest. I could feel his nose trailing over my back, scenting me as much as marking me.
The bond was open again, from both Leon and Nik. They were just as content in the moment as I was, though Leon was confused. Who could blame him?
“I’ll be right back,” I said, patting Nik’s arm. He let me go, though his touch lingered on my skin like he’d branded me.
My omega practically pouted as I stepped away, but I ignored her as I poured Leon a glass of orange juice and put it in front of him.
“Thanks,” he said, taking my wrist and pulling me close so he could kiss me. “Snuggle me before I go to sleep?”
“Absolutely,” I promised, before my skin flushed. “If you don’t mind my bed smelling like Ronan.”
He eyed the alpha and gave me a look. “I think we’re past the point of minding. I can feel how happy your omega is.”
“Good,” Ronan said as he carried over a platter piled high with french toast, already dusted in powdered sugar. “And just wait until you taste my cooking.”
“He’s not lacking in confidence, is he?” Leon joked. Ronan blew him a kiss that was his own brand of teasing. They were like siblings, just pushing each others’ buttons.
“Never,” Ronan agreed. “Now, dig in.”
Before I could take my plate and fill it, Nikolai grabbed it, piling it with more food than I could eat. He pulled it in front of him and yanked my chair closer.
“You are not feeding me,” I protested. He narrowed his eyes as if that was supposed to intimidate me. Instead, I snagged a piece of bacon from my plate and chewed it slowly, watching him.
His eye twitched but he said nothing. The moment I swallowed, he snatched the bacon and stabbed a bite of french toast, holding it in front of my lips.
Rolling my eyes, I opened. I was too content to fight him right now.
The happiness in his damn eyes made it worth it.
I swear these alphas were a mess. One minute, they were running out to carry out some mission that absolutely included murder and crime, the next, they were acting like domestic life suited them.
“So, details,” I demanded as I dutifully took bites from the fork Nikolai offered.
Luca spoke up, running a hand through his curly hair. “There have been several operations that have been traps. At least four, but maybe more. Our men show up and get ambushed.”
My chest tightened. “That happened last night?”
“Yes,” Nik said. “But we’re obviously fine.”
I studied Luca, then Ronan, then finally turned to Nik, my eyes raking over their skin, taking in any scrapes and bruises there. When I didn’t find any, I turned back to Luca who was hiding a smile.
“We’re okay, we promise. I figured this out before we arrived, so we flipped the script on them.”
“Good,” I growled. Nik chuckled and offered another bite, which I took a bit too aggressively, ignoring the amusement echoing in the bond.
If I had all their bites, I’d be able to tell if things went south.
My omega was satisfied with that thought and I shoved it away. This pack coming together was already far too fast.
“A bit more digging, and I narrowed down the digital signature of this person, and it has to be someone close to all of us. I need my damn setup from back home.”
“Could we go and get it?” I mused. “Or recreate it at the very least.”
“Do you have space for me to set something up?”
I thought over the possibilities before settling on a few options.
“I’ve got an attic. It’s not huge but we could probably renovate and sound proof. Otherwise one of the guest rooms or my empty nest.”
The room went still, except for Leon who already knew my nest was nonexistent. I made somewhat of a nest in my bed but never felt compelled to have one of my own, even if the house had space for it.
“You don’t have a nest?” Nik asked, setting the fork down and turning me around to face him.
“No,” I said with a shrug. “Haven’t really needed one.”
“How did you get through your heats?” Luca asked.
“I didn’t,” I snorted. “I chose suppresents. My shot lasted through the last heat. I have an appointment for another next week since it’s a couple weeks away.”
“I’m trying really hard not to alpha out here, baby. Do we need to take you to a nesting store?”
“I mean, if I wanted that I’d have gotten my own things,” I pointed out. For the first time, my inner omega seemed to protest, a feeling of unease rippling through me.
“It might be different now. You have a full pack that you didn’t have before. And two bites,” Leon pointed out.
His point had merit.
I snatched another piece of bacon just to have something to do, chewing it as I considered what they said.
“I wouldn’t even know where to start,” I finally mumbled as I wiped the grease off on a fresh napkin.
“Then we go to a store and you follow your instincts,” Luca said. “And no, I won’t be taking that space for this. Maybe I can just set up in the attic. How much work does it need?”
“It just gets stuffy in there, but we have some amazing men around town that are good at this kind of thing. I can have them install some kind of vent or fan up there.”
The alphas grumbled at the thought of another man coming in.
“Just convert one of the guest rooms down here,” Ronan concluded. “We can bunk together when we’re not sleeping with our omega.”
“I’m going to need a much bigger bed if that’s the case,” I pointed out. “My king bed isn’t going to fit all four of us.”
“We can make it work,” Nikolai said in a huff. Like he wasn’t the biggest alpha out of our group.
Leon let out a yawn and I pushed my plate away. The guys had work of their own to do and I needed to head to the gym.
“Come on, let’s get you in bed,” I said, standing up and holding out a hand for Leon who was yawning again.
“We’ll keep it down out here,” Ronan said. For once, he was being serious. The man was a walking contradiction of playful and protective. I guess he considered Leon pack now.
“Thanks,” Leon said over his shoulder as I pulled him down the hall to our room. He didn’t react to the mixed scents in the room, he just shrugged out of his clothes down to his boxers and practically fell into the bed. I stretched out beside him, head on his chest.
He didn’t have a chance to say a word before he was softly snoring. I’d love to lay there all day but I carefully scent marked him, tucked him in, and snuck out of the room.
“Hey, your phone just went off,” Luca said as he walked past to the guest room.
I hurried in, surprised to see Cassie’s name on the screen. She was working a shorter shift today and usually didn’t call. I quickly called back, the omega answering on the second ring.
“Hey, sorry. Can you come in?” Something about her voice had me freezing.
“Is everything okay? Do I need to call Syrus?”
“Uh… I don’t think so?” The fact that it was a question had a frown marring my face.
I glanced over, Nikolai and Ronan already watching me.
“I’m on my way. Hang tight,” I said quickly before ending the call and rushing for my shoes and keys. “Someone needs to come with me. My girl at the desk sounded uncomfortable."
“I’ll go,” Nik said, already heading for me. Ronan didn’t protest, and after fucking me before letting them in the night before, I had a feeling he would have lost.
I drove faster than usual to get there, thankfully Widow’s Peak was small enough it took no time at all.
Cassie was at the desk, chewing on her lip and trying to look busy, but she kept looking at something in the main equipment room.
“Hey,” I said as I pushed through the doors. My eyes swept the room, landing on an alpha and omega pair across the room. They didn’t look like strangers to the gym, but they were oddly stiff.
“You’re here,” she said, letting out a breath. I joined her behind the counter so they couldn’t hear, leaning in close.
“What’s got you on edge? Did they do something?”
“No,” she admitted. “But they’ve been looking around more than working out. It was a bit too obvious to be simple curiosity. More like gauging exits, eyeing cameras, that kind of thing.”
“Who are they?” I whispered. She opened up the file on the computer and I made note of their names, typing out a quick message to Luca now that he was in my phone.
Aries
Can you check these two names out? If that’s not your area I can ask Lark, but I figured I’ve bugged her enough lately.
Luca
Give me a sec, on it now.
I tucked my phone away, giving my attention back to Cassie. “Why don’t you head out and let me and Nik take over until our afternoon crew comes in?”
“Okay,” she said quickly, snagging her bag and practically running out of the door.
Nik was already behind me, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, watching. To anyone else he looked like a protective alpha over his omega, but I knew he heard every word.
“Thanks for coming,” I said, staring up at his hazel eyes. He was wearing his glasses again, which seemed to soften his features a bit.
At least to me.
“I’ll always keep you safe,” he promised without looking away. The two men continued their workout as I did a bit of admin work at the desk. A couple other patrons walked in and scanned their cards before filling the other spaces. They eyed each one as if they were interrupting something private.
When an hour had passed they finally walked out, dabbing their sweaty foreheads with towels. I offered a customer service smile that they didn’t return.
“One of us will be here each shift,” Nik concluded as the door swung shut behind them. “They were watching you a bit too closely.”
Why would they be watching me?