Chapter 12 #2
Havoc too. His brown hair is shorter than my hair which reaches my shoulder blades, and I bet it’s as soft as Thorne’s. Their gazes land on me, too, and for once I’m feeling less shy with them on me.
It could just be the omega in me, but I’m liking their attention all on me.
“You sure? Cause he’s making me and Havoc a rum and coke,” Silas asks. I was raised that asking for anything but water is impolite, and asking for alcohol is downright disgraceful. My eyes clash back to Silas’s, whose knee bumps mine under the table.
“You can have anything you want, baby girl,” he says, his voice low as if it’s only me and him in the room. “Anything.”
I drop his stare. I’m sure my face is so red they could see it under my dark skin. I’m in flames, and I’m seriously questioning if my suppressant is going to work around Silas, as I feel my perfume wanting to let everyone know exactly how I feel right now.
“Oh, um, do you have the ingredients for a strawberry daiquiri?” I mumble, trying to beat back my mother’s screeching voice in my ear.
“Absolutely, Peach Puff.” Thorne winks at me as he walks back towards the house. “I’m letting Otis out.”
“And grab the pizza too.”
“Pizza and drinks — you really know how to woo me,” I chuckle. “Wait, who is Otis?” Is there another member of this Pack? Where have they been this whole time? What if they don’t want an omega and think I’m stealing their Pack and hate me and—
“It’s Silas’s favorite.” Havoc answers, snapping me out of my spiral. I clap my hands together in my lap, hoping that this new Pack member won’t rip me to shreds when they see me.
“It’s even better because it’s homemade,” Silas says, grasping my attention again.
“Homemade pizza? What toppings are on it?” I ask, trying to keep the wobble out of my voice.
“What do you want to be on it?” He asks, scooting his chair closer to mine.
“Hmm, pepperoni.” My voice is embarrassingly low as I try not to think of Otis.
“What if I said pineapple?” he asks, raising an eyebrow. Silas is sitting so close to me that he couldn’t have missed the scowl on my face that I try to hide. Pineapple on pizza?
“I really hope that’s not your favorite,” I grumble, almost completely distracted from Otis with the offensive pizza topping as the topic of discussion.
“Oh, I’m glad!” he says with a hand over his heart as if it were racing. “Because I couldn’t be your alpha if you liked pineapple on pizza.”
A short laugh breaks through my worrying lips, and Havoc smiles as Silas continues to harass the pineapple pizza lover.
It’s when the conversation spreads to Havoc that I notice how strong Silas’s coffee scent is.
It’s wrapped around me like a blanket I wish I could snuggle into and disappear.
I watch the two converse, and I breathe a little easier.
I get hints of white chocolate as I settle deeper into the scents flooding my system.
This Otis, whoever they may be, can’t be too different from the rest of their Pack, can they? If they trust and love Otis, then maybe we can be Pack, together, all of us.
“Here he comes,” Throne shouts as the sound of the back door opening has me shooting out of my seat.
My heels clank against the cobblestone ground under the table, and I smooth my hands down my skirt, making sure it doesn’t fly up on me and also giving me a chance to wipe the sweat off my hands.
I see Thorne first with a round metal tray and four drinks on it. .. only four?
My question doesn’t last long as a gray pit bull darts out the door, swinging around Thorne’s legs as it races towards us, all the way in the back of the yard.
“Is Otis a dog?” I ask in shock as the cutest pit I’ve seen comes and sniffs me. He circles me as I bend down to pet him. He jumps on my lap, knocking me over, and as the guys shout, I try to stifle my laugh and sit back up, wanting to pet the big baby in my lap.
“He’s okay,” I say as I slowly pet Otis, trying to distract from the fact that I’m on the ground surrounded by alphas.
“I’m so sorry; we’re still training him, Otis. Sit,” Silas says, guiding the dog away from me. Havoc is there with a hand out to me, and my mind plays a sick game on me. What if I’d met them first? Before I fell into the Fallon Pack? How different my life would be now?
I put my hand in his. His hand engulfs mine as he guides me to stand. “He’s been training Otti ever since I knew him.”
I chuckle as I sit back in my seat. Havoc pushes my chair into the table with ease and sits next to me.
They go on talking about Otis and his lack of training as Otis sits his head in my lap. He really is such a cutie. I’ve never had a dog. My parents hated them, and if they or the Fallon Pack ever found me, I needed to run. I couldn’t have a dog with me.
“So we have something we need to talk about,” Silas says, suddenly sitting up in his chair. His hands clasp together, and his elbows sit on the table.
That makes my smile drop and my skin tight with nerves as I notice both their eyes heavy on me.
“What?” I ask, my voice coming out low. I stop the tremble that begs to be heard.
“We believe you to be our scent match, all of ours.”
Oh, thank goodness. I smile gently as Thorne places a drink in front of me. The red slush looks so refreshing as I bring my lips to it. As I am about to take a sip, a wide straw plops into my drink, and I blush.
I love straws, not that they would know that.
“It looked like you were going to spill it all over yourself.” Throne shrugs as he slides into his own seat.
“I wasn’t,” I say, even though he is right.
I’ve been drinking out of straws for two years now, and the one time I forgot a straw, I spilled the drink down the front of my shirt like a dang toddler, embarrassing myself in front of Ollie and her twin, Luke, who could not stop laughing at me for the rest of our lunch date.
“We’d like to court you, Noa.”
“Odette.” I supply, trying to beat back the beaming smile on my face.
“Noa Odette,” Silas says. “And we’ll start with something low-pressure.”
“Low pressure?”
“A game of never have I ever,” he exclaims as Thorne and Havoc groan.
“I don’t think I’ve played that one before,” I laugh. I’m still reeling from the fact that they want to court me. Me. The Fallon Pack “courted” me for a few days, if I can even call their inspecting me courting.
“We’d like to get to know you, and you us, so what better way than a game?”
“A drinking game?” Thorne asks, clearly opposed to the idea.
“We’re all adults, some of us more than others,” Silas says, waving his hand towards Havoc. “It’ll be fun.”
“It better be, or she’ll be running off towards the nearest exit.” Havoc grumbles.
“It’ll be fun,” I say, giving in to Silas’s puppy eyes. However, I’ve never played the game. Being socially anxious, I never went to parties or hung out with big enough groups of people to do this.
Despite my parents’ wishes and my desperate need to please them, I was never the socialite kid. I was always the quiet one on her phone in her room. Just me and the sewing machine, my grandma snuck into my room before she passed.
I hold this sewing machine, though it’s broken beyond repair, close to me. It decorates one of my bookshelves in the living room. The vintage machine is cream-colored with pink swirls.
“I’m only doing sips, though,” I say and blush a bit. I was never a heavy drinker, and I’m definitely not getting drunk with alphas I barely know. No matter how good they smell.
“Of course, of course, yeah, I guess I didn’t think that through,” Silas says, his eyes widening as he stares at the table. I swear I see the tiniest bit of red on his cheeks, and I nearly aww at him. “So say something you’ve done, so we all are on equal drinking ground–”
“If you’re dying for a drink, just take a sip,” Havoc says, but Silas ignores him and continues.
“If you’ve done it, you take a drink. If not, then don’t.”
“Okay, I’ll start,” Thorne says, surprising me, and must have surprised Silas because his head darts up to look at him.
“Never have I ever.” His eyes land on me, and I hold his stare.
His eyes darken as he tilts his head, and I wish I could have prepared for what he was going to say as fear washes over me.
I’m on edge, and I can’t tell if I’m intrigued or excited.
“Never have I ever—”
“Keep it P.G.,” Havoc grumbles, and I laugh as Thorne scoffs and leans back in his chair.
“Well, never mind then.”
“No, I’ll go. Never have I ever let a dog lick my face.” Silas says, taking a sip of his rum and Coke.
I don’t drink, but Havoc and Thorne do.
“Your face?” I ask in bewilderment. Aren’t dogs like... dirty? Don’t they eat their own poop?
“Just my cheek, I swear!” Silas says, pointing to his cheek.
Otis then takes this moment to lick the back of my hand, and I swear, when my eyes meet his sweet brown ones, I nearly melt.
“See, he’s just so loving,” Silas argues as he chuckles. “Okay, next, Havoc, you go.”
Havoc shifts in his seat, staring at his drink as he thinks. He smiles slightly as he looks up at us. “Never have I ever crafted for 8 hours straight.”
I smile as I bring my strawberry daiquiri to my lips. The cool, robust flavor mixed with the sting of alcohol calm my nerves.
“Wait, what craft do you do?” I ask Havoc as he takes a sip of his drink.
His eyes trail to the shed beside us, and I look at the blue metal-like walls.
“I do a few things; I’m into clay right now.”
“Clay? Like pottery?”
“Like clay sculptures. I make only molds right now. Nothing special.”
“Uh, no, it’s extraordinary. You have to show me sometime.” I am itching to see his creative side. Havoc isn’t your standard stereotypical arts man; well, actually, he gives craftsman a bit. Heavy on the man, masculine part.
“Okay, your turn, Noa,” Throne reminds me. I flush under pressure. Running a hand through my hair, I try to think of something, anything, but my nerves cloud my mind.
“Um.” The word wobbles on my tongue as I meet each of their eyes.
As much as I was trying to think of something to say, I couldn’t think of a single thing I'd done that I could say in this game. It’s as if I’m standing in front of 20 people who hate me, and I force myself to take a deep breath.
Inhaling their scents, I let my shoulders drop.
“It’s okay if you don’t have one.” I almost take the out that Silas offers me, but I shake my head. I want to be normal. To participate. I can do this.
I press my hands to the sides of my head, catching my ears between my longer fingernails as Otis’s slobber wets my tights.
“Never have I ever … never have I ever been on a huge shopping spree!” I shout in haste. They burst out laughing, each laugh carrying a distinct note that makes me laugh a bit as well.
It’s then remembered that I’m supposed to say something I have done.
They all drink and eye me expectantly. I blush, as if my blush has gone away all night.
“I messed up the game,” I muttered, staring into my drink in embarrassment.
“You’ve never been on a shopping spree? Not even when your business took off?” Silas asks, his eyes wide in shock.
“Nope,” I say. “Okay, someone else, go already.”
“Is it something you want to do?” Havoc asks, setting his drink down.
“Um, I’ll get to it sometime,” I say, nodding and hoping they get on with the next question. I’ve been saving my dream shopping spree for when I can build a permanent nest.
A nest I won’t have to move when my lease is up, or leave if the Fallon Pack finds me. Somewhere I can call home. Call mine.
Thorne goes, and we continue playing the game until our drinks are gone. One by one, our drinks disappear, and we sit under the tree lights looking up at the dark sky.
I sigh, knowing I really should get home, but I don’t want to. Every cell in my body is urging me to stay. My omega whines, begging me to stay right where I am, but I know I can’t.
I’m not even supposed to be here.
I don’t deserve a Pack like theirs. Not with the trouble lurking behind me.
And yet I’m too selfish to stay away.
My phone alarm goes off, signaling that my bedtime mode is turning on. I guess now is the time to leave.
“Thanks for having me over, I—” I choke, and I lean my head back over my chair. I force a smile on my face as I roll my head back up to look at them. “I should get going.”
I stand up from my chair, and I can feel the invisible chain pulling as I step away from the table. The guys instantly follow. Silas, Throne, and Otis, trotting suspiciously slowly towards the back door, and Havoc takes up the space at my side.
One step is all I take before I feel my heel crack, and I’m falling towards the ground.
“Oh, my—“ I yelp as Havoc’s strong arm wraps under my legs and I’m hoisted up in the air in a bride-style carry.
“I got you,” he murmurs, and I melt against him. His warm chocolate scent mixes with my peaches.
“Thank you,” I shyly gaze at him as he carries me the rest of the way back to the house.
Thorne slides open the door, and Havoc doesn’t put me down until he’s walked me to the front door. He pauses before turning to Silas and Thorne.
“We’ve all been drinking,” Silas says as he looks at me. I realize I’ll have to drive home.
Granted, it was only one drink, but for someone who doesn’t drink often, my gut turns at the idea of getting behind the wheel.
“I’m not far,” I say despite the sick feeling I get. The overly good girl in me is panicking over one silly little drink.
“And your shoe is broken,” Thorne says.
“If you’re not far, may we walk you home?” Havoc asks.
My eye catches his. The soft brown in his eyes and the stubble that covers his jaw and chin. His long brown hair hangs so handsomely. My big, strong scent match wants to walk me home. In his arms. My omega purrs at the idea.
How could I tell him no?
I ignore my brain yelling at me to say no and nod my head yes. He takes my purse and heels in one hand, and walks out the door, Thorne and Silas following, fine with Otis on a leash.
“Guys, I have to say, I’m about a mile and a half out,” I say. It’s not too far, but definitely worth getting in the car.
“A little fresh air won’t hurt us, Peach Puff,” Thorne says as he takes the spot on the sidewalk next to Havoc, who still carries me.
“You don’t really have to carry me the whole way—”
“Tell us about your dream shopping spree,” Thorne interrupts. His pale skin shines in the moonlight, and his green eyes appear more vibrant as I stare at them.
“Maybe one day; I’m saving it for something special.” It feels unfair to share that part of me when I’m not sure I can stay.
We walk in a comfortable silence, much like on our first date, and I snuggle into Havoc’s arms as we get closer to my house.
Gosh, I need to figure out how to… get rid …of the Fallon Pack so I can keep my alphas.