Chapter Four
Brent
I wake up Sunday morning looking forward to the day. This whole week has felt like it's drug by. I'm going to say that Billie is partially to blame for that. Not just for the anticipation of her meeting the rest of our pack today, but also seeing her twice in class this week, having to pretend that she's nothing but another student was really difficult. I've seen her at breakfast, too, but she always comes in after I do. Since she never came to sit at my table, I assumed she wanted to keep it casual like she told us. I tried my best to not take it personally, but she has consumed my thoughts all week long. Every time I turn around, I'm either thinking of her or feeling like I can smell her sweet honeysuckle scent. I swear, I think the smell soaked through my skin and has taken roost in my brain.
Rolling over, I stretch, making my old man bones crack in a few places while scooting the blanket down my body. Billie would probably get a kick out of me calling my bones old when I just passed thirty a couple years ago. She seems to get a good laugh out of the oddest things. A flash of her chuckling at the movie the other night crosses my mind, and suddenly, the blanket rubbing against my skin becomes sensual. I imagine it's her hands running across my abs. Her lips traveling down a straight line until they reach my cock with that beautiful, dark-blonde hair tickling the outsides of my thighs.
Fisting my cock, I jerk it several times, imagining a luscious pair of red lips wrapped around it. I moan as I think of her looking up at me as she sucks me down as far as she can go then licks her way back off. She definitely strikes me as the type that'll put up some fight if she's asked to present for anyone. Mmm, I'd love to wrestle her down until she's mewling for it and then fucking her until she's screaming my name as I knot her.
My cum shoots out in quick, hot bursts that land on my stomach. Pressing my head back into the pillow, I arch my neck out as the pleasure courses through me. Afterward, I lay for a few minutes trying to catch my breath. It's been a while since I've come by my own hand or anyone else's, either. Not since our last attempt at trying to find an omega for our pack. ‘Disaster’ wouldn't even begin to sum that experience up. Just about split our pack right down the middle, too.
Moment ruined thinking about that, I toss the blanket back and get up to take a shower. I make it a quick one, knowing I've got to get down and make breakfast before everyone gets up. Plus, at this point, it's probably not the best idea to be left alone with my thoughts.
By the time I make it downstairs, I hear stirring from a couple different rooms upstairs, letting me know that everyone is waking up. Starting a pot of coffee, I set to making breakfast. It normally takes at least an hour, because I make sure to include everyone's preferences. Cordell is allergic to dairy, so he tends to stick with organic fruit and vegetable options. Roz prefers whatever Cordell is having but isn't super picky about it. Palmer and Jake both have the appetites of teenage boys and will eat as much of anything as they can.
As the smell of coffee and food starts flooding the house, my pack trickles down to help.
"What are we so cheerful about this morning?" Roz asks, grabbing a mug and making himself a cup of coffee.
I shrug slightly, "Don't know what you're talking about."
"Yeah, because you always whistle while you're scrambling eggs," Cordell says, coming up on his other side to make his own cup.
"Was I whistling?" I ask, truthfully not even realizing I had been doing it.
Roz lifts an eyebrow as Jake walks in. He runs a hand through his scruffy, dark hair before going over to the sink and washing his hands. "Bro, I could hear you as I was coming down the stairs."
I shrug again, but Palmer, who arrived at some point and is leaning with his elbows on the kitchen island, snitches me out, "It might have something to do with our guest today."
Everyone goes as still and silent as statues. The only movement is Jake shutting the water off at the sink. I think they're waiting on one of us to elaborate, but I make them ask.
Roz crosses one arm over his chest as he takes a sip of his coffee. "We're going to have a guest today?"
"She's really nice and fun, too. You'll love her," Palmer offers joyfully. "She's an omega."
I watch Roz's expression shut completely down as the word leaves Palmer's mouth. His eyes cut sharply back to mine, and I refuse to drop my gaze, challenging him. Lucky for us both, Jake breaks up the moment.
"Don't you think that's something that you should've discussed with the rest of us?" he asks.
"What are the rules?" Cordell replies to him, propping himself against the counter.
Roz's lips thin with only slightly veiled annoyance as Jake answers, "That as long as more than one of us has met them then we bring them around for the rest of the pack to meet. I just assumed with all of the drama from the last omega that it'd be a while before we invited one back in."
Risking having anger thrown my way, I remind them, "It's been two years."
"We didn't agree to start searching for another omega, though," Roz counters.
"I wasn't searching for her," I admit.
"She's one of his students," Palmer blurts, making me want to smack him.
Jake’s jaw drops and Roz closes his eyes and shakes his head. Cordell silently sips his coffee, not taking sides either way yet. Not that there should be sides.
Redeeming himself a small amount, Palmer adds, "Besides, she's not looking for a pack. Said that she just wants to be friends and focus on school."
There's a tiny change in Roz's expression, and I know that he's more on board than he was before. Even if it's inches or centimeters, I'll take it. He's going to be the hardest to win over. Not that I'm putting my eggs in baskets yet and thinking she might be the one, but I don't want him to scare her off before we get the chance to find out, either. Cordell is a wild card and normally does his own thing, but he always thinks before he acts or speaks. And always with facts.
Palmer then offers one small fact that seems to have an immediate effect on Jake. "She's coming over to watch Troma movies."
At his bewildered expression, Palmer laughs and walks over and claps him on the shoulder. "We finally found someone as weird as you are, buddy."
"What time will she be here?" Roz asks as we all start making our plates.
"I'm going to pick her up at noon," Palmer answers. "She has busy Saturday nights, so she told me she normally sleeps in for a good while on Sundays."
"And what is it that she does that gives her busy Saturday nights?" Roz asks.
One by one, we all take our seats around the table made for six with our plates of breakfast.
Palmer shoves a bite of pancake and eggs in his mouth before he replies, "She works over at The Rooster three nights a week. That's how I met her. She requested an Uber a couple weeks ago. Kind of been her personal chauffeur ever since."
Cordell looks disappointingly at Palmer, making him add, "She still pays me and everything. I just gave her my number so she could call me instead of going through the app."
"By working at The Rooster, do you mean that she bartends or dances?" Roz asks, not missing a single detail.
"Both," Palmer tells him easily, not realizing he could possibly be digging her a hole with Roz.
It stirs an anger that I never let come to the surface. "You can stop with the judgement, Roz. I don't see you giving Jake a hard time for basically the same job."
Jake cocks his head at me. "You ever see me taking my clothes off and dancing on my bar for money? I'm not a stripper."
"Neither is she," Palmer snaps, finally catching on. "I've been in there plenty, and I've never seen any of the girls taking their clothes off. She does it because the money is good and she sends almost all of it back home to her sick mom. I knew you guys were going to give some push back with this, but that's no reason to demean someone. Especially when you don't know their circumstances."
He jerks upright to leave and Roz tells him to sit back down. When he doesn't, Roz barks at him, "Sit. Down."
The alpha tone makes the hair on my arms stand on end, and I know Cordell feels it, too. Palmer's ass drops back into his chair as Jake's head drops. Very rarely does Roz ever use his alpha bark, let alone on us. Unfortunately, Palmer knows how to push his buttons.
"You spring this on us with mere hours to mentally prepare for it," Roz tells him, glancing my way. "We're going to have questions, and some of us may not be happy about it. Our pack is doing just fine without an omega, or have you two forgotten, not just Shelly, but the two before her? We don't exactly have the best track record. Have you also forgotten the discussions we've had about not needing an omega? Especially right now."
Cordell is nodding with him, letting me know where he stands.
"I apologize," I tell the table. "I haven't forgotten any of that, and we definitely should've been more open instead of springing it on you at the last minute. My reasoning is simple in that I wanted everyone to formulate their own opinions of her before the inquisition. Sometimes when you spend so much time in a jaded box, it's hard to step outside of it and see the good."
Roz sighs deeply and rubs the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "That's fair. Next time just give us a little warning. I can promise that I'll be on my best behavior today."
"I told you she isn't looking for a pack, anyway," Palmer states, his eyes still locked on the table in front of him, looking like a sad puppy. "I think she doesn't have a lot of friends and is lonely. And she seems really cool. Just thought..."
He trails off and Cordell at his side reaches out to put a hand on his shoulder. "We know what you were thinking, and you're a good man for it. Thank you for looking out for everyone."
Appearing less dejected, he nods and lifts his gaze to mine before giving a short nod. "I'm going to go take a shower and get ready. Thank you for breakfast."
"Sure," I tell him, not liking the sadness still surrounding him as he gets up to take his plate to the sink.
He washes it while the rest of us finish eating so that we can do the same. Once done, he heads toward the door, stopping halfway there and looking at us over his shoulder. "Please be nice today. I really like her."
And with that, he walks out, leaving us speechless. I knew he'd grown somewhat attached to her in the past couple nights they've spent together while he drives her around. We've had conversations about it. I simply hadn't seen, until now, just how much. Resting my elbows on the table with my hands up, I drop my forehead onto them with a sigh.
"Don't worry, brother," Roz reassures me. "It'll work itself out, and we'll survive either way just like we always do."
I grunt a semi agreement to my pack-mate, knowing good and damn well that we will be, but I'm not so sure about Palmer. The best I can do is hope that we haven't made a huge mistake and she won't tear his heart to pieces.