Holly grinned. “Which is what made Raina agree.”
I laughed. “She did get excited at the idea of more revenue.”
I gestured at my pesto chicken flatbread sandwich. “You want some? Logan’s been experimenting.”
“I just had a massive steak and baked potato with Aiden and Noah.” Holly put her hand on her stomach. “If I had known you would offer me food I would have waited.”
“I’ll get you a to-go bag tomorrow. I’m interviewing a candidate at Talk of the Town.” I took a bite, and pesto-chicken goodness flooded my mouth. Logan was a genius when it came to food. And my body. And making me feel better.
“That was fast.” Holly smirked. “I see things are going okay with Pack Kahele?”
“When does the feeling of “I’m just a beta” go away?” I picked up a chip. “I keep waiting for them to decide they don’t need me anymore.”
Holly made a face, grabbing a stack of papers off my desk. “Are they making you feel like ‘just a beta’?”
“It feels like they’re treating me like another omega. Logan makes us all lunch. Luca sends me flowers, brings me home chocolate and presents, and Julian is attached at my hip.”
Pure happiness bubbled up inside me. “It’s perfect. Absolutely perfect. They asked me to move in with them.”
“Ah, so that’s terrifying.” Holly started sorting the papers out by invoices. I would be offended if I didn’t want her to sort things out for me. “If it’s your own insecurities, you’re just going to have to tell yourself that you’re a vital part of the pack. Just like an omega or alpha.”
“Yeah yeah, we balance the pack out.” It was a struggle not to roll my eyes. “You hated hearing that as much as I did growing up.”
“I did.” Holly shifted more papers around. “It wasn’t until I was in a pack that I saw it work firsthand. I’m their anchor point. They all come to me for comfort and reassurance. Biology puts alphas and omegas into each other’s orbits all the time, the push-pull of nesting, being taken care of, and sexual desire. But betas don’t make those “demands”.”
Holly used air quotes. “We’re just there, a place to relax and chill. Aiden and Noah said they’re much more relaxed now that I’m around. They don’t feel the sharp spikes of hormones as much.”
I took a bite of my sandwich. All three of the guys had said something similar to me at some point. And despite my fears, I had been helpful during the heat.
“You should move in,” Holly said. “You know you want to.”
I chewed my sandwich, nodding. “Julian’s right. I basically live there now.”
“Stop waiting for the other shoe to drop and do it.” Holly grabbed another stack of papers and sorted them into a pile.
“If they were going to be disgusted by my less admirable traits, it would have been last night.”
“Exactly. Instead, they swooped in to help.”
They did.
I should move in. My heart thumped at the idea. I could pack up most of my stuff this afternoon. I wouldn’t have to give up my cottage, but I could get the rest of my clothes that hadn’t already migrated over. My books, some of my photos.
I grinned at the thought of Julian’s face when he came home from work to find most of my stuff in his house.
Our house. I did a little dance in my chair and grinned like an idiot. “You’re right. I’ll get my stuff together.”
The door opened, and Ember swooped in like a pterodactyl. “It’s lunchtime.”
She was unreasonably excited. I pulled a second lunch box out of the mini fridge. “Chef Alejandro was experimenting in the kitchen yesterday. He sends his regards.”
She looked at the box suspiciously. “He hasn’t even met me. He doesn’t know I’m hot.”
Many, many,manyalphas had tried to date Ember and West. The combination of Ember’s energy and West’s dark brooding was too much for most single alphas to resist.
None of them made it out of round one. Ember muttered about alphas trying to come between her and West and dumped them without ceremony.
Holly laughed. “You’re an omega. He’s a chef. He wants to feed you, sight unseen.”