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CHAPTER FIFTY

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WHO IS PACK DE CLARE?

We’ve known River Daniels and Grayson de Clare forever, but what about the rest of their pack? Who are they and what do they do? The answer might surprise you in the case of Elias Coleville, senior mechanic for Paragon Racing. What you might not know? Mr. Coleville, or should we say Lord Coleville, is Britannian nobility! Being the second son of the Marquess of Camgate, Heath Coleville, and his wife, Lady Beatrice Coleville, takes Elias out of the running for any titles while his older brother Edward is alive. But we’re more interested in how Elias came to Formula 1 in the first place, and what other secrets this fascinating pack might be hiding.

I snorted a laugh as I looked through the article. It wasn’t anything strange or even secret. Nothing there couldn’t be looked up by anyone with a computer and enough motivation. But it had been a while since anyone had been interested in me like this.

Beck would likely be the next victim. Hell, I didn’t care. Let them blast me everywhere. I had what I wanted, and I was happy.

“What?” River asked.

I waved my phone. “My parents’ media person forwarded me an article. They’re digging into Pack De Clare and found out about my family. It’s nothing.”

Vanessa slept snuggled in Gray’s arms. We were watching a movie like she’d asked, but we’d been on our phones most of the time while she slept, just catching up on things and relaxing. The heat had been exhausting in the best way. But I was glad we did have some time to be together without any other pressures.

“Will your parents think it’s nothing if they sent it to you?”

“I get sent articles all the time that mention me in passing. There’s nothing groundbreaking here. I can’t imagine it would be different.”

My phone lit up with an incoming call… from my mother. The sigh came out heavily. “I stand corrected. I’ll be right back.”

Once I was out of earshot, I answered. “Hello?”

The summer day was beautiful, so I stepped onto the back veranda that overlooked the coast and savored the feeling of the breeze off the ocean.

“Elias.”

“Mother.”

“Jameson said he forwarded you a concerning article?”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s hardly concerning. Everything in it is public record.”

Even though it wasn’t a video call I could see her face pinching in disapproval. “It still mentions us all.”

Closing my eyes, I rubbed my temples with one hand. “And what would you like me to do about it?”

“Ideally, we’d like it taken down.”

“Then have Jameson ask them to take it down.”

“We’d prefer?—”

Anger snapped through me. “I don’t actually care what you’d prefer, mother. Considering you called me and haven’t asked how I am or how my Omega is doing. And I know you’re aware that she went into heat because even though you claim to hate what I do, you’re always very well informed about everything happening in my life. In fact, you haven’t made time to reach out and ask about me, her, or the rest of the pack since I told you the news.” I did tell them before the news broke so they weren’t blindsided and even more upset. But the silence in response was deafening. “So forgive me, I have more important things to do with my time than worry about a harmless article that parrots public. Fucking. Information.”

“ Language .”

“And that’s what you took from that?” I laughed, though none of this was funny.

She sighed, and I braced myself. Nothing good ever came after my mother sighed. “Elias, you know we care about you. But you know as well as I do that there’s a way things are done, and being a part of your… sport doesn’t fit in with that.”

I bit my tongue against the argument that plenty of Britannian aristocracy had been involved in Formula 1 over the years. They just tended to be drivers. So it was fine if you were in the position where everyone knew you and you got all the glory. But being a mechanic? Covered in grease while other people drew all the fame? Unthinkable. We’d had that fight before, and I wasn’t about to have it again now.

“I’m noticing you still haven’t asked about Vanessa,” I said, making my tone as cold as I could. “I want to be clear about something, mom.” She hated it when I called her mom. It was too informal. “This isn’t a passing phase or someone I’m sleeping with. This is my Omega . She is the center of my life and she’s here to stay. So if you can’t muster up the courtesy to ask about her? We can skip this conversation.”

“Is everything all right? I assumed that if something were wrong you would tell us.”

My free hand curled into a fist at my side. That wasn’t the point. It wasn’t about something being wrong, it was about taking an interest in my life. Which they hadn’t done since I deviated from the plan they’d created for it.

“Oh,” she said, and I heard the sound of paper through the phone, “and we received your invitation to the gala for the Britannian Grand Prix. Thank you. I suppose we’ll meet your Omega there.”

“You will.” Not that I expected that introduction to go well, if this was how she spoke about it.

“And you won’t have the article taken down?”

I shrugged and stared up into the cloudless blue sky. “You’re welcome to try. Nothing about the article bothers me. Unlike you, I’m not ashamed of what I do, nor am I ashamed of where I came from. Say hello to dad for me.”

“Elias, wai?—”

My finger hit the end call button before she could finish her plea, whatever it had been.

Fuck.

It wasn’t like I expected my family to get their act together now that I had an Omega. But no matter how many times I learned the extent of my parents’ disgust with my choices, it always stung. Deep down, I’d always hoped that they would see what I did had value, and that I was incredible at my job. But every interaction weakened that hope.

At least my brother wasn’t a total ass. Sure, he was mom and dad’s perfect son, but he also supported me. We didn’t talk much, but he understood why I’d wanted to get away from the stuffy life we’d been born into, even though he enjoyed it. He also didn’t look at my career like I’d chosen to voluntarily crawl through dog shit, the way my parents seemed to.

The quiet creak of the door came from behind me, and the softness of bare, padding footsteps.

Vanessa was wrapped only in a blanket beneath her shoulders. She stared out at the view, eyes wide. “Holy crap.”

A smile came to my face, and immediately the dark clouds lifted. That’s what she did all the time. She was my brightness. “It’s beautiful.”

“You guys should have told me how amazing this is. We could have done a round out here.”

“That’s not off the table,” I informed her. “Sunset? Fucking you out here? Sign me up. Why are you awake?”

“They told me you had to take a phone call you wouldn’t enjoy.”

“Understatement,” I muttered. “It was nothing. Just my mother trying to get me to take down an article that reminds people they’re my parents. And that’s bad, because I’m a lowly mechanic, and how dare I betray my upbringing by doing something so menial ?”

Vanessa frowned. “Is that really what they think? I know you mentioned it before, but I didn’t think it was at that level.”

“Unfortunately. My parents truly wish they could erase my existence from being connected to theirs. I’ll hold back from saying they wish I’d never been born, but if they’d known I would do this beforehand?” I shrugged.

“I’m sorry.”

“Nothing for you to be sorry about.”

She slipped her arms around my waist. “I still am. No one’s family should make them feel like this.”

“You’re my family,” I whispered. “The guys inside are my family. And you make me feel everything I need to, beautiful.”

Vanessa’s eyes turned glassy and she looked away. Ah . It wasn’t what I said that made her uncomfortable. Not only was she still coming down from her heat when emotions would be close to the surface, but Vanessa’s parents were gone. Her grandfather was incredible, but watching me deal with toxic parents and then declaring her my family? I got it.

It wasn’t quite sunset, but it was getting there. “Come on.” I shifted her so she was tucked into my side and brought her to the incredible view.

Grayson and his family were solely responsible for us having said view. I didn’t even want to know how much it was worth. It had been in his family for a long time, otherwise none of us, even Grayson, would be living some place like this. Nice, for sure, but this was the kind of property even my parents couldn’t get their hands on.

Which, now that I thought about it, was probably one more reason they weren’t huge fans. Not only was I a disgrace, I was a disgrace who lived in more luxury than they did.

We could see the central city where the Grand Prix was held, just down the coast. The ocean retreated into the distance, sparkling back at us. I sat down on the lush grass and tugged her down with me. There was something decadent about knowing she was entirely naked under this blanket. And something even more deeply satisfying that this was just the start of us doing things like this.

It felt like we’d been together forever, when it had only been a blink.

“I can’t believe you guys never get to come here.”

“Clearly we do,” I said, laughing.

“Not enough. We might have to fix that.”

I chuckled. “Not much we can do about Paragon being in Britannia.”

“No.” She laid back on the grass and stretched. “But maybe there can be some schedule rearranging for how much we have to be there. Or a remote office or something.”

“You’re just heat drunk,” I teased.

“That’s true. And you haven’t even shown me the house yet.”

I rolled onto my side so I could look down at her. There would never be a time when I got tired of just looking . Her eyes looked bluer now, reflecting the sky. “I’ll show you the house when you can walk without feeling sleepy.”

“And whose fault is that?”

“Ours.” I grinned. “Proudly.”

Vanessa wiggled closer until she was fully within reach. I kissed her forehead and enjoyed the scent of her mind with the fresh air scent of home .

“I love you,” she whispered. “I’m sorry it came out the way it did. That’s not how I wanted to say it.”

On the plane when she’d been dazed and desperate. “I’ll take hearing you say you love me any time and any place, Nessa. It slipping out like that will always make me smile. Because it wasn’t planned. It was the truth.”

“It is the truth.”

“And I love you.”

Vanessa’s stomach erupted into a growl when my lips were an inch from hers. “Well, that’s embarrassing.”

“Knowing we collectively fucked you into hunger pangs? On the contrary. That’s hot.”

I helped her to her feet when she tripped over the blanket. “You won’t say that when I’m consuming all the food you have in the house.”

“Want to bet?”

Her eyes sparkled. “Maybe.”

We both took off running, laughing, Vanessa falling behind, hindered as she was by the blanket.

“Maybe if I win there will still be some food left,” I tossed over my shoulder.

“Fuck you!” She called. One glance told me her smile was formed from pure joy.

“After a snack, beautiful. Can’t be interrupted by something so loud as your stomach again.”

“ Elias .”

I slipped in the house, ready to find my Omega a snack. But more than that, ready to play .