Orlando hoped that was true. When he’d given Luke final say on seriously courting Genesis, he’d been sure his packmate would make the right choice. Now, he was starting to second guess himself, something Orlando rarely did.
A few minutes later, however, the surly asshole swaggered back into the cottage, freshly dressed in his customary jeans, t-shirt, and flannel, and carrying a large package. He set it on the island, before taking his spot at the table, and digging into the breakfast spread without comment.
“What’s that?” Genesis asked, gesturing at the box he’d brought, her brown eyes bright with curiosity.
Luke shrugged, taking a big bite of sausage before answering. “Andrea said it came during your heat. From your dads.”
Genesis eyed the package, chewing her food thoughtfully. Orlando knew she hadn’t talked to her fathers since the disastrous dinner, aside from a few texts and emails. As angry as he’d been on her behalf, he still hoped they might reconcile. He could tell how much their rejection had hurt Genesis. He could also see that they were trying—in their belated, bumbling way. He thought Genesis would be happier if she could find some way to have a relationship with them, even if they’d never be close, and he wanted that for her. He wanted his omega to be happy, to feel surrounded by love. If her fathers couldn’t manage to give that to her, Orlando damn sure would.
“Hmm,” was all Genesis said, before turning her attention back to her meal.
They took their time enjoying their food, Luke slowly thawing as the conversation grew livelier. At one point, Genesis glanced at her phone, then did a double take and started tapping on it rapidly.
“No phones at the table, Buttercup. You know that,” Luke warned. “Now that your heat’s over, you can earn punishments again.”
“Spank me then.” Genesis tossed him a saucy grin that made Orlando’s dick twitch again. “But not now because I just got the best message from Avery. Her mates are away next weekend, and she and the boys want to come visit me. She says she has a surprise for me. It’s obviously a thinly veiled excuse to finally meet you because she’s nosey as hell, but it would still be nice. Do you mind?”
As if they could deny her anything when she looked at them all bright-eyed and eager like that. Before he even answered, Orlando was already planning ways to make her friend’s visit as pleasant as possible. Anything to make his omega happy.
“Of course, Tesoro,” he said with a smile. “We would love to meet your friend.”
Genesis squealed, doing a little dance in her seat, and it was like she’d filled his heart with helium. Pleasing Genesis was a drug, and Orlando was completely addicted. He wasn’t sure exactly when he’d become so completely smitten with her, but he was too far gone now to turn back.
Genesis Valentine was going to be his.
Chapter eighteen
Genesis
“Ican’t believe you didn’t tell me you were pregnant again, you sneaky bitch,” Genesis griped, glaring at Avery over her glass of sparkling water.
The two women sat knee-to-knee at the cottage’s kitchen island, talking in circles, Genesis returning again and again to Avery’s pregnancy. She was excited for a new nibling, and equally excited by the thought that babies might be in her own future. Deep down, Genesis was surer than ever that she’d be making Avery an aunt someday. Maybe even someday soon.
Avery laughed. “I found out during your heat, and then we talked and planned this visit, so I knew I’d get to tell you face-to-face. You’re basically the first person outside of our household to know, with your dramatic ass.”
Genesis laughed and then they were both laughing and it was so lovely to be sharing space with her best friend. They rarely got to spend uninterrupted time together these days, with the kidsand jobs and all the other adulting that got in the way, but when they were together it was always like no time had passed. It’d been that way since they were children. Genesis could always count on their connection, could always rely on Avery to be her person.
It suddenly struck Genesis then how happy she was. She was working on something important, something that would change her career and, hopefully, the world. She was surrounded by people who cared about her, including three kindhearted, accomplished, intelligent, and ridiculously sexy alphas. Even her fathers were finding their way back into her life, and she was cautiously optimistic about their budding relationship. They had a long way to go, but things were okay—something she hadn’t been able to say since her early childhood.
Genesis had interviewed Serenity, amazed by the young omega’s harrowing story of surviving a trafficking ring, before clawing her way out of captivity in an abandoned warehouse in the dead of winter. Genesis also held several interviews with Pack Rossi, surprised that even Luke was willing to answer a few questions while he tossed around bales of hay.
Even more surprisingly, Genesis’s fathers had sent a box of her mother’s keepsakes, some items accompanied by handwritten notes explaining their significance. It was the notes that made her cry as she read about her mother in each of her fathers’ own words. Their recollections were full of a love she’d doubted for twenty-four years. They’d loved Josephine and, just maybe, they loved Genesis too.
With those firsthand accounts and her own research, the first draft of her story was nearly complete. She wanted to talk to a few medical and law enforcement professionals, but that was mostly to strengthen a few key points that were already pretty solid. She knew the story was good, and that it could have a major impact, she just had to get it in front of the right readers.
Because Genesis was the right person to tell this story. She was going to make damn sure omega voices were finally heard. She was going to honor her mother’s and Evelyn’s memories. She was going to make sure Serenity’s suffering hadn’t been in vain. She was going to make a difference in the world.
But right now, she was going to enjoy the last day of her best friend’s visit to the farm. Avery and the boys had been great company for both Genesis and Pack Rossi. Genesis had given them the cottage for the weekend, spending her nights in Orlando and Gabriel’s beds, and pretending that she wasn’t hoping from an invitation from Luke too. Though that invitation didn’t come, all three alphas had been wonderful to their guests. Pack Rossi had been spoiling the boys rotten, feeding them far too much and entertaining them for most of each day so that Genesis and Avery could catch up without worrying about having to feed the swear jar.
Genesis was surprised by how sexy it was to see the three alphas interacting with the kids. Orlando answered their incessant questions with his typical patience, seeming to genuinely enjoy their exuberant conversations. Gabriel let them make art, teaching them different techniques and not caring how big of a mess they made.
Luke was their new hero. He was all dad jokes and playful roughhousing, lifting and tossing the boys around easily, to their absolute delight. He tirelessly played catch and touch football and anything else that caught Noah or Xavier’s fancy. It was pretty much the sweetest thing Genesis had ever seen.
“I’ve never seen you this happy, Gen,” Avery said, eyeing Genesis shrewdly. “I knew the sex had to be incredible, but you’ve been holding out on the rest. They treat you like a queen and look at you like the sun shines out of your ass. You’re lucky we’re besties, otherwise I’d be jealous that you have the nerve to not only be gorgeous and smart with a killer body, but somehowmanaged to luck into the best pack ever. Actually, scratch that. I’m still jealous.”
Genesis rolled her eyes, feigning a nonchalance she didn’t feel. “We’re fake courting. It’s just pretend, Ave.”
She didn’t really believe that, and Avery didn’t buy it either. She said as much, and they were arguing good-naturedly when a knock on the door interrupted their conversation. Genesis hopped off her barstool and went to answer it.
