Chapter 26
ESPER
“Asher,” I mumble, shaking my giant alpha on the bed.
He’s the one I’ve spent the least time with and yet he’s settled so deep in my chest. Reed is on the bed, cuddling the pillow I replaced my body with.
Soren ended up on the floor, reaching up and holding my hand until his arm went numb.
Neven is asleep in the desk chair, holding another pillow tight to his chest.
I shake Asher’s leg and he leans down, eyes still closed, and grabs my hand trying to pull me to him.
“Come with me, please, Alpha,” I say, trying to pull back. The nickname works and has him opening his eyes. “Come get breakfast with me.”
The idea of feeding his omega must be appealing since he’s jumping down from the bed as if he weren’t half asleep two seconds ago. Careful not to knock me over or make a sound, he grabs his black hoodie, sliding it on and taking my hand again.
“You’re hungry?”
“Very,” I say, nodding my head. He stops in the bathroom really quickly to freshen up and we are off again. Asher has a healing cut on his eyebrow, but otherwise his bruises don’t look monstrous to the normal eye.
To me, though, my alpha is still hurt.
I took Neven’s t-shirt, a pair of my leggings, and Soren's hoodie to wear. My need to be surrounded by their scents outweighs the discomfort of wearing their extremely dirty clothes. I wish I had something of Reed’s, but I couldn't fit more clothes on without overheating.
With my heat coming up, my skin has been a constant simmering heat, slowly getting hotter with each passing day. When I caught Reed’s and Asher’s scent in the hallway the other day, my omega completely took over. I would have never had the guts to join that party on my own.
I’m so glad I did though. I do my best not to let my eyes drag down Asher’s sweatpants. God, he was huge. Thicker than Reed but not quite as long, and gosh, I’ve never seen so many dicks in my life.
And I’m not mad about it.
At all.
I cough, shoving away the horny thoughts trying to change my mind on food as Asher steps out of the bathroom.
“Where do you wanna go?”
Asher’s tall. So damned tall, they all are. He leans his head down a bit to talk, and I never knew how hot that could be.
“I need extra hands, the dining hall closes soon,” I say and he chuckles.
“You sure you wanna eat there?”
“Do you have a car? I don’t think we could carry so much food on a bike,” I say, and he uses our hand holding to turn us around.
“That’s what backpacks are for.”
“My boots!” I say, looking down at my feet. Normally Neven or Reed has my riding gear since I’ve only ridden with them, meaning I don’t have my gear with me.
Asher pauses in the middle of the hallway and looks down at my sneakers. He bends down and presses on the tops of them.
“You got boots, Moonlight?” I nod and change into my work-inspired style boots and he presses down on them again nodding his satisfaction. “I’ll still go slow. We’ll be safe.” Then we’re jetting off to the parking lot.
They all parked their bikes in one parking spot. Seeing all of them together, Reed’s red one amongst their black ones. All different styles and yet so clearly part of a group…of a Pack…
It feels right.
He slides his helmet on me, tightening the straps. I wobble my head a bit to ensure it’s on tight. He also opens the arms of his backpack, and I let him bring it up to my shoulders before we turn and climb onto the bike. Asher first, then he reaches out to help me up.
The wind ripples against my clothes. And he’s driving, not nearly as fast as Reed would have, towards the nearest fast food stop.
It gives me a chance to catalog the scenery.
Color-changing trees and falling leaves lining the roads and the color buildings and well-kept sidewalks all make the ride so calming.
Soothing even. The whoosh of the wind caresses my ears like my ASMR videos do.
I squeeze Asher’s stomach tight as I lay my head on his back. I could go to sleep. If it wasn't for the slowing of the bike and the turn into the parking lot of the fast food restaurant, I’m sure I would have.
He takes my helmet and we go in, the bright colors harsh on my eyes this fine morning, but I know they have the best breakfast sandwiches here, so the offense is forgiven.
“Doing well, thank you. Can I get eight breakfast sandwiches with the hashbrowns. Moonlight?”
“l’ll take the same but with bacon.”
“Drinks?”
I shake my head no and Asher confirms it. Taking a receipt, we step back so the folks behind us can order.
“Is two gonna be enough for each person?” I ask Asher and he nods.
“If it’s not, they can wake their asses up and get some more,” he says and I playfully whack his stomach. Or try to, since he catches my hand and interlocks our fingers.
“So, Asher…” I say, facing him instead of the giant screen reading completed orders off. “What's your life story?”
“Hitting me with the big stuff, huh?”
“Yup, I’ll tell you mine too,” I say and he laughs a bit. His eyes trailing to the screen but his hand squeezing mine a touch tighter.
“My mom is Poppy Callum, she works with Jewels. Do you remember the bartender?”
“Yeah, with rainbow hair?”
He nods. “Yeah, she’s her manager. My mom is the life of the party, she smiles so big and she’s so inclusive with everyone. It’s hard to feel anything less than happy around her.”
“She sounds amazing.” She sort of sounds like my mom, minus the partying.
My hermit-like tendencies definitely come from my mom.
But she loves to include people. She’d get our whole family together and then invite the neighborhood Packs over for movie nights in the backyard.
When she’d take me to work, she’d invite everyone she could to lunch, or pack enough food for everyone to enjoy.
She’d grown up incredibly shy, so she always said when she met her Pack and especially when she had me, she wanted to ensure no one around her ever felt left behind. She’d hate for someone to do that to her babies.
“My dad’s the second chef at Coal’s.”
“I need to meet Coal, and your dad. Thank them for blessing me with amazing food." Asher grins, pulling me into his chest and wrapping an arm around me.
“My rut condition, though… It was diagnosed after I presented as an alpha. Before, as a teenage boy I knew something was wrong but was too ashamed to say anything.”
My brows scrunch at the admission, something in my heart breaking as his face falls and he turns his face from me.
“There’s nothing to be ashamed about—”
“I’m still learning that,” he says with a smile I’m sure throws others off his lingering sadness. I see through it.
Before I can say a word, our order is ready. We take the two bags, checking our food before putting them in the backpack on my back and walking back to his bike. We don’t get on immediately, and I’m thankful. The outside air is fresh and hopefully a bit freeing as Asher continues to open up.
“So my condition… It makes me rut randomly. Outside a heat. And it only goes away when I knot. No cure. No medicine. Nothing. Just have to … knot.”
“That must have been really hard,” I say, a bit at a loss of words. I must have said the right thing because he finally meets my eyes and nods.
“It was. But meeting Red made it easier. Once he found out, he’d help me—”
“But he didn’t know about you being scent matches, right?”
“No, he didn’t know why he wanted to help me. He didn’t even know he was into guys. But after coming out as an omega and dealing with that… we helped each other.” He shrugged.
“I’m glad you had each other,” I whisper as I wrap my arms around him and cuddle my face into his chest. His soft hoodie and pomegranate scent cool my internal inferno down a bit. “Once I’m… ready, I’ll be more than happy to help you out with your condition.”
He laughs. “Sex never sounded so unsexy.”
“I just…” My face goes beet red. “I just meant that… I don’t know. I would obviously benefit from being an omega and all. I’m sure Reed is doing a fine job.”
I shake my head as Asher laughs even harder at my misery and kisses my forehead. “I knew exactly what you meant, Moonlight.”
“Gosh,” I say, hitting my head against him, wishing I could erase that embarrassing moment from my brain.
“Let’s get these sandwiches to our Pack before they get cold.”
My morning was glorious. Walking in with a backpack full of food is the perfect way to start the morning, and we laid around my dorm room until I had to actually start getting ready for my interview.
Four incredibly gorgeous men hanging on my every word and hyping me up for an hour is great for my ego. Even though I’m still so nervous.
I glance down at my power outfit. A maroon shirt and matching dress pants. Kitten heels and my black portfolio bag. Layouts of storefronts, paragraphs of reasonings behind each decision. Moodboards, client example projects—everything they need to see if I am the right fit for them.
And yet… I feel frazzled. Unprepared.
I left the guys in my dorm, giving Neven the key so he can lock up after they leave.
They wanted to take me to my interview, but I was already at level nine on the anxiety scale.
More importantly, though, I wanted to stand on my own two feet here.
I’m not just an omega with a courting Pack.
Someone with a cushy backup plan. Someone less deserving of the role just because I’m an omega or in a Pack.
I wanted to show up as a person. Not an omega. Not a Pack member. A designer.
Just until I can be all three without having to care what others think because my work speaks for itself.
Crisp air conditioning and a waft of descentor spray greets me as I step through the door to Fleur Interior Design Firm. For once, the slight burn up my nose is worth it.
“Hi,” I say, but the receptionist hardly looks up at me. Her brown hair is pulled tight in a bun, and I’m suddenly second-guessing the curls I put in mine. Maybe I should have done a tight bun too?
“Name?”
“Esper Malent,” I answer, tucking my hair behind my ears.