His words seemed to fall on deaf ears. Tessa was frozen in place. Her cheeks were so pale. She chewed on her lip so roughly that I was afraid she’d hurt herself. Both Betas reached out, as if to pick her up if necessary to finish the delivery. Catalina launched into action, maybe sensing the situation could deteriorate quickly given the Omega’s previous defiance. As soon as our longtime publicist closed the distance and spoke, I knew that wasn’t why though. Cat spoke to Tessa soothingly, telling her everything was going to be okay. She didn’t need to be scared.
Cat's motherly voice carried the same tone she used when one of us was having a meltdown during a fan event or before hitting the stage.She always found a way to see the best in each of us, and make sure we saw it too. Dixon had been on the receiving end of her gentle parenting more than anyone else lately, usually after punching through something in a fit of ferality.
"Tessa, we’re so glad you’re here. I'm Catalina," she said, placing a hand over her chest. "This must be the cat we’ve heard so much about?” Cat moved, reaching for the stroller’s handle. The Beta holding it bristled but then backed off after a nod from his partner. Peering through the domed window, Cat smiled. “Well, she’s lovely, isn’t she? Just wait until you see everything the boys bought. You’d think we had twenty kittens arriving instead of one.”
Disarming, that was Catalina’s gift. It’s how she soothed the media and altered the narrative in our favor. Her gentle, convincing nature could change the minds of even the toughest critics.
“Do you think you can follow me into the house?” Catalina pressed, after Tessa remained unmoving.
My heart thudded in my chest. I wanted so badly to race forward and throw our mate over my shoulder and carry her inside, but I knew this was delicate. Cat was the right person for the job.
“I promise, sweetheart, you are going to be safe here. Youbothwill be safe.”
It was that guarantee that finally thawed Tessa. She nodded slowly, mouth finally falling slack. Even from this distance, I could see the bead of blood dotting her pale pink mouth from where she’d chewed her lower lip brutally.
Cat wheeled the stroller beside Tessa, letting the Omega set the pace. Our mate moved hesitantly, her body language stiff and apprehensive. When they got to the base of the stairs, Catalina’s mouth screwed up as she considered how to lift the stroller. Before the delivery Betas could handle it, Dixon lumbered down the steps. His quick approach, and giant body, made Tessa stumble backwards and nearly trip. Dixon moved swiftly, reaching out for her, his long arms managing to close the distance so his hands could grip her upper shoulders and pull her back steady.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, still holding onto her. They were locked that way until Cat cleared her throat. Dixon sheepishly dropped his hands and ducked his hand, too shy to look at Tessa after nearly knocking her over. “Sorry,” he offered again. “I’ll get this.”
Quickly, he scooped up the entire stroller and turned around, taking the steps two at a time and then disappearing into the house. As soon as it was out of sight, Tessa scrambled forward, tripping over the cloak and stumbling up the stairs in a desperate effort to rejoin the cat.
“Josie, I’m right here.” Her voice hitched on the words. Her voice. It was the first time any of us were hearing her speak and the sound was beautiful. Without waiting for an invitation, our Omega pushed into the house.
We all followed, Mac and Tray beating me inside and Catalina fast on my heels. No one gave two shits about the Eros Betas, who entered the house last.
My eyes searched, quickly finding Tessa kneeling down next to the stroller. The clear window was flapped open now. She reached inside, lifting the kitten out and pressing her securely against her body before standing up. Tessa seemed calmer now, as if the cat was the only security blanket she needed.
“So, her name is Josie?” Catalina asked, stepping forward. “I love that name.”
Before Tessa could speak, the delivery driver’s broke boomed through the foyer. “Please conduct your inspection of the product. Our supervisors expect a repeat soon.”
“You want us to thoroughly inspect her in front of you?” Dixon, who’d been standing against a wall to give Tessa space, stomped forward. “What kind of perverts would?—”
The driver… delivery agent… Eros Beta, whatever the fuck we should call him, interrupted. “No, of course not. We aren’t allowed to see her. We will wait here while you perform the inspection. Afterwards, your representative can sign the final approval in front of us for verification.”
“Of course,” Catalina took over, trying to get the process back on track. “Tessa, we can go into the pack suite. We’ll have privacy there.”
“We?” Tessa whispered the word as a question.
“Everyone except for the Eros employees,” Catalina clarified. She moved forward, gently touching Tessa’s elbow, and guiding her slowly into the mansion and towards the expansive suite with its double king bed. It was the first door down the main hallway left of the patio doors. We’d passed by it for so long, none of us entering for any length of time, because it only served to remind us that we were mateless, unbound, and fucking alone.
When Cat opened the door, swinging it inward to reveal all the updates, I could tell that my pack brothers were realizing the same thing I was—this was real. This room was now an active part of our home, because we finally had an Omega to call our own. Cat and Tessa entered side by side, Josie the cat still clutched against the Omega’s chest. Dixon and I tried to walk in together, but our shoulders were too wide, and we got stuck in the door frame. We grunted and pushed, neither of us wanting to back away. Eventually, as Dixon’s scent exploded in a heady blast of musk that took my breath away, I shifted enough to let him enter first. Mac and Tray, not warring for dominance, came into the room without issue.
Once the door was closed behind us all, Catalina held her hands out to Tessa. “May I put Josie on the bed? It will be easier for you to move that way.”
Tessa shrunk away, as if she’d just been threatened with bodily harm.
“Sweetheart, look around you,” Cat urged, “Josie is going to have the best life here.”
At those words, Tessa slowly began to turn in a circle. We couldn’t see her eyes, but I imagined they were taking in every facet of the room. The giant bed with its puffy new comforter and array of decorative pillows. The mirrored vanity outfitted with cosmetics. The large, tree shaped pattern of shelving now tracing across one wall, its purpose obviously feline focused.
Cat still held her arms out, patiently waiting. Silently, Tessa placed the cat into her waiting embrace. She kept watch as Cat carried Josie to the bed and gently placed her down.
“They gave her something to make her sleep, I think.” Tessa’s shaking voice was so quiet, yet somehow it filled the entire room with sound. “I don’t know what they gave her. I’m scared she won’t wake up.”
That last bit broke me, cracking my heart in two.
“We’ll call a vet as soon as the Eros agents leave,” I rushed out the words.
