"It means," Mason says, answering for Zayne. "We are a nosy bunch of idiots who needed to know if you were okay."
"You knew I was dating a pack but didn't know I was an omega?"
"We just assumed there was a male omega in the pack."
I feel my cheeks darken, and I look away from them, staring at some kids waiting in line to sit on Santa's lap. I'm hoping they don't notice the blush, but the three of them always notice everything about me. At least they did, back when we were best friends. I didn't know what we were now. We haven't spoken in years. Even before I left town. But they knew enough about my life to know I recently dated a pack. If I were going to be honest, I would tell them I fought the urge to look them up almost every day or ask my parents about them. I was never going to be honest about that, though.
"Can't you smell me? It should have been obvious the moment each of you hugged me."
They all share a look, and I miss the days when I was included in their silent conversations. Finally, Mason speaks. "Ness… You smell like nothing to us."
"Ouch."
His eyes widen, and he gets up and quickly crouches next to me. "Baby no. You don't smell bad. You just don't smell like anything… Almost like you're hiding your scent."
Hiding my scent…Oh!Oh!"I am such an idiot. I use scent-blocking soap and deodorant like most omegas in New York. I forgot I didn't switch to normal stuff when I got back."
"Don't use it again," Zayne says gruffly from next to me, and I find myself nodding in agreement.
"I can't wait to get a whiff of your scent, Ness," Mason murmurs from where he is still crouching next to me.
"Look, I know it's been forever, but we used to have so much fun up at the cabin." Silas grins. "You lived in the hot tub until the bear incident."
I snort out a laugh. I look over at Zayne, shaking my head in amusement. "You thought you were so funny, hiding in the woods and pretending to be a bear. I almost drowned trying to get out of the hot tub and then almost broke my neck when I slipped trying to get back inside to safety."
His lips lift in a slow smile, almost like the motion seems foreign to him. After a second, it's gone, and I'm left questioning if it was ever even there. "I wanted to save you."
"He wanted to see your boobs," Mason mutters, and I feel myself blushing again.
"I never used the hot tub naked, idiots," I grumble, staring down at the table.
"Baby girl, in my dreams you were in there naked."
"Zayne! Mason! Silas!" I look up and see Samantha standing at the entrance of the tent, frowning at the four of us. "I need your help setting up, please."
Mason reaches across the table and squeezes my hand. "Please come with us. We're staying through Christmas, but we can bring you back whenever."
There is no way in hell that I was going to the cabin with the three of them. Not with the way my body was reacting to them, not with how their scents did crazy things to my hormones.
"I'll think about it."
"Good girl," Zayne praises, making me preen. Who am I right now? "Your mom has my number. We're leaving tomorrow morning, so call me later to let us know."
Mason hugs me, his hands resting on my ass again. He looks down at me and smiles. "I really hope you come, little one."
Silas hugs me next. "Don't make me show up and kidnap you, Ness. We have a lot of catching up to do."
My eyes go wide when he leans down and presses a kiss to the corner of my lips, his massive arms tightening around me as his lips linger there. I just stand there like an idiot when he pulls back and fucking winks at me.
"See you tomorrow."
I turn to face Zayne, who is just standing there with his hands in his pockets. He looks down at me with an unreadable expression on his face. I don't know this version of Zayne. The Zayne I knew from school had been a bigger goofball than the other two combined and would never have hesitated to scoop me up and crush me in a bear hug. But Zayne also didn't have scars or the haunted look in his eyes back then.
Refusing to let him leave without a hug, I step forward and wrap my arms around his waist. Pressing my face into his chest, I get another hit of his delicious gingerbread scent, and my body melts into him. I want to say something to him, to ask him if he is okay, but I don't know how. He seems so much darker than the kid I knew.
He wraps his arms around me, hugging me tight, and I feel some of the tension leaving his body. "You feel good," he grunts, and I giggle.
I actually giggle, and somehow those three words make me feel better than I have in months, maybe years. "You feel good, too."
