He cut his eyes at me but didn’t do anything else. He knew I was right. Ty was a great guy, but he wasn’t the most optimistic soul. He had a reason for how he was, but he was not the right pick. “I get it, I’m not some hyper extrovert like you, but quiet introverts have their ways.”
“Said no one ever,” I replied.
He dropped his shoulders, scratching his head through his tight curly black hair. “I’m one of the few people who likes you. Do you really want to be a jerk to me?”
Ty was the youngest of the group and, admittedly, the kindest. Billie would walk all over him if she was a different kind of woman, but all signs pointed to her being a warm-hearted person. As much as I liked to be a smart-ass, Ty was like a little brother to me. I didn’t really want to hurt him.
I tapped his thigh with my sock-covered foot, and he scooted over in mild annoyance. He looked to the TV, a sports talk show was on, but he didn’t look like he was really watching it. Ty rarely watched TV. He was mostly locked in his room writing or reading.
Our TV screen took up almost the whole wall across from us, and we had nearly every streaming service that was out there. The basement was very much our man cave. Hell, the whole house was really. We had a pool table, foosball table, and game consoles off to the left of the TV. To the right was a small wet bar fully stocked with a fridge, a sink and a microwave. In a large area behind us, we had a ton of gym equipment spaced out and a small guest room off to the side. Down a short hallway leading to the stairs was a full bathroom. The bottom level could have been a guest apartment if we were so inclined to rent it out, which we were not. We were alphas and very territorial. Strangers were not welcome.
Unless they were Billie. She was the only one we wanted here, and if by some miracle she did accept us, we had to turn this mansion into a welcoming space for an omega. We had five bedrooms upstairs, one being another guest room with no adjoining bathroom. Billie deserved to have a private bathroom, so one of us was going to have to switch. Not to mention we were going to have to make some adjustments to make it fit for an omega as they had special requirements.
I heard loud stomps down the steps that could only be Lance Fredrickson. He walked like he wore cement for shoes, but I tended to find that most werewolves I encountered were heavy-footed.
He was already grumbling when he finally appeared before us. His icy blue eyes narrowed at me, annoyed. I couldn’t recall pissing him off lately. It was usually my specialty, but since focusing more on Billie, I’d given him a little break.
“Could this have been an email or group text? You’re supposed to be watching over her,” he grumbled.
I blew him a kiss. “I missed you and wanted to see your pretty faces.”
He crossed his unnecessarily large arms and looked over to Ty as if the vampire would have the answers.
He shrugged, not looking at Lance. “I’m just as clueless as you. I have a writing deadline, so this is cutting into my time.”
Lance sat at the edge of the sectional at the ottoman side. I got a whiff of strong body odor mixed with his whiskey alpha scent. It was sickeningly sweet. I wrinkled my nose and wiped a hand in front of my face. “Whew, somebody needs a shower.”
Ty ran a hand over his face. “Don’t poke the bear. Or the wolf.”
It was too late, Lance was already growling. I was pleased. He lifted an arm, fanning his funk my way. He was so immature. “Sorry. But someone called an emergency meeting, and I didn’t have a chance to shower after leaving the station.”
Lance was a firefighter. I still didn’t get why he chose to do dangerous work for fun. He didn’t need the money. We all had made many investments over our long lives, but Lance had decided he needed to continue to have jobs that showed off his muscular physique. For most of his life, he’d done things involving fighting, including mixed martial arts. I, honestly, wasn’t that different, but when I didn’t have to fight, I wouldn’t.
I covered my nose. “You could have stood at a distance.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Does it bother you?”
“Yes.”
He moved a little closer, crossing his arms. “Good.”
“When is she moving here?” said a voice from above.
I looked up and almost jumped out of my skin as I saw Daniel Choi standing behind the couch, looking down at me with his usual emotionless dark brown eyes. I could rarely tell what the guy was thinking, even after all this time. I probably never would, and that was fine because he wasn’t a bad guy.
Although we were all alphas, Daniel had gotten the title of leader of our merry little band. Technically, I was the oldest, but leading wasn’t my strength. Daniel had been a fae prince long ago and was close to my age. He knew more about the leading stuff, so I was fine with taking a back seat.
Except with the Billie thing. He wasn’t too pleased that her father had seemed to focus on me the most when it had come to caring for her. To him, I was the one who had to get her to our side, and all Daniel’s careful planning was at risk with me. I wasn’t an analytical, plan-things-out type of guy. And, unsurprisingly, Daniel was extremely doubtful about my ability to be successful. Oh, ye of little faith.
I placed my arms behind my head, trying to give off my biggest confident pose. “Yeah, about that, it’s just going to take a little more time. She’s agreed to let me be her bodyguard.”
He raised a curious brow. “What about the rest of us?”
“I don’t think she’s ready. She’s still moving slowly on accepting that her change to omega is inevitable. And let me tell you guys, she is beginning to perfume. It’s not super strong, but if she gets around a very powerful alpha like me, her secret will be out.”
Lance shook his head in frustration before lowering it. “She’s putting herself at risk. We have to make her see she needs to be with us.”
The guy could be so dense sometimes. Did he really think forcing her to join us would solve the problem? “We’re going to get nothing out of her if we force anything. I’ve just got to charm her. Once I get her to like me, it’s all downhill from there when it comes to her meeting Ty and Daniel.”
