Chapter Thirty-Nine
Hale
I took the elevator up to Verity’s penthouse, nervous. It wasn’t necessarily that I thought she’d yell at me. Honestly, I deserved it.
Shit, I deserved to have plants thrown at me.
Probably more than that.
It was the idea that I disappointed her that unsettled me. It would be like disappointing our omega dad.
Would he be disappointed in me? I knew the alpha parents would be.
But then everything disappointed them.
The private elevator opened up into their living room, which I always thought was kind of weird.
“I’m here,” I called as I hung up my coat on the coat rack, and took off my boots. They had a shoes-off house.
“Glad you’re here,” Verity called from the kitchen.
A piano sat in the living room, which opened into the kitchen and dining room. Outside the kitchen was a beautiful view of the city.
“You brought me presents?” Mercy flew down the stairs.
She had her own little area on the second floor of the penthouse.
Honestly, she had a pretty sweet deal, living rent-free with practically zero expenses.
I didn’t blame her for not moving out, even though she was eighteen and could afford her own place.
“Yeah, I have a lot of presents. I was hoping Verity could help me mail the things.” I had several big furniture store tote bags with all the dolls. I took out a bag which had both the shirt I’d gotten her and the needle point pillow I’d bought at a shop Fiona dragged us to.
“Arson? Oh, you mean crime br?lée, I love this.” Mercy laughed, holding it up.
“Did I get a present too?” My big sister Grace came over and gave me a huge hug. She was really, really short, like not even five-feet-tall.
“What are you doing here?” I figured it would just be Verity, maybe Mercy if she was free. I looked around to see if anybody else was lying in wait. Creed maybe?
But it was quiet. Verity’s hockey mates were probably already at the rink for the game. Carlos was in his boxers, making a smoothie to take with him, when I left.
Verity’s other mate was probably working; he worked a lot.
Grace looked up at me with her big blue eyes, blue eyes that were different from Dad’s. “Moral support.”
“Are any of your mates here?” I asked, surprised that she was alone. One of her mates was always with her. It might be nice to talk to Evan, since he worked for the Omega Center.
“We just came out for the day. Spencer had some meetings,” she brushed off.
Meetings, my ass. It was New Year’s Eve. He was the one who ran Compass BioTek, where I’d interned over the summer, and she and my brother Creed worked.
“You’re just along for the ride?” I teased.
“Well, and to go to the game. I have to meet these mates of yours,” Grace joked back as we went into the kitchen.
Verity was taking something out of the oven.
“I’ve got that, Princess,” AJ, who apparently had been in the kitchen the whole time, took a big pan from Verity and put it on the table, which had been set with breakfast.
It smelled amazing.
AJ looked over at me. “Coffee?”
“Yes, please.” I had a cup of coffee and a pastry this morning, brought from a little coffee shop down the street. But I could use more. We were pretty hungover. Fucking shit, Saoirse could drink.
So could Dimitri.
When I woke up, the townhouse was already in full delivery mode, which included appliances being replaced in the kitchen, furniture being delivered, bathrooms remodeled, and rooms painted.
While it had been fun to sleep with everyone in a blanket fort in the TV room, it would be nice to have an actual bed.
Didn’t have to be mine. I was happy to sleep in one of theirs.
The idea that we all had our own rooms felt luxurious–almost wasteful. I shared rooms my whole life. Even at my place now I shared a room with Big Tad. I should text him, because I’d said I’d probably be back by now.
Oh, shit. Rent was due tomorrow. Fuck.
“The food looks amazing.” I took the mug AJ handed me.
“Where are you staying?” AJ asked me curiously. “Some of your mates are from New York?”
“Carlos just bought a townhouse, so we’re moving into that for now. I can’t exactly tell you where it is, other than it’s literally down the street from Dimitri’s.” I took a sip of coffee.
Verity sat down at the table. There were fruit and potatoes, and that tomato egg dish that was really good after a night of drinking. Also, bacon and some muffins.
“This looks great.” I piled some of the egg dish onto my plate.
“I have to go do a few things, but I’m here if you need me.” AJ gave Verity a kiss. He looked at me. “I guess congratulations are in order. We’ll talk later.” He grabbed some food and went down the hall.
Nervously, I put more food on my plate.
“Why don’t you start at the beginning? Until you told me you were going skiing with your friends I didn’t even know you were going away for Christmas.” Grace put some potatoes and bacon on a plate.
“Start with taking my car and the girl.” Verity gave me a look over her chai latte.
“Fiona is very glad you found her backpack charm. Oh wait. I forgot.” I got the bags that I abandoned in the living room, then brought them over and put them onto an empty chair.
“Mercy already got her present.” I started taking the dolls out and putting them on the empty part of the table.
“I don’t know if you’re going to see any of the littles or are sending a package to London.
Maybe I could just have their address, and I guess I’ll send it myself? ” I could handle that, right?
“Oh, the dolls are so cute. I love them. Which one’s mine?” Grace asked.
I showed her which one was hers and said who all the dolls belonged to.
“You got me a doll?” Verity held one.
“She looks like you and she’s wearing a pretty pastel dress. You always wear pastel dresses.” I was glad I’d had the foresight to buy it because I never did have time to buy her anything else.
“Thank you.” Grace beamed. “I’ll make sure the dolls get to everyone.”
I sat back down. “I apologize for stealing your car. I hadn’t planned on it.
It’s just that my friend called me up at the last minute and asked me if I wanted to take his place in the race.
All I had to do was provide a car that met the specs.
It was too big of an opportunity to risk you saying no, considering I had no time to get another car.
I didn’t crash it. I’d give you some of my winnings, but I kind of spent most of it. ”
Earlier, I checked my bank balance. Apparently, I made a large purchase and had it shipped to Verity.
“Would that be the very beautiful jewelry that arrived in your name?” Verity’s manicured eyebrows rose as she took another sip of her latte.
“We opened it, because I’m nosy. Also, we had to make sure it wasn’t alive.” Mercy stood and got it off the counter, then handed it to me.
“That’s not fair. I only ordered living things because Chance is too little to do it for himself,” I replied. That was my little brother who liked animals.
Inside the box were three blue boxes from Stephanie’s, which was an expensive, popular jewelry shop. The first held a delicate link bracelet with a little heart on it. The second and third held similar link bracelets but they were thicker.
“How pretty,” Grace said. “You’re matching.”
They were very pretty.
“Let me start at the beginning.” As we ate, I told my sisters everything about the trip– meeting Fiona, not remembering everything, her dads’ kidnapping us and their ultimatum, and how we now had six months to make it work or they’d add a stranger.
Verity gave me a look. “They actually said that?”
“Adding an extra alpha is weird.” Grace frowned.
I sighed as I took more eggs. “I thought for sure they were going to bark us and make us un-bond.” My shoulders drooped. “I was counting on it.”
Grace sucked in a breath. “Why would you even think that?”
“Because they’re better than me. Because I didn’t ask before bonding with them. How can we start a relationship based on me breaking their trust? I mean, we all know how it goes when relationships are rushed.” My voice broke as my gaze flickered to Grace.
Grace put her hand on my shoulder. “Like I told Verity, I know you would never traffic a baby. You have us. We’ll make sure that you’re not an alphahole.”
Her words warmed my heart, but she also had more faith in me than anyone else.
“You actually think we can give it a go? I mean, we barely know each other.” I took another bite.
“Do you care for them?” Grace asked. “That’s the most important piece here. Sure, you don’t know them well. But could you see a future with them? Feel more than lust?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “I kept thinking how I wished I was further along in my career so I could be with them. Or that when I was ready I’d find people like them. They’re pretty amazing.”
“Okay, well, if you feel something, and want to be with them, I’ll support the fuck out of you,” Grace told me.
Her words warmed me. “Thank you.”
“Also, you’re not the first person to accidentally bond people.
” Mercy shoved food in her mouth. “If you care about them, then I think you could do it. Carlos is a good guy. I didn’t get to talk to your omega, but the fact that her dads care that much actually means something.
Especially, because it seems like they want her to be happy and make it work.
You’re right, I’m a little surprised they didn’t just use their barks and make you all un-bond, because they probably wanted some fancy alphas for her. ”
“They did. But it’s important to Fiona that she chooses her own pack. She picked, so their logic is that we have to give it a go. Or as they so eloquently put it, We fucked around and now have to find out,” I explained.
Mercy snorted. “I love that.”
“Also, everyone else thought it was weird that I’d think her dads would bark us to get their way. I mean they’re alphas.” I frowned.
“Yeah, I’m discovering that not everyone’s alpha parents did shit like that. Pretty sure part of why they always told us not to be alphaholes, is because they are,” Mercy replied.