Page 12 of Harley

I smile at her name...I sold mine this morning, and we made enough to get a ticket for the lottery. It’s a sign. This is going to work. She’s beautiful, with red lips and long dark chestnut hair. The outfit she’s rocking doesn’t suit her. It’s not her choice, I can tell that by the way she move in it. She’s not comfortable.

I want to reach into the TV sooth her… okay that’s new. The alpha in me wants to make her feel safe and comforted. I feel itchy under my skin.

“I want to find a pack that won’t mess me around. I love the scent of blueberry pancakes, sleeping in, and—”

I jump off the sofa and turn to Ace, who is frozen behind me, his beer lingering near his lips. He heard it. I heard it…

“Blueberry pancakes.” Dash stands and waves his arms my chest is pounding is this… is this the girl from the diner?

“Get Knight.” Ace yells. I can feel him down the bond, he doesn’t feel like us. He doesn’t have the same hope as us.

Zayd is on his way to get him already and I turn to him and open my mouth to tell him to stop being so negative. I can feel it. She’s the one.

“This isn’t going to be her. Don’t get his hopes up,” Ace warns, but it makes sense not to get Knight’s hopes up. I don’t want to do that to him. But it also makes sense that this is her… its too much of a coincidence that she loves the scent… not the taste. She said scent of blueberry pancakes. And there’s only one alpha I know who smells like that.

“It’s her. I can feel it in my soul,” I tell him. “It’s why we didn’t find her there all those times we went back. She’s an omega. Only, she wasn’t when Knight was there, he said he was drawn to this beta… her scent. He’d never smelled an unclaimed omega before.

“That might have been why he was so drawn to her… a beta only town. No one would have picked up her scent. Only an alpha. She had to be just on the edge of her designation. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

Knight stumbles out, wearing only his jeans. Yawning, he rubs his hand down his chest and scratches his belly. He’s attractive. What can I say? I like men and women. Knight is the perfect specimen of man to me. That dark hair and olive complexion, mixed with those eyes. Ugh… pity he doesn’t like to play with men.

“What’s going on?” he asks wearily. He looks wrecked. It’s just getting worse and I feel bad we dragged him out here, but he needs to see her… Harley.

I take a step to the side and point at the TV. Praying to the Gods this is the omega he met.

Moving closer, he holds on to the back of the sofa and blinks a few times. “Toffee apples.” He gasps, and his scent changes instantly. No more burned pancakes...blueberries. Everyone watches him as he moves to the TV, reaching out to touch it, as though he could touch her through the screen. Just as I had felt only moments before.

“Fuck, Knight,” I say. “Do you know what this means?”

He looks back at us, his eyes wide with a hint of sadness but through the bond… hope. He has hope.

“We found her. And her name is Harley.” I move over and place a hand on his shoulder, feeling as all the tension leaves his body and he sits down in front of the TV. Touching her face as she’s ushered away off the screen.

We found her. Now we need to win her in that lottery, we need more tickets. What else can we pawn? Knight’s fathers and mother might be able to help. He’s the only one of us who had an omega mother, so his fathers are still here with us. They are a great fathers and his mother is so sweet. The only omega I’ve ever met.

Zayd grins over at us, I can feel his happiness down the bond and Dash wraps his arms around me. I can feel him too… there’s no hiding emotions with Dash.

“She said love is love,” he whispers in my ear, and I grin before I kiss him. I heard her say that… That was very controversial what she said their and I hope there’s no repercussion. But in two weeks… she will be coming home with us. There’s nothing the government can do when she’s here. As our omega

Dash is our pack’s beta, but he’s more than that. He’s my beta first. I’ve always feared that an omega would change our dynamic. Wouldn’t accept the relationship between us when she was here in our pack.

But, now, I know she’s the one for us.

* * *

I look out the window as rain pelts against it. It's been a gray week. Hell, it's been a gray year. I feel Zayd come stand beside me. Smelling his coffee, I take a sip from my own. It’s cold and bitter. I’ve bene standing here too long.

He doesn't say a word; he hasn’t spoken a word since he was seven when his lost his alpha fathers and beta mother. But he leans into me, barely touching his shoulder with mine, and I know that's his way of saying I’m here. He can speak to us through sign language, but he’s not a fan of communicating that way. More often, he tells us what he’s feeling through the bond and other ways.

He grew up in the foster system… so for him to speak to us through the bond. Its taken a lot longer than the rest of us. He doesn’t trust easy so once he believed we wanted him in this pack. It took at least six months before he let the walls down. He holds them up a lot more than I wish. But he often comes and just leans on me for emotional support. I love that I’m the person he goes too.

I enjoy his company. He might not speak, bit he can talk for hours about the things he’s passionate about. He’s smart and always thinking of everyone in the pack first, then himself last. Which Dash always makes up for making sure Zayd is always first on his list. Zayd does all the research and tech stuff for us. I’m good with a wrench, but he’s good with computers.

“We got the invite,” I tell him. Finally. We applied before they even showed the omegas on the TV, but apparently, we’re not the only ones who like an omega who speaks her mind.

Zayd doesn't move, but I feel his fear down the bond, and I shake my head and turn to him. I know what he's thinking. He doesn’t like going out in public. He hates when people draw attention to the fact that he doesn’t speak. Not that you notice that at first.

First you see his size, because he’s not only the tallest of us all… but the biggest all over. Other alphas seem to see him as a challenge or a way to test themselves against a larger alpha. When he doesn’t talk… they see that has his weakness. But it’s his strength. He’s always listening and caring. He is a big puppy and just wants everyone to be happy and safe.

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