Chapter 6 – June
CHAPTER SIX
JUNE
My new passport is dark navy and stamped with the American seal. The cover and spine are uncreased, save for the earmarked page at the very front. My face stares back at me, unsmiling, my hair behind my ears, showing my bare neck to the camera.
The nice beta at the embassy said it was a requirement to expose my throat, even without a bond mark.
“ It’s protocol, unfortunately. Just remember to head to the DMV when you get home and get settled. ” He flashed me a kind smile as I adjusted in the chair and stared down the lens of the little camera. “ Have your prime sign off on the documents before you leave today .”
Under my name is a small Greek symbol, denoting me as an omega.
Heathrow buzzes around us, just as overwhelming as every other time I’ve had the misfortune of being here — but this time, the pack room off to the side of the gate is quieter, dimming the chaotic nature of the airport and providing respite.
Theo’s arm around my shoulders is definitely helping too.
He sits next to me in one of the cushioned seats, one leg crossed over the other, an open paperback in his lap as he flips a page.
“We should be boarding soon.” His voice is soft as he turns his head slightly toward mine, rubbing my shoulder absent-mindedly. “It’ll be quieter in first class.”
Clinging to my passport, I glance at the counter visible just in front of the hall that will take us to the plane. It’s not just first class — our tickets all specify it’s first class for packs . The ultimate experience for any omega who flies, where there are clusters of seats together, forming little pods where an omega can have their entire pack surrounding them, instead of being separated throughout the plane.
Shifting slightly, I dip my chin, muttering under my breath. “I’m okay.”
Theo side eyes me.
I feel weird, like I don’t quite know what to do with myself. My carry-on was checked with the rest of the bags, and Seth helped me pack up the clothes he and Bennett bought me, plus some of the nesting material that I found myself unable to leave at the townhouse. I felt a little ridiculous asking for blankets to be brought back to the States with us — but Arin’s mushy smile made the decision for me.
“ I like that you want them .”
So much said in so few words.
“Coffee!” Seth rounds the corner into the pack area, placing a large to-go cup in front of Theo and then a smaller one in front of me. “Tea for you, no caffeine.”
My lips twitch as I glance up at the beta, his hair pulled back into a messy bun. “Thank you.”
Seth drops into the seat next to me, leaning over to peck my forehead as Arin and Bennett step around the partition, holding their own cups from the small convenience store near our gate.
“No problem.” Seth grabs my hand, casually threading his fingers with mine.
“You’ll connect from JFK to Ronald Reagan.” Arin perches on the edge of the chair across from us, leaning over as he shuffles tickets in his hand, holding two out to Seth. “I have the rental agreement for the moving company, Seth, and I’ve forwarded it to your phone. I couldn’t put June’s name on the documents because of the ID situation.”
I glance up at him as he fidgets, my heart kicking in my throat. There’s a tidiness to his normally mussed dark curls, and Arin’s gaze lifts behind his glasses, offering me a slightly disgruntled look. “We’ll head to the DMV the second you arrive in Rochester. I’m sorry there are so many legal hoops because of the designation switch. I’ll take care of it all for you.”
“It’s okay.” I give him a weak smile, clutching Seth’s hand a little tighter. “It shouldn’t take Seth and I long to pack up my apartment. I don’t have much.”
“The movers will be there to do the irritating work.” Arin sits back, crossing one long leg over the other. “They’ll arrive the day after you get home. I made sure they agreed to carry off anything you don’t want to bring to Rochester. Don’t hesitate to let them do it all. I don’t want you to hurt yourself or feel rushed.”
My pulse echoes in my ears as I nod at him.
Something shifted when my heat ended.
It wasn’t subtle. Suddenly, I was lucid enough to realize that everything had changed from the nerves and anxiety leading up to the heat, replaced with Arin acting like I’m already a cemented part of their pack, even though I don’t have a single bond to show for it.
It’s not how this is supposed to go. Most omegas have an alpha who bonds them immediately during their first heat, or even before it. Most omegas have no choice — it’s the way for anyone else to tell that they’re taken, that their alpha is wholly devoted to them. Yet the passport in my hand proves that none of them forced me into a bond, adhering to the normal expectations.
I push up from the chair, not touching my tea as I mumble, “Bathroom, sorry.” Darting away, I avoid Bennett’s startled look after me as I find the private bathrooms to the side, meant for omegas. Everything is labeled — seats, areas, sections, tickets, passports — my heart pounds as the door clicks shut behind me, the noise of the airport dampening.
Sucking in a deep breath, I stand in front of the sink, clutching the edges of the porcelain as I try to calm myself down. I fumble for a moment to get the cold water turned on, running my wrists under it, trying to shock the rising nausea from my body. I’ve never been a great flier, but this anxious feeling isn’t just that — it’s a crawling, sinking reminder that everything that’s happened in the vacuum of the last month is suddenly real . No longer is every action with the men outside hidden behind the walls of their London townhouse — there are official documents , I’m moving in .
Seth is only coming with me because everyone else had tasks to take care of at their pack house in upstate New York. The house where I’m supposed to be moving into — taking everything I’ve known for the last six years, all the books and memories from my apartment where I’ve worked and lived —
Just to go to New York.
A state I try to avoid at every cost because it’s loud, obnoxious, and overstimulating.
I’ve never been to Rochester — in its defense — and Bennett told me last night that the house is quiet and set apart from the city itself, but that isn’t helping the clammy feeling coating my skin.
A light knock on the door startles me as I jerk my eyes away from my own reflection, watching the door to the bathroom slowly open.
“June?” Seth steps in, one hand over his eyes, hesitating in the doorway. “Are you alone in here?”
“Yeah.” I glance around the single-stall room as he drops his hand and lets the door shut.
“Well” — Seth glances down at the knob — “there’s no lock, so don’t get any ideas.” He flashes me a grin that falls quickly as he takes me in. “What’s wrong?”
I laugh, but it comes out mildly hysterical as I look back at the mirror. “I think I’m panicking.”
“Oh.” Seth mutters the word, then he comes over, appearing in the mirror before his hands run over my back soothingly. His lips brush the back of my head, one hand rising to rest over my heart. “I could probably change our tickets and kidnap you. Where do you want to go? Montréal? Bora Bora? Mexico?”
“Why Montréal?”
“Oh, I would kill for some poutine, and Bennett would be so mad if we were there without him. He loves it.” He grins at me in the mirror. “Is it the flight, or everything else?”
“Everything else.” I lean back into him, closing my eyes as his hand, warm on my heart, rests for a moment, just holding me. The smell of his light fudge fragrance eases the panicked sprinting of my mind.
“Arin means well, but his constant plans and organization is enough to make a nun curse.”
I snort as Seth turns me carefully, kissing my forehead as he wraps his arms around me, sighing and muttering. “And, well, you know Theo’s a neurotic mess most of the time.” He rocks us for a moment, holding me with no pretense. “Bennett would never admit it, but flying does scare the shit out of him. He does it out of obligation.”
I hunch slightly, just to bury my face in his chest, my lips twitching. “And you? What’s your fault?”
“Me?” Seth snorts and I glance up to see him smile easily down at me. “I’m flawless , baby, don’t you know that by now?”
I laugh, soft enough that his eyes crinkle around the edges. Resting my chin on his shoulder, I tuck my face into his throat, whispering my fears to the man who’s been steadfast in his support since the very beginning. “It feels like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. My heat is over. The reason I’m even with all of you is done.”
Seth’s hands tighten on me. “I don’t know how to sugarcoat this one, sorry.” He clears his throat. “But you’re fucking insane if you think I’m going to let you walk out of my life after the last few weeks. You think those three assholes are territorial?” He shoots a look at the door, raising an eyebrow at me. “I don’t even have biology to blame, baby, I’m serious. I’ll lock you in a bedroom with me until we both waste away and die.”
I let out a barking laugh, staring at him. “Yeah? What if they break down the door?”
Seth scoffs. “They couldn’t drag me away from you. I’m stuck to you.” He grins even wider, hugging me tighter. “Like glue .”
I wrap my arms around his neck, turning my head to kiss him softly, nuzzling his face with mine. “Thank you. For everything.”
He hums against my lips, rubbing my back. “You’re welcome. I have no idea how I could say no to such a demanding, needy, annoying omega.” Sarcasm drips off the words as he rolls his eyes.
I’m smiling when we step out of the bathroom into the small seating area. We catch a few glances from the others on our flight, but I ignore them, squeezing Seth’s fingers in mine as he drags me over to our seats. Let them talk — we would have been a hell of a lot louder if we’d gotten up to anything fun in there.
Arin stands up quickly when we get closer, and I put my free hand on his chest, tilting my head up to him. “I’m okay.” This time when I say it, I mean it.
His eyes soften as he takes me in, reaching out to touch my cheek. “I can still change my connecting flight and come with you and Seth to Virginia.”
“No, you can’t,” Theo mutters, catching my eye. He finally closes the book in his lap and I freeze — the pink cover, the illustrations of the characters — it’s mine . It’s my fucking book . The first one I ever published — the catalyst for the book tour, my heat, and meeting them .
Theo levels Arin with a look. “We have shit to do. I’m making you clean out that junk room.”
“Theo.” I stare at the book.
He looks over at me innocently. “It’s not mine, it’s Bennett’s.”
My head whips to the side, laser focused on the quiet alpha as he clears his throat, readjusting in his seat. Bennett scrubs a hand over his head, his eyes darting away. “I read all three of them last week.”
I drop back into my seat next to Theo, feeling my cheeks warm. “I don’t want to hear a single word on what you all think.”
“I loved them.” Seth flashes me a smile, not listening, per usual. “I’m excited to see what the author writes next.”
Grumbling, I knock into him half-heartedly as I reach for my tea, taking a long drink. Theo shifts, putting his arm back around my shoulders as he leans in, his lips caressing the shell of my ear. “I do have some thoughts. I think the next book should have an alpha who’s kind of an asshole, but he’s hot. So hot, with tattoos.”
I can’t help it, I nearly spit my tea out as I laugh, turning to look up at him.
Theo’s blue eyes spark as he stares down at me.
Stupid fucking alphas — but they’re my stupid alphas.
A fine layer of sweat and dust covers me as I finally grimace at Seth, sitting in the middle of a pile of books as he packs them into various boxes. He’s even got bubble wrap for the special editions.
“I’m tired.”
He looks up, laughing as he puts the book in his hand into a box. “Me too, how long have we been doing this?”
My eyes find the clock. Our flight landed early this morning, a red eye that ended with a driver dropping us both off at my apartment. I let us into the building of mostly betas, nodding at the early morning desk attendant as Seth and I slumped against each other, making it to the elevator before echoing twin yawns.
Arin really thought of everything, because there were moving boxes already in front of my apartment door when we arrived. Not that we did anything with them but drag them into the small entryway. I was too tired to function, and ended up face-down on my bed, ignoring the slightly musty smell in the air from the apartment being abandoned for an entire month in lieu of falling almost immediately asleep the second Seth’s warmth dropped down beside me, one arm slinging over my back.
We’d woken up to three frantic calls from Arin asking if we got in safely, which made me feel extremely guilty because we’d promised to call and promptly forgotten. Seth called him back while I’d wandered into my kitchen, taking stock of the expired food and a single dead plant on the counter.
I wasn’t lying when I told them I don’t own much.
I’d forgotten how sparse I’d kept my place. With nothing on the walls, the bare bones quality shines through, and I see it with new eyes every time I look up from packing another box. Seth’s taken the bulk of packing my prized possessions — my book collection.
“I don’t know.” I squint at the clock. “At least forever.”
He laughs again, shaking his head at me. “Forever, huh?”
The furniture I have has already been labeled with sticky notes that all read DONATE. I have no attachment to the manufactured pressboard I bought on a budget just after college. We’d jumped into organizing everything into piles because of the imminence of the movers coming, and now I just feel tired — like I’m packing up someone else’s home.
The only thing that tugged on my heart was seeing my laptop on my shitty little used desk, still waiting for me like I left it before going on tour — when I thought I’d be home in a week.
Seth pulls his phone out. “We should eat. What sounds good?”
I press my lips together, pausing as my eyes catch on the boxes in my bedroom. Most of them are clothes that I unceremoniously grabbed handfuls of and dropped into the cardboard without folding.
Seth’s eyes follow mine. “Theo will be horrified if he helps you unpack those.” He groans as he stands up, looking around the room. “Nothing else is organized except your books.”
I shrug as I grunt to stand, stretching. “Nothing else is important.”
“Except the books?”
“Except the books.” I grin at him, stepping over and wrapping my arms around his waist, happy to peck his lips, our heights so even that it makes it easy to wrap myself around him. “I know it’s ridiculous to have so many, but I like them, and I like having the proof copies of my own books. It’s a reminder of all the steps it took to get where I am.”
He wraps his arms around me, smiling gently. “It’s not ridiculous, but I do think I should tell Bennett that you apparently spent all your grocery money on special editions.”
I mockingly gasp at him. “You wouldn’t.”
Seth laughs, kissing my head as his stomach grumbles. “I wouldn’t.”
I give him what I’m sure is a dopey look, moving closer as I kiss his jaw. With my lips on his ear, I drag my nails over the back of his neck, relishing in the way he shivers as I whisper in his ear. “Pizza?”
“God yes, give me the greasiest, shittiest American pizza we can find.” He pulls back, shoving his feet into his sneakers. “And we should stop for ice cream, before we have to tackle cleaning out your kitchen cabinets and decide what you want to bring home.”
Staring at him, I slow as I finish putting my own shoes on.
Seth pauses with my keys in his hand, glancing back at me. “What?”
“You said home.”
“Yeah, home . I can’t wait until you get to see the pack home.” Seth jingles the keys, lingering by the door, a grin splitting his face. “Come on, let’s go .”
I laugh, sinking into his side as he locks up my apartment and leads me downstairs. We find my car, and I’m pleasantly surprised and happy when it starts up after sitting idle for so long. I elect to drive, taking us to a small pizza place that’s in a shopping center right next to a grocery store.
Seth twists the dial for the radio, turning it up. “You know, you could practically draw a line up from your place to our house.” He makes a motion with his hand, coupling it with a zipping noise. “We’ll be there in no time when we finish packing. Arin said the movers will take care of all the donations first. Then they’ll come back Sunday and pack it all up in the truck. You and I can head up to Rochester on Monday morning.”
I had stipulated that the donation boxes, bags, and furniture went to an omega donation center when Arin said he was booking a moving company — and the paperwork confirmed they’ll be taking it all off to the one nearest to my apartment. Maybe no one will get any use from it — but if it helps even one person, then it’s worthwhile.
Pulling into a parking spot, I grip the steering wheel for a moment before turning to Seth, my voice softer. “I’m glad I don’t have much. I’m glad we’ll be back with them in only a couple of days.”
Seth stops, his hand on the door. “I miss them too, baby.”
The unfamiliar tightness in my chest loosens when he verbalizes it. Laughing, I let go of the wheel, grimacing. “Sorry, I think I just had to say that out loud.”
He tilts his head at me, then gets out, moving around to open my door for me. When I slide out, he tips his chin down and kisses my cheek. “When Bennett bit me and our bond snapped into place, I wouldn’t leave his side for a month. I kept bursting into these board meetings and just sitting next to him. No one was supposed to know we’d bonded, but I wasn’t subtle.”
I smile over at him as we head toward the hole-in-the-wall pizza place. “That’s cute.”
“You’d think he would be the clingy one, but it’s really me.” Seth shrugs as he opens the door for me, the smell of basil hitting us both, an old rattling heater knocking the chill from the air. “I was beside myself when one of the distributors flirted with him in front of me. He had to drag me to a supply closet and tell me to get me shit together.”
I laugh as I grab us a menu. “And nothing else happened in that closet?”
Seth shoots me a look, a wry smile lifting the edges of his lips. “You can fill in the blanks.”
We settle on a large pizza and Seth digs his wallet out, placing it as a to-go order with cheese sticks, stepping back out into the cold twilight just to walk the couple paces to the grocery store.
“I’m going to grab water bottles for the movers.” I glance at him, pointing toward the back of the store. “I’ll meet you in the ice cream?”
He drops a kiss to my forehead just before I pull away. The store is quiet this late, and almost empty. I pass aisles full of product, but devoid of people, making it to the back of the store where the pallets of plastic water bottles are stacked on top of each other. Picking one, I heave it up.
I should have gotten a cart —
The moment I turn with it in my arms, I run directly into someone standing just behind me.
The tang of chemical suppressants hits me first and I look up sharply, wobbling with the weight of the water. The guy reacts, reaching out to steady me, the waves of chemical, acidic smell coming off him and his clothes. My brain recoils at the same time my body does.
“Whoa, careful.”
I take a half step back, swallowing back bile. He’s rail-thin, but wearing multiple bulky layers, including the collar of a sweater that covers part of his face. He’s bundled up like there’s a blizzard outside, not just a slight chill in the air. His black, stringy hair falls out of the darkness of his hood. I’d think it was rain — but I know for a fact it isn’t, and that makes my stomach churn, recognizing the unkempt nature and the fact it’s probably grease . His eyes pinch at the corners, focused on me.
Dizziness hits me, the antiseptic smell so similar to hospital cleaner.
Shaking my head, I dodge his hand as he reaches for me again, flashing him a polite smile. “Sorry, I didn’t see you.”
“Let me help.” I can’t see his features, and it’s unsettling.
“No, I’m good.” I take another step away, hesitant to turn my back on him before I lift the waters and hold them closer. “Have a good night.” Darting around him instead, I leave the aisle with my skin prickling.
I head straight for the freezer section, scanning the rows until I see Seth standing alone in front of a display of ice cream pints.
Throwing myself at him, I catch his wide-eyed look before he takes the waters and plops them into an abandoned cart near the freezers. “When you said water, I thought you were getting two bottles, not an entire case .” He moves toward me, then pauses, his nose wrinkling. “What’s that smell?”
My skin crawls as I glance behind myself, wrapping my arms around my torso, swearing I still feel eyes on me as I lean into him. “Some guy ran into me. He smelled.”
“Yeah.” Seth wraps an arm around me, pressing his cheek against the top of my head, his voice lower. “You smell like someone sprayed you with perfume cover. It’s harsh, like there’s not even a hint of Bennett or Arin or Theo on you anymore.”
The way Seth touches me, one hand on the back of my neck, the other on my side, grounds me. His fingers tighten just below my hairline and I watch his jaw flex as he looks from one side of the aisle to the other, hazel eyes narrowed.
Frowning, I press closer to his taut body, my voice shaking. “I don’t like that.”
“Me either.” Seth’s voice drops. He refocuses on my face, nodding toward the ice cream. “Come on, let’s go back to your place. Pick your favorite flavor, baby.”
I suck in a breath, scanning the options until I spy a blue pint. “That one.”
Seth opens the door, his chest rumbling as he laughs, pulling the chocolate pudding ice cream out and turning the logo to me. “Fudge Remedy?”
I shrug, fighting a small smile. “Yeah, it’s my favorite.”
“I’ll give you a fudge remedy.” His hand dips on my back, grazing my ass.
I jolt, laughing loudly. “ Seth .” The tension breaks, like nothing happened as he grabs a second pint of the same flavor, chucking them into the cart on top of the water.
“We should take a photo of our dinner and give Bennett a heart attack.”
Snorting as he directs us toward the check-out, I can’t help but glance over my shoulder. Just in case. “Wait until we get the pizza, he’ll stroke out that there isn’t a vegetable in sight.”
“Genius.” Seth kisses my head, laughing into my hair.