“I called ahead. They’re closed down just for you,” Tyrone said.
“How can you just call ahead?” And when had he done it?
“We’re all gonna get to know each other better, soon. But, for now, I used to be a royal guard, and the owner of the salon worked for the royal family for a while before saving up enough to open this place.”
“That’s how you knew her,” Felix said. “I helped them out with some accounting stuff a few years back. I thought that’s why they were so amenable.”
Cannon chuckled. It looked like my alphas were well connected and not by using fear like my father did. They had people who watched their backs because they at one time did the same for them.
I went inside and was greeted by an older alpha female with bright-red hair that definitely came from a bottle. It was stunning and went perfectly with her personality. “Well, come on in, sweetie,” she said. “I’m Ray, and I heard that someone needs to be pampered.”
I’d been “pampered” before, in a salon where everything was made to look perfect. It was nothing like this. She treated my hair, cut it, and when she was done, I looked very different than I ever had and somehow, more myself.
“We’ll get you a facial to get you feeling good about yourself,” she offered.
The guys sat in the waiting room looking through magazines, pretending they weren’t paying attention, but their focus was split between me and the door. They were protecting me, and not because I was an asset. They were protecting me because they cared, and I wasn’t really sure how to handle that.
I held the hat as we left, feeling like an entirely new woman, one whose future was bright. I wouldn’t say I was ready to open up completely to these three, but they felt closer to home than anyone else ever had. Not even Isella, and she was the closest thing I had to a true friend.
Chapter Ten
Felix
“Are you up for shopping, or do we need to get a snack first?” I asked her. Her hair looked so pretty. Before, it looked like someone cut it without a care for her face shape, blown out like some kind of Housewife from somewhere.
She ate a burger while the salon fixed her hair so she wouldn’t be embarrassed, but I could smell her hunger above all the other scents.
Her omega scent was faint. It was all daisies and carnations, but it took some work for my bear to pick it up. She was dosed with suppressants and, from what I could tell, they had her on scent blockers by the dozen. I was surprised we could scent her at all.
“I don’t know. Something not messy?” She pointed to my sweatshirt where the tiniest of ketchup stains marred the otherwise clean garment.
“Sure. And don’t worry about the sweatshirt. We can throw it in the wash when we get home.”
I had a feeling little things were made giant in an oppressive home with her father. I’d only had an interaction with him once and I knew he was a grade A bastard. One could only imagine what he did behind closed doors.
“Thank you. Are we not going home now? I mean, to your home?” Her body was racked with tremors.
“Not quite yet. You didn’t bring a lot, so we thought we would pick you up what you need while we’re here. Our small town has limited clothing stores, and we’re a good distance even from those. Are you up for it?” Tyrone asked her. His eyes softened when he spoke to her, I’d noticed. That was good. Wewere going to have to handle her with gentle hands until she grew her spine again.
“Not too much. I don’t want you to spend a lot of money on me.”
Cannon took her hand in a bold move. “We want to. Let’s go to this store. It looks like they have some nice things.”
Since the three of us knew zero about women’s clothing and all she needed, we handed our new omega off to the sales clerk. We asked her to ring up everything the omega touched and, in addition, anything she thought our female needed. The clerk, clearly on commission, went right to work.
It was over two hours until they were done, but she still didn’t have what she needed. Turned out, our omega didn’t touch many things and rejected most of what the disappointed clerk tried to get her to take.
We tried three more stores until we all were weighed down with bags and even Millie carried one with new underwear and bras. We stayed outside for that part, thinking she would be more comfortable with a woman, but I saw her glance out the front window more than once.
Perhaps checking if we were still there.
Our poor omega. It might take a while, but she would learn to trust us. We’d never let her down.
“I’ve never had this many clothes in my life,” she murmured. Cute as a bug, she tried to help us put things in the back of the truck. Nope. Not with her three alphas around.
“You do now,” Tyrone said.
She shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t know how I’m going to pay you back for this. I’ll work hard. I promise.”
