8. Sawyer

8

Going ballistic over over-entitled alphas one barely even knows can't be good for one's health.

I ponder that as I blow my nose and wipe at my itching eyes. Then again, this happens every spring. It just hits me as a surprise every time.

Many things do, some people's apparent entitlement included.

Having my maddening alpha brother sniffing around my apartment isn't doing me any favors, either.

"Eric, put that down now! Don't touch my stuff."

Shooting me a guilty look, he puts down the box where I keep my favorite bookmarks.

A good thing he hasn't located another box where I keep some… pleasure items. I have that one hidden inside my bedroom, but with the way Eric goes sniffing around my place, it's only a matter of time before he discovers it.

"You shouldn't be living alone," he says, shaking his head, as if that's self-evident.

That argument again. "Why not? I like my peace and quiet."

"What if you need something? Urgently?"

"Then I'll climb down the stairs and ask one of my tenants for help."

"What if you can't go down the stairs?" he asks stubbornly. "Uncle Morgan shouldn't have left you this building."

"He left you his farm."

Eric shrugs and sinks into my couch. "You're not into animals."

Only animalistic, burly alphas, I think, then blink. Wait a minute. Where did that thought come from? No, I'm not into that. Nope.

"I have a cat," I say.

"That's a recent development."

"Your point being?"

And yeah, as you might have guessed by now, we're loaded as a family. If only that helped my family relax, knowing I don't need a pack to take care of me… but no. They still push like hell for me to find a pack of good standing and move in with them ASAP.

"You should come live with me," Eric says, still hot on his topic. "Or our parents."

"Hell, no," I gasp. "Are you crazy? How many times do I have to say no?"

I know Eric means well. Always has, since we were children and I was a sickly child. I kept coming down with fevers, and Eric was appointed my custodian and nurse by our parents. It's not really his fault he's turned out to be overprotective of me, but man, I'm an adult now.

"You should consider our parents' proposal, then," he changes tack smoothly.

"Oh, for fuck's sake. I'm not going to be passed on to a pack I don't know just because our parents think it's a good match!"

"Why not?"

God, my head hurts. This is an argument we've had since I moved into the building, a couple of years ago. Since I came of age. Eric can't accept I'm my own man now.

"I'm perfectly capable of making my own decisions, Eric, and finding a pack on my own. A pack that suits me, preferably a scent-match?—"

"You don't know if the one our parents chose isn't a scent-match."

"—and I don't need anyone taking care of me!"

He is silent for a long moment. Then he sighs and says, "Oh, boy. You sound different these days."

"From when I was a child?" I blow my nose, scrunch up the tissue, and throw it into the trashcan. Score! "Yeah, I grew up, Eric. Looks like you didn't notice."

"Dammit, Sawyer." He sighs again as if I'm exhausting him. "Why are you being like this? Must be something in the air."

"Pollen?" I growl.

"That, too." He's still looking at me as if I've hurt his feelings, as if I've transformed from this cute kid brother he had into a snarling hyena. "You know Mom and Dad won't let up until you meet the pack they want, right?"

Fuck, I know. It was the same a few months ago, when they would call and call until I gave in and met with another pack they thought was a good fit.

A harrowing experience.

"I don't have to do what they say," I mutter.

"You owe them money," he reminds me. As if I need a reminder. "The money you borrowed to get your business up and running."

"They wouldn't hold that over my head," I whisper.

"Haven't they before?"

I wince. "Fuck, yeah, they have."

"Don't worry too much," Eric says. "They wouldn't do anything drastic. They didn't ask for interest, did they?"

No. But our parents are old-fashioned. They don't believe in omega rights. They don't believe in me.

Asking them for a loan had been a mistake. But I'd done it so I'd become independent from them. One day I would be, once I'd paid them back.

For now, I had to play along and hope they'd keep taking no for an answer.

My day hasn't been going well. On top of my allergies and Eric's visit, I managed to slip and bang my hip against the counter of the café, then drop and break a cup as I was pouring coffee, and then I walked into the closed door of the pantry behind the bar because my mind was on the business, my parents, the pack they are trying to marry me off to, and the pack I watched at the Alpha Bet bar.

And late, way too late, I remember the Book Club.

Fuck!

That results in me running around like a headless chicken, trying to locate Bee and see if she can come in so I won't have to close the café. What was I thinking when I set this up? Why didn't I set a reminder on my phone?

Idiot. Sawyer, you're such an idiot.

Thankfully I'm lucky in my unluck, because Bee answers the phone and says sure, she can come over and cover me for the evening. As long as she can bring her pack with her—that is, at least Kaden and Jae, because they are studying for a college exam together.

I promise them Angelic, my patented cake, and I hear whoops of joy in the background when she tells them. It's gratifying to be so appreciated, at least when it comes to baking. I'll take any win, no matter how small.

Then I'm grabbing my bag and rushing to the library. I'd normally take the bus, but I'm late as it is, so I flag down a cab. I should have called an Uber, but my brain isn't braining right, and I'm falling back into patterns from my childhood.

Panic. Run. Flag down a cab. Forget about technology.

Which also means that by the time I remember I can do that, by the time I take out my phone to call the library, I'm already there.

Brilliant.

Just fucking brilliant.

My hands are shaking as I pay the cab driver and scramble out, almost faceplanting on the sidewalk.

Real smooth, Sawyer. After getting Bee to café-sit and everything, knock yourself out on the sidewalk and not even make it into the goddamn library, why don't you? A perfect ending to a crappy day.

On cue, I sneeze.

Awesome.

Hurrying into the library, I see the poster for our meeting and all but run in the direction the arrows point to.

I open the door and burst into the room. "Hi, sorry I'm late?—"

"So very late." The librarian, a stuffy beta with a stick a yard long up his skinny ass glares at me. "Don't you know it's rude to be late to the events you organize?"

I sigh. "Hear me out before you read me the Riot Act."

His glare doesn't abate. "Do go on. We're all ears."

"I…" I glance around the room as I open my mouth to enumerate my woes of the day, when I see her. That girl. Brinlee. I snap my mouth shut. "No… nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing to say. I'm late and I apologize. Let's start, shall we?"

He rolls his eyes and gets up. "The floor is yours. I'll get back to work."