Page 69 of Talk About… Dramay
“Yeah, apparently, my parents bought and renovated a storefront,” she said. “And Cameron found me one of the antiques I regretted losing. How did you find that, by the way?”
“A lot of searching,” I laughed, settling back in my chair and letting the tension drain away again. “I’ve been looking every few weeks on trading sites, and eventually had someone draw me a sketch and used it to post on a forum asking for help. Someone had a lead and I tracked down the woman who bought it. She loved it like you did, and when she heard the story, she was happy to sell.”
“You did all that for me? When?”
“About four years ago,” I admitted. “It was around the time I first saw your real estate listings. My plan was to come down there and try and talk to you. That same weekend there were some electrical issues at the bar and I had to fix it. We weren’t doing so hot and I couldn’t risk my Mama not being able to pay her bills. Then it was just excuses and fear.”
It was brutally honest, far more than I intended, but I couldn’t bring myself to not give her anything but the truth.
“So, what can we do to help?” Hudson asked. Outside of the argument, he’d stayed silent, simply observing.
Oriana was back to chewing on that abused lip of hers. Tate reached over and tugged it free, giving her a look that had her blush returning.
Damn, I couldn’t even be mad. In fact, I was grateful she had an alpha who had never lied or hidden anything from her. She needed that steady force.
“Are you going to stay?”
“We scheduled to wire your money back to you the day we met. It’s coming on the date our contract would end,” Hudson admitted. “Now that you know we’re scent matches, and you feel the same, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
She let go of Tate and rushed over, throwing herself into the alpha’s lap. Hudson chuckled and wrapped his arms around her.
Apparently, bonfires were just as healing outside of the alpha camp.
Our pack was a mess. There were obstacles standing in our way, but we were here, and all of us were trying.
“I used to tell myself that I’d never trust another scent-match, but I don’t want to rob myself of time with you guys.”
She peeked up, locking her eyes on me.
“Any of my guys.”
I swallowed hard, the question resting on the tip of my tongue but the fear of her answer kept me from being able to voice it.
“I deserve a pack and I want to experience it with no lies between us. Everything out in the open before we leave so we can move on together.”
“Lane wanted to tell you, it’s why he stopped blockers,” Hudson admitted. “I urged him to wait until Tate came.”
She moved out of Hudson’s lap and into Lane’s, who didn’t hold back from burying his nose in her neck.
“How long until they wear off?” she pouted. My girl was tipsy and vulnerable, making her filter fall away. Right now, she was an adorable mess.
“Soon,” Lane promised. “I hear there are ways of speeding up the process.”
“Oh really?” she laughed. “Let me guess, it involves the alphas knotting me and you fucking me?”
Yup, her filter was gone.
“Hm, maybe if you’re lucky,” she teased before going back to her chair.
“How are you handling this, Roman?” Lane asked, changing the subject. Roman had been the kindest to me so far. “You went from having just your omega, to having a full pack.”
“I’m alright,” he said, giving her a gentle smile. “She deserves to be happy, this was why we came to Rockwood Valley after all. I just didn’t expect to pick up more.”
“That’s how they crashed into my life, too,” Tate joked.
“Any other secrets you guys need to get out in the open?”
“Um,” I started, wincing as I realized there was another. “The account wasn’t the only thing I did over the years.”