Chapter Six

As soon as the phone left my fingertips, I regretted throwing it.

I scrambled after it, glad that it seemed to land on the couch to the left rather than breaking against the brick fireplace or actually hitting anyone.

It was still ringing as I stared at the screen. Rather than a picture, I could actually see the female as she was apparently talking to someone behind her phone. She was pretty, slightly disheveled, though, and looking a little panicked every time she glanced down at the phone like she couldn’t see me.

Then I realized the buttons suggesting I answer or end the call were still there. She was waiting still.

Holding up the phone to the alphas, I asked, “Who’s this?”

“Koda Tucker,” Sebastian said. “You just met her last month, but you’ve grown very close since. Talking every day, basically.”

“Do I answer it?”

No one seemed to have a good response to that. Then, all of sudden, I was pressing the button to accept the call.

“Hannah, holy shit—guys, she finally answered. Hannah, where have you been? Are you okay? Why are you looking at me like that? Do I need to come over? Guys, I need to go see Hannah.”

Zeke plucked the phone from my hand when words continued to refuse to come out. “Koda, Hannah is fine.”

That made me snort, effectively helping me out of the trance from all the rapid-fire questions. If ‘fine’ meant memory loss, scalp stitches, missing chunks of hair, and a despondent feeling like I’ll never belong, then sure.

I leaned over the arm of the couch, not in the view of the camera, but so I could still see Koda.

“Fine?” Koda shrieked. “She was attacked and sent to the hospital—”

Her words sent every alpha in the room on alert.

“How do you know that, Koda?” The demand came from Jackson.

His barked tone had someone on Koda’s end growling in response. I watched a male pull Koda back against his chest, two other males appearing off to the sides like they were trying to see what was happening.

I whispered the question, “She’s an omega?”

Zeke nodded, then shook his head, before turning to Sebastian. My blond alpha just mouthed the word ‘later’ which felt more ominous than comforting.

“Apologies, Koda,” Jackson gritted out, not sounding sorry at all.

“It’s okay,” the female said. “Honestly, if what they’re saying is true, I bet y’all are stressed over there. I’ve been trying to check in with Hannah and when I couldn’t get ahold of her, I was starting to worry.”

“We don’t know what you’re talking about,” Han admitted.

Through the screen, her jaw actually dropped open. “It’s literally all over the news, like trending right now. Hold on, let me pull up the article Jen showed me. Uh … here it is. Omega gets attacked by so-called omega activists . They’re claiming a bunch of beta protestors attacked Hannah because she refused to join them. It also says that her injuries had her in the hospital.”

“They got part of that right,” I admitted.

“You were in the hospital?” she shrieked.

Zeke turned the camera in my direction, and I half turned so they could see the back of my head.

“Oh, Hannah, your hair.”

I had the same reaction when I saw the monstrous square of missing hair that made me look like a botched haircut gone wrong. It didn’t help that the dark black stitches against the paleness of my scalp made the whole thing look even more extreme.

“What really happened? You told me you were going to the protest, and you’d text me later. Well, it’s later.”

“Um, I don’t know,” I told her. “Apparently the injury to my head caused some sort of memory loss.”

I adjusted myself over the back of the couch, half leaning on Zeke’s shoulders so I could better talk to Koda.

“Wait, hold on. You don’t remember anything at all?”

“Nope. I lost a few years apparently.”

“Years?” She screeched the word, making me wince even as I chuckled. “But how, I mean … if you … what does that mean exactly?”

“It just means I can’t remember anything that happened in the last few years. Like meeting you or my mates—”

“You don’t remember claiming your alphas?” Through the screen, I could see the whites of Koda’s eyes turning red as she tried to stop herself from crying.

I shook my head, unable to admit the words out loud.

My mates all seemed to shuffle closer. Zeke turned so he could rest a hand on my shoulder. Jackson touched my ankle that was up on the couch’s arm. Han adjusted so he was sitting sideways on the couch, facing Zeke, and stretching his arm out to press against my forearm. Even Sebastian moved out of the living room, into the hallway space so he was behind me, gently pressing against my back.

“Sebastian,” one of the men behind Koda said. The alpha had blond hair, and an air to him like Han and Seb that made me think he probably came from money too. “They haven’t identified you all yet, but there’s photos circling with the four of you hunched over her. Someone is going to recognize y’all soon. Especially at the rate of popularity this is getting.”

The concern in his voice had me turning to look at my mate, almost falling off the couch and making every single alpha lunge for me. I giggled, then gasped when Jackson slapped his hand down on my ass. It didn’t hurt—the opposite actually, my mind instantly giving me delicious ideas of exactly how my heat will go.

My perfume bloomed, and Jackson chuckled.

“Has anyone reached out to you?” Seb asked the other male.

Some sort of private conversation happened on the other end before the blond sighed. “Yes, actually. My mother reached out. She said nothing that should be repeated, but she’s at least seen it, I know that.”

Sebastian nodded as if this information was helpful. I felt like I was somehow in the middle of the conversation despite having been the one to answer the call.

“Not to continue giving you bad news,” Koda said. “But the news is also saying that the OC is currently investigating the circumstances. Like, right now.”

Jackson and Seb both started searching the living room space, most likely for a remote. Han pulled me off the back of the couch, resettling me between him and Zeke. His arm rested over my shoulder, his hand squeezing the back of Zeke’s neck.

The move was easy, like he’d done it a bunch of times. I watched Zeke’s face, looking for any signs that the move did something more to him than a simple gesture from another alpha packmate.

Then my attention was pulled toward the screen. Sebastian was frozen with the remote in his hand and my phone in the other.

“Again, our latest report on the victim of this devastating beta protest. To you Chelsea.” The woman on the screen was replaced with another. “Thanks, Veronica. I’m still outside the restaurant where the protest took place just earlier this week. Both the local Omega Compound, and this district’s peace officers, are unable to tell us what exactly happened since the issue is still under investigation.”

I didn’t recognize the restaurant behind the reporter, although it wasn’t really what I was looking at. Next to her, a male in a suit stood, diligently waiting for his turn to speak. He was an older male, not so old as to have a full head of gray hair, but old enough that the fact he had no gray hairs was probably due to him dying it.

When she turned to him, resting her arm on his shoulder like a casual acquaintance, I knew the drama was about to start, my body leaning toward the TV in anticipation. “Representative Adam, what do you make of the protest that happened in your restaurant which led to the nearly fatal injury of an omega?”

Someone tried to speak, and I shushed them, waving a hand in the general direction of the noise.

“Obviously, something like this should never be allowed to happen again. Omegas need protection, we all know this. I’ll admit, I too was blinded to the fact that even betas posed a threat to our gentlest designation, but this is just undisputable proof. Change needs to happen. Safety needs to be ensured.”

She just let him prattle on, basically spouting his entire political intentions for the news audience. Who was this guy?

“Will you be shutting down your restaurant?” the reporter asked.

“Of course not. This is my livelihood, and I won’t let a failed mob control my decisions.”

“And what about the omega that was injured? Anything to say to her?”

He looked directly at the camera. His eyes seemed to find mine through space and time and cameras and internet and pixels on a screen. “I would recommend she stays with her alphas, if she has some, or to claim a pack of alphas soon. For her safety.”

Not even the pretend worried face he put on looked genuine. Honestly, it kind of creeped me out.

“Who is this guy again?” I asked.

“This is the asshole you were protesting,” Koda said.

Sebastian handed my phone to Han who gave it back to me so I could still see Koda and her men on the other side. They looked distracted, too, like they were also watching the shit-show that was happening.

“He wants to start an age limit where omegas have to be mated by like mid-twenties or else they’ll get assigned an alpha pack.” Koda’s words were surprisingly fierce, drawing my attention down to her and away from the ongoing reporter recapping the situation. “That doesn’t even include the ridiculous motion he wants to add that all new packs should be alpha only.”

I shake my head. “Aren’t betas the majority of the populace? How can he just cut them out of packs?”

“Most betas don’t join packs. We’re raised with a sort of disdain for pack life. Not good enough to be an omega. Not good enough to be an alpha.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“I agree. But it’s very real. Which means most betas aren’t offended by not being allowed in a pack they never intended to join.”

The number of our potential supporters was shrinking at an alarming rate. Still, that wasn’t what my brain chose to focus on. “You’re a beta?”

Koda chuckled. “Uh, kind of?”

My next question about what exactly that meant was lost when Han spoke up. “The question is, what do they mean by ‘under investigation’? That rep already spoke with Hannah in the hospital. Either their sources are slow, or there’s still shit going on behind the curtains that we’re unaware of.”

I groaned, a disgustingly familiar conversation coming to the forefront of my mind. “That beta. From the compound. She told me she was going to be randomly dropping in. Do you think that’s what they mean?”

“I doubt it,” Sebastian said, coming to kneel in front of me despite the limited space between the couch and the little table. He plucked the phone from my hands, tossing it off to the side for another alpha to catch. “She told us, too, that she’d be stopping by, so don’t stress.”

“They haven’t said anything in a while about an update on the omega,” Han pointed out. “It’s all the same images, the same information about you needing to go to the hospital. Nothing after that. No status on if you’re going to live or not.”

Just the mention of my death had Jackson glaring at Han.

“Do you want to reach out to someone?” Koda asked, barely getting the words out before several alphas, both mine and hers yelled, “No.”

My eyebrows raised at the vehement response from Sebastian and Han. The former quickly explained, “Media work is tricky. At the moment, keeping them in the dark is the only option until we figure out the best route we’re going to take.”

“What does that mean?” I asked. “What routes are there?”

“Right now, they’re using you as a tool to push forward their own agendas.”

“Exactly. I need to stop them.” Even more, I needed my mate to see that.

“I know. And we will. But I promise you, if you reach out to a reporter, they might talk to you. They’d be sympathetic and give you a temporary voice. Then the cameras would shut off, and they’d switch back to the newsroom. You have a documented case of memory loss, which they’ll point out. On top of that, all it would take right now is a little investigative work to confirm that you are a bonded omega that was out, at a protest, without your alphas. They’d force you back to the OC, pull you away from us.”

Every instinct in my body rejected the words. Not the truth, the idea of being pulled from my alphas. We were bonded. It wouldn’t just turn them feral, but me too.

My words were caught in my throat, wanting to come out to argue yet stuck.

Sebastian didn’t have the same problem, continuing his speech. “If I’m honest, this representative is doing us a favor. He’s turning the attention away from you. He might be using your designation, but not you specifically. It’s like hiding in plain sight.”

“If he wins…” I whispered, just barely able to get my voice to work.

“He won’t. We won’t let him. But we have time. Time to fight this battle on a different front, using your designation, not you, specifically. Let us try, princess.”

“What do we do, then?”

Sebastian pinched my chin, his gaze a mix of sadness and determination. “I don’t know yet. But I promise you, we won’t stop trying to protect you and other omegas. Trust us.”

He was looking for my agreement, for reassurance that I wouldn’t go around him and talk to the media anyways wielding a metaphorical sword to this very real battle. As much as I hated it, I easily agreed. Old Hannah trusted these alphas, and so far, I did too. They weren’t keeping me out of the decision, just telling me to wait.

As much as I felt like the power of my honest words would be enough to persuade everyone to believe me, to believe in my cause, I’d learned the hard way it wouldn’t be enough. What would an interview on TV do that a protest didn’t? That a sit-in didn’t? That a march or provocative dress didn’t?

“Okay,” I told him. “I’ll wait.”

“Good girl, princess.”

A delicious shiver ran through my body at his words. I felt the hairs on my arms raise, also excited by his tone.

“So,” it was Koda’s long, drawn-out word that finally pulled my attention from my blond alpha, “does this mean I can come see you. I’d really like to check you over with my two eyes.”

She had a bit of a whine in her words, something her mates seemed to notice too since they all squeezed closer to her and more in frame.

“Hannah is going to be starting her heat, soon,” Zeke said.

“I’ll be really quick.”

One of her mates growled, “I don’t like the idea of you near alphas whose mate is about to go into heat.”

Koda and I both looked at each other, mentally mapping out his verbal route.

“My mates don’t mind, do you?” I looked around the room, expecting four nodding heads. I found none. Their scents were already rising, becoming territorial. “Uh, maybe after my heat?”

Then everyone seemed to nod.

Koda and I hung up after I promised to stay in touch. I could tell by the look on her face that she was worried I wouldn’t. Maybe it was wrong, but I wasn’t feeling as disconnected with Koda as I was with my mates. I still hadn’t remembered her. It was just easier to accept a new friendship with her than forever with four alphas.

Although, easier, didn’t mean easy.

My finger hovered over the button to delete all of my saved messages. Jokes that I wouldn’t get, and references that would confuse me, or plans that I’d forgotten. I didn’t want them there, lurking over me like a possibility that may never happen. Memories were impossible to see in the brain, so no one knew whether I’d get mine back. And it was that bastardly speck of hope that had me backing out, keeping all the messages and pictures of another life.

Annoyed with myself, I shoved my phone into the couch cushions, content with the little phone prison.

“I’m hungry,” I declared, getting up to make my way to the kitchen.

All four of the alphas spoke at the same time, asking what I wanted, demanding I sit back down, wanting to know what I was craving.

I had to press my lips together tightly to keep from laughing. Considering they were bonded to me, my attempt at hiding my amusement was impossible. Still, I answered, “Something savory. Like a potato but smothered in cheese. Or maybe some of that round pasta with a cheese sauce? Oh, oh, maybe breaded cheese that we can fry up?”

“I’m sensing a theme,” Zeke said. He lifted me up onto the kitchen island, standing between my legs like it was a totally casual thing for him to do.

Han was looking through the massive fridge while Seb opened a door that went into a walk-in pantry. My jaw dropped at that.

The alpha in front of me chuckled. “There’s five of us in this house. We eat, a lot.”

After shutting the door, and getting a shake of the head from Seb, Han said, “Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot here. How does delivery sound?”

“Well, I want—”

“We know, rebel,” Jackson said, already scrolling on his phone. “Something with cheese.”

I huffed, turning my nose up, feigning a propriety I didn’t have.

When a hand forcibly turned my face toward Jackson again, I could see the feral gleam in his eyes. This was an alpha, dealing with an omega’s attitude. It made me want to run—not out of fear—to be chased.

My perfume bloomed, hinting at the excitement that I was almost shaking with.

Slowly, so slowly, Jackson leaned closer. Between my legs, I could still feel the firm body of Zeke, but the alpha didn’t move as Jackson lowered his lips near my neck. His hand around my jaw turned my head again before I felt his lips finally press against my nape.

And then my entire body seemed to relax. My muscles losing every inch of tension.

When he pulled away, still close enough that I felt his breath against the little hairs on my neck, I whimpered. I wanted more. That spot was perfect.

“That’s where my claiming mark is, rebel,” Jackson said.

I was nodding along to his words, already agreeing to everything, nothing, anything if it meant he would kiss me there again.

“Do you know why it’s on the back of your neck? Not the side?”

Words didn’t exist. What did he want? Yes. No. I wasn’t sure.

“Because you like to run. And I like to chase you. Then when I catch you, I make you present for your alpha. Head down, ass up.”

Slick was leaking from my core. I tried to press my hips closer to Zeke, hoping he’d give me the friction I needed, or even better, touch me like he had before. His hands were on my thighs, his thumbs so close to where I needed them.

Still, neither was committing. The tease thrumming through my body didn’t make me compliant. No, it was like a spark over the liquid in my veins.

I growled, reaching out with one hand to pull Jackson that last inch that separated us, and with my other, I dragged Zeke’s hand right where I wanted him.

Jackson took over the kiss, demanding all my focus and attention to give him as good as I was getting. Each nip, lick, suck had more slick pouring from me. I had no idea whether it was because my heat was so close, or if it was just always like this with my mates.

My attention was so focused on my lips, I jumped when I felt the cool press of a finger against my clit. I was pretty sure I had never been so sensitive there before, but the anticipation, the need, was building tension in all my nerves.

I wrapped my legs around Zeke as best I could without seeing, ensuring he didn’t pull away until I was done with him.

I think he chuckled? The sound was a rumble I felt up my legs like a vibration on the lowest setting.

When I pulled away from Jackson, just an inch, needing to breathe, I inhaled the scents of four aroused alphas. All of them mixed together, an array of mouthwatering smells that I wanted to pour onto a pillow and inhale constantly.

Was it possible to become addicted to an alpha’s scent?

“What happened to waiting until her heat starts?” Sebastian demanded. “Or going over limits?” The male had his arms crossed over his chest, attempting to look stern despite the obvious arousal bulging in his pants. It was an impressive bulge, too.

I hadn’t kissed Sebastian yet. Or Han. And I really wanted to.

Jackson was demanding. Zeke was all-consuming. How would my other alphas touch me? Would Sebastian let me take the lead? Did Han like to play any sort of game? They were my mates after all, and if I was going to spend the rest of my life bonded to them, it was important to know how we all interacted sexually, right?

My body was craving my alphas. Zeke’s touch, Jackson’s kisses, I needed more. I was already aroused, my body taut with the anticipation of more. The pressure on the back of my head was barely noticeable. If that was my only injury, I was sure that sex would be fine so long as no one pulled my hair.

“See something you like, princess?” The question was cocky, and I wasn’t even ashamed to realize I was still staring at Sebastian’s bulge in his pants.

“Definitely.” My mouth watered like it was already anticipating the taste of him.

“No can do. A conversation still needs to be had about what everyone’s preferences are and then we’re supposed to be waiting until your heat starts.”

That brought my attention to Sebastian’s face. I glared at the smirk on his lips.

“All right.” Han clapped his hands together, the resounding smack catching all of our attention. “Let’s take a breath. Jackson, did you order the food already?”

“Of course, I did.”

“Then maybe a tour is in order before the food gets here.”

“She’s not supposed to go up and down stairs,” Seb said.

Between my legs, Zeke turned around. He grabbed my arms, winding them over his shoulders before holding onto my thighs as he lifted me off the table. Despite the wetness between my thighs, Zeke pulled me as close as possible to him. Resting my chin on his shoulder, I was completely content, enjoying the heat radiating from his bare back.

I was still aroused, but that excitement was being overshadowed by my curiosity—just barely. Not only was I curious about the home I had supposedly been living in, I was also wondering if something had the potential to rejog my memory.

“Be careful,” Jackson snapped.

Turing around, I gave a finger salute that had the alpha glaring at me.

“Mind if I join the tour?” Han looked at the two of us, his scent spiking as if he was imagining something more. Was it just watching Zeke and I together? Or the possibility of the three of us?

“Sure.”

The first floor was what the alphas had coined, the family space. It had a dining room on the opposite side of the kitchen, hidden away from the living space and making it more private. A large wooden table with decorative black stained metal legs was the main focus of the room. Benches on the long sides and regular chairs on the short ones, it was set up for double the number of members of this pack.

Outside the dining room there was also a gathering room, which, according to Han, was like a living room but rather than the pack relaxing there, it was for whenever we had guests. There wasn’t a TV in this space, but it had a bookshelf full of boring literature and even a little bar full of alcohol that made me wrinkle my nose.

“Where’s the blender?” I asked, as Han was raising different bottles up for me to see. “Or something colorful. Everything is brown. Don’t you have any mixers?”

“This is mostly for show,” Han said like having dozens of bottles of hard drinks and wine was typical. “Your fruity little drinks are in the pantry back in the kitchen.”

I nodded, expecting the answer. I still didn’t understand what the purpose of this room was, but I didn’t say that as we continued the tour.

There were two bathrooms down here, both massive with their own little room inside for the toilet so there was a separation while someone showered. Was I slightly disappointed that there wasn’t a bath? Yes and no. At least the showers were massive, probably meant for three people at a time with the number of showerheads attached to the walls and ceiling.

Finally, we made our way upstairs. The second floor was full of offices. Han apparently was the only one that worked from home, but the others had an office for the times when their work followed them home. This floor also had the laundry room, which I’d thought was odd.

And then, the third floor. All the bedrooms and my nest were up there. This level didn’t have any windows, completely relying on the warm orange glow from the dangling fixtures to provide any sense of light. Now that I noticed it, all the lights had a dim sort of hue to them rather than the bright whites from the hospital, or even at the OC.

Up here, I loved the scents that had soaked into the walls. The second floor smelled good too, but there was also stress on that level. And the first was so open and mixed with scents of cooking and cleaning that it just didn’t hit as strong.

On this level, I was content to lay down on the hard flooring if someone just gave me a blanket and a pillow. Before I could suggest this, however, I heard a faint chime ringing up from the stairs.

It was an elegant noise, even if I could barely hear it. “What was that?”

“Doorbell. Food must be here already,” Han said.

My stomach took the opportunity to rumble in excitement at his words, making Zeke laugh who must have felt the demand for food against his back.

Zeke took his time down the stairs, careful not to jostle me too much. As soon as he landed on the first level floor, I wiggled to get down, absolutely desperate for the food I could already smell. I moaned, my stomach rumbling again for the greasy goodness.

All of my hunger seemed to disappear at the sight of the front door, open, my mates standing just barely inside the house. Between them, I could make out a female, a red bag under her arm that she must have used to carry all the food Jackson was holding.

It wasn’t that she was a female, or that she was exceptionally pretty with her tall stature, tight shirt that shaped around her breasts, and the perfect curl to the tips of her hair tucked under a hat. It was her smile, the way she was leaning toward them, her foot, crossing the threshold of the doorframe like she was expecting to be invited in.

I wasn’t even aware of Han and Zeke, the two attempting to pull me back toward the kitchen. Then Han stood in front of me, blocking my view, and making my imagination go wild—

What if she touched my mates?

I just seemed to snap.