28. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“Ithought his head was going to pop right off of his shoulders,” Leith told me with a laugh as we walked hand-in-hand from our dinner date and he told me about the mischief that Wiz and Artie had gotten up to last night after I left them to plan my date.
Apparently, they’d taped an air horn behind the bathroom door amongst a handful of other things that had made the alpha shout and nearly take a tumble from shock.
“Where did they even get an airhorn?” I asked with a shake of my head.
When I’d gone over this morning before practice, Artie was still laughing under his breath while Enzo looked like he’d swallowed a storm cloud.
“Dunno, I guess they must have taken a trip to the hardware store or something.”
On one hand, I was glad that Wiz seemed to be getting along with the rest of the pack. I’d known he would suit something like a pack from the moment I met him—no one other than him could take a look at all of my craziness and still want me.
Well, him and the other men who had swept me clean off my feet, pushing all of my worries about the commitment that a pack posed aside with their soft touches and even softer words.
“I hope Enzo isn’t actually angry…” I murmured, thinking about how the alpha hadn’t spoken with any of us today and had gone to work on his own.
“You’ll learn that Enzo never stays that way for long. The guy has a quick temper, but not a mean bone in his body.” Leith gave my hand a squeeze. “He’ll be back to his usual self by tonight.”
I mulled over that, thinking of the times my own father had stomped about letting his displeasure be known to everyone in our home.
At first, when I’d walked into the apartment it had made my entire body stiff to see Enzo look so angry… and then it must have slipped out and through the bond because the alpha’s expression quickly smoothed out and he explained why he was in such a bad mood.
I didn’t blame him for being irritated. Had they done it to me I would have also given them an earful.
Seeing my expression, Leith pulled to a stop and faced me fully. “He would never hurt you, mo ròs, I swear it.”
Maybe not physically,that tiny little voice in my head, the one that seemed to still be doubting every single one of my decisions, whispered nastily.
I shook it away. I’d made the decision to try and that meant pushing down all of my insecurities and paranoia.
“I know,” I told him, but I wasn’t quite sure if he believed me.
But he didn’t push, instead he just leaned forward and pressed a kiss to my forehead before changing the subject.
“Where did you find that place anyway? I’ve never had such good Thai food before.”
I’d taken him to a little hole in the wall place that was almost a secret in downtown Seattle because we had to go into an alley, down a flight of stairs, and into what looked like a creepy basement before we entered the cozy space that was packed full of locals eating dinner. But the food had been mouthwatering and we’d both eaten our fill of Pad Thai, dumplings, and sauteed chicken and veggies.
I grinned. “Wilder takes all of the credit for this one.”
Out of everyone, Aurelia’s alpha knew the most about the Seattle food scene. I’d called and begged for his current favorite restaurant, promising my babysitting services in exchange.
It was a win-win for me. I’d get to hang out with Charlie and Tobey and I now had a new favorite place to eat.
Leith’s lips tilted up, drawing my eyes to them. I wanted to pull him in for a kiss, the people around us be damned, but I had more plans for the night and kissing him now would cut them short.
“Come on,” I said, hurrying ahead and pulling him with me. “We aren’t done yet.”
“What else do you have planned?” Leith asked but I pretended not to hear him.
Our next excursion was all thanks to Aurelia and as soon as we stepped onto the Pier it became obvious where we were going.
People were waiting in a line in front of the aquarium, dressed in nicer clothes than the tourists filing out of the building and they chatted amongst themselves.
“So this is why you asked me to dress nicely,” Leith said from behind me, putting his hands on my bare shoulders as we joined the line. “I nearly left the house in jeans. I thought Artie and Wiz were going to crucify me right then and there.”
I turned to find his expression twisted into a grimace and a giggle bubbled out of me.
“Wiz’ll be here tonight with the rest of the team,” I admitted a bit sheepishly. “It’s technically a very expensive fundraiser for the Complex.”
The Seattle Sports Complex was sponsoring this night event and it would be a night of music, dancing, and unrestricted access to their exhibits. It also gave donors and shareholders a chance to meet the Seattle Stallions players and chat about the upcoming season.
Once the rest of the daytime tourists had left, a nicely dressed employee stepped out and began to usher everyone inside.
“The main hall is still being prepared and should take another fifteen to twenty minutes. Please feel free to tour the exhibits while you wait,” he called, offering us a smile as we passed.
“So, how’d you manage to snag tickets?” Leith asked as we stepped into the intimately lit aquarium and followed the crowd to the left which led off into some of the exhibits and down a large aquarium tunnel.
“It pays to have a very well-connected brother-in-law, though truth be told he’s been trying to get me to come to one of these things ever since I brought home the gold this year.”
Many of the non-hockey athletes felt as if they were thrown to the wayside in comparison to the Stallions, but also hated being trotted out in front of donors the way that the hockey players were every chance Colt got.
I tugged Leith down close so that my mouth was next to his ear. “Promise you’ll drag me away if someone tries to chat my ear off?”
“Cross my heart,” he said and pressed a quick peck to my cheek before straightening and looking up at the fish overhead.
“My mum used to bring the lot of us to the Loch Lomond Aquarium whenever she needed a break. Used to pile us all into the car and make us use a buddy-system and everything.” Leith’s eyes were on a shark that was shimmying along the glass above us, but his smile was nostalgic. “But that place wasn’t anywhere near this size.”
“You should see the Georgia Aquarium,” I told him, giving his hand a squeeze as we shuffled through the tunnel behind other well-dressed couples who were ooh-ing and ahh-ing up at the fish. “The dads took us once when we traveled there for a competition. I felt completely dwarfed by it all.”
“I’d like to see it…” Leith said, turning to me again with a soft look in his eyes. “With you and the rest of our pack of course.”
The next exhibit was the otters who were lazily floating in their dimly lit tank, clearly peopled out for the day as they shot sideways glances at the people staring at them.
“We’ll have to try and go before Artie loses more of his eyesight.”
The omega pretended as if it didn’t bother him much, but sometimes he let his carefully maintained bond slip during practice and I could feel the internal panic that seemed to curdle under the surface of his skin.
“I’m hopeful about his surgery in October and that it will at least slow it all down.” Leith’s voice was sad, like he didn’t really think that it would. “Sometimes I feel as if we’re in a race to help him experience everything we can while he can still see some things. But I can’t let him know about my worries—Enzo does that enough for the both of us.”
“Was he always like this?” I asked, thinking of the way that Enzo seemed to always try and predict Artie’s needs and fulfill them before Artie could even try to do it on his own.
We’d toured the hockey stadium two days ago in preparation for the first scrimmage game that would be happening in a few weeks. Colt had offered us his box, but Artie wanted to be in the stands with the rest of the fans.
Enzo had gripped Artie’s arm the entire time, verbally and physically walking him down each step until the omega got irritated with him and told him to back off.
Leith shrugged. “He’s always been protective—but it’s much worse now. I don’t know that he will calm down until Artie’s completely lost his eyesight and there’s nothing else for him to try and do.”
I chewed on that information for a bit as we strolled through the aquarium together.
I’d surmised as much about the alpha that day when we were locked in the broadcast closet.
All of it was borne out of the need to be in control of his surroundings… something I understood all too well.
Enzo and I were far too alike to make things between us easy.
And yet I still dreamed of the way his lips tasted when he smashed them to mine and cupped the back of my head.
“Ciara?” Leith’s voice cut through my internal reverie and I realized that at some point my fingers had come up to touch my lips, giving away my thoughts.
One check on our shared bond told me that he’d also felt at least a little bit of it.
“Sorry,” I apologized and nearly told him exactly what I was thinking when a voice came over the loudspeaker and announced that the main hall was ready. Once that ended, the soothing sounds of jazz filled my ears. “We should go.”
My face was flushed as I gently tugged Leith behind me, following the crowd of people until we reached the hall that was already filled with people standing around the tall bistro tables or beginning to dance on the tiled floor.
Servers wove their way through the crowds with drinks on silver trays and Leith snagged two champagne flutes, handing one to me.
Finding one of the bistro tables on the fringes, I put my glass down and surveyed the area, looking for my family members who I knew would be peppered throughout the crowd.
“So,” Leith whispered, his lips near my ear as he pressed into my back and wrapped an arm around my waist. “What’s the plan for here?”
Leaning my head back I accepted a chaste kiss from the alpha, relishing in the way his warm chest felt against my shoulders.
“Well, I figure we dance a little bit, drink a little bit, and I can show you off to everyone who asks,” I told him, reaching up to cup the side of his face. A soft purr rattled out of the alpha behind me and I leaned into it, my eyes finally finding the red curls of Brynn bobbing through the crowd.
“There’s Brynn.” I pointed, my finger following my sister through the crowd until she reached her two alphas. “You can tell who the hockey players are because of those suits.”
Nash had complained for ages before the first event when they’d unveiled the deep blue suits and green ties that all of the players were required to wear.
“I can see Wiz too,” Leith murmured, reaching forward and grabbing my finger, moving it until it was pointed in the direction of our other packmate.
Wiz’s eyes were already on us as he half-listened to whatever the elderly couple in front of him was saying.
Once he realized we were looking at him, his lips pulled up into a grin and he saluted us with his glass of wine before returning his attention to the oblivious benefactors.
We played our little game of eye-spy for a few more minutes, pointing out my family members in the crowd.
Colt’s pack was completely surrounded by people who laughed uproariously at whatever the alpha was saying and whenever they shifted from side-to-side I could catch glimpses of Aurelia as she smiled fondly up at him.
By the time we’d finished, my champagne glass was empty and my head was swimming a bit.
“Care to dance?” I asked, shooting Leith a silly smile as the song changed to something a little bit slower.
“As long as you don’t judge me for having two left feet,” he joked before giving me a little spin as we joined the rest of the couples on the dance floor.
After a few steps, I realized that he’d been completely bluffing. He led me through the dance with ease, his hand firm on the small of my back as I looked at him with shock.
“You liar,” I teased as we moved together, my dress swirling around my legs as we turned abruptly. “You can dance.”
“My mum made sure of it,” he said with absolutely no shame, giving my hand a squeeze to let me know which direction we’d be moving in. “I used to get teased by my classmates because she’d drag me onto the dancefloor any chance she got.”
“Your father didn’t dance much?” I asked, realizing that I didn’t know much about Leith’s past. He’d told me a bit when we were together in Scotland, but I hadn’t been in the headspace to ask more questions.
I hadn’t been able to think about much outside of my guilt about Brynn’s accident. Leith had been the single bright spot in so much darkness and I hadn’t treated him well.
The same guilt that I always felt when I thought about it blossomed in my chest and I could feel him soothing me through our shared bond.
His eyes told me that he didn’t hold it against me—at least not anymore. Never in a million years did I ever think I would be dancing with Leith Dougall in front of people I cared for. Then again, I never thought I’d be with anyone, let alone an entire pack.
“He was hurt during his military service, so it’s hard for him to even walk at times. Now he spends most of his days sitting in front of the house grousing at the neighborhood bairns on their way to school and my littlest brother has taken over as my mum’s dance partner.”
The song ended and we politely stepped away from each other in order to clap for the band, some couples leaving the dancefloor while others joined the throng for a more upbeat number.
I could feel someone’s gaze on the side of my face and I turned to find a pair of baleful blue eyes glaring at me from across the room.
In the wildness of the past few weeks, I’d forgotten all about Richter and had most definitely forgotten that he was going to be here tonight.
“Who is that?” Leith asked as we walked hand-in-hand to where Brynn and her alphas were sipping on champagne and talking amongst themselves.
I shook my head, unsure of how exactly to explain my past with the clearly hostile hockey player.
“Hey!” Brynn greeted us brightly, her gaze ping-ponging between me and Leith like she was watching a romantic movie happen before her very eyes. “You two look good together.”
“I thank you for that,” Leith said, puffing his chest out a bit. “I like being shown off.”
Nash snorted and nodded at me. “A sight I never thought I would see with this one.”
He was teasing, of course, and if we’d been standing next to each other I’d have elbowed him in the ribs.
Brynn, thankfully, got there first and I heard the alpha grunt as her bony elbow connected with his side.
“Ouch, angelface, what was that for?” Nash asked with a grumble, rubbing his side.
“I told you to behave yourself,” Brynn said before tugging him down for a quick kiss which seemed to mollify the alpha because he straightened with a dopey smile.
His dark eyes moved from me to something over my shoulder and then his expression dropped into something altogether more irritated.
“What is this?” Richter’s voice slithered down my back, making it go ramrod straight as he joined our small circle.
His pale face was ruddy, telling me he’d imbibed a bit too much in the short time that alcohol had been available, and his expression was twisted as he looked from Leith to me and back to Leith again.
“I see you’re the guy of the night,” he said, slurring his words. “Enjoy it while you can.”
“Richter…” Nash’s voice was low with warning and he glanced over at Dutch who was already pushing ahead of Brynn to stop the other man.
Leith’s hand tightened in mine and his normally soft green eyes hardened as he took in the drunk hockey player who was getting far too close for both of our liking.
He wavered on his feet, coming so close to me that I could smell the whiskey on his breath and I reeled back away and into Leith’s chest.
The flush of his cheeks and the hate in his eyes reminded me of a time that I’d sooner forget.
Useless, my da’s voice echoed through my mind and I slammed that particular memory away as if it had burned me.
My control over the bonds slipped and my emotions flooded down it, hot and panicked. Confusion from our other two packmates echoed back to me and I slammed my walls back up, my heart hammering in my chest.
“You’re going to want to get tae,” Leith growled, leaning over my shoulder so that his face was closer to the man than I was. “Before I make you.”
“Is there a problem here?” Alexei’s voice cut through the tension like a knife and we all seemed to remember where we were.
Both of the dads were dressed in clean cut suits and a set of matching Seattle Stallions ties—Maxim’s already half-loosened because he couldn’t stand them.
Wiz was hovering just behind Alexei’s shoulder and I realized dazedly that he’d gone to get both of them when he saw what was happening.
There was a heavy silence as Alexei surveyed the situation with ice-filled blue eyes that finally landed on Richter who was still swaying on his feet and glaring at me and Leith.
“Who even is this guy?” Richter grumbled loud enough for everyone to hear, gesturing at Leith.
Finally shaking off the cobwebs of memories that had no business rearing their ugly head right now, I reached up and pointed at Leith. “This? This is my boyfriend. My packmate.”
I’d been nice to Richter, whether out of misplaced guilt for getting drunk at the dads’ wedding and sleeping with him or because he clearly was interested in me in a way that I couldn’t return.
But enough was enough.
Leith’s wash of pride flowed to me through the bond and I had to keep myself from turning and smiling up at him.
I dropped my voice lower so that only he could hear my next words. “You need to leave me alone or else you are going to really get in trouble. I am done being nice.”
Threading my fingers through Leith’s, I turned and pulled him through the crowd, leaving my family behind to handle everything in my wake.
We made it outside and I sucked in a deep lungful of cool air.
“So, I’m your boyfriend then?” Leith asked after a minute, a grin in his voice.
I turned to him with a wry look. “That’s what you got from all of that?”
“I just picked the most important bit,” he said with a shrug.
All of the tension drained out of me and I laughed, resting my head on Leith’s chest.
“What’s funny, mo ròs?” Leith’s hands smoothed up my back before sliding up to cup my face and make our eyes meet.
“You,” I told him with a shake of my head. “You watch what can only amount to an embarrassing interaction with an ex and you ask me about my use of the word boyfriend?”
“I like to think that I’m focusing on what’s most important,” Leith purred before pausing and seeming to catch up with my previous words. “Wait—was he an ex-boyfriend?”
I shook my head and fiddled with the edges of his dark jacket. “Not in the way you’re thinking. We slept together—once—a year ago.”
Leith’s brows drew together. “And he’s still hung up on you even now?”
“What can I say? I guess I’m just that addicting,” I joked, trying to lighten the mood a bit.
Leith’s chuckle was dry. “I suppose I can attest to that. I’ve been addicted to you for years.”
He dropped his mouth to mine in a long, tasting kiss that made me forget all about the people still inside of the aquarium and everything that had just happened.
Breathless, I pulled away from his still-seeking lips. “Do you want to go somewhere else?”
“Where?” he asked, his green eyes hazy with need.
I’d meant for the third and final part of our first date to be a surprise after a night of dancing and drinking champagne, but given who was still back inside of the aquarium I figured it was time to move those plans up.
Slipping a hand into my little tiny purse that I’d brought with me, I pulled out a card and held it up in between us.
“A hotel?”
I nodded. “Uh-huh, and a very nice one to boot.”
We could have gone back to my apartment and spent the night there—but I’d spent three months hiding the man in front of me and he deserved to be spoiled a little bit.
“Unless you’d rather us go back inside and talk to my dads?” I asked, gently running the tip of the card down the bridge of his nose. “I’m sure they’d love to talk your ear off about the upcoming season.”
Leith’s red-gold beard twitched into a mix of a grimace and a smile before he wrapped an arm around my back and lifted me clean off of my feet.
“Which way to the hotel?” he growled, his body hard against mine.
I pointed to one of the buildings that was lit up in the distance. “That way, I figured a hotel within walking distance was best.”
“Did I ever tell you that you’re the smartest woman I’ve ever met?” He began to carry me through the crowd, ignoring the stares from the passing tourists.
I just grinned and wrapped my arms around his neck. “No, but I wouldn’t be opposed to you doing it more.”
He finally put me down and took my hand in his. This time, it was his turn to pull me in the direction of the hotel. “I’m going to be telling you a lot of things by the end of tonight, mo ròs, count on it.”