When we got to the car, I cried out in surprise as Clementine threw her arms around me. Her fiery red curls were pulled up in a messy bun on top of her head, and she was dressed in a loungewear set.
“Sorry! Didn’t mean to startle you. Get in here quick. We’ve got to be focused,” she said, a whirlwind of energy.
I forced myself to buckle in and stared longingly back at my apartment building as we pulled away from the curb.
“We only have a few minutes for me to give a rundown of the two packs you’re interviewing. Usually, you would only do one interview a day, so you aren’t overwhelmed. Especially with your heat coming up, you’re probably going to be more overwhelmed by alpha pheromones. But your parents are pushing for you to match with someone immediately, so they’ve set up two interviews today. The first will be Pack Madden.”
Clementine handed me a folder. Inside was a photo of four alphas in suits. It was no surprise that they were all tall and muscular, but what was surprising was that they all had the exact same haircut and unsmiling facial expressions.
“They look like clones,” I said, giving Clementine an unimpressed look.
“Oh, just wait; it gets worse once you hear about them,” she responded with a smirk. “Personality? None. Favorite activity? Lording their power over everyone and kissing Glen Jacoby’s ass. Likelihood they can bring a woman to orgasm? Absolutely zero.”
I laughed as I flipped through the rest of the pages in the folder. “I don’t think those are their questionnaire answers.”
“Don’t worry, I’m just saving you time reading their fake-ass answers. This is not going to be your pack. There are a lot of rumors floating around of them assaulting betas, and they support even stricter Designation Laws. They need an omega to cement their status and legitimacy as a pack so they can run for office, and I’m guessing they’ll just keep her locked up in their mansion.”
My palms grew sweaty, and my chest tightened as I clenched the Pack Madden folder. The partition separating us from Dave lowered.
“Clem, that is not helpful,” he said. Clementine looked up from where she was pulling another folder out of her bag.
“Oh my god. Josie, are you okay? I didn’t mean to freak you out. They’re not going to be your pack. Forget about them.”
I was too far gone to process what she was saying, my panic dragging me deep underwater. No matter what, I still had to be in an enclosed room alone with those alphas.
“Omega,” Dave said gruffly. “I need you to breathe nice and slow for me.”
I wanted to hate him for calling me omega, but I could feel myself instinctually responding to his deep alpha voice. My breathing evened out.
“I can’t do this,” I whimpered. I blinked quickly to keep my tears from falling. Clementine pulled me in for a hug and rubbed her hand up and down my back. I stiffened at first before allowing myself to relax into her embrace.
“You can do this,” she said. “I know it sucks to have to do the interview with them, but they can’t touch you or do anything to you. You just have to get through the interview and then you never have to see them again. Omegas always have the final say on the pack, no matter what your parents want. And you have a much better pack option. I might even call them dreamy.”
I pulled away from her and shot her a skeptical look.
“I know, I know,” she said. “It’s hard to believe. But this is Pack Ashwood.” She handed me the folder with an exaggerated flourish.
I opened to the first page, where it listed the alphas’ names: Cameron, Benjamin, and Theodore Ashwood.
“I told you they were hot,” Clementine said, giving me a pointed look.
Dave made a growling coughing sound.
She wasn’t wrong. I bit my lip as I looked at the photo of the three of them. They were standing next to each other in some sort of garden, arms around each other. Cam, on the left, was pure muscle. His tan arms were tattooed, and his black t-shirt clung to his massive chest. His dark brown hair was tied up in a bun and his beard was neatly trimmed. He looked like a combination of a secret service agent/hipster and exuded authority. He was the type of alpha I would usually write off, but there was something about his relaxed stance, the way his arm was slung around his pack mates’ shoulders. His smile seemed genuine, crinkling the skin around his eyes.
I shifted my eyes to Ben, standing in the middle. He was almost as tall as Cam, wearing a fitted gray button-down, rolled up at the sleeves, and black square-frame glasses that looked adorably nerdy. His bright blue eyes were lit with laughter, and his messy brown hair was faded on the sides with beautiful curls at the top of his head. His presence felt lighthearted and playful even through the photo.
The alpha on the right, Theo, was the smallest of the three, although I guessed he was probably still six feet tall and all lean muscle. His dark brown hair stuck up in an endearing way, and his brown eyes felt warm. Theo looked over at the two other alphas with a reserved smile on his clean-shaven face. His formal black button-down and tie felt out of place in the photo, but the three of them somehow worked together.
My eyes skimmed the bios.Fuck, Theo is British? I love a good accent.
“How long have they been a pack?” I asked, frustrated as I read through the sparse bios.
Clementine shuffled through her notes. “They formed their pack fifteen years ago.”
I raised my brows in surprise. “Why haven’t they bonded an omega yet?”
Fifteen years was an almost unheard-of amount of time to be without an omega, especially for a pack this powerful and wealthy.
