Library

Track 19 Intentions

My emotions are all out of whack.

I'm thrilled, beyond thrilled really that Sorrel has agreed to be ours, to join our pack. It took everything in me to not bite her right then and there, but Gray was right. If we wait until my next heat, the bond with be stronger. I want that. The strongest bond possible with my beta. I want to feel her over vast distances and to sense her emotions. I want to know when she needs me and what she needs, and in order for that to happen, we have to wait.

I hate it.

Patience isn't really my forte.

So I'm currently feeling happy and impatient and anxious and angry… So angry at Sorrel's mother for putting her daughter into this situation. Angry for the burden she placed on her already grieving child's shoulders.

At least now we understand Sorrel's almost manic determination to make that restaurant thrive. Especially since she's never expressed any joy in running it. It always seemed like something she just had to do. Now… We get it.

Thankfully, as her pack, we'll be able to help ease the burden. We can hire someone to run it for her. She can be as involved as she wants to be. But the hope—my hope—is that once she knows it's thriving without her guidance, she'll be more open to finding her passion again. Which… you know, I want to be writing songs with me.

She thinks I haven't seen her notebook, the one that she scribbles in when she has a spare minute. But I've seen it.

Never looked at it. I wouldn't without her permission, but God, I'm dying to. Song lyrics are like a glimpse into a person's soul, and I want to know every inch of my beta's soul.

We spent most of the morning in my nest until our stomachs made us leave it in search of food. Sorrel retreats to her room to take another shower, while the rest of us make our way to the kitchen, ready to make a feast for our newest pack member.

While Rafe and Gray open the fridge and cabinets, pulling out sandwich fixings, I check my phone. It vibrated a few times while we were worshiping our girl.

The first thing I see are texts from Gage to all of us… well, not Sorrel, but me, Rafe and Gray. He made a text chain with all four of us, and for some reason that makes my heart clench.

It's a good sign, right? Like maybe he's thinking about joining us, too.

He'll have to once he finds out that Sorrel agreed.

Well, not have to, but he'll want to. Then our pack will be complete.

My omega heart gets positively giddy at the thought.

Only to have it drop when I see the first text.

Gage:

What the fuck is this?

Sorrel was attacked?

There's a link attached, but I already know it'll be to an article about what happened at the restaurant. Despite our best efforts, we could not keep the paparazzi from sniffing out the story. The cops showing up undoubtedly had something to do with it.

Gage:

You better answer me, motherfuckers.

Gage:

I'm coming to the city and when I get there my girl better be injury free, or I swear to fucking god I will end all of you.

My dick gets hard at his last message, and I roll my eyes at myself. I'm such a little slut for possessive alphas.

Gray has already responded, reassuring him that Sorrel is fine and that Gage's name has been given to the security desk to be allowed up without one of us present.

But I can't help but send a message of my own.

Liam:

See you soon, growly bear.

I'm not surprised to find a series of text messages from Joey all in response to my request for him to find someone to interview us, and to write up a statement we can release regarding Sorrel joining our pack. I'll zhuzh it up, make it personal once he provides the base.

I open the text chain, expecting to see confirmation that he's done as I requested, but that's not what I find.

Joey:

You sure you want to do this?

Joey:

Look, I'm not trying to be a dick. I just looking out for you and your pack.

You hardly know the girl.

Joey:

Something just feels off about her, you know?

Liam?

Hon?

Joey:

That entire scene at the restaurant felt weird.

How did the paparazzi know you were going to be there?

Only six people knew about the reservations.

She was one of them.

I frown at Joey's texts, at his implication that Sorrel is the one that alerted the fans and the paparazzi to where we'd be. She wouldn't do that. It's clear she hates the attention. But she's willing to put up with it for us.

Because she wants to be with us as much as we want to be with her.

The anger I'd already been feeling on behalf of our girl swells as I type out a response.

Me:

Sorrel had nothing to do with that, Joey.

In case you forgot, she was attacked because someone leaked where we were.

Beyond that, I didn't ask for your opinion on my relationship with my beta.

I asked you to do your fucking job and set up an interview for us.

So please fucking do it.

I'm breathing heavily by the time I finish, chest heaving, because I never—and I mean never— speak to anyone who works for me like that. Or anyone, for that matter. But Joey's attitude toward Sorrel has been pissing me off since the beginning.

It's clear he doesn't like or trust her… which I find beyond bizarre, because she's possibly the most likable, sweetest person I've ever met. Ever.

But it's not his job to monitor my personal relationships.

"Everything okay?" Gray asks from the other side of the island, eyeing me warily, and I realize my scent is giving away my agitation, and likely our bond too.

I take a deep breath and release it. "Yeah, it's fine. Joey's just pissing me off."

Rafe presses into my back, his arms wrapping around me as he kisses my neck. "What'd he do?"

Wordlessly, I show him. A low, displeased growl falls from his lips. "Asshole."

I nod my agreement, then explain to our prime. "He's suggesting Sorrel leaked where we'd be for dinner, and questioning whether we want to announce her joining our pack while reiterating that he doesn't trust her."

Gray's frown deepens. "We need to figure out who that was."

Rafe kisses the back of my head and then sighs. "Yeah, and someone leaked a picture of her from our fucking parking garage."

"What?" The question is so sharp and so full of rage that I think it must have been Gray that asked it, but he's looking at me with just as much shock, so it must have been me. I clear my throat. "Sorry. I mean, what are you talking about?"

"Poppy found an article with pictures from outside the car when we arrived on Monday and from inside the parking garage. Jones told me last night, and I didn't want to ruin the evening, so I didn't tell either of you." Gray growls. Rafe sighs. "Don't do that, man. I didn't want to freak Sorrel out. I planned on telling you when we got back here, but then…"

But then our psycho drug addict ex tracked us down because someone leaked our location and attacked our beta.

"It has to be someone on our team or someone with access to the penthouse," Gray muses, turning to grab a cutting board.

"I trust everyone on our security team," Rafe says instantly. "We've worked with most of them for years."

He's not wrong. Almost everyone on our security team—hell, everyone who works for us—has been loyal. We've never had someone who works for us leak our location or any personal information. Sure, we've had fans who recognize me snap a photo and post it to their social media, which has given it away. But this is different.

The only new factor is Sorrel.

And we all know she wouldn't do this.

Or at least, I hope we all know she wouldn't do this. But the furrow in Gray's brow and his uneasiness tells me that maybe he's not as sure of her as I am. Even though he's the one who asked her to join our pack.

Shit.

Is he regretting it now? He didn't know about the photo from our garage when he posed the question. She would have had access to the security system yesterday. The door to it is just down the hall from my recording studio. She disappeared for a while there… Maybe…

I shake my head.

"Poppy's looking into it." I don't phrase it as a question, it's a statement, because that is what we pay her for. Cyber security. If someone hacked into our system and stole that photo, she'll be the one to figure it out.

Rafe hums his agreement.

"Looking into what?" Sorrel's sweet voice says as she pads into the room wearing her silky sleep shorts and my t-shirt. I fucking love the sight of it. "And who's Poppy?" There's a hint of… is that jealousy in her voice? At the mere mention of another woman, too.

Gray chuckles. "Jealous, sweet thing? Even after the three of us fucked you and filled you with our cum?"

Sorrel's brows narrow as she shakes her head, but her cheeks flush, and none of us misses the way she shifts, rubbing her thighs together. "I'm not jealous," she states blandly. "I'm curious ."

"Mm-hmm, sure," Gray saunters over to her, looking fine as hell in only low slung navy pajama bottoms, all those muscles of his on display. "I totally believe you." Sorrel's scowl deepens, but he ignores it as he bends and kisses her. Her folded arms drop, hands digging into his waist as he cups her jaw to tilt her head the way he wants it, deepening the kiss.

I'm hard again.

Fuck .

Rafe chuckles, his hand sliding down my bare chest to palm my cock through my sweats. My hips buck at the contact, pre-cum drips from my dick. Sorrel whimpers as Gray's free hand grips her ass, fingers making dimples in her flesh as she presses onto her toes to get closer to his mouth.

My phone vibrates, but I don't look at it. Instead, watching as my prime alpha devours my beta.

The elevator dinging, followed by the whoosh of the doors opening, however, does draw my attention. A moment later Gage is storming into the penthouse, his dark blue eyes focused on our girl with intent, sweeping from the top of her head down to her toes. He lingers on the bruises on her arm and the one on her cheek.

He draws up short and I swear his rage is palpable, hanging in the air like a fucking toxic cloud. "Right. Say your goodbyes, biscuit. I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill the Cordova pack."

Sorrel lets out a sound between a laugh and a gasp. "What? Why?"

He glares at all of us. "You got fucking hurt… on their watch. You were attacked, injured ."

Our girl disentangles herself from Gray and walks up to the seething alpha. Not a single ounce of fear on her face. When she reaches him, her arms wrap around his waist and pull him in for a hug, her face rubbing between his pecs. He immediately folds himself around her, tucking her head under his chin, his cheek, as he cradles her like she's precious, because she fucking is.

"No killing them. It wasn't their fault."

That's not true. It was our fault. That never would have happened to her if she wasn't with us. But then, if she wasn't with us, Steven Stillwell and his band of merry douchebags would be harassing her.

He takes a long sniff of her hair, breathing in that sweet lavender scent, mingled no doubt with all of ours. I briefly wonder if it makes him hard, smelling our pack on her skin. I know it does for me.

Even though she just took a shower, she didn't wash her hair, so he must smell sex on her, too. I wonder if he'd like to join us in my nest, get his scent mixed in with ours, fill Sorrel with his cum like we did.

He sighs, his shoulders relaxing as his hand sweeps down her spine to the curve of her ass. "Missed you, biscuit," he murmurs, and I look away in embarrassment. Here I am thinking about fucking, and they're experiencing a tender moment.

"Missed you too," she says back, snuggling deeper into his chest as I look at my phone, to give them privacy.

Joey responded to my text.

Joey:

I arranged an interview for OMO for tomorrow at 2pm.

It won't be very long. Fifteen minutes tops since it's a short for the website.

I emailed you a preliminary press release.

I also let the organizers of the How to be an Omega premier that you'll be bringing a fourth person.

I blow out a breath, guilt pinching my stomach. He was clearly just concerned about us, about me. And I can't exactly blame him for that, our track record with dating hasn't been great. But now he's gone out of his way to make it up to me, even going so far as to include Sorrel in the premier for an upcoming movie. Not one I starred in, but one produced by Gray's father's company, so we've been invited.

I shouldn't have snapped at him like that. And the strictly professional tone of his text message lets me know I hurt his feelings. I'll have to make it up to him. Send him to a spa or something for a few days. That will be a good apology and have the added bonus of getting him out of our hair for a while.

Decided on a course of action, I type out a thank you to Joey and then look up. Sorrel's still against Gage's chest and he's murmuring soft words to her I can't hear. I don't want to interrupt their sweet moment, but I'm bursting to tell the news. "We have an interview with Omega Magazine Online tomorrow."

Our girl glances over her shoulder at me. " We ?" She draws out the word uncertainly.

I watch as Gage's fingers tighten on her hips.

"Yes, we ."

Rafe and Gray pause in their sandwich making, watching Sorrel warily. Waiting to see how she'll react to the possibility of being in the spotlight. There's a momentary flicker of uncertainty, and I think she'll refuse, but then she nods. "Okay."

I let out a breath and hop off my stool, rushing over. "It's just a baby interview. It'll be so short, you'll hardly even notice its happening. And then we'll be done and the world will know you're ours."

"What?" Gage says, sounding shocked and pissed all at the same time.

Sorrel squints up at her with her nose wrinkled adorably. "They officially asked me to be a member of their pack, and I accepted."

"Oh." That's all he says. Just, ‘oh.' There's this emotion that flickers over his face… like… heartbreak. Like he thinks her being with us means he's losing her forever. But that couldn't be further from the truth. He's not losing her, he's gaining us .

I make a mental note to reassure him of that fact, right as Sorrel tilts her head back to look at him with a shy smile on his face. Her pretty aqua eyes run over his expression. A furrow appears between her brows as she tries to read what he's feeling. But he's wiped it clean. Not even his normal growly frown.

"Gage," she starts, but he shakes his head and her mouth snaps closed before she stubbornly continues. "This doesn't mean-"

"I know," he cuts her off, like he doesn't want her reassurance that they can still be together, even if she's with us. "Believe me, I know."

He bends and presses a soft kiss to her forehead, eyes slipping closed at the contact, squeezing her tighter.

I watch them, feeling like an interloper again, then glance over my shoulder at Gray and Rafe, who are watching them too. Gray meets my eyes and gives me a nod. He sees the same thing I do.

Gage thinks we don't want him. He thinks we're taking his girl from him.

We aren't.

We would never do that. Our primary goal as a pack is to keep all of our pack members happy. And I know without asking that in order for Sorrel to be happy, she needs Gage.

It's our job as a pack to reassure him that, believe it or not, we want him too.

Comments

0 Comments
Best Newest

Contents
Settings
  • T
  • T
  • T
  • T
Font

Welcome to FullEpub

Create or log into your account to access terrific novels and protect your data

Don’t Have an account?
Click above to create an account.

lf you continue, you are agreeing to the
Terms Of Use and Privacy Policy.