Chapter 28 In which a decision is made

My brows arch when I see who the visitor is. “Sorrel?”

My best friend shifts on her feet, her aqua eyes darting around the penthouse, taking in the shirtless tattooed alphas on the couch next to me before she looks at me fully, a soft smile on her face.

“Hey, Sade.”

I scramble up and over the back of the couch, bare feet slapping against the floor as I run toward her like she’s my long lost love or something. That’s kind of what it feels like. I haven’t seen her in forever and, fuck, I’ve missed her something fierce.

She catches me, arms wrapping around my body just as tight as I’m holding her. Tears prick my eyes as I inhale her clean laundry and lavender scent, breathing so fucking deep. Her nose is in my neck and she lets out a watery laugh. “Holy crap, you smell like pie.”

I squeeze her tighter for just a moment more before I pull back and meet her eyes. “I do. Fuck, Sor. I’m an omega.”

Her eyes widen at the blurted statement, but she reaches to cup my face, her thumb smoothing over my cheekbone. “Yeah, I kind of figured that when I caught a whiff of you.” Her gorgeous aqua eyes dart between my own. “How did that happen?”

I shake my head, reaching up to press my hand over hers. “I don’t even know.” Lies. I know, but I don’t want to get into it with her right at this moment. I just want to enjoy hugging my friend.

A large warm hand settles on my lower back possessively, and the scent of juniper and gin hits my nose, calming me immediately.

Sorrel looks away from me to glance up at Maddox as he towers over both of us. She shifts on her feet but meets his gaze steadily, surprising me yet again. Sorrel’s never been very good around alphas. She’s got a pack of them up at Lake Kilrose that have been making her life hell since she took over the restaurant for her parents and while she’s fierce when protecting those she cares about, she does a shit job standing up for herself.

Half her mouth quirks up now as she regards the prime alpha of the Falcone pack, the pack that is the head of the Falcone mafia. Fucking fearless in the face of someone she should fear. “You the one that did this to her?”

A surprised chuckle leaves Maddox before he sticks out his hand. “I’m not. But I’m fucking glad that it happened. Maddox Falcone. Sadie’s prime alpha.”

A little shiver of happiness moves over my skin at his casual claiming of me.

Sorrel slips her hand into his, giving it a firm shake. “Sorrel Forbes. Sadie’s best friend. Well, one of them at least. And that supersedes your claim on her. So I’m going to have to ask you to give us a little privacy while we catch up.”

Another of those chuckles from Maddox, and Sorrel’s lips bloom into a full, beautiful smile.

Fuck, I’ve missed her.

I snuggle into her harder, and she cuddles me closer, her hand stroking through my hair. “Where can we go, Sade?”

For the first time in a long time, I wish I’d claimed the nest. The idea of bringing Sorrel into the tiny room I’d been staying in when I first got here grates, and I don’t think the guys will be okay with me bringing a stranger into their bedrooms.

Maddox must sense my hesitation, because he slides his hand up my spine, gripping the back of my neck just slightly. “Why don’t you take her to my office, trouble? I’ll bring you some snacks.”

I tip my head back to meet his dark eyes. “You’re sure?”

The smile he gives me is blinding, revealing two dimples and a lot of straight white teeth. “Yes, trouble, I’m sure. This is your home. You can go wherever you want.”

A strange little noise pulls from my chest as I transfer my arms from Sorrel to Maddox, burrowing my head in his chest and taking deep inhales of his scent. “You didn’t want Claudia in there,” I murmur, and his arms tighten around me as his lips brush the top of my head.

“You are not Claudia. And she is not you. Far from it. What’s mine is yours, Sadie.” It sounds like a vow, like a promise. I like it so, so much.

“Okay,” Sorrel says, clapping her hands together once. “Where’s this office? I think me and my girl need to have a talk. Right now.”

“ My girl,” Mad grumbles, but he releases me, sliding his hands over my back until he’s cupping my shoulders.

“Our girl,” Logan corrects, and I whip toward him so fast, I nearly stumble.

Three sets of hands reach out to steady me, and then I’m throwing myself at Logan, who I embarrassingly forgot was even in the room with us. He catches me easily, letting me climb him like a tree, my legs wind around his hips as my arms squeeze the living daylights out of him. “You brought her to see me.”

It’s not a question, but he answers like it is one, His palm settling at the base of my neck, while the other supports my ass. “I did. You seemed like you needed… someone who isn’t us to talk to.”

I hum against his neck as he moves, I’m guessing toward Maddox’s office. When I peek over his shoulder, I see Sorrel following, a smile still beaming from her beautiful face.

“He tracked me down at the Shack,” Sorrel explains. “Demanded that I come to see you and talk some sense into you. I closed the place down for the day to be here.”

I jerk upright, and Logan has to tighten his grip to keep me from falling. “You did what?” I regard my friend with wide eyes.

She’s never, in all the years I’ve known her, closed the restaurant on a day when it is supposed to be open. Six days a week, she slaves away at that place for twelve-hour days. And today is… definitely supposed to be a day that it’s open.

Tears prick my eyes, and Sorrel’s aqua gaze widens. Not surprising since I rarely cry… or at least I didn’t until I came into my complete omeganess. “You closed the Shack for me?” I wail, sounding like she just told me she killed my kitten or something. But really, I’m so full of love for this girl, overflowing with emotion, that I just can’t keep it contained.

A rough purr starts up between my thighs and any other time, a flood of slick would answer it. Because my alpha vibrating right against my clit while he also works to soothe my raging emotions? Yes, fucking please.

But not when I’ve just reunited with Sorrel for the first time in weeks. I don’t have time for fucking. I need girl-talk. Stat.

“It’s not that big of a deal, Sade,” she shrugs as Logan kicks open the door to Dox’s office and strides to the couch, where he gently sets me down on the buttery soft leather. He’s already reaching for the throw blanket on the back before I can even think of reaching for it myself. Sorrel perches on the cushion next to me, watching as he tucks the fabric over me.

Maddox enters carrying a tray filled with bags of chips, the chocolate chip cookies I made earlier, carrots, cucumbers and dip, gummy candies and chocolate bars. Swift strolls in after a bucket full of ice in his hands with various canned and bottled drinks poking out of it.. There’s a plastic bandage over his chest and I would be worried, but I can see through it to the exploding cherry freshly inked over his heart.

Something in my chest lurches. It just feels so… permanent. A claiming without teeth.

He sighs when he sees me, like it’s a relief to have me in his sights. “Cherrybomb.” He drops the bucket on the table and then straddles my lap, not putting his weight on me, but getting close and breathing deep. “Missed you.”

I laugh and scrape my fingers over his scalp, making him shudder. “We saw each other literally two hours ago.” His teeth nip my neck before he licks the spot.

“Still missed you. When can we bond? Want to feel you with me all the fucking time.”

I use my grip on his hair to pull him back. My cheeks are flaming. I should be used to Swift being like this with me, and I suppose I am to some extent, but… Not in front of my best friend. I use my grip on his hair to turn his head toward her. “Swift, this is Sorrel, my best friend. Sorrel, this is Swift. He’s-”

“ Hers. I’m hers.” Swift is quick to take over.

Sorrel’s aqua eyes move from me to him and back again, something like longing in her gaze. “Nice to meet you, Swift.”

Swift’s smile goes a little… feral, all teeth and no softness. There’s a gleam in his eye, that says he doesn’t fully trust Sorrel with me, which is fucking ridiculous. “You know Cherrybomb long?”

Sorrel tips her head, considering. “Its been, what? Three years? Four?”

I nod while my hands run up and down Swift’s back, trying to keep him calm. “Yep. I got a little cabin next to hers after I graduated from college. We’ve been friends ever since.”

Swift’s gaze narrows on Sorrel. “If you ever do anything to hurt her, I will make you bleed.”

“Swift!” My fingers tighten on him for a moment, before I try to push him away, to edge myself between him and my friend. I might love Swift, but I know he’s a psycho. I mean, he kidnapped my mother.

I expect Sorrel to shrink back, to duck her chin under his dominance, but instead she leans forward, eyes just as bright and hard as his. “Likewise, asshole.”

Surprise rockets through me, though I don’t know why. Hadn’t I just thought Sorrel is a mama bear when protecting the people she cares about? Of course, she won’t back down from Swift if it means keeping me safe, even if he is a psycho.

Swift pauses for a moment, then he laughs. Fucking snort laughs, shaking his head as Sorrel’s expression cracks and she grins back at him. “I like you, Sorrel.” He nods in approval. “I like you a lot.”

Sorrel just arches a brow and shakes her head. “I don’t really need your approval, but thanks?”

“Okay,” Maddox says, clapping his hands down on Swift’s shoulders and dragging him off of me. “Let’s give the girls time to catch up in peace.”

“Nooooo!” Swift cries, struggling to get back to me. “I need more cuddles. I want to participate in some girl talk.”

“Maybe after they’ve had a chance to catch up,” Logan says, helping Maddox to wrangle my whining alpha out the door.

“But don’t you want to know what Cherrybomb says about us?”

That makes the other two pause, glancing back to where Sorrel and I are still sitting on the couch.

“Out!” I command, pointing one imperious finger. “I’ll let you know when we’re done, and it’s safe to come back.”

“Let us know if you need anything, mo chuisle ,” Logan says, manhandling both Maddox and Swift out the door. My doctor alpha might be the quietest and the gentlest, but that doesn’t mean he’s not still an alpha. In fact, watching him push both Maddox and Swift out the door is… hot. Really fucking hot.

The door clicks shut. Sorrel shifts back into the sofa, folding her arms over her chest. I turn my head toward her, fingers fidgeting with the tassels on the soft cream-colored blanket.

I wait for her to say something.

She waits for me to say something.

Sorrel has infinitely more patience than I do. I run my tongue over my teeth and then say quietly, “So… I’m an omega. And the Falcones are my scent match pack.”

Sorrel lunges, tackling me to the couch and wrapping her arms around me as she squeals. We shift until we’re laying side by side, facing each other, hands clasped between our chests. Her lavender scent is like a shot of serotonin and melatonin, all wrapped up in one beautiful girl. And I’m fully relaxed for the first time in ages. The only thing that would make this better is if Sylvie was here too.

“How did it happen?”

I shake my head. “I don’t even know.” But I know she won’t let me get away with a nonanswer, so I tell her everything we know so far. Starting with me meeting Swift at Bonheur , then Ethan and Luca at The Market. I tell her about the best sex of my life and how during the course of it, I apparently presented as an omega and Luca knotted and bit me. My fingers press into the scar as I relay the story of coming here, realizing we’re scent matched, but still not being able to one hundred percent accept it.

I tell her about my mother and how she sold me to Dr. Schwab, allowed him to do tests on me. Inject me with countless drugs. I tell her about Claudia and how she’s also a scent match for my pack. “As near as I can tell,” I say softly, breathing in her scent and letting it help me through the toughest part of my story. “I think whatever he did to me turned me from a beta into an omega. I think… I think Clauda is their true scent match.”

Sorrel frowns, pushing strands of my light brown hair over my shoulder, off my face. “Why do you think that?”

I sigh and slip my eyes closed. “If you saw her, you’d understand. She looks exactly like an omega should look. And I… don’t.”

Sorrel’s frown deepens. “Why would you say that?”

“Omegas are all short and curvy and soft. You know, big hips and big boobs to show off how breedable they are. I don’t look like that.”

“So? Does Sylvie look like that?”

I open my mouth, then close it. Not sure how to respond to that question, finally I settle on, “Sylvie’s been living with RMD for years, through a lot of her growing up. It seems like it would naturally hinder some of her omeganess. And she’s still shorter and curvier than I am.”

“Okay, what about me? I’m a beta, and I have thick thighs and an ass. Does that mean I’m a secret omega, too?”

I laugh. “Maybe?”

“Hollis Grailess.”

I blink at her, not sure why she just shouted America’s sweetheart’s name at me. “What about Hollis Grailess?”

“She’s nearly six foot and slender. But she’s still an omega, isn’t she? And Liam- Liam Cordova, he’s built like an alpha, but he’s an omega.” I don’t miss the way her cheeks flare hot when she says ‘Liam Cordova,’ but then that’s always been her reaction to him.

If I’m honest, it’s been all our reactions to him since Sylvie, Sorrel and I bonded over our mutual love for the singer turned actor.

“My point is, that appearances don’t mean shit, Sade. Someone can look like an omega and be an alpha, and vice versa.”

Logically, I know she’s right. But it doesn’t stop me from feeling inadequate. Like even if I am a true omega, I’m still not the right kind of omega. Not for the Falcone pack.

“I don’t act like an omega.” It’s hard for me to admit, feels like I’m carving out a part of myself and offering it to Sorrel on a platter. So imagine my surprise when she bursts out laughing, right in my face, bringing our clasped hands to her stomach like that might help contain the hilarity of the situation.

I just stare at her, brow cocked and wait her out. She giggles and then hiccups and wipes the tears from her eyes. “I’m sorry, that was just… oh, god. So funny.” When I give her a confused look, she smacks a kiss on the back of my hand. “Babe, since I got here, you’ve done nothing but act like an omega. You couldn’t stop touching your alphas. Climbed one of them like a spider monkey to say thank you. Got emotional when you realized I took time off to come see you. You soothed Swift when he was getting all rumbly. And most importantly, you let them take care of you.” She fingers the blanket thrown over both of us, and jerks her chin at the untouched food on the table in front of the couch. “You might not have been raised knowing you’re an omega, but you’re definitely following your instincts like one.”

I stare at her. She’s right. I have been acting more and more like the typical omega, but… “I’m not submissive.”

Sorrel clucks her tongue. “Omegas aren’t submissive all the time. Sylvie’s certainly not. L-” She cuts herself off, cheeks flaring red again, before she continues. “Hollis isn’t.” A sly smile curls her lips. “I’m sure you’re submissive when it matters. And besides, this is the Falcone pack, Sade. They wouldn’t want some wilting flower who would roll over at the first sign of trouble or discord. They want someone strong.”

I nibble on my lower lip, thinking back to all the danger I’ve been in since coming here. I take myself out of the situations and put Claudia in them, and holy shit, she would be a disaster. Yes, I got a little… possessive and demanding after Luca was shot, making sure he was taken care of when he wanted to brush off the injury, but that’s normal . Claudia would have made it all about her, about how close she came to being hurt, she would have wailed and cried and clung to them like a barnacle, and probably wouldn’t have given them the chance to go after the assholes that did it.

Sorrel’s hand slides up until she’s cupping my face. “Besides, it doesn’t matter whether or not you’re submissive. It’s so clearly obvious that this entire pack is obsessed with you. They want you, Sadie. Not because you’re an omega or their scent match, but because you’re you . You’re a beautiful fucking soul who deserves all the love and happiness in the world. It’s time you believe it, too.”

“Well, shit,” I say, blinking away tears. “You aren’t supposed to make me cry, Sor.”

She gives me a sweet smile. “No, but I am supposed to help you see your worth when you falter. It’s my job as your best friend to make sure you get everything you want. So tell me, Sadie. What do you want? Honestly? Put all the bullshit aside and just think, what would make you the happiest right now?”

I can tell by the look in her eyes she already knows. I already know too, but I’m terrified of saying it out loud. Swiping at the tears on my cheeks, I take a deep breath before whispering to my best friend. “Them. I want the Falcone pack.”

Her smile beams. “Then we’ll make sure that happens.”

The door slams open and Sorrel and I both jump. A second later, boozy beach surrounds me as Swift drags me off the couch and over his shoulder.

“Swift!” I protest, slapping at his ass. “Put me down.”

He growls as he sinks his teeth into my hip. “No. You want us, you’re going to fucking get us.”

All the fight drains out of me. “You were eavesdropping!” I shout.

He scoffs. “Of course I was! I needed to know what you were saying about us.” He bobs into what I think is supposed to be a bow or a curtsey. “Sorrel, thank fuck for coming and talking sense into our girl. I’m gonna go fuck and knot and bite her now.”

My face flames, and my mouth opens on a pant, even as I gasp out. “Swift! You can’t say shit like that to her.”

Sorrel laughs and uncoils from the couch. “No worries. I’m familiar with alpha possessiveness… and omega possessiveness, for that matter. I get it.”

I feel her soft palm land in the center of my back, rubbing in a soothing circle. “Have fun. Remember, you deserve to be happy, Sadie. I cannot stress that enough.”

Swift bites my hip again. “Fuck yeah she does.”

Then he’s running through the penthouse, up the stairs to his room, ignoring the calls from the rest of the pack. “Sadie’s mine for the night,” he shouts. “The rest of you fuckers stay the fuck away.”

In a blink, I’m flat on my back, staring up at a bright red ceiling.

“Is that…”

“Heartbreaker red?” He finishes for me as he tugs off my leggings, taking my panties with them. “Sure as fuck is. I’m obsessed with that color. Have been since I first saw you with your lips painted it.”

My throat feels tight. “Swift,” I choke out.

He smiles up at me sweetly, hands sliding under my shirt, pushing it over my tits and then over my head. “You know how many nights I’ve lain here, fisting my cock, staring at that color and imagining it smeared all over my body? A trail of kisses all over my skin. A ring of it at the base of my cock, all over my knot.”

He groans as he leans over me, taking my mouth in a filthy kiss that leaves me a whimpering squirming mess, slick dripping out of me to smear the black of his sheets. “Fuck yeah, Cherrybomb,” he murmurs, sliding down my body, trailing kisses over every bit of skin he passes. “You’re getting all nice and wet for me, aren’t you? Getting ready to take my knot.”

Shifting restlessly, I grapple with my need to just give in and give us both what we want. I do want his knot and I want his bite. I want this entire pack, but there’re still a lot of unknowns between us.

When I don’t answer right away, Swift gives me a hard nip on the curve of my hip. “Answer me, omega,” he demands.

I can take his knot and not have him bite me, right? We can do that.

I might be lying to myself, but that doesn’t stop me from nodding. “Yes, alpha.”