33. Chapter 33
Meeting the Coven
By the time my mates get home, about an hour later, I’ve worked myself into a tizzy.
I’m pacing around my room wearing only a pair of panties with clothes laying all over the place.
There are jeans on top of the lamp on my bedside table, a shirt dangling off the closet door, and a random shoe sitting on a pillow.
The bedroom door opens and I whip around, freezing in the middle of my pacing circuit to stare at my mates.
Erik seems to be a bit scared, moving so he is behind the other three.
Hutch and CJ share a look, their eyes wide and their lips pulled down in a frown.
Skylar takes a step towards me, then pauses when his foot hits a sneaker that is just laying in the middle of the floor.
Half of my hair is laying in perfect beach waves over my shoulder, while the other side is up in a space bun, and only half of my makeup is done.
Literally only half, I did my makeup, then looked in the mirror and decided it wasn’t good enough, so I started to wipe it off.
I then decided that I needed to pick out an outfit before I did anything else with my makeup, so only the right side got wiped off.
I look like a hot fucking mess, but panic and anxiety are the only things I can feel at the moment.
“Uh … hey, Red.” Skylar says, his deep voice sounding odd with the hesitant tone he is using.
I don’t do or say anything, trying desperately to figure out how to ask them for help getting ready for dinner tonight.
“Um, it looks like you may need a bit of a hand figuring out what you want to wear tonight.” Sky looks back at my other mates quickly, then his gaze is back to mine. “Can we help?”
“Please!” That one word sounds more like a cry for help than anything else I could have said. The little whimper that slipped out with it just solidifies how much I need them to step in and take charge of this situation.
Hutch doesn’t waste any time jumping in and taking over.
He comes over and pulls me into his arms, holding him to my chest for a second before he takes a deep breath.
I match my breathing to his, calming myself down.
Hutch leads me to the chair in front of my vanity and pushes the pile of clothes off it so I can sit down.
“Okay, Red. We got this.” He kisses my head then turns to face the guys.
“CJ and Erik, get this place cleaned up. Skylar, go find an outfit for Red. It should be like the stuff she wears to school, but nicer. When you get it out, go get all of us a matching outfit. Our outfit should compliment hers, but make it clear that she is our center.”
The boys rush off to get it done. Hutch tosses the clothes he just pushed onto the floor into Erik’s arms. CJ is picking up all the shoes and Sky disappears into the closet.
Hutch spins me around in the chair so I’m facing the mirror.
He smiles at me as we both take in the mess that is my hair and makeup.
“Okay. I know this looks bad, but it’s fixable.
First thing, I love the little bun thing, so we are going to do that.
” Hutch runs his fingers through the side of my hair that is down, quickly putting it up so it matches the other side.
“Now, your makeup. Take that remover wipe and finish taking off the rest of it.”
I don’t argue or say anything. I wipe off the rest of the makeup on my face, then look up at him, waiting for my next orders. They never came. He turns me back around in my chair then picks up my foundation and my teardrop shaped applicator.
“Close your eyes.” Hutch gets to work.
The whole time, my eyes are closed. Even when he starts to put earrings in my ears and bracelets on my wrists, I keep my eyes closed. He helps me stand up and then clothes are being put on me. I feel when Erik comes up and takes Hutch’s place, leaning down and kissing me on my head.
“Hello, Little Omega.” I start to open my eyes, but he kisses my head again. “Don’t you dare open your eyes and ruin Hutch’s big reveal. Just let me hold you for a second longer than you can see the whole package at once.”
I don’t see how I can argue with that. Relaxing my shoulders, I lean against Erik and breathe in his chocolate scent, letting it soothe the rough emotions I’ve been battling since I got home this afternoon.
I’m not a fool, I know that they are going to want to have a conversation about me walking home, that I’ll have to tell them about how disappointed the dads were at me.
I just can’t face any of that right now, not with the Coven meeting hanging over all of our heads.
“Okay, Viking, bring her over!” I hear Hutch yelling from another room and I smile.
Erik takes my hand and starts to lead me away from the vanity.
We don’t even make it two steps before he freezes.
Is that it? Are we there already? I feel like Hutch sounded farther away than that …
Before I can think anything more, Erik is pulling me up into his arms. He carries me for a short time, then I feel more hands helping him set me on my feet.
The scent of all four of my mates are around me and I relax even more.
I don’t realize how tense I get without my mates around me, even just an hour without them has my system in overdrive.
Now that they are all here though, I feel so much better.
The nerves about this dinner dissipates.
“Okay, Red, open those pretty green eyes and see the queen you are.” Hutch whispers into my ear and a chill climbs down my spine. His voice is perfect and being this close to him has me missing him and wanting to jump his bones.
Slowly, I crack my eyes open. I see a giant mirror in front of us.
Before I can notice what the guys put me in, I get a glimpse of my mates.
All of them are wearing dark blue jeans and a black button up shirt.
Hutch and CJ both have on black leather ball caps turned backward.
Sky’s shirt has the top two buttons undone so I can see a bit of his chest. And Erik, his shirt is so tight against his body I’m not sure how it is still in one piece.
He has two tight bands around his biceps made of woven leather and his hair is braided back and put in a topknot, showing off the shaved sides.
They look amazing. I try to turn to look at them all better, but CJ puts his hands on my shoulders while Hutch grabs my chin to make me look directly at the mirror.
Holy crap! I didn’t even know I could look this …
grown up. The outfit is cute, but sophisticated in a way I would never be able to achieve on my own.
The shirt is a tight, long-sleeve, white crop top.
It has a lavender flower flowing across the chest and it’s adorable.
They paired the shirt with a high waisted black pleated skirt.
The hem of the skirt stops high on my thighs, it's just long enough to not show anything when I bend over.
My makeup is subtle except for my bright purple lipstick that matches the flower on my shirt.
The dark lashes and eyeliner makes my green eyes pop and I feel cute and beautiful.
“Wow!” The word slips breathlessly from my chest at the sight of myself.
“Yeah, you’re beautiful, Red. Come on, Mom texted and said the Coven should be here in just a few minutes and she wants all of us there to welcome them.” CJ grabs my hand and starts to lead me out of the room.
When we get to the hall, Mandy and her Alphas are all there.
I can’t help but smile when I see that the Dads are dressed very similarly to my mates.
Their jeans are lighter than my mates’ but they are all wearing the same black button up shirts styled to compliment their own personalities.
Mandy is wearing black leather pants with a red sequin top that ties around her neck and leaves her shoulders, collarbones, and a good amount of cleavage exposed.
Her hair is up in a messy bun and her makeup is more dramatic than mine, a dark smokey eye look paired with a red lip stain that matches her shirt covered with gloss.
Once we get up close to the parents, Mandy pulls me into her arms, holding me at the front of the group.
My mates stand with hers behind us, grouped together in a way that makes it clear that all seven of them will protect the both of us.
I’m sure it will look intimidating when the Coven gets here and for some reason, that doesn’t sit well with me.
We aren’t trying to scare the witches, they could be my family after all.
Turning to face the guys, my mind races to find a way to make this better.
“Okay, this isn’t going to work.” All of the guys stop talking, looking at me with varying expressions.
I can see Mandy smirking from the corner of my eye.
“We don’t want to scare them as soon as they walk in the door.
Between the seven of you, pick two that will stay here and welcome the Coven.
The rest of you can go chill in the living room.
I need someone to set the table and make sure that dinner is set up correctly, then someone else needs to get some snacks together so we have something to munch on before dinner. ”
Mandy has her lips pulled in, trying to stop the laugh from spilling out.
All of the guys are staring at me with wide eyes, Erik is already backing away down the hall to go to the living room and August just kisses me on the head and Mandy on the lips before he heads to the kitchen.
Skylar and Charles both step up beside Mandy and I, clearly deciding that they will be the ones to stay with us.
James, Hutch and CJ stand in the hall looking at me and we hear doors close outside.
We are out of time, so I do something I’ve never done before … I get assertive.