“Nah, it’s all good. We’re going to get going in a few hours and stay at Noah’s apartment. If we can lean on you for extra eyes and ears when we move, that’d be appreciated.”
“I’ll get it organised,” Reno says. He’s a good guy. The first time we met I seriously did a double take when someone said he wasn’t an alpha, because he scents, looks, and acts like one. Honestly, sometimes Mother Nature is such a bitch, but his DNA has never held him back. I guess at the end of the day, being a beta doesn’t matter at all if you find the right woman for you. Bailey is definitely that for him, the guy positively fucking glows now he’s packed to one of the country’s most famous omegas.
But I still think I won the fucking omega mega-lottery.
“Guess we won’t ask Lincoln or Valak if they want to catch up over a beer later?” he asks, one of his cultured eyebrows arching up high. Reno looks as high maintenance as Bailey.
A laugh belts out of me because not even Henley or Koda would have the guts to catch up with either Lincoln or Valak yet. Once our omega is safe, and after about a thousand years, it might be a different story, but right now, anyone getting in our way, for whatever reason, is going to be dancing with the devil. We’ll be testing that theory though, because without a doubt the shit coming up for Pack Teo is going to rely on us leaning on a couple of trusted packs. The number of people we need to deal with is crazy, but the Alliance was formed for this very reason; we just won’t be able to stand around shooting the shit after with them. The time after packs form and take their mates is always volatile. Add in that Val and I are generally like that already, and since we’re talking about my gorgeous Len, tensions are going to simmer at a dangerous level for a long time to come.
I leave Reno with a rough timeline then return back to help Valak dry off, fill him full of brotherly advice and painkillers, then haul our box of food back to our makeshift campsite. Swapping out with Noah and Lincoln while they shower and freshen up, Val and I talk strategy but eventually get distracted by our pretty omega.
“Val,” I whisper over the top of her. “We’ve got around a month until her next heat. In that time, you need to have a heat gift sorted, or I’ll be really fucking disappointed in you.”
He chuckles, shaking his head. “You don’t think it’s more important we have a list of who we’re going after?”
“Nah, Len’s got one ready to go through with us already. Besides, fucking shit up is a given. Don’t go soft. Hey, you need to fucking dazzle her.”
“Trust me, Gabe, I won’t be going soft.” Then my older brother smiles like a fiend. “You’re going to be so fucking green with envy when you see what I give her. I’ve got it sorted.”
“Bullshit.”
“No bullshit. Dead set. I ordered it already. As soon as I got on the charter I found the right one, and it’s happening already.”
“Say what?”
“Ahhh, so that’s what the problem is, you don’t have a clue what to get her,” he goads me, except there’s no need for me to bite back. I’ve got my girl’s heat gift well and truly taken care of. And I fucking know she’s going to be touched.
My little troublemaker takes a deep inhale, and my twin and I stop talking. Val brushes her hair off her face. “Lennon, time to wake up.”
She gives the sweetest, most ferocious growl, but Val keeps trying to get her to open her eyes, and I use a pillow as protection. For such a pint-sized troublemaker she is legit scary as fuck when you have to wake her up. I’ve only done it a couple of times, and I’m still a bit traumatised.
I throw caution to the wind. “Len, what about if you wake up, tell everyone what you figured out. You do that, and I promise to get you out of here within an hour. Deal?”
Her eyes burst open. They glare right at me, but at least she’s wide awake. She also kind of wakes up a bit fiery, grabbing the pillow and damn near suffocating me with it, but I know it’s her language of love.
“Stop trying to kill me, Len. Let’s get out of here, get you covered in blood before we chill the fuck out for the rest of time.” Although, it really gets mushed as it comes out my mouth.
She lifts the pillow and looks all demure and shit as she shrugs and agrees in an instant.
“You tell them yet it looks like fucking Fez from Broken Cube sold you out?”
“Getting there, handsome. I need food and a goddamn kiss first!”
34
LENNON
Some people have a bucket list, I have a shit list. And it contains such an array of people it would appear random unless you had Regalo’s stick in your possession. Fez is like the only thing on the list that stands out for glaringly obvious reasons.
Setting up at Noah’s apartment is one hundred times better than our set up at Baileys. Despite how freaking awesome our nylon nest was, being here is better.
Returning to work is as necessary to me as sitting in the lounge watching bad movies. And it’s fortunate we’re between seasons because a lot of my sports stars are either on holidays or starting their early season training. With Val and Lincoln needing time to recover, instead of the emails to my client list, I make calls which are not as hard as I thought they’d be. Coming out as an omega, without the detail, is surprisingly easy and it helps me settle into the next part knowing my clients aren’t about to be blindsided. Time will tell if they remain clients, but at least I got to them with the truth as opposed to the crap they’ll hear. Especially when things heat up after King & King’s motion to sue.
Now that my business is as secure as I can make it, our focus returns to my shit list. I’m not ignorant, or insensitive, when I keep listing off the people I’m going to target along with my reasons like I’m talking about the traffic. I had a printed and detailed list for my pack so they could prepare themselves. Although, each time I bring it up or one of my pack asks for clarification on a person or reason, I have to change clothes—clearly possessive growly alphas are my weakness.
Coming back wearing a fresh change of clothes for what I hope is the last time before we leave, my shorty shorts give me a chance to cool off. Although my scent is near impossible to turn off.
“You are not wearing that when we go, Lennon. No way,” Valak growls.
