By the time her best friend left, Genesis felt like she might be ready to meet Pack Rossi.
“Do you have any additional questions now that you’ve had time to digest the information I provided?” Dr. Gardiner asked, smiling brightly.
Genesis jumped. She’d been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed when the doctor had stopped talking to the driver and turned to her. They were sitting comfortably in the backseat of a private car, on their way to meet with Pack Rossi.
Genesis had a million questions running through her mind, but not many she thought the doctor could actually answer.
What am I doing? Have I lost my mind? Are my daddy issues more serious than I thought? Is there lipstick on my teeth?
“How do they run a business from so far outside the city?” Genesis asked instead.
She was using her journalist voice—the voice of someone assertive who asked the right questions, and didn’t get shaken by the answers. Inside, however, she was losing her shit. The calm she’d felt after Avery’s visit had evaporated in the morning sunlight.
Dr. Gardiner smiled again. The beautiful beta smiled a lot. Genesis couldn’t imagine that dealing with hormonal omegas and aggressive alphas was all shits and giggles, but Dr. Gardiner seemed constantly delighted by her job.
“Well, they have excellent Wi-Fi and the means to employ others to handle their errands,” the doctor replied, absently smoothing her dark hair despite the fact that her stylish bun was impeccable. “Orlando goes into the office a few times a week, I believe, but I imagine the heads of really successful businesses rarely have to be intimately involved in the day-to-day operations.”
Genesis nodded, her gut tightening. She was used to wealthy people, but she didn’t necessarily like them. Coming from an affluent family, she knew how greedy and selfish wealth made people. But that was a good thing, something else that made her incompatible with Pack Rossi. They had all the right red flags for her situation—nothing deplorable or dangerous, but enough flaws to ensure that she could keep them at a healthy emotionaldistance. She was not interested in growing attached to these men.
Avery and Greyson’s words floated into her mind, countering her determined indifference.I see three very good reasons to give it a try, Avery had said.Try. Just as Greyson had told her to do. Was she really trying if she was determined not to like Pack Rossi?
“You said that this works best when all parties behave as if the omega is actually a part of the pack,” Genesis said, trying not to fidget under the doctor’s bright gaze. “Does that mean I’d have to live with them? I’m used to living alone.”
Though she’d grown up in a boarding school, she’d had a private room, like most of the wealthier kids at the obscenely expensive academy. She’d lived by herself since she’d graduated, guiltily accepting her fathers’ insistence on paying for a loft apartment in a secure, omega-friendly building in the city. They’d bought the flat and covered the annual fees for the twenty-four-hour security.
Genesis knew the gesture was one of duty rather than kindness. Until she was mated, her safety was the responsibility of her fathers in the eyes of many traditionalists. If something happened to her, it would reflect poorly on them, which Pack Valentine would never allow. Genesis told herself the apartment was repayment for her therapy bills. Still, once she’d gotten a job, she’d started saving to pay them back. On her salary it would probably only take about three hundred years.
That was another benefit of this temporary pack arrangement. She could sublet her place and pocket a nice sum in rent. It wouldn’t be difficult to find someone willing to do a short-term lease. The thought of committing to live with these alphas for months made Genesis feel a little queasy.
“For the best results, you really should cohabitate.” Dr. Gardiner’s smile turned apologetic. “But I think you’re going to like the setup they offer. I’ll let them tell you about it.”
Genesis nodded, hardly listening. She’d read about a thousand medical articles on the topic, so she’d known the answer to her question, even if she didn’t exactly like it. Between the alphas’ attention, a cocktail of herbal medicines, and a slow taper off of heat suppressants, her biological needs would finally be met. Her heats would ease, and her scent would change. She wouldn’t have to worry about perfuming and attracting unwanted attention on the job. Then Everett could put her in the field.
There was the drawback that if she spent too much time away from the pack, however, her scent would gradually revert. Essentially, she had to stay put if she wanted the benefits of this arrangement to stick.
“Even if you spent twenty-four hours a day with them, you’d still be perfectly safe,” Dr. Gardiner assured her. “The rut suppressants are extremely effective, even on alphas with far less self-control than Pack Rossi. They’re some of the best men I’ve worked with. They won’t mistreat you, and they won’t claim you. Although if they did, you’d be a very lucky woman.”
“I’m sure that’s true, but highly unlikely,” Genesis replied, turning to look out of the window at the passing countryside. “None of us are interested in mating, which makes this the perfect temporary match. It’s clear you’re very good at your job.”
“You don’t know the half of it.” There was a smile in the doctor’s voice, but she didn’t say anything more, leaving Genesis to her own thoughts for the rest of the ride.
When they reached the Wilder farm, Genesis’s mouth fell open. The farmhouse was a farmmansionthat shouldn’t have worked but somehow did. It was a huge structure of white brick and black metal accents—traditional and modern at once. Huge windows with black frames, an endless wraparound coveredporch with classic wood elements, carefully sculpted greenery, and flagstone pathways all came together in an undeniably beautiful conglomeration of old and new that suited Genesis’s perception of Pack Rossi perfectly.
“Wow,” she said, craning her neck to look up at the giant home. “Quaint.”
Dr. Gardiner laughed, stepping to Genesis’s side and following her gaze. “Wait until you see the inside. And the owners.”
The doctor led the way up the stone steps, looking the picture of professionalism with her smart bun and leather medical bag. Genesis followed, glancing at her reflection in the glass door panels. She’d pulled her thick curls back, per Avery’s demand, and put on a light layer of makeup that felt like armor. Wanting to look put together but casual, she’d opted for dark jeans that hugged her curves, a white silk blouse, and a loose red blazer that matched her lipstick. The red high-top sneakers might’ve been a questionable choice, but the business practical thing was her style and made Genesis feel comfortable in her skin.
Well, comfortable might’ve been a strong word given the way her heart was hammering in her chest. She tried to take deep, calming breaths, surreptitiously attempting to huff the beta doctor’s neutral, calming scent before the inevitable onslaught of alpha pheromones. When Dr. Gardiner rang the doorbell, Genesis had the wild thought that this was her last chance to escape, to return to the life she knew before everything changed forever. She fought the urge to turn and run back to the car.
Then the door opened, and a smiling beta welcomed them into a foyer that smelled like cardamom and cloves and suede, and warmth and sadness and long nights spent dreaming beneath the stars. Genesis felt like the house was drawing her in, its scent inviting her deeper, toward the source of the delicious aroma. It wrapped around her like a buttery soft blanket.
“Thank you, Enid, I’ll take care of our guests from here.”
The voice was like the home’s scent brought to life. It was melted caramel, sweet and soothing. It made her chest feel warm and her lower belly clench.
Genesis turned slowly toward the voice, heart pounding. Was this anxiety over the situation, or was she overreacting to this house and its inhabitants? At this point in her heat cycle and on her suppressants, she shouldn’t respond so strongly to this slight brush with alpha pheromones.
