Kai continued speaking. “Yeah, so Ty’s a vampire and a horror and thriller writer. He’s the nicest of us all.”
I was surprised Kai didn’t have anything sarcastic to say this time. I reached out to shake Ty’s hand, but he didn’t look at it.
“Can I hug you?” he asked, his eyes eager.
I tipped my head to the side, thinking for a moment. I wasn’t expecting that request so soon, but there was something about him, his aura, that made me want to hug him. I was supposed to be proceeding with extreme caution with this alpha meeting, but so far, I was just a lust-filled ball of confusion. I could do the smart thing and deny him and myself. Maybe even run away screaming with my arms waving in the air.
It was probably the smart thing to do. After all, I wanted to lay out on the table for dessert for Daniel and Lance just from handshakes. If I were to hug Ty, would my tiny bit of resolve come undone? Was I really so weak right now? I could hug him and let go if things got too intense. I just wanted the damn hug. These freaking alphas and their scents were really appealing to me. I’d never had this happen before.
I walked toward him and got on my toes, wrapping my arms around his back. He embraced me in return, and I was shocked that he wasn’t cold. I didn’t expect, as a vampire, for him to be so warm. And I could hear his heart beating. Was it because he was an alpha that he didn’t have the same restraints as regular vampires? Could he withstand the sun too? I had to ask later. I preferred to be in the moment.
Man, hugging him felt good. Almost healing. And he smelled good too—like gingerbread and honey. I wanted to freaking lick him. I wasn’t sure how long we were in the embrace, probably a few seconds, but it felt too short.
“Alright, break it up,” I heard Kai mutter.
I ignored him, but moments later, we slowly pulled back from each other, and when I looked into Ty’s eyes, I could see something akin to love there. He didn’t know me, so how could he be so emotion-filled? How well had my dad sold me on these guys that they seemed so into me? What was I missing here?
I had to look away from those eyes, or it would get weird. I needed to be alone with each of these guys to get to know them. This was all too much. Too intense.
I took a step back, looking at the group of men. “You all really want me for your pack?”
They gave a unanimous yes. Well, Lance just gave a curt nod. That squeezed my heart a little. “But you don’t even know me.”
Daniel nodded. “We know about you. Through Kai and your father. And we may have spied on you a few times.”
Hold up. I squinted my eyes, my heart feeling like it came to an immediate stop. Spied on me? “What are you talking about?”
“Not anything inappropriate. We didn’t invade your privacy, I swear,” Ty assured me with apologetic eyes.
Daniel leaned forward on the table. “Look, I know you don’t know us, and nothing can replace our actual interactions with you. It’s almost like you’re a movie star, and we’ve been watching your movies. It doesn’t mean we know you. But we are your fans.”
I gripped the edge of the table, wondering if I could flip it over. They had to be fucking kidding me. I didn’t care if they weren’t spying on me in the bathroom, I didn’t want to be stalked at all. “How long have you all been watching me? Did my dad know?”
“Ever since we learned of you, and I don’t think he knew. We were very discreet.”
“Awesome, so you spied really well.” I jumped up. “I didn’t know I was going to have to fight, but clearly, I’m going to have to kick four alphas’ asses tonight.”
I glared at Kai, shaking my leg free of his tail. “You had time to tell me that this past week.”
He raised his brows, leaning back. “I did, and I know it was wrong, but as you can imagine, I was a bit worried about dealing with all of this.” He pointed in a circular motion at me.
He was not taking this seriously. I pushed out my magic, snatching the chair from under him and sending him sliding back on his ass away from the dining table until he slammed hard into the nearest wall.
“This isn’t a joke. Maybe you didn’t watch me taking a shower, but you probably watched me sleeping. Well, I know you did.” I looked around at all of them. “Did you watch me on dates? Did you have a role in making any of them not work out?”
Daniel slowly stood up, hands up in surrender as if I was pointing a weapon at him. “You have every right to be angry. We do know more about you than you know about us. We cheated. But we never interfered in your life, including any dates. We respect you too much, and I’m sorry.”
Kai got to his feet, hunching low as if he were about to pounce. He wasn’t angry. No, there was a look in his eyes that looked almost playful, as if he were excited by me tossing him across the room. Something told me that this was like foreplay to him. “Let me make this right, kitty cat. Hit me. Punch me.”
“You are an ass. I doubt it’d be a punishment for you.”
The desire in his eyes died out once he caught that I was beyond a joking manner. “I’m sorry. We didn’t think…we weren’t thinking.”
His tone seemed more genuine now, and I didn’t have the urge to punch him like he wanted. How could I think any of them were honest when they had the cheat sheet on me? Sure, my dad told them things, but spying on me gave them an extra bonus on my life that even my dad wouldn’t know. I dropped my shoulders, the tension receding. I had no idea how any of them could make it right. The room felt smaller now, and I dropped back down in my seat, my legs shaking. They were so serious about this all that they had spent who knows how long spying on me. They really wanted me as part of their group.
Meanwhile, I wanted no alpha other than a fix for when I went into heat. At least that’s what I was telling myself. The way they were affecting me was scary as hell. I was livid about the spying but what scared me more was that I didn’t want to run out of this house and not look back. I still wanted to know them. They had affected me too much. But I wasn’t going to tell them that. “Look, I’m about to let you guys down because I’m not the omega you want. Whatever you saw that you liked when you spied on me, forget it. And when you look for your next one, maybe don’t spy on them like a bunch of creepers.”
Ty took a step back, hands shoved in his pockets and an apologetic look over his face. Lance pushed his chair back, almost disappearing from the light but not before I could see a glint of amber cross his blue eyes. His face was as neutral as an expert poker player, but those were his wolf eyes. Maybe getting violent in front of a seemingly unstable werewolf was not smart thinking.
