29. Finley
Finley
When the others returned, they found me snuggled up in my giant bean bag pillow, reading with Zander working next to me on his laptop. The book had good information on omegas and learning more has always helped me feel more grounded.
"Don't you look comfortable, sweetheart," Lane said as he leaned down to kiss me on the forehead. "Did your day end up getting better once you got put with Mike and Kelly?"
"Yeah, they’re both too sweet to ever upset anyone," I answered, sitting up. "Did you guys have a good day?"
"The batch of trainees that we have are looking very promising. Sometimes we never know what we're going to get," Colt shared, then kissed me. "Zander mentioned something about going out tonight?"
"If you guys are up for it." I hesitated before saying more, my wolf worrying they might be too tired.
Colt's expression softened as if he could read my hesitation. "I think a night out is exactly what we need. Plus, this town will be your home now, so you should explore it. Let us get cleaned up. Elias should be back soon, and then we can head out. Sound good?"
"Sounds awesome," I assured him.
Another quick kiss from them both, then they headed to get cleaned up.
"Zander," I ventured.
"Yes, little dove?"
"Is everyone going to move in here? Or are they still going to live in the pack house?"
Zander wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me onto his lap. "We haven't really had a chance to talk about it much. What do you think we should do?"
"Your house is bigger, giving everyone more space, but it’s farther away from the core of the pack," I mused.
"It's hard because both locations make sense, but living between both doesn't. If I had to pick, I’d vote for making your house our main living environment while still keeping things at the pack house in case we need it. I know I should want to be around the pack, but I like that we’re set apart from them. If they need something, it’s not hard to get here, especially in shifted form. "
"Selfishly, I agree with you," Zander shared, his lips ghosting along my neck. "Knowing that I have you safe here in my home makes me feel better and I have to agree with your want for privacy. Being a celebrity it’s nice to be out of the watchful eye of others. For you though I think it has to do with your elf nature. They lived in community with each other, but they weren’t as crammed together like werewolves prefer. Elves like to be near enough that if they needed help, they would get it, but not close enough that you’d see the others all the time. "
I hummed my agreement to that. Having the six of them home and safe with me was one thing, but knowing that the pack was surrounding us put me more on edge. "How do you think Colt and Lane will feel about it?"
"You're not worried about the twins or Elias?" Zander questioned.
I shook my head. "They’ll be wherever I am; they can't help it. Even though we aren't fully bonded yet, the connection is still there. To be honest, I'm surprised the twins could be gone from me this long without feeling a pull."
"How do you know that?" Zander asked, his voice awed. "That was something the man I spoke with today warned us about."
"Oh? What else did you learn?" I inquired, shifting so I was sitting sideways on his lap.
Zander grinned at me. "You're not going to like my answer on this one."
"When you put it that way, how could I?" I grumbled.
"He said the best thing to do is not to tell you anything more until we discover what happens once you've matured into your elven powers.
There are many different branches of magic, and it's better to not influence you in one direction or another.
Some things will be instinctual, like you just proved, and others we will tackle together with the information I've gathered. This man offered to come out and meet you if need be, but he’s overseas at the moment so it won't be soon," Zander explained.
I sighed and relaxed into him, not having the energy to stress about such things right now. "When you say going into town, what kind of town are we talking about?"
"Well, we back up to the Great Smoky Mountains, so we have a lot of small towns around us and a few tourist trap areas with shopping and restaurants. For tonight, though, I think we need to make the journey to one of the bigger towns with more to offer."
"Are we that out in the middle of nowhere it's a journey to get to a substantial town?" I chuckled.
Zander just winked at me. "Let's keep some things a surprise, hmm."
"Do I need to change, or will what I'm wearing work for going out?" I questioned, looking down at my jeans and off-the-shoulder sweater.
"Like we would allow you to show any more skin to others," Elias growled from the doorway. "It's already questionable if I need to remove someone's eyes for staring at your sexy ass in those jeans."
Grinning at my surly protector, I winked. "You think my ass is sexy?"
"Yes," both Zander and Elias answered at the same time.
"Thanks for the confirmation there, boys." I laughed as I wiggled out of Zander’s lap. "I'm gonna go find some shoes."
When I reached the door, Elias stepped in my way, his face dark with emotion. "Do I need to deal with Peggy? At the pack dinner, we warned that we wouldn't allow any kind of disrespect like that."
"No, Milly laid into her already," I answered, resting a hand on his chest. "I don't want to cause even more trouble between us by having one of you scold her further. If she doesn't want me working in the greenhouse, I'm sure there are plenty of other places that would like my help."
"Just know that it's by your mercy that she lives. No one gets to talk or treat you that way, my heart. Do you hear me?" Elias demanded, giving me a look that brokered no argument.
I cupped his cheek with my hand and stepped in closer. "I hear you, my protector."
Raising my face, he bent down and kissed me, gripping my hips in a hold that would bruise.
Maybe I should have cared about that, but I loved the idea of having his mark on me, claiming me.
Our connection hummed, but I knew it wasn't time to make him mine just yet.
He pulled back and swatted me on the ass.
"Go get your shoes on. The others are just about ready to head out; we'll meet you in the kitchen. "
Far too pleased with his dark possessiveness, I couldn't help smiling as I jogged up the stairs to Zander’s room.
Without the twins present, we could all fit in Zander's Land Rover, with me wedged in between Colt and Lane in the backseat.
The sun was setting, but there was still enough light to see my surroundings and take in the dense forest that our pack lived in.
Soon, we were on the highway, and the forest fell away, exposing the mountains and the open areas that towns now filled.
We drove for about forty-five minutes until we got to the town Zander had made dinner reservations at.
I was a little nervous about being around the normal population, unsure of how my wolf would handle things, but I knew I was safe with my mates.
The world knew about supers; it was just me adjusting to being one of them.
The restaurant’s parking lot was full, and the sign outside boasted of having the best BBQ in the state. Colt took my hand as we headed to the entrance while Lane tried to keep people from running into me as we passed through the waiting crowd.
"If you would follow me, I have your table set up for you. We have your party placed in the back dining area," the hostess informed us as she led us down a hall away from the booming country music.
The space she led us to was slightly more upscale than the rest of the restaurant, and only five other tables were set up with plenty of space in between. Another small group was enjoying their meal, but with the way the room was set up, we had a fair amount of privacy.
"Can I just say that I love your music, Zander. Your newest album has been on repeat for weeks," the hostess gushed as she clutched the menus and gazed up at him with wide-eyed wonder.
My hackles rose as it was clear that she was making a pass at my mate. A growl rumbled in my chest, but before I could do anything about it, Colt turned me to face him, breaking my fixation on the woman.
"Easy there, little one," Colt chuckled. "Zander has no interest in her, but he has to play nice with fans unless they do something to warrant getting upset."
This didn't make me feel any better, but I allowed him to pull out a chair for me.
Zander had other thoughts about the situation.
He walked right up to me, catching me around my waist and kissing the hell out of me staking his claim for all to see.
He purred as he pulled back and looked down at me, possessiveness shining bright in his eyes.
"Don't ever doubt that I only have eyes for you, my little dove. Wolves mate for life, remember?" Zander chided as he winked and slid my chair in for me.
The hostess and the other guests at the table gawked at our PDA, but that just made me all the happier.
"Your other side must be getting stronger in nature because I don't think an omega could have pulled that off." Colt grinned.
"Oh, my wolf wasn't pleased with it happening. She just was too scared to do anything about it," I explained. "You are all mine, and no one gets to covet what's mine. If she'd tried to touch him, I'm not sure how things would have gone down, to be honest."
"Sweetheart, life is never going to be dull with you around, is it?" Lane said with a smile as he handed me a menu.
The waiter came out and took our orders without further incident, leaving us to chat as we waited for our food and drinks.
The conversation flowed as we talked about our day and other happenings with the pack.
Zander shared a few crazy tour stories with us about interactions with his fans, making me glad he wasn't on tour or I'd be leaving a trail of bodies everywhere he went.
The atmosphere was so easy and wonderful that I thought now was as good a time as any to bring up my request.
"Elias and I were talking this morning," I ventured, knowing I might upset Elias since we already came to an agreement. My fear was that he wouldn’t think I would ever be ready to talk about it with the others.
"Finley," Elias warned as the others gave me their full attention.
Ignoring Elias, I pressed on. "I know this isn't going to be the popular opinion, but I would like to work on training to fight as a wolf.
" My mates tensed at my words, and I could tell their gut response was to tell me no.
"Please hear me out. As the past few days have shown, you can't be around me all the time, which makes sense.
You all had lives and jobs before I entered the picture, and you still have those; I'm the one who’s adrift without a true purpose.
Working with the Organization, I spent all my life training, being tested, drilled, aiming for perfection.
Now, I'm not using my body much at all, and I think that’s part of the problem with my wolf. "
"Explain," Lane asked, watching me with a calculating eye.
"I know everything about my human body. I know how far I can push myself when I'm working or hurt.
I know nothing about my wolf other than the voice shares space in my head.
Zander was trying to help me share space with her instead of shutting her out unless I needed her help with something.
What if training and working with Elias or one of the other betas helps me bond with her better? " I challenged.
Colt leaned in, resting his elbows on the table. "Why one of the betas? Alphas are the strongest and better fighters."
"No, it won't work that way," I answered, shaking my head.
"I've been finding that I do far better at managing my emotions when I'm around lower-ranked wolves.
Elias, Noah, and Mason are drawn to me by my other nature, and that seems to make a difference in how I react to them.
When you or the other alphas get too intense or your dominance comes into play, my omega side gets pulled to the forefront. "
We had to pause the conversation as our food got brought out.
I was salivating over the smell of smoky BBQ chicken and the sweet hint of honey in the corn muffin.
Each of us being more hungry than we'd like to admit, we let the topic drop as we stuffed our faces, and I moaned at the taste of the food.
Thankfully, Zander had doubled up our orders because one of the normal portions would not have been enough.
Now I was finally seeing how the guys could eat so much in one sitting after working all day.
"Let's say we agree that training would be the best thing for you," Zander started, bringing us back to our previous conversation. "Are you thinking this will mean you can start working for the Organization again?"
I could tell the others hadn't thought of this direction, and by the looks on their faces, they were not happy with the idea. "No, the woman who runs operations—my mentor, actually—told me that I was dead to the Organization. I was hoping to do more meaningful work like helping on patrol."
"What if another alpha comes across you? They could just order you to let them pass," Lane argued. "No, I don't think that would be wise until we know what developments your secondary nature will bring to the table."
"So, you're agreeing to the training though," I clarified.
The alphas all met each other's gaze before Colt sighed. "Yes, I can't stand the thought of you ending up in a situation like my brother and getting killed. Hopefully with this added training you won't freeze again."
Even though it was begrudging acceptance, I would take it and prove to them they didn’t have anything to fear.