5. Bailey-Rose
There I stood in front of the mirror, my hair fresh and clean with a bouncy curl making it look like cotton candy.
Wanting to erase my first impression after five years of not seeing each other, I swiped on some mascara and applied a sheer lip gloss to give me a little polish.
I did a quick twirl to ensure I hadn’t missed anything, also needing to double-check that my soft pink T-shirt dress, splattered with white stars, wasn’t caught in the back of my white shorts.
Going out in public like that once was more than enough for me.
Feeling there wasn’t any reason to keep stalling, I took a deep breath and blew a few strands of hair out of my face. “Here goes nothing,” I told myself.
I switched out my bunny slippers for another, cleaner, pair that were covered in strawberries, then headed for the bedroom. Pulling open the door, I found Lysse leaning against the wall beside the bathroom entrance reading something on his phone as it buzzed.
“Popular fella,” I commented.
A smile tugged at his lips. “If only that were true, but it seems you’re the popular one here.”
“What?”
Tucking his phone into his back pocket, he pushed off the wall and faced me. “I told the rest of my pack about what happened. The last of them just pulled up and should be joining the other three in the living room. Crew is babysitting them to avoid getting in trouble with Eli.”
My mouth went dry as the meaning of his words connected to my brain. “They’re here? Now?” I whispered.
Ulysses reached out and took my hand, tugging me forward until he could wrap me up in a hug. Bending, he rested his head on mine and began purring, instantly turning me into boneless goo. Fisting my hands in his shirt was the only thing that kept me from becoming a puddle at his feet.
“Rosie, it’s going to be all right,” Lysse murmured.
“These are good men. I wouldn’t have told them about you if they weren’t.
You’ve recently been hurt, and I understand why you’d be wary of jumping into anything too fast. All I expect from this is for you to meet them, that’s it.
Eli and Crew are both home, so you’re not alone with just the five of us.
You’re safe in your home where you call the shots. ”
Tilting my head back, I looked up into his expressive eyes and read the honesty there. “You thought of everything, didn’t you?”
“All that matters right now is you, so yeah, I did all I could think of to make this easier for you,” Lysse admitted.
“Okay, we can go meet them.” I relented, taking a deep breath of his chocolaty-orange scent.
In a move that almost had my heart truly skipping a beat, he kissed my forehead tenderly as he gave me another reassuring squeeze. “I’ll be right next to you the entire time. Do you remember the code word Eli made you come up with to tell Crew and me if you were in trouble?”
With that childhood memory unlocked, I recalled that day Eli sat us down, furious that I’d been having trouble breathing, and neither of them noticed.
“Bailey, why didn’t you tell them you were in trouble?” Eli demanded.
Pushing my bottom lip out in a dramatic pout, I gave a sniff. “Because I don’t want people to know my heart doesn’t work right. They make fun of me when they find out.”
Eli considered this a moment then an idea struck. “What if you come up with a special word or phrase that you use when something’s wrong, and you need them to check on you.”
“Like what?” I asked, not understanding.
“Well, it needs to be something you wouldn’t say normally but not so odd people notice,” Eli explained.
Closing my eyes, I thought long and hard about something I wouldn’t say often yet being totally expected. Then I thought of it…
“Holy flying Purple People Eater,” I answered.
Ulysses chuckled, a bright smile on his lips. “God, that’s still funny as ever.”
“You know Mom didn’t like us to curse, so I came up with alternatives,” I said in my defense.
“Personally, son of a biscuit was my favorite. I’ve even used it a few times which always made me think of you,” he shared as he caressed my cheek with the back of his fingers.
“No matter how much time has passed, you’re always in my thoughts, Rosie.
Now it makes sense, and I feel like I should apologize for making you wait so long for us to find you. ”
Heat flamed in my cheeks as he looked at me with such an intense gaze it was almost a little too overwhelming. “All that matters is that we did find each other. If my life has taught me anything, it’s not to keep looking back… there’s too much to look forward to. More so now that you did find me.”
“God, I don’t think we deserve you,” Lysse muttered as he intertwined our fingers and led me out of my room.
I walked slightly slower as we descended the stairs, trying to concentrate on keeping my breathing calm as we got closer and closer to the living room. Then something caught my attention.
Was someone making blueberry muffins?
The soft, sweet aroma of crystalized sugar called to me as the tart berry cut the sweetness, giving you a refreshing note to balance.
I was caught in the aroma, which connected to moments baking with my mother, slathering the muffin in butter, and the delight of eating something I helped to make.
It was a scent that held such a tender memory, and it only became stronger the closer I got to the source.
Warmth enveloped me, tucking me close like I was still that version of myself in the memory.
“Hello, Bailey-Rose,” a voice rumbled under my ear.
I started to panic as I realized I hadn’t been smelling a real muffin at all.
It had been an Alpha, an Alpha whose lap I’d climbed right up on so I could nuzzle my face in his neck.
Feeling me tense, my blueberry Alpha started to purr as he ran a hand gently up and down my back.
As if to prove I wasn’t the only one affected, he buried his nose in my hair, taking deep breaths of my scent.
“You’re fine to stay right where you are, sweetheart,” he assured me.
I cracked open an eye to see what was going on and found another man watching me with a dopey smile on his face. “Hi,” he greeted with a little wave when he noticed me looking at him.
Uncurling my fingers from Blueberry’s suit jacket, I gave him a wave in return. “Hey.”
“Holy shit, you’re adorable,” he blurted, then winced, waving his hands as if to erase what he’d just said. “Shit, sorry that came out weird and a little creepy, which I didn’t mean at all.”
“Are you seeing this right now?” another strange voice asked. “The master of small talk is totally off his game. I didn’t think that was possible.”
Sitting up, I looked into the face of the man whose lap I’d commandeered.
He had stunning spice-brown eyes full of color variants, giving them a unique quality that had me wanting to see if I could even create a color with paints to match.
His heritage was of Asian descent which created the perfect bone structure for such an intense pair of eyes, making them even more intriguing.
His black hair was cut close to his head in a buzz cut that suited him and gave me the urge to see if it was as soft as it looked.
I refrained, feeling that I’d invaded his space far more than was appropriate when I didn’t even know his name.
“I’m Bailey-Rose,” I managed to squeak out.
“Sorry about making myself at home on your lap and now lingering when I should move. This is very unlike me… I never do things like this. Please don’t think I’m the type of woman who just climbs onto anyone’s lap,” I rambled, shifting to get off this nice blueberry-smelling man’s lap.
Just as I was about to push off his legs to stand, he pulled me back to his chest. “You’re right.
It wouldn’t be a wise choice to just climb onto anyone’s lap.
However, when it comes to me as one of your Alphas, it’s my job to ensure your needs as our Omega are met.
So if you have need of me or my lap, there is no reason for you to hold back. ”
Who was this man? First, he smells edible. Second, he took zero issue with me acting odd, and now gave me an open invitation to cuddle whenever I want. Have I died and gone to heaven?
“Maybe you want to tell her your name so she knows who just agreed to give her unlimited affection,” Ulysses suggested with a chuckle.
“Oh… I guess I did neglect to share that, didn’t I?
” he said, looking a little sheepish. Picking me up, he got to his feet, only then to place me in his spot as he stood before me.
“It’s so incredibly lovely to meet you, Bailey-Rose.
I’m Yun-Sun Lee, a member of Ulysses’ pack.
It would appear we are scent matched as well. ”
“What gave you that impression?” the same snarky man asked from behind Yun-Sun.
Peering around the Alpha standing in front of me, I spotted the man in question.
He had a head of curly ash-brown hair with a close-shaven beard covering his rugged face.
I started to get up when Yun-Sun offered me a hand and pulled me to my feet.
Giving him a grateful smile, I walked over to meet this sassy man.
He wore jeans, boots, and a polo that had a business logo with a bull’s head on it and Watson Ranch Beef written under it.
When I got a few steps away from him, the scent of fresh lemons reached me first, but the cool, smooth flavor of iced tea followed, making me desperate for a drink. “Why do you all smell like my favorite things?” I asked no one in particular but continued to stare down the man before me.
This time, I held myself back from climbing into another man’s lap. However, I couldn’t keep my body from leaning in to get a better whiff of the scent. It made me want to grab a book and lay out in the sun on a hammock.