34. Juno

JUNO

“My omega thinks he’s mine, you know.”

Juno watched Ari disappear from view. Isaac brushed against her forearm and she moved to the side to let him close the door.

“It takes more than a scent match to be deserving of you, Juno,” he said gravely.

“I know, I know.” She waved her hand placatingly. “I meant that it’s hard to see him like this. Yes, he fucked up but he didn’t make Priya attack me. She’s responsible for her own actions. They just both have their own issues and it just…collided badly and I was the collateral damage.” Juno let out a resigned sigh.

Isaac skimmed her now-healed cheek with his thumb, pinning her with an assessing gaze. His careful touch trailed down her jawline to tilt her chin up slightly. If anyone saw them, they would swear he was about to kiss her. But Juno knew he was just looking at her, really looking at her. He tenderly tucked a blonde lock of hair over her ear, apparently satisfied with his perusal, and the moment was broken.

He made a motion to leave when Juno spoke up again. “Why did you invite him tonight?”

Isaac went still. Juno swore a ripple went through his sleek body as he tamed the alpha within.

“Seeing what could have been, everything he lost…no one will punish him more for that than himself, don’t you think?”

The icy satisfaction in his tone unnerved her. She let out an uncomfortable laugh. “You’re hardcore, you know that?”

They were in the eye of a tornado of Isaac’s making.

“No one hurts the ones I love, Juno.” A vow so unyielding it could’ve been written in blood.

Then he left, leaving her to flounder under the weight of his words.

* * *

Ollie looked down at the ostentatious invitation in his hand. He turned it over as if to confirm something then flicked it back over.

“We’ve never been invited to a NOC fundraising gala before.”

Juno reached over and took the heavyweight card from him. Was that real gold leaf on the edges? Surely the budget for that could’ve been allocated somewhere more appropriate. Housing victims of abuse, providing omegas with minimally-invasive empathetic medical care, fixing that uneven pavement right outside her therapist’s office.

“Don’t look at me, I’ve never been to one of these fancy things,” she said, sliding it back towards him over the kitchen counter.

Isaac walked in, making a beeline for the coffee machine and Ollie perked up. “You know anything about this?” he asked, barricading Isaac’s access to his morning jolt with the invitation. Isaac gave it an annoyed little flick, like he was getting rid of a gnat, and silently began making himself a coffee.

“You have to wait,” Juno mouthed at Ollie soundlessly. Ollie instead held the card out, inching closer and closer to Isaac’s face like he had a death wish. He was millimetres from making contact when Isaac snatched it from him.

“Forgot how annoying little brothers are,” he muttered under his breath as he flipped the card over. “Oh, right. Yes. We’ve never been invited before until now.”

“Because…” Ollie drew out the vowels for longer than necessary.

Isaac glanced quickly at Juno before smashing the invitation into Ollie’s chest, shutting him up. “I had reason to make a sizeable donation this year. Particularly to their bond research and development team and scent matching department.”

Juno tugged at the collar of the borrowed shirt she wore. Was it hot in here? Maybe she needed to check where she was in her heat cycle. She grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and made a hasty exit.

“We have to make time to find appropriate outfits,” Isaac called after her.

“On it!” she squeaked as she scooted away.

* * *

Juno wasn’t sure if appropriate was the right word. In fact, she was sure it was the wrong word. Because there was nothing appropriate about the way the green silk hugged her willowy frame, creating the illusion of dips and curves where she was fairly certain she had none. The off-the-shoulder neckline framed her tattoos perfectly. The skirt had just the right amount of fullness to swish dramatically as she walked, before the high slit revealed almost her whole leg.

Miles had spotted her first, then went on to describe so many filthy scenarios involving him, her and the fucking dress she had no choice but to pull up her skirt and shove him under it. He was more than content to leave with his face absolutely doused in her scent but Everett shouldered him into the bathroom and told him to wash. “No one gets a whiff of our omega’s slick but us,” he snarled, and then had to deal with his possessiveness riling her up all over again.

They were fashionably late as a result.

Juno wound her arm around Isaac’s proffered arm as she carefully made her way up the steps towards the venue’s entrance. She gazed out at the shimmering sea right at the edge of the stupendous waterfront estate. Members of the upper echelons of society milled about the top, surrounded by a truly excessive amount of perfectly styled flowers.

“So this is what an influx of alpha money can buy,” she noted dryly. “Shouldn’t they put the money from something like this towards the things they’re fundraising for?”

Isaac placed his other hand on top of the one looped with his. “Well, the idea is that if you schmooze the wealthy packs properly, they’ll be more likely to open their wallets.”

“Society is fucked.”

“Agreed. Shall we?”

They continued up the steps, the rest of the pack trailing behind them. “Thank you for the donation you made, though,” Juno added quietly after a beat. “I-I don’t mean to be ungrateful.” Isaac gave her hand a quick squeeze in understanding.

Juno had already made a game plan to anxiously stick to her pack like glue all night. The last thing she expected was to see three familiar faces huddled together. Before she knew it she had broken away from Isaac with an excited gasp and made her way over to the group.

“Juno! Omg, guys, it’s Juno!”

She was quickly enfolded in a three-way hug with Aisha, Marco and Layla — the omegas who had helped her match her to Ollie’s pack.

“God, you all look amazing,” she gushed. “Especially you, Aisha. Congratulations on the baby!”

“Babies,” Aisha corrected her proudly. “Two little boys. They’ll be the death of me, I can already tell. This is my first night out since they were born and I have a breast pump in my bag.” She held up her giant handbag, gesturing at it with a dramatic flourish of her other hand. “Really fits in with everything, doesn’t it?”

“Well, the breast pump and I have that in common, that’s how out of place I feel,” Juno admitted wryly.

“Oh I know, these things are always a bit naff,” Layla reassured her. “Everyone’s trying to pretend like they belong here and most of us are just as nervous as each other.”

Marco leaned close, casting a furtive look about. “Just avoid the ones who think that being here means they’re better than everyone else. You’ll recognise them, they’re the ones with their heads just shoved right up their asses.” He punctuated his words with a far too graphic pointing gesture.

The bright flash of a nearby camera made Juno flinch. “Are there usually so many photographers at these things?” she asked, frantically blinking white spots out of her vision.

“You haven’t heard?”

“Sage North is here.”

“You’re kidding,” Juno said incredulously, giving the crowd a quick once-over but failed to spot the beautiful omega actress. “I love her. Especially how strong she’s been after the bullshit Sawyer Callahan put her through.”

The mention of the mega-famous alpha actor made the other three omegas prickle up immediately, like prey deploying defensive tactics against a predator.

“Ugh, Sawyer Callahan.”

“Talk about a walking red flag.”

“Team Sage, seriously.”

A murmur rippled through the crowd and it quickly became apparent that they were trying to get everyone to move inside for introductory speeches. Juno panicked slightly as the others spotted their packs easily but soon felt a hand slip reassuringly into hers. She looked up to see Julian smiling at her.

“Come on, the others are over here.”