Page 8

Benji

“We have to tell Harlan.”

“Where do you think we’re going?” Roan’s legs were moving faster than I’d ever seen them.

“Harlan!” we said in unison as we approached the booth.

“Look!” he said, holding up a plastic tote. “This is all that’s left, and someone showed interest but said they wanted to pay by some online service I don’t have on my phone. I told them I’d bring it back and have that app on my phone for next week.”

“You sold out?” I asked.

“I did. Isn’t it great?”

I nodded. “We have something better to tell you.”

Harlan scoffed. “Better than selling out? The only thing better than that would be if you two ran into our omega while you were wolfing down lunch. By the way, you didn’t bring me any.”

Oh. We hadn’t.

“Well, then we have something better to tell you,” Roan said.

“What?” Harlan dropped the tote, making a clamor. Several people around us stared but who could blame him? “Where? Where is she?”

“We were walking around shopping and we saw her. She has a booth with some other people. I’m not really sure of the situation but there was another omega and three males. She was holding a baby but it wasn’t hers. Harlan, she’s gorgeous.”

“How can you be sure?” he asked. “Her scent?”

“Like home and autumn, and everything Christmas all bundled in one.” I opened my mouth to add my two cents but Roan was right. Lily smelled like everything bright and calm in the world.

And everything I wanted.

“Where is she?” My other wolf packmate craned his neck, looking for our mate.

“She’s at her booth. She was selling things. We asked her if she wouldn’t mind talking to us later and she agreed to.”

“I need to know,” he said.

“Over there.” Roan pointed toward her booth. “I’m not going to describe her. I want to test it out. See if you scent her first.”

We half worked, half watched as Harlan made his way over. In no time, he was at Lily’s booth and speaking to her. He made her laugh. I was the tiniest bit jealous.

Then I watched the smoothness. Harlan was a genius. Sure, I intended to buy some things later on, but Harlan, well, he bought all of it. No. He left a few things. Genius. Otherwise, she might leave.

He did a lot of talking too.

He came back with two huge cloth bags full of stuff and a big-ass smile on his face.

“Well?” I asked.

“Yeah. I’m hers. We’re hers. She’s ours. Whatever. Lily is our omega.”

All of us stood there, making a stupefied triangle of shock. We’d found her.

“What in the hell are we going to say to her?” Roan said. “We can’t just say, hey, you are our mate. Come live with us.”

I laughed. “We have to court her.”

Harlan put his bags in the back of the truck. “No. We have to ask her permission to court her. Everything is in her court. Get it?”

We did, but he wasn’t making us laugh.

“By the way, I got the shop’s business card. That’s the DarkShadow Pack. I met them a while ago but I had no idea they sold things here. That’s their omega, the other female, and their pup.”

“What if she says no?” I kicked my toe into the dirt and shrugged. “We are from another bastard pack. Omegas don’t want to belong to a bastard pack. Our reputation precedes us. Hell, I’m surprised we even sold anything today with the rumor mill in full swing.”

Roan turned around to look at Lily. “Darkshadow is a bastard pack too. She’s there with them. Maybe things are changing.”

“Things don’t change that much. But we have to talk to her. I’ve waited most of my life for this female. I’m not letting her go so easily.”

“You’re already planning on getting rejected?” I asked. “We can’t do that. If we have even a whisper of a belief in Fate, then we have to believe Lily will listen to us.”

“She is my omega,” Harlan said with new resolve. “Did you two notice she’s on blockers?”

“Yes.” Her scent was faint, but it was there all the same and nearly knocked me to the ground. I couldn’t imagine how we all would be impacted if she weren’t on blockers. “Probably on heat suppressants as well.”

Harlan hung his head. “This is wild. One minute, I’m selling things and thinking about getting home and making more and the next…” He looked up at Lily who hadn’t looked at us once, I’d noticed. “She’s my world.”

“Sappy motherfucker,” Roan grumbled, trying to break the tension.

“Oh, just you wait.” Harlan shoved the bear a bit. “We’re all going to be sappy, melty, gooey puddles in the end. I’m ready for it.”

“Let’s pick up everything and keep busy until then.”

We folded the tables and put the cloths away. Harlan really did need some signage, and we would order that this week.

I hated to say it, even in my head, but I was exhausted. Once we talked to Lily, I hoped the guys wanted to go straight home. I hadn’t slept since the day before and it was starting to affect my energy.

When we shut the truck and turned back to the booth, Lily and her other pack had nothing left to sell. She had the baby back on her hip, and I couldn’t help but imagine how she would look with our young there one day.

Or maybe she didn’t want to have any children.

It would all be up to her, of course.