Chapter Eight

CHAPTER EIGHT

NOW PLAYING: FALLBACK - nightlife

Nerves flutter in my stomach as Bea and I ride with Shelby and Austin to meet with everyone working the tour. Today our journey begins. Eight weeks of traveling, concerts, and chaos. Our dreams come to fruition.

Even if seeing those dreams becoming reality means spending my time sharing a tour bus with four men whose allure threatens to splinter every wall I’ve built around my battered heart.

Pulling into the large lot with the rest of the crew, my brow furrows when I see the rest of the Powell pack waiting outside of a sleek silver tour bus. I climb out of the car behind Bea and we’re immediately wrapped in a bear hug by her dad, Forrest. “Surprise!” He beams as he gestures to the bus, pushing against our shoulders to urge us toward the bus.

The door is open and Phoenix sits in the driver's seat with a small grin tilting the side of his lips. He doesn’t say anything as we step past him, just watches us with a knowing smile.

I don’t do well with expensive gifts. Never having received them growing up, it's been difficult for me to accept any gift, let alone something as extravagant as an entire tour bus. I don’t feel worthy of the care their gift shows.

“Damn,” Bea lets out a watery laugh.

I push down my discomfort and feeling of inadequacy long enough to get distracted by the beautiful interior. White walls and light wood floors. A small kitchenette takes up one side. With light blue cabinets and silver appliances, it’s quaint and homey. Across from the kitchenette is a gray couch covered in cute throw pillows.

Through a curtain, we find a room with two wide bunks on one side and a small enclosed bathroom with a shower on the other. The back wall has two narrow doors. Each door has an adorable, curly wooden sign with one of our names.

I peek through the door on the right, the one emblazoned with my name, to find a small undecorated room. A mini nest for our time on the road. My heart aches in the best of ways.

It’s still too much.

I turn to tell Bea’s parents as much, but jump when I find Shelby standing right behind me. Her arms wrap around me as she hugs me tight against her. “You are going to accept this gift and let us love you the way you deserve, Omen. No arguments. You became ours the day I met you at the DAU shelter.”

“We take care of our own and that means you too,” Phoenix adds in his no-nonsense tone.

My shoulders deflate as I meet each of their eyes. They’re all stubborn enough to not back down. It would be more stressful for me to try to fight them on this than to suck it up and accept the gift they are giving me.

“Thank you. It’s perfect,” I reply solemnly.

“It’s fucking awesome!” Bea cheers from her bedroom where she has collapsed on the bed. Her mom scolds her for her language but she just rolls her eyes. “One question though, who’s gonna drive this thing? Cause if Omen or I step behind that wheel, we’ll never make it out of the city without off-roading this beauty.”

The space fills with the sound of our laughter, lightening the mood. Of course, she’s totally right. I could have a panic attack imagining trying to merge in traffic with this huge vehicle.

“No worries,” Austin finally says. “Lex and Ridley will be taking the spare bunks and they both are licensed to drive the RV.”

Bea sobers up at the reminder, but she seems to be less against the idea now than she was before our surprise.

“This gives you both your own space and will make it easier for you to relax without worrying about your bus mates finding out anything they shouldn’t,” Phoenix confirms as he stares at me.

I had voiced my concerns about sharing the tour bus with Brady and the members of Primordial Covenant after accepting the position. One slip of the tongue would be enough to blast my entire world to pieces.

“We’ll grab your stuff and load it on the bus. Lex and Ridley should be here soon,” Austin informs us as he ushers us back to the entrance. “You both need to check in with the rest of the staff. We’ve already discussed the bus with Brady and the executives at Soulbound, so don’t worry about that.”

I follow Bea as she weaves between busy roadies to find the head exec of Soulbound’s office here in Starburgh. Shiloh Acherely is a no-nonsense alpha. Standing a little over 6’, he’s dressed immaculately in a sleek slate gray suit and pressed white dress shirt. Stern prominent brows and deep brown eyes. You can tell who is in charge as soon as you see him.

He watches Bea approach with a tight jaw and I can’t help but wonder what’s causing the slightly uncomfortable tension between them.

“Good morning, Omegas,” he greets. “Sabine, you’re with me. Let’s run through the list and check in with everyone to ensure the members of Orbital Somatic are ready to go,” Shiloh commands. He walks away not waiting to see if Bea will follow.

My jaw is probably comical as I gape at my best friend as it registers the alpha is using her full first name. The only time anyone ever calls Bea ‘Sabine’ is when she’s in deep trouble with her mom. She rolls her eyes but hurries after him. I’ll make sure to get the story later.

“You good to go? Got everything you need?” Brady’s gruff voice asks. I confirm I’m all set before we are interrupted by other crew members. I feel awkward standing in the midst of the chaos and start contemplating returning to the bus to hide out until we are ready to leave.

Before I can make a decision, my name is called through the crowd. Peeking over my shoulder, I see Nexus smiling broadly as he jogs over. The rest of the band are standing near a massive black bus.

“Hello Nexus,” I grin. He’s dressed in a simple cropped black t-shirt and skinny jeans today with his shaggy hair pushed back by a matching headband. I’m surprised to find the lack of bold colors mildly disappointing.

“Good morning, sweet girl.” A blush tints his cheeks, matching my own, as he offers me a hand. I hesitate before placing my hand in his. His brown eyes glimmer in the morning light, his excitement shining through. “Do you need a hand with your bags?”

He seems to deflate a bit when I decline his help, but he perks right back up when I accept a tour of their bus. I pause to look back at Brady, but he waves me off. I let Nexus guide me to the rest of his bandmates. They offer me various forms of hello as they unload their bags, but Nexus bypasses them, directing me up onto their bus.

The interior is all dark wood and neutral tones. It has a very sleek, masculine feel which suits their pack. A small living area is dominated by a black leather couch with a tiny kitchenette sitting in the corner beside a large television.

“The real highlight,” he says as he points out their board game collection below the TV. “We love having game nights after our shows when we aren’t immediately moving to our next destination.”

I follow behind him as he shows me the back half of the bus. He talks animatedly, clearly enjoying sharing their space with me. When we step into the next section, he points out four spacious bunks. I spy bags already sitting on several of them and assume this is their sleeping area, so I’m surprised when he opens a door at the back and shows me a small room that is ninety percent bed.

“This is the master. We usually share this space, but we want you to take it instead.” His smile is shy as he peeks over at me. He’s adorable and I wish I didn’t have to burst his bubble.

“Oh, sorry, I’m not going to be sharing the bus with you. I–we–” I stumble over my words as his face falls. My instincts demand I make the crestfallen look disappear. “Bea and I have our own bus,” I finish weakly.

Knowing I’ve disappointed this sweet alpha has the insistent voice in my subconscious whispering reminders of how defective I am as an omega.

“Oh. We assumed…” He looks back into the bedroom wistfully and my stomach pinches. The urge to wrap my arms around him is nearly unbearable, but I force myself to hold still.

I’m not sure if hugging him would be to comfort him or me, and I don’t deserve his comfort when I’m the cause of his displeasure.

“That’s okay. You’ll still be at all the stops with us, right?”

“Yeah, absolutely. I’ll be with you every step of the way.” I reassure him. “I’m very excited to work with your pack.”

My words don’t seem to help as his brow pinches. He runs a hand over his face before offering me a halfhearted grin. My hand is halfway to his chest before I even process the movement. These silly omega instincts demand I find a way to return his playful bubbliness. I press my fingers against his t-shirt feeling his heart thumping rapidly. “We’ll have plenty of time to hang out, too. I promise.”

A genuine smile graces his lips as he nods. His hand wraps around mine where it rests against his chest and he pulls my hand to his lips. My breath catches when a soft kiss presses against my fingertips and sends butterflies to flight in my stomach.

“Come on, gorgeous, let’s get you back to your bus. We’ll be heading out soon.” He doesn’t let go of my hand as he leads me back outside and through the parking lot.

Outside of my bus, we find Bea in a face-off against Ridley and Lex. Her arms are crossed as she glares at the two alphas who appear equally as annoyed with my bestie. “Are they your drivers?” Nexus questions. His eyes are narrowed as he looks between the two men.

“Bodyguards, but they will also be driving for us.”

He hums. His hand squeezes a little tighter around mine before he leans down to stage whisper to me. “Sure you don’t want to ride with us?”

I muffle a giggle when Bea turns her glare on me, daring me to abandon her with them. “As much as I’d enjoy escaping this tension, I won’t leave Bea to handle them alone. This time. Plus, I need to get settled into my new temporary home.”

Nexus shrugs, wishing me luck before heading back to the band’s bus. I hurry past the trio when I see Shiloh marching our way, a glare leveled at the two alphas who are suddenly standing much closer to Bea.

Fates give me the strength to deal with these hooligans for the next two months.

“Settling in okay?” I ask Bea where I lean against the door to her mini nest. She left it ajar while she piled all of her bags outside of the room to unpack them.

Only a few hours in and the space is already overflowing. The small closet space along the upper right side is so full of her clothes it looks like they will burst back out at any moment. Her bed holds so many pillows, blankets, and plushies I’m slightly afraid she may never find her way back out once she crawls inside.

“As much as I can with thing 1 and thing 2 aboard,” she snarks. “Let me guess, it only took you five minutes to unpack?”

I fight back a smile, watching her carefully hang a string of pictures on the wall. We had a similar conversation a few days ago when we moved into our new apartment. Bea and I are very opposite in both organizational skills and attachment to personal belongings.

I guess once you’ve had to leave everything you own behind it gets difficult to let yourself get too attached to material things.

“Seven actually, I had to unwrap the sheets your mom bought me for the bed.” I duck when she tosses a plush fox at my face. Our laughter fills the air and steals a little of the lingering irritation from her face. “So, what’s with you and Mr. Archerley?”

“Ugh. Him.” She flops onto her bed and stares at the ceiling, her nose scrunched. Her eyes however tell a different story. My bestie is attracted to the stoic older man. “The first time I assumed it was just a professionalism thing, you know? But every time I correct him, he calls me Sabine the next time with a tone showing he knows he’s pressing my buttons and he’s enjoying the hell out of it.”

“That seems… out of character. I only briefly met him when I signed the finalized contract with the label, but he didn’t seem like a button pusher. He actually gave me old-school respectful vibes.”

“I swear Fate decided the cost of my dream career was being stuck with annoyingly hot men who enjoy pissing me off.”

“Wait,” I ask as I question her wording. “You said Fate, like capitalized if we were texting Fate? Do you think they might be your mates?”

“No!” Bea practically shouts, her voice a few octaves too high. There’s something there, but I decide not to dig. She’ll tell me when she’s ready.

“What about you?” she asks a few minutes later.

“Me?”

“Yes. Primordial Covenant? Their lead singer seems to be absolutely smitten with you already. I swear he had literal hearts in his eyes when he was bringing you back to the bus earlier!” Bea raises her eyebrows dramatically like she’s mimicking a cartoon character whose heart eyes are bouncing out of their head.

“Uh, we met like a week ago. I highly doubt he or anyone else in their pack is ‘smitten’. He’s being nice since we’ll be working together for two months.” The words sound like a brush-off even to my own ears, but I don’t back down.

I might feel a pull to Pack Graves but it doesn’t mean the feeling is reciprocated. Not that it would matter if it was since I don’t plan to act on it.

“Sureeee.” She draws out the word with disbelief clear in her tone. Thankfully she also doesn’t press the issue. “I’m still uber salty with you for not warning me how freaking hot they are without their masks. This tour is turning out to be an eye candy buffet!”

“Pfft, you’re ridiculous,” I giggle.

She’s right though. Primordial Covenant is absolutely drool-worthy. With or without their masks.