Chapter 19
Chapter nineteen
Bianca
It was just a hobby.
That’s what Bianca told herself repeatedly as she threw herself into her work with King’s Guard over the following weeks.
She didn’t let herself dwell on how much it thrilled her to solve the little problems that arose along the way as Pack King expanded their business endeavors to include event rentals and custom furnishings.
She refused to think about the ticking clock hanging over their heads.
Instead, she saved her brain power for King’s Guard’s weekly team meetings, where her ideas carried equal weight with any of the alphas.
Bianca knew she’d never have as much influence in Pack Willoughby’s affairs.
So far, the only thing they’d ever asked her opinion on were renovations to the southern wing of their London estate.
It had been their previous omega’s private quarters, complete with a bedroom, bathroom, parlor, living room, dressing room, library, private garden, and a flexible space that Bianca would likely change from a craft room to a personal gym.
It even had a small kitchen, just in case the meals and services of their staff weren’t enough to keep her from venturing into the rest of the mansion too often.
It was obviously intended to be Bianca’s new cage, somewhere for her to be tucked out of Pack Willoughby’s way.
She’d probably only have to see her mates for formal meals, on the occasional public outing where they needed a trophy, and during her heats, which was exactly the type of setup she’d hoped for.
Having an entire wing of a luxurious manor to herself would suit Bianca just fine since she’d always preferred to be left to her own devices.
(Until Callum and Pack King came along, but she wasn’t going to think about that.)
Maybe Pack Willoughby would allow her a harmless hobby to keep her busy, and then she could continue at King’s Guard.
She could work remotely, or perhaps her mates wouldn’t mind their omega keeping an apartment in her home country.
She could split her time between the US and UK, doing her duty while still maintaining her own private affairs.
But she was getting ahead of herself. It would be a while yet before Pack Willoughby declared their intentions.
She’d have until at least after her next heat, since they weren’t returning until midsummer, and there wouldn’t be enough time for her parents to work out all the legalities before then.
Of course, she could get out of her temporary arrangement with Pack King if she tried, but she would cheerfully murder Pack Willoughby with her bare hands rather than take them on before she had a chance to experience a heat with Pack King.
According to Maude’s intel, the old alphas had no biological offspring aside from an estranged child that nobody seemed to know anything about.
Considering they’d had decades with their first mate before she died and several years with their second, even younger mate before she’d taken ill and passed as well, they obviously hadn’t prioritized creating heirs.
Even if their omegas had fertility issues, there were options for men of their means if they wanted to reproduce, which must mean it wasn’t important to them.
That was fine with Bianca, who hadn’t given children much thought except in the most abstract, obligatory sense. Having babies was an omega’s duty to the world, their alphas, and their families, but Bianca had never even considered whether she wanted them for herself.
Unbidden, a tableau sprung to her mind: Callum snuggled up next to Bianca in the nest Daniel had built for them.
Instead of sporting his washboard abs, Callum’s belly was round, and King rested his ear against it with a small smile on his face, as if he could actually hear the fetus growing inside.
The others were there too, of course, laughing at the babies crawling around the nest—babies that looked like Bianca and Callum but with Dante’s dark eyes or Daniel’s wide grin.
Bloody hell, get a fucking grip, Bianca Bonnycastle! She forcefully banished the ridiculous image to the dark recesses of her mind and stuffed it inside a steel box. Then she filled the box with stones, locked it, and chucked it into an imaginary ocean.
The point of her rambling thoughts was that if Pack Willoughby wasn’t set on having children right away, she could probably delay the mating to the fall, or even next spring. She could have several heats under King’s tutelage. The thought made the blood sing in her veins.
Delaying the mating would be the sensible thing to do. She could easily negotiate a spring date. Her family would need the time to plan a ceremony befitting a Bonnycastle. Besides, it would take at least that long to redecorate the manor house. Pack Willoughby’s last omega had atrocious taste.
By next spring, Crown Hall should be ready for events.
Bianca smiled at the thought. She’d suggested the name, knowing that any venue wishing to attract a certain class of clientele would need brand recognition.
Pack King had agreed, with the caveat that they would figure out a sliding scale for rental fees, so that the venue would be affordable for more than just the wealthy one percent.
And Bianca didn’t hate that idea. They could afford to be as generous as they liked because she was going to make them so much money.
She had so many business ideas. A thrill zipped through her chest.
Perhaps she could hold her mating party there and give the business a nice boost before she left.
The thrill in her chest shriveled and sank, landing like a brick in her belly.
When she tried to imagine standing with her mates in Crown Hall, it wasn’t Pack Willoughby she saw at her side.
She couldn’t even imagine being able to focus on Willoughby if King was in the same room.
And if she caught a whiff of Callum, Daniel, or Dante, could she really expect herself to walk out with that pack of doddering old fools?
Bianca mentally shook herself. Rich, respected, stable old fools, who she’d selected. She needed to remember that. She needed to keep her priorities straight while she had her fun.
Perhaps she’d push for a ceremony in London, far from Pack King.
King’s Guard would be fine without the exposure from hosting her mating party.
Things would be on an upward trajectory by the time she left them behind.
Their self-defense classes would be in full swing by then, and the furniture shop was already up and running.
Callum’s teaser post about Daniel’s custom nests had gone semi-viral, making it a very good thing that the workshop renovations were moving along quickly.
Events and tenants were going to drastically increase the business’s revenue and Bianca would have the satisfaction of knowing she’d had a hand in the pack’s incredible success.
She’d have time to see them hit a few major milestones before she moved on to bigger and better things.
Things that suddenly felt small and inconsequential.
“Bianca? Did you hear what I said about Burn Barre?”
Bianca forced her attention back to the woman in front of her, which was no easy feat.
Her mind always seemed to be elsewhere these days.
Actually, it was always in the same place, and that was on Pack King.
If Bianca wasn’t actively spending time with them—scheming with Dante, training with Daniel, verbally sparring with King, laughing with Callum—then she was thinking of them.
Which is why she found herself at a Fair Weather Manufacturing fundraising event, trying to pay attention to Dawn Fairmount’s enthusiastic chatter.
Bianca was busier than ever and so she’d started to skip compulsory social events more and more often.
She’d only decided to come to the Fairmount fundraiser because Dawn was less annoying than the rest of their circle and Bianca needed to maintain appearances.
If she must show her face in high society, she could at least choose her battlegrounds wisely.
“Sorry, I haven’t had nearly enough caffeine today.” Bianca smiled, shaking her head as though that would help clear away the daydreams. “What were you saying?”
“We missed you at Burn Barre last week,” Dawn repeated cheerfully.
“There was this super cute alpha updating the gym’s computers to increase their cybersecurity or whatever, but he totally kept finding excuses to peek into our class, so we were trying to look extra sexy and not like we were sweating our asses off. You should’ve been there!”
A chill ran down Bianca’s spine. Suddenly her attention was completely focused on Dawn. A cute alpha IT guy lurking around the studio where she took classes every week?
Surely it wasn’t Robert. There were plenty of other alpha tech guys in the world. Bianca was just being paranoid.
“I’m sure I wouldn’t have been interested.” She shrugged dismissively, hoping she appeared more unaffected than she felt. “What did Mr. Handsome look like?”
Dawn gazed dreamily into the middle distance, smiling moronically. “Blond hair. Blue eyes. A jawline that could cut glass. Classically handsome.”
Bianca’s stomach dropped. There were probably lots of alpha tech guys who fit that description.
It was just a coincidence. Though Frank’s hair was more of a dirty blond and his eyes a darker blue than Robert’s, the two of them were carbon copy dude bros, the type that came a dime a dozen on frat row at college campuses around the world.
Dawn’s description could’ve fit either of them.
“Did you catch his name?” Bianca asked, trying to sound nonchalant despite her heart being lodged in her throat.