“Who?” he growls. “I have my father’s connections. I’ll make sure whoever it is?—”
“They didn’t hurt me in the way you’re thinking. Well, not directly anyway.” I hurry to explain. “An alpha pack passing through town killed my parents. They’re in jail now, but until now, I guess I’ve always had that in the back of my mind when I thought about packs.”
“Those men—no, those monsters—are not alphas.” He takes one of my hands into his giant palms and holds it tenderly. His stare softens. “We will show you how real alphas act. We’re biologically predisposed to care for and protect you, Faye. Nothing will ever be more important to us than your happiness, so you have our hearts in your hands. If you need anything, any time, no matter how small, we will be there.”
I bat my eyelashes. “Even for a late ice cream run?”
“Yes.” A deep laugh rumbles through him. “Even that.”
“Hey, lovebirds!” Laz calls up the stairs. “Pizza’s ready!”
I get up to go, but Cole hangs back.
“There’s just one more thing before we go.” He hands me a small fabric patch with the Silverwood Pack’s wolf head on it. “Something for you to keep with you wherever you go. I noticed your dresses are hand-sewn, so I thought you may be able to attach it to something, or just hang onto it.”
“You’ve already given me so many gifts.”
“And we’ll give you many more if you let us,” Cole promises. “Buying their omega gifts is an alpha’s favorite thing to do. Plus, we can more than afford it. My father may be a terrible person, but he gave me a trust fund with more than enough to ensure we’ll always be comfortable.”
“Well, thank you.” I tuck the patch into the hidden pocket in my dress. “I love it. I just don’t think I’ll ever get used to this.”
“You don’t have to,” he cups my cheek. “Just enjoy it, okay? We’ve been waiting a long time for you.”
“I’ll put pineapple on your pizza if you don’t come down in a minute, Cole,” Laz threatens.
“We better go,” Cole shudders. “I can’t stand fruit on my pizza.”
Out in the garden, Ren is just pulling my pizza out of the oven, covered with all my favorite toppings that I picked out with Laz at the store.
“The next one is for you, Cole,” Laz grins, showing him the pizza.
I snort when I see it. Laz has artfully arranged mushrooms, pepperoni and various vegetables to create a stick person to resemble Cole.
“Corn?” Cole narrows his eyes at the three little pieces between the legs of the topping man. “Really?”
“Don’t worry, Faye.” Laz winks. “Cole’s knot is a little bigger than that. Maybe I should have used a button mushroom instead? That’s truer to size.”
Cole growls, his sneer fading at my giggling as he pulls me down to sit on his lap. From what I can feel underneath me, I’m pretty sure that Cole’s sporting a lot more than a button mushroom.
Ren brings me another lemonade as the sun sets behind him. Although we’re in a busy neighborhood, it’s surprisingly quiet, and the high fences between properties mean there’s no chance of being watched.
Spending time with three of my alphas today has been amazing and has brought us all closer together, but I can’t help but feel like something is missing. The heavy metal music still blaring from the basement only serves as a bitter reminder that Damon should be here too. He can’t avoid me forever, can he?
TWENTY
Faye
The guys lit the fire pit, so we’re huddled around it on the sofas. Laz keeps everyone laughing while Cole fusses—making sure I’m wrapped in blankets—and Ren keeps checking whether I want more food, even though I’ve eaten more today than I have in the past week. We chat about nothing and everything at the same time. Damon still hasn’t emerged from the basement.
“It’s getting late.” Cole checks his expensive watch. I recognize the brand and would guess it costs four times as much as Gram’s beat up car. “Frank can drive you back to OV whenever you’re ready?”
“Or you can stay the night?” Ren suggests. “Our sofa turns into a giant bed, and as you know, we have more blankets than you could ever want.”
“Yes, we could have a slumber party!” Laz cheers. “Blankets, popcorn, movie on the projector. You can even sleep in my shirt.”
“Or mine,” Ren offers.
“You do kinda smell like a library, Ren.” Laz sniffs. “That’s enough to make anyone fall asleep.”
