“Nobody needs to be alone, Secret.”
I suck in air at the nickname that I’d almost forgotten. We were each other’s secrets, and he called me that for the weeks we spent getting to know each other. Where interest turned into me scribbling his name in hearts on my desk.
“I have to…” I look up and lock eyes with my past, and he just smiles kindly back.
“Sofia Sol, when were you going to tell me you were back in town?” Cordelia Lake, my best friend since birth, screeches in a sound I have heard a million times before. She runs on the spot, her black hair flying as she letsloose another screech that could shatter glass. She has the most beautiful brown eyes. “Are the Sunshine Omegas back together?”
Asher and Felix flank her; their ethereal beauty is striking. The fraternal twins look similar enough that sometimes they can pass for each other, and only close family can tell. Felix is a rare male omega, while Asher is female, and their personalities are as different as you can get. Felix is an artist, but Asher is a fighter, an adventurer who would live in the ocean if she could. Both have light brown hair and arresting gold-green eyes.
“You guys got old!” I say, teasing them.
“Sofia!” my dad says with a laugh.
“Get your ass over here so I can inspect those wrinkles properly!” Cordie shouts. “I need me some Sofia squishies!”
We collide in a mass of arms. The twins joining us. It’s been too long, and text and email just aren’t the same thing; even video chatting can’t hold a candle to this feeling.
I have so much I want to tell them, but right now, in this minute, I’m just glad to be back.
“Oh, man, life’s about to get real fun now,” I hear Elijah murmur, and when I open my eyes, he’s staring at me with a look on his face that I can’t interpret, but it makes me feel good. Scared but really good.
Chapter 5
Devon
Seeing the Sunshine Omegas together again is doing all sorts of weird things to me. It’s reawakening these possessive, obsessive feelings that I’ve buried for a long time. I want to scoop up my little Rebel and take her home, lock her in the nest that we’ve prepared and wait until she sees the light of day. Or convince her. I’m good either way as long as she’s where I can see her.
Sebastian claps a hand on my shoulder. “Shall we get this over and done with?”
I glance at Lorelei, wondering if by some miracle she’s paired us with her daughter. Life wouldn’t be that easy, though, would it?
Sebastian fist bumps a couple of alphas and swans on past, leaving me alone, but he’s the golden alpha of Sunshine Cove, while I am, at heart, its bad boy. It was always me who led him astray. Cutting school, smoking, drinking. Organising the parties up at the lighthouse. Getting in trouble, right up until Sebastian and the Sols took me under their wing. My reputation has been difficult to escape.
The Sandy Heart Café has its bifold doors open, and all the elegant chairs that are normally inside are out, facing the street. They are all occupied by Pack Makers. I bite my bottom lip as I look them over, trying to work out how they are going to play this.
There’s a crowd of single people standing on the street, milling around, but I think everyone feels the pressure of their calculating expectations. Allthe other shops are temporarily closed. Everyone seems disgustingly excited for it.
I can’t say no to Lorelei Sol, though. She saved me and opened herself and her family to me not once, but twice. What would she say if I were to pursue her daughter? Would she hate it? No, she put us in her room; she’s made comments over the years. I’m sure she knows how we feel. At times, I’ve wondered if she’s been subtly pushing us towards Sofia.
Sebastian will blow up over it. But I’m not going to let him stop me. This time.
My gaze is drawn back to where Rebel, Cordelia, Felix, and Asher have their heads together, whispering furiously as they glance at the Pack Makers. No doubt they are catching Sofia up on what’s going to happen.
She’s like a flame, a bonfire on a cold night. Like warmth, one can’t help but to turn towards her. She laughs too loud, too freely, her smile is unfiltered, her eyes dance. Sofia Sol is a free spirit with more passion that anyone has a right to have. If she’s close, I have never been able to look away from her.
I sidle up beside her. She looks up at me and blushes; the colour is enchanting. I ignore Cordelia’s laughter and nudge Danger, who lets out a tiny little yawn that turns Sofia’s suspicion instantly to adoration.
One day, she’s going to look at me like that.
She takes him into her arms, cooing. I get this sudden and violent image of her holding our child, and it leaves me reeling.
“Are you all right, Devon?”
I blink my way free of the image and find Felix and Asher exchanging money, with their eyes on me.
“Devon?”
“Mm?” I refocus on Rebel.
