Page 4 of Claiming Their Omega

I try not to let myself look at her body. The last time I saw her, Grace was just a fresh-faced young woman about to head off to college. Now she’s far too tempting in a clingy shirt and form-fitting jeans. Her olive skin glows, and she stands with a natural elegance befitting a city girl, I suppose. And she is a city girl now. She left us all years ago, and this is the first time she’s been back.

“You’d think older would mean wiser,” Grace shoots back, her sky blue eyes sparking. There’s a green tint to them in the right lighting, I remember, then I curse myself for remembering. Why should I care what damn color Grace Whitmore’s eyes are? She’s the kid sister of our best friend.

But I just can’t help pushing her buttons.

“And you’d think family meant something,” I point out, drawling a little.

Grace flushes. She does, admittedly, look chagrined. “Look, I—”

“What’s going on here?”

Another man, another Alpha, strides up and puts his arm around Grace. She leans into him, but looks stiff at the same time. “Just catching up with some old friends.”

“And you were just getting to the part where you called me over to introduce me?” the guy teases her.

Something about his tone makes me bristle. I can see Cade and Hendrix doing the same in the corner of my eye. Only Easton stays calm, but that’s Easton’s way. I force myself to relax. There’s no reason for me to be upset about Grace dating some guy.

I wonder if her brother and parents know about him.

“Of course.” Grace’s flush deepens with even more embarrassment and I want to growl. It’s fun when I’m making her all flushed and a bit embarrassed. It’s not fun when it’s someone else doing it. It makes me want to bare my teeth. “William, these are my brother’s friends. The obnoxious one is Jesse, the one trying to get into every girl’s panties is Hendrix, the quiet one is Cade, and the serious one is Easton.”

“Not every girl’s panties,” Hendrix replies, not at all fazed by Grace’s sharp tongue. “I don’t go for anyone dead, underage, or married.”

“Such a high bar,” Grace drawls, her voice dry as a desert.

The guy at her side coughs and she flushes again. “And this is William, my boyfriend. He works in finance in New York.”

William grins and holds out his hand for us to shake. “It’s nice to meet all of Grace’s little hometown friends.”

I can feel my lip curling and I try to keep it down. We all shake his hand.

The guy looks like a model that stepped out of a magazine, and that ain’t a compliment. He’s too poised, too coiffed, like he’s never gotten his hands dirty in his life.

“So, Grace, what finally brings you back into town?” Hendrix says. He can probably tell that I want to puff my chest out. “Other than seeing us, of course.”

“Hendrix, I wouldn’t go out of my way to see you if you were on one side of the street and I was on the other,” Grace replies.

“It’s for your grandmother, isn’t it?” Easton pipes up.

We all look at him. I’m not surprised that Easton knows it’s the birthday of a friend’s grandmother coming up. Easton’s considerate like that. I’m more surprised he’s saying anything.

Grace looks just as surprised. “Yes. She’s not getting any younger, as Mom keeps reminding me. And it felt like a good time to, um, introduce William.”

“I’m sure it is,” Hendrix says, apparently deciding to play peacekeeper. Yeah, I’m not in the mood.

“So what do you all do?” William asks. “You’re all… cowboys?” He laughs a little.

Cade growls quietly in the back of his throat. I don’t know if anyone else can hear it, but it makes me feel a little better to know I’m not the only one here annoyed by this guy.

“We run a ranch,” Hendrix says amicably. “Coyote Ridge Ranch.”

“What? Since when?” Grace looks confused.

“We started it all shortly after you left.”

“Oh.” She clears her throat. “Well, that’s really nice for you all. So you’re an… official pack now?”

“Don’t sound so surprised,” Hendrix teases her.

---