Page 10 of Pack Favero

Me? Oh, I’m just waiting for the ground to open up and swallow me whole.

“That’s very forward of you, don’t you think?” I mumble,refusing to look at the other two alphas in the room, though it does nothing to hide the fact that I’m sitting in a strange house I’ve never been to and surrounded by scents that make my mouth water, my nether region wake up as though I haven’t been through a five-day masturbation session forced upon me by my biology, and my heart palpitate like it’s never smelt or seen anything quite as good as the three men around me.

“I’m a forward guy, what can I say,” Alek jokes, bumping my leg with his shoulder before settling deeper while I tie off the first thin braid on the side of his head.

“There’s forward, then there’s inappropriate,” Barnes grumbles, and I peek at him, only to find him glaring at the blond-headed Viking as though he wants to strangle him.

There’s a pause before Alek sighs and nods, jostling my hands a fraction before he pauses at the tightening of my fingers. “You’re right. You’re right. Zira, I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

What’s crazy, though, is that it didn’t make me uncomfortable in the slightest. In fact, there’s something rather endearing about the man speaking his thoughts, no matter the intention. It’s refreshing. So often do people disguise their thoughts and feelings, especially around strangers they’ve only just met. I won’t admit out loud that I’m actually… enjoying the banter? Sure, it’s not a conversation one should have with strangers, but I sort of like it. It’s cute, in a goofy kind of cheese-ball way, even if it’s making me blush like a virgin who’s just bore witness to a penis for the first time in her life.

Ignoring him now as well as the others, not wanting to encourage him despite the way I find myself at ease if not a little red with embarrassment, I tap the side of his head gently, gesturing for him to tilt to the opposite side before beginning the other braid.

Once more, the room falls silent, and I work on Alek’shair for a small while in peace. I get so lost in it that I don’t even realize Alek has started purring once more, my fingers weaving through his hair with expert ease, years and years of doing my hair, my mom’s hair, and the girls’ from the gym hair coming in handy.

As soon as I’m done, two thin braids now twisted into the sides of his head and one on the top, each one tied together into one long braid that falls down to his shoulders, I tap on his meaty shoulders and declare, “All done.”

His purr stops, and I instantly miss it. I almost blurt as much until I bite my lip, forcing them down with a hard swallow, and I sit back as I watch the big, burly man stand suddenly and hurry to a room near the stairs.

“Holy shit,” he blurts, muffled by the door that now separates us. “That looks awesome. Don’t tell Silver I said as much, but that’s even better than what she does.”

I’m blushing for a completely different reason now, so while Alek is checking out his new hairstyle, I slide from the comfortable couch and ask, “Is there a shower I could use? I didn’t get a chance to have one before ending up on the floor.”

“Upstairs, second door to your right. Use anything you want in there, darling,” Lazarus offers, smiling gently at me, and I offer him a quick glance and nod before high tailing it out of there. I have no business being here, sitting comfortably on a couch made of pillows and dreams, surrounded by the first group of men that don’t make me uncomfortable, make my skin crawl, or send my instincts into overdrive.

Hurrying up the stairs without so much as turning back, I’m almost at the top when Barnes calls, “Your bag is in the room you woke up in.”

“Thanks,” I shout back, disappearing into that very same room mere seconds later.

I find my duffle, the neon orange usually used for mygym clothes and such, tucked half beneath the tall bed I woke up in. Begrudgingly, I have to admit how comfortable that bed is. I slept like a baby without waking once, and for the first time in what feels like forever, I actually woke without any kinks in my back and neck. It was the best sleep I’ve had since I can remember.

Dragging the bag from beneath the bed, I undo the zipper and rifle through it, impressed to find comfy clothes, summer dresses, and underwear. I have no idea how many nights Barnes planned for me to stay, though he’s a little deluded if he thought I’d stay longer than necessary, but there’s a warmth in my chest that he thought to bring a bit of everything to ensure I had something I wanted to wear.

Gathering a compilation of things, a pale-blue summer dress covered in white daisies, a white thong I’ll be embarrassed about later that Barnes handled, a matching lace bralette that makes my cheeks pink knowing his hands were on that, too, and a pair of white wedges that I wear any time the sun is out, I hug it all to my stomach and hurry out of the nice, clean, and comfortable bedroom and dart to the bathroom Lazarus provided instructions for.

Once inside, I lock the door and take a deep, steadying breath, dropping my head to the cool surface of the door with a muted thud. It takes me a moment to finally move, going about my business. In the shower, I wash my hair thoroughly with the use of a shampoo that smells almost as good as the men downstairs, I use a body wash that smells more strongly than what I could smell on the borrowed hoodie I was reluctant to remove, and use a warmed towel straight from the heated towel rack. As nice as everything is, it’s nothing lavishly fancy. Sure, some of the products I spy in the caddy are a little more expensive than most, but nothing that screams ‘wealth and exuberance.’ It’s somewhat of a shock, given how easily Barnesand his pack threw money to a hospital for bills that weren’t theirs to pay.

Not for the first time, I wonder why I’m so angered by it, and the answer comes to me just as quickly as every other time I’ve broached the topic in my mind. I understand it was a good deed, something they thought would help or ease the stress, but I’m simply not wired to think that way after the childhood I grew up from.

As much as I love my mom, and I really do—that woman is the light of my life, and I certainly wouldn’t be here without her and her guidance, love, and care—but, as much as she means to me, there’s no doubt that some of her life choices have been questionable. I mean, I was born from a one-night stand with a wealthy man who wanted nothing to do with mom or me when she told him she was expecting a bundle of joy she never thought she’d have. A wealthy man she didn’t realize was bound to a pack already, who had an omega waiting at home for him, and who slapped a restraining order on her a week after discovering his infidelity created a life he didn’t want any responsibility over.

Instead of fighting for child support or the likes, Mom uprooted her life and moved, becoming a single mother before I was even born. Shortly after I was born, Mom tried a string of no-good jobs, all dead-end work, just to get us by. I can only admire her for it, despite several of those jobs falling through because she’s a sassy beta who couldn’t always keep her mouth shut when there was conflict. We made do with what we had, though, and sometimes Mom was forced to mooch off whatever good-for-nothing boyfriend came along, but we got to where we are now through hard work, perseverance, and a whole lot of struggling. Through it all, every man that came into our lives turned out to be weirdos, creeps, or men with more money than sense. I was raised watching Mom navigate the world of the wealthy before falling back down to reality when the wealthywere done with her.

The harder struggles came when my designation appeared, and we were both shocked to discover my status as omega. No longer was I as safe as the betas I grew up with at school, no longer was I equal to the alphas I once befriended before they ditched me for bigger and better things. My life had turned upside down, and the mooching off fancy men with deep pockets and endless wallets disappeared when their eyes would linger a little too long on me, or when my heats would pose issues for them, making them uncomfortable enough to leave my mom without so much as a call.

When Mom finally gave up on dating, I was old enough to start working. So, wanting to finally step up and help where I could, I found any after-school job that would hire an omega and helped pay for all we needed. I never took a single handout, unwilling to take charity or rely on others. I never accepted help, fearing that it would be used against us like it had so many times before. And not once have I allowed anyone to pay my way since my first paycheck was handed to me.

Life was never easy, and we’ve always had monetary issues, but we always had one another. After watching Mom paying back loans and credit cards just to get by, after watching her crying about another man leaving her, I learned pretty early on never to rely on or trust anyone but Mom, because men have the power to crush you without batting an eye.

So, my childhood wasn’t shiny and fun. It’s certainly not a childhood I would have wished upon anyone, but it was mine, and it shaped me to who I am today. Mom tried her best, that much I’m aware of, and I love her deeply for doing what she could or felt like she needed to do in order to provide for the daughter she never expected.

Which is why it’s rubbed me in all the wrong places that Barnes paid for the medical bills. I feel like I owe him now, andI hate it. I hate the feeling in my chest that appears when I think about how much money those bills cost, and how much I’m going to have to pay him instead of the hospital. The only good thing to come of it is that I don’t have to pay interest, not that I won’t be paying him back for years to come without it.

As soon as I’m dressed and my copper hair has been dried into loose waves that run down my back like a river of lava, I escape the bathroom, checking left and right before bolting across the hallway and into the room once more. I find the towel I arrived in neatly folded on the dresser, along with my purse, and my eyes widen because, inside that purse are the six installment payments I tried giving Barnes at North Five.

And now I’m in his house.

I finally found a silver lining on my abduction.

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