Chapter Two
Vanessa
Silas has finally grown into his deep voice.
And then some, I notice when he spins me around and hugs me again.
With my face pressed against his chest, I inhale the scent of him, and my heart skips a beat.
He smells like vanilla pudding, and for a second, I strongly consider licking him to see if he tastes as good as he smells.
He never smelled this good when we were teenagers.
Didn't look like this either. He was massive with more muscles than a man should be allowed to have.
When I pull back to look up at him, I'm stunned by how much he looks just like the boy I remember, while also looking like a man I didn't know at all.
His green eyes are still as beautiful as ever as they shine with mischief, and as they roam my body, I can't help but wonder what differences he notices in me.
Does he like my scent? Does he want to lick me, too?
"It's been so long, Ness," he murmurs next to my ear. "You're still as beautiful as I remember." He looks over my shoulder, and a shit eating grin takes over his face. "Here comes the other two."
Fuck.
Before I can even turn around, I'm pulled into another hug.
Mason, I know instantly. He always had a particular way of hugging me that made my stomach flutter with butterflies.
With his hands resting just over my ass, he leans back and looks down at me.
He's gotten even taller since the last time I saw him; easily six -foot- six if I had to guess.
His brown hair is still long and falls in waves down to his shoulders, but unlike the boy I remember, this man definitely uses a brush.
And a lot of product. The rest of his face is familiar, down to his chocolate brown eyes.
What wasn't familiar was his smoky campfire scent that wrapped around me like a warm hug.
Gods, I could get addicted to his scent…
"My turn," Zayne's quiet growl sends a shiver down my entire body, making my toes curl.
I look over Mason's shoulder and spot him.
He's almost a stranger in appearance. His blonde hair is styled neatly, and his stormy gray eyes stare into my soul.
And then there are the scars… Faded pink marks here and there across his pale skin.
Without thinking about how long it's been since the last time I saw the three of them or how they were basically strangers, I move towards Zayne and wrap my arms around his neck. On my tiptoes, I press a soft kiss against his cheeks and smile when he pulls me tight.
He smells like gingerbread cookies straight out of the oven, and I just know nothing else will ever smell as good as him.
Any of them.
"Hey! Where is my kiss?" Mason pouts, pulling me out of Zayne's embrace. "I can't believe you're here, little one."
I step back, away from the pheromones coming off of them and take a deep breath. I look them over. Each one of them was so handsome, and it really wasn't fair how hot they got in the last six years. Finally finding my voice, I say. "I can't believe it either. That you three are here. Together."
Silas grins and throws his arms around Mason and Zayne. "We're pack now. I can't get rid of them, even if I wanted to."
"What brings you back here after all this time?" Zayne steps closer to me as someone passes behind him. He tilts his head towards some picnic tables under a mostly empty tent. "Let's go sit down and catch up."
"I need a pretzel first!" I blurt out, blushing when I catch the smirk on Silas's face. He knows I eat when I'm nervous. I used to tell him all of my secrets.
It took no time for them to locate the pretzel stand, and soon we were all sitting at the picnic table, me next to Zayne with Mason and Silas across from us.
Do I smell good to them, too? I hate that I'm disappointed that they haven't shown any reaction to my scent.
"Ness?"
I clear my throat and stare down at the pretzel. "Uh… I'm between homes at the moment. I left New York, and I'm still deciding where I want to go after my visit here."
Mason leans forward. "What happened with the pack you were seeing?"
"Who says something happened?" I ask, raising a brow.
He shrugs. "Just a hunch."
The words slip out before I can second-guess myself.
"After a few dates, I realized they weren't what I wanted and broke it off with them.
Then I started noticing them everywhere I went and didn't feel safe sticking around.
It was probably me overreacting, but I didn't want to take any chances.
" I'm surprised at how easy it is to tell them the truth.
"Why would a pack be so obsessed with you?" Zayne asks, frowning at me.
"I know I'm not the prettiest omega out there, Zayne," I hiss out, and his eyes widen. "But I'm still an omega, and the fuckers needed one. I don't need this shit from you guys."
I get up from my seat, ready to storm off, regretting telling them anything, when Zayne growls out, "Sit down."
It's not a full alpha command, but I plant my butt back on the seat and glare at him. "What?"
"Baby girl," he growls, and my pussy clenches at the nickname. Or the tone of his voice. Or both. "The last time we saw you, you were eighteen and a beta. You being an omega is news to us. As gorgeous as you are, alphas barely get possessive over betas."
I look at him, stunned. "My parents never told you?"
He shakes his head and smiles at me sadly. "They failed to mention that part every time we asked about you. They did, however, suggest many times over the last six years to go up to New York and visit you."
"Which I now very much regret never doing," Mason grumbles and Silas nods in agreement.
"Why didn't you?" I whisper, not sure if I want to know or not.
They all share a glance, and I shift nervously in my seat. Finally, after what feels like hours but could only have been a few seconds, Silas answers me. "We didn't think you'd want to see us. Not with how you left."
"I didn't." Not at first. But after being gone for a few months, I started dreaming of them showing up and begging me to come back.
But they never did.
"And now?" Zayne asks, his stormy gray eyes seeing everything I couldn't voice.
"I'm looking right at you, Zayne."
He frowns. "That's not what I-"
"Anyway," Silas cuts him off and smiles at me. The same crooked smile I remember from all those years ago, but somehow different. Better. "What are you doing this weekend?"
I shrug, trying to catch up with the sudden topic change. "Nothing? Spending time with my parents."
"We're all going up to the cabin. Would you like to come with us?"
Mason sighs, shoving Silas hard enough that he almost goes flying out of his seat. Pinning me with his signature smirk, Mason says, "He's a little abrupt, but he means well."
Silas tries to shove Mason, but he's a lot bigger than he was when we were teenagers and doesn't budge. Silas curses and pulls his ear instead. Still the same rowdy boys I remember. "It could be like old times, Ness. Come with us."
"If you want to," Zayne grunts, glaring at his two best friends.
I look around at the three of them and feel my eyebrows rising.
I'm struggling with how easily they're talking to me, inviting me to go on a trip with them like six years haven't passed.
Then my brain catches up. "Wait, how did you know about the pack I was dating? I never told my parents about them."
Zayne shrugs. "It's what I do."
I narrow my eyes at him. "What does that even mean?"
"It means," Mason says, answering for Zayne. "We are a nosy bunch of idiots who needed to know if you were okay."
"You knew I was dating a pack but didn't know I was an omega?"
"We just assumed there was a male omega in the pack."
I feel my cheeks darken, and I look away from them, staring at some kids waiting in line to sit on Santa's lap.
I'm hoping they don't notice the blush, but the three of them always notice everything about me.
At least they did, back when we were best friends.
I didn't know what we were now. We haven't spoken in years.
Even before I left town. But they knew enough about my life to know I recently dated a pack.
If I were going to be honest, I would tell them I fought the urge to look them up almost every day or ask my parents about them.
I was never going to be honest about that, though.
"Can't you smell me? It should have been obvious the moment each of you hugged me."
They all share a look, and I miss the days when I was included in their silent conversations. Finally, Mason speaks. "Ness… You smell like nothing to us."
"Ouch."
His eyes widen, and he gets up and quickly crouches next to me. "Baby no. You don't smell bad. You just don't smell like anything… Almost like you're hiding your scent."
Hiding my scent…Oh! Oh! "I am such an idiot. I use scent-blocking soap and deodorant like most omegas in New York. I forgot I didn't switch to normal stuff when I got back."
"Don't use it again," Zayne says gruffly from next to me, and I find myself nodding in agreement.
"I can't wait to get a whiff of your scent, Ness," Mason murmurs from where he is still crouching next to me.
"Look, I know it's been forever, but we used to have so much fun up at the cabin." Silas grins. "You lived in the hot tub until the bear incident."
I snort out a laugh. I look over at Zayne, shaking my head in amusement. "You thought you were so funny, hiding in the woods and pretending to be a bear. I almost drowned trying to get out of the hot tub and then almost broke my neck when I slipped trying to get back inside to safety."
His lips lift in a slow smile, almost like the motion seems foreign to him. After a second, it's gone, and I'm left questioning if it was ever even there. "I wanted to save you."
"He wanted to see your boobs," Mason mutters, and I feel myself blushing again.
"I never used the hot tub naked, idiots," I grumble, staring down at the table.
"Baby girl, in my dreams you were in there naked."
"Zayne! Mason! Silas!" I look up and see Samantha standing at the entrance of the tent, frowning at the four of us. "I need your help setting up, please."
Mason reaches across the table and squeezes my hand. "Please come with us. We're staying through Christmas, but we can bring you back whenever."
There is no way in hell that I was going to the cabin with the three of them. Not with the way my body was reacting to them, not with how their scents did crazy things to my hormones.
"I'll think about it."
"Good girl," Zayne praises, making me preen. Who am I right now? "Your mom has my number. We're leaving tomorrow morning, so call me later to let us know."
Mason hugs me, his hands resting on my ass again. He looks down at me and smiles. "I really hope you come, little one."
Silas hugs me next. "Don't make me show up and kidnap you, Ness. We have a lot of catching up to do."
My eyes go wide when he leans down and presses a kiss to the corner of my lips, his massive arms tightening around me as his lips linger there. I just stand there like an idiot when he pulls back and fucking winks at me.
"See you tomorrow."
I turn to face Zayne, who is just standing there with his hands in his pockets.
He looks down at me with an unreadable expression on his face.
I don't know this version of Zayne. The Zayne I knew from school had been a bigger goofball than the other two combined and would never have hesitated to scoop me up and crush me in a bear hug.
But Zayne also didn't have scars or the haunted look in his eyes back then.
Refusing to let him leave without a hug, I step forward and wrap my arms around his waist. Pressing my face into his chest, I get another hit of his delicious gingerbread scent, and my body melts into him.
I want to say something to him, to ask him if he is okay, but I don't know how.
He seems so much darker than the kid I knew.
He wraps his arms around me, hugging me tight, and I feel some of the tension leaving his body. "You feel good," he grunts, and I giggle.
I actually giggle, and somehow those three words make me feel better than I have in months, maybe years. "You feel good, too."
He looks down at me, and his stormy gray eyes roam my face before settling on my lips.
With a low growl, he leans down and plants a hard kiss on my lips before letting me go and stepping away.
As he turns to leave, I see another ghost smile on his lips, and I think it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
I'm in so much fucking trouble.