“I take every credible threat seriously but given where I am, I’d also say Pack Lowly are sucking on an orchard of bitter lemons.”
“Considering we’ve already suffered through an emergency board meeting, your statement is completely unnecessary but also entirely factual.”
“Correct. Anyway, I’m going to say this is nothing more than another play at ruining my weekend.”
“Of course, I think that’s it, Heidi. Together, I’m sure we will make the right decision. How do you feel out there?”
“Strangely, pretty safe. Pack Alastor had the Council out yesterday.”
“I received the security clearance. Besides, we’re not talking that kind of safety, and you know it.”
“I know, it seemed relevant though given Pack Lowly will probably try to grasp at straws, now we can say we both discussed the physicality of their security. On a personal note, Pack Alastor really do make me feel very safe. It’s surprising.”
“And you’ll let me know if that changes,” he prompts unnecessarily.
“I will. You know I’m not afraid of speaking out or doing what I want.”
Douglas makes a grunt that I read as an agreement. “Now, I’ve done a property search on Alastor confirming they’re the landholder, and it seems they’ve been the owner for fifteen years or so.”
“Does it have a mortgage over it?”
“Let me check,” he offers.
I laugh under my breath. “I was in the process of looking myself when you called. And now I might leave it with you. Will you let me know what you find, please?”
“Of course. Heidi, as of this moment, there’s nothing Verdune can do about you being there for the weekend. And there’s nothing for you to be concerned about. Try to have a good time, and I’ll call you if anything changes.”
Douglas hangs up without any further discussion but that’s how working with him is: simple until we have a situation that’s not, but he also does nothing without first discussing it with me. Encouraged by him reading the latest situations the same way I do, I log off and get on with my weekend away.
I’m not concerned I’ve been kind of snooping behind Pack Alastor’s back; I’m big into doing what you have to do so you feel safe, and that’s all I was doing. Within fifteen minutes I’m back with my head in the game, wearing one of the leisure sets Kai packed for me. Of course, it’s one of the sets that pushes boundaries—short shorts are my weakness, but I would have worn more material out of respect for them. Not me.
Clearly during the time I’ve been doing my thing, they’ve decided to get their head in the game too. The mood is different when I walk through their house, gone is the pressing tentativeness from earlier which is good because I left mine in the bathroom too. It’s time to explore this insta-attraction we share.
Rounding the last corner, I stop to check them out. But they make no attempts to hide the way they look me up and down. The way they each look at me is slow and luscious, but it’s not leery, if anything, it’s confirmation of Darius’s earlier comment about worship.
“Slow spin, rohi,” Kai insists in a toe-curling rumble, as he leans over the Formica island bench. His brothers pretty much mimic him as they all stop doing what they’re doing.
Emboldened by the praise and the hungry stares they drop my way, I let the matching knit long sleeved crop top I was going to wear fall to the floor. The shorts might be cable knit, but it’s a guise. They’ve got enough elastin in them to hug my ass, making it look as firm as a peach, and the high waist accentuates the lift of the bralette top and the pinch of my waist.
“Holy Christ, little moon, you look fine as fuck.” Darius twirls his finger which is a pretty clear sign he wants a repeat performance.
“Kai packed for me,” I say, doing just that and both Kai’s brothers reach out to him for a fist bump. Which is as ridiculously kitsch as it is hot. “Time to reciprocate, boys.” I stare at them in challenge.
“No boys in this house. Only Alphas. Unpacked Alphas, although we can change that in about five seconds flat.” Darius winks.
Kai is the first to lose his shirt. And much like the first time I saw him half undressed, my heart races off in a gallop while my ovaries twist. He runs a hand over his inked and chiselled chest, straight down into his pants with a dirty look and a filthy chuckle. Darius watches and glares at his brother before he starts taking his t-shirt off. He moves slower than Kai, more tease to each slow swirl of his hips.
Darius keeps his eyes locked on mine and even spins once he’s pulled off his top. With a quick wink, he balls his t-shirt and throws it right at my face. It’s a miracle I catch his shirt mid-air, considering I’m pretty much brainless as I gawk at him doing his own version of a Magic Mike striptease. And then he laughs, deep and throaty when I close my eyes as I get accosted by his thick spicy and sweet scent. The cheeky shit perfumed up before he threw it at me.
But two can play the tease game. I wipe my mouth on his shirt, slowly of course, and his laughter booming over the room has the same effect as his scent and dirty dancing…. It turns me on.
Dropping Darius’s shirt over my shoulder, I look at Ramses, waiting for him to do his thing. He shakes his head, clearly not going to play the same game, but he’s doing a top notch job with his improvised version. He makes a grab at a baseball cap and slides it on backwards, pulling it down nice and low before flicking his chin up. He knows how hot he looks. He knows.
Seeing them like this—full of the same level of interest I’m feeling—does all sorts of things to me—my breathing hitches, my face flushes pink and I know my scent spills through the room by the rumbles they make. But our peacocking is not scary or intimidating, it is no more than a reminder of how basic biology works. And I can do biology with my eyes shut.
I have to close my eyes for a moment because they are all that and more. Because there’s interested and then there is determination, and I need a moment to drink it all in. Except, I underestimate the power of scent-matched Alphas and as soon as my eyes shut, I stumble under the influence of their scent.
Mouth tingling orange, thick syrupy maple, and warm chai latte come together in a rich, flirty symphony that makes my skin pucker and my core throb in anticipation.
