Page 41 of Packed Up In Vegas

The fucker was lucky I didn’t go straight back upstairs and clock him. I didn’t know Callie that well, but no one deserved what he had put her through.

The moving truck was already gone, taking the furniture to someone a hell of a lot more deserving than Callie’s ex. I wasn’t entirely eager to climb back into a vehicle that was going to be filled with the scent of distressed omega. Rolling the windows down wouldn’t be seen as polite and I didn’t want to upset her more, but smelling that scent on her made me want to punch something.

Kai was doing his best to soothe her, Diego too, when he climbed in next to her, but she had just had years of her life thrown back into her face by someone she had thought she could trust, and there wasn’t a hug long enough in the world to change that.

While Miles navigated us out of the city and I tried not to choke on Callie’s despair, I flipped through listings for private investigators. Everyone had skeletons in their closet, and I was willing to bet Jerry was no different. In all likelihood we would never see him again, but just in case, it wouldn’t hurt to have some ammunition in case he decided to make Callie’s life worse.

The drive home was an experience in misery. Callie cried for a solid half of it before she exhausted herself. Kai and Diego rearranged her so she could stretch out in the backseat, but she continued whimpering in her sleep like she couldn’t escape her pain even in her dreams.

I turned over the things we had learned in my head. She had been entirely blindsided by the break in the relationship. Based on her statement that she had at one point been trying to have children with him, I could only assume she had been happy before everything had gone down. And if not happy, at least comfortable.

“I think I should be allowed to hit him,” I said quietly, not wanting to wake her.

“If you get to, so do I,” said Miles.

“There’s four of us,” Diego pointed out. “We could take turns making him suffer for making her cry.”

“Better revenge would be giving her a good life,” said Kai as he stroked her dark hair. “One where she never feels the need to cry like this again.”

That revenge might be better, but it would certainly be less satisfying than feeling the crunch of his nose beneath my fist.

Iwas exhausted and miserable by the time we pulled up to the pack house. It looked like a mini estate, the house more reminiscent of a castle than any home I had personally been in before, with tall rounded windows, sweeping roofs, and skinny trees dotting the yard in front of it. Even if I felt brittle enough to fall apart in a strong breeze, I could still appreciate the beauty of the building before me.

We pulled over a brick drive and disappeared into the double set of garages. I didn’t protest when Kai offered to carry me in, unsure how steady I would be on my own feet.

He took me in through a spacious, tidy pantry and into the prettiest kitchen I had ever seen with brick archways, three glowing chandeliers hanging above a long island that could easily fit a dozen people around it. Gold fixtures and hardware popped against the white cabinetry. A large arched window on the other side of the kitchen opened into a courtyard that was full of neat hedges, numerous cacti, and red stones nestled around the plants.

“We’ll give you a proper tour tomorrow,” Kai told me. “You can pick any room you want and we’ll figure out everything later.”

He carried me straight upstairs and I tried not to gape at the twenty-foot ceilings in the foyer or the gorgeous curve of the stairway with decorative wrought iron swirls beneath the railing. At the top of the stairs Kai set me on my feet, keeping a steadying arm around me.

“My room is at the end on the right, Amir across from me, Diego and Miles down the other side. There’s a guest bed downstairs too if you don’t want to stay with any of us.”

“Yours,” I managed to say.

Kai showed me to his own room, the air thick with muted cinnamon when he opened the door. The scent was a bit stale, but then I supposed they hadn’t been here for a little while. I staggered out of his arms and crawled onto the bed, burying myself beneath the blankets.

“Do you want company?”

“No.” It was a lie, but I just wanted the space to cry in peace. I had already cried too much in front of them and I could only bear so much humiliation in one day.

“All right,” Kai said softly. “Sleep if you’d like. Or I can get you something to eat.”

My stomach growled, but I was nauseated too. I would worry about food in the morning. “Just sleep please.”

He kissed the top of my head before leaving me and I clutched his pillows to my chest when the door closed, leaving me in darkness. My whole life was fucking ruined and they had all seen me at my worst. I’d almost gone feral on Jerry for destroying my nest on top of everything else he had done. I was absolutely certain I had ruined the pack perception of me with my behavior, but my only regret was that I hadn’t taken a chunk out of Jerry when I had the chance. Amir had stopped me, and logically I knew that was for the best, but I was also really fucking pissed and aching. My chest was scooped out, hollow, and I didn’t know what tomorrow would bring.

I burrowed under Kai’s blankets and cried myself to sleep.

I woke up feeling like a truck had run me over, backed up, and run me over again. My body was stiff and my throat was dry, my eyes burning and my skin itching with the need to be touched. I had spent the night away from a fresh bond and my body was punishing me for it. Maybe all of the symptoms of agony would have been cured by Kai’s presence, but I couldn’t have handled it just yet.

The cinnamon in his room smelled wrong. I needed him to freshen it. I peeked out into the hall, finding the house silent. I didn’t dare approach Amir’s door, and turned down the hall to Diego’s, finding it slightly ajar, with him and Kai fast asleep in the massive bed. Nutmeg, clove, and cinnamon filled my nose when I poked my head in, teasing all of my instincts to life.

I was still humiliated from yesterday, but I needed them right now. Hopefully they wouldn’t turn me away.

I crawled up the bed and wedged myself between them on top of the blankets.

Diego cracked open one sleepy eye. “Good morning, precious.”

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