Page 19

Chapter 19

Thorne

I lean against the kitchen counter, watching her flit around our kitchen like she owns it.

Five days.

Five fucking days and she’s completely transformed the place.

Miller hovers near her, taking plates from her hands before she turns and stretches to reach for the cabinet. “Let me get those.”

“I’m not an invalid.” She giggles. She has this tinkling sound in her laugh that also reminds me of someone else.

But I’ve dealt with omegas like her before. And I know what she’s up to. Despite her telling me she’s here for Zane, I know she came here for me. She’s a con artist who reeled in my brother and Miller like two stupid flapping fish.

Why can’t they see it?

Zane sits at the island, watching her with puppy dog eyes. Pathetic. He’s been like this since he met her.

Both of them have.

Miller hasn’t pulled any more late shifts, and Zane...well, he’s just being more obvious about his obsession. It’s like he doesn’t give a shit about what I think.

They’re infatuated with her.

I’m just glad the air constantly smells of baked goods, not that it matters to me. But Miller asks me to come off the scent blockers because he wants me to smell her intoxicating scent. But Freya just managed to find the same level of perfume that matches my scent and then had it made up in the spray or whatever it is she is using to mask her true scent. Just like Maya did before I called her out on it.

It’s not real. I’d know. Soon Miller and Zane will too.

“Who wants chocolate chips in their pancakes?” She beams at Miller, then turns that sunshine smile on Zane. She doesn’t even glance my way. Good.

“I only want strawberries,” Zane coos, like a love dove, or more like a fucking pigeon that’s taken refuge on the balcony.

The sizzle of batter hitting the pan fills the kitchen. I can smell the real strawberries, and that’s enough for my inner alpha to claw at my chest.

It’s an identical level of sweetness to the girl at Club Midnight months ago—no, it’s nearly a year ago now—ten months at least. Anyway, that omega was more glamorous, and that’s why I thought it was Maya and we were playing a cat-and-mouse game that turned me on.

She always tries to reel me in and that night I was weak.

But it wasn’t Maya.

I scrub my hand over my stubble jaw. I’ll never fall for that again. That night she got me, and I don’t want to think about how I fell so easily.

Stone gurgles from his bouncer. She leaves the pancake to sizzle as she strokes under his chin and coos at him. Something inside me aches when I see her do that. I suspect it’s my need for a child of my own. I don’t know, but whatever it is. My chest tightens, watching them together.

And I hate it.

She’s just a single mom playing house with my pack. This isn’t what I wanted for us. I agreed at first for Zane, hoped he'd see the truth. But he's fallen harder than I expected.

“Do you know his dad’s name?” I ask. She’s a liar, and not a good one, so I’ll know if she is lying to me.

The second she turns those pale green eyes on me, something shifts in my chest. Her rosebud lips part, like she’s surprised I even acknowledged her existence. I suppose we’ve hardly spoken since our conversation on the balcony days ago.

“I’m Stone’s father,” Zane jumps in, chest puffing up. “I was there when—”

“I mean his biological father.” I cut him off with a growl.

“I...I told you. I went to an omega wellness center. Everyone is anonymous.” I notice the way Miller looks at her as she walks back to the pan. She flips the pancake like the professional she is, but why is her hand trembling?

I tap my fingers over the counter. “The alpha who fathered him. He’ll know that there’s a baby out there with his blood.”

She straightens her shoulders, spatula gripped tight. She doesn’t turn to look at me when she says, “He probably couldn’t care less.”

“Of course he will. When he finds out.”

“And how would he find out?” Her voice takes on an edge I haven’t heard before.

“Scents don't lie. Neither does DNA.”

“Stone doesn’t have a scent yet and as the wellness center won’t tell me the names of the alphas I picked, I’ll never know.” She points the spatula at me. “You seem awfully invested in Stone’s father for someone who’s barely spoken two civil words to me since I arrived.”

“I’ve spoken to you.”

“You’re examining me,” she retorts.

“I have to. You have to admit you landed on your feet when Zane found you at that fire.”

She rolls her eyes to the ceiling. “God, you’ll be saying I started the fire next.”

Miller shoots me a warning look, but I ignore it.

I laugh. “No, but you have to admit, it was convenient.”

She spins on her heels. Her cheeks flush red as her eyes narrow. “Convenient? You think losing everything I worked for was convenient? Do you think getting an email to say the building is going to be condemned and I no longer have a business is convenient? Do you think the insurance company telling me I was under-insured, and that they may not pay me is something I wanted to happen to me? For what exactly? To be near you?”

“I didn’t know.” I swallow, hating the tears that have laced her eyes. I’m about to apologize when she slams the spatula down.

“And as for my son. Zane is all he needs.” Her voice hitches. “Zane has been there for him, saw him born, fed him, and he’s been there for me.” This time, she jabs a finger in my direction. “Your brother is nine years younger than you and twice the alpha you will ever be.”

The comment catches me off guard. “Sorry. I—” I take a deep breath. “—I was out of line.”

“Too fucking right, you were!” Zane yells.

I grab my coat from the back of my chair, my eyes lingering on Stone for a moment too long. Then they roam to Freya, and something twists in my gut. But I storm out before anyone can stop me, and before this strange feeling in my chest can grow any larger.

I stare at my laptop screen, fingers hovering over the keyboard. “Omega Wellness Centers Los Angeles.” I hit return and the search results flood my screen, because there are so many of them.

Maya’s heels click into my office, a coffee cup balanced in her manicured hand. Her hips sway as she approaches my desk, and I catch a whiff of her omega scent—vanilla and honey. Nothing like strawberries and lime. I’m furious with Freya, yet here I am employing a woman who admitted to doing the same thing.

“Brought you your usual.” She sets the cup down, leaning forward. Her tits spill out of the top of her blouse. “I tried to get you some gougères, but Daniel said he doesn’t go to that bakery anymore.”

I should tell her to stop this now, but my need to find out who Freya is supersedes my need to chastise her once more. “Maya, do you know anything about omega wellness centers?”

Her eyes light up. “Actually, yes. I’ve been talking to one about my next heat.”

I know she is letting me know underhand that she needs my help.

“What exactly happens there?” I choose to ignore it.

“The omega calls the shots.” She perches her ass on the edge of my desk. “We tell them what we want in an alpha—or alphas. Some omegas prefer just one, others want a perfect pack to take them through their heat.”

“And birth control?”

“Compulsory. We have to prove we’re on it, or they make us get an IUD. It’s just about getting an omega through her heat, nothing more. It’s a no strings attached arrangement.”

I nod my head slowly. “Which centers are you talking to in LA?”

Her perfectly shaped eyebrows draw together. “Why the sudden interest?”

I lean back in my chair. “Zane brought home this omega. Claims she got pregnant at one of these places. Something feels off.”

“Very naughty. If she is found out, she could lose the baby.” She shakes her head. “Do you think she targeted your brother? I mean, to make other people think the baby is his?”

I shrug my shoulders, trying to look nonchalant. “Maybe. He’s vulnerable around omegas normally. But she’s telling him everything he wants to hear and I’m afraid he is an easy target for an omega looking for security.”

“What’s her name?”

“Freya Rose.”

“Surname?”

“Oh. I don’t know.” I thought that Freya Rose was her full name. And that’s something else for me to think about.

Maya’s lips curve into a smile. “Leave it with me. I’ll play detective and do some digging. If she booked herself into a wellness center, her details, and the alpha’s details, will be easy to find.”

“And if she got pregnant by one of those alphas?” I muse. “Is she obligated to tell him?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll find out for you, Mr. Stone.”

I check my watch, I should be home but my mind keeps drifting to Freya, to that scent that is so familiar. I tap my pen against the marketing proposal, not really seeing the words anymore, when I hear Maya’s heels click across my office floor.

She drops a manila folder on my desk, her red lips curved in a satisfied smile. “You owe me big time for this. These are all the Freya Roses who attended wellness centers nine to ten months ago. I took the initiative to narrow it down based on the baby’s age.”

I flip open the folder, scanning the documents inside. Three entries catch my eye:

Freya Rose Adams at Brentwood. Brunette, blue eyes, five-two. Requested four Spanish looking alphas. No scent preference listed .

Freya Rose McCarthy from Downtown LA center. Red hair, blue eyes, five-five. Wanted fruity-scented alphas.

Freya Rose...just Freya Rose. Another from the Downtown LA center. Platinum blonde, green eyes, five-seven. Three alphas requested. Vanilla scent preference.

“Vanilla?” I mutter, frowning at the page.

I tap my pen over Freya Rose McCarthy, underlining fruity-scented alphas. “Will you find me more details on this omega?” Red hair, same name, and I know she has a strawberry scent—it must be our house guest.

“Of course, Mr. Stone.” Maya leans against my desk, her skirt riding up. “Speaking of heat cycles. I’ve been monitoring my temperature and the calendar and mine’s definitely coming up in the next couple of weeks. I could cancel my center booking if you and your pack were interested...”

“No.” I don’t look up from the papers.

“But—”

“And get me more information on the alphas who attended these sessions. One of them must be the father.”

She straightens, crossing her arms. “Why does it matter so much?”

I finally meet her gaze, trying to stop the annoyance from seeping into my voice. “I’ve told you enough, Maya. Now it only matters because it’s your job to do what I ask. That’s all you need to know.”

Her shoulders slump slightly. “Yes, Mr. Stone.”

I drum my fingers on the oak desk, trying to scan the marketing proofs for our latest investment venture, but the numbers blur together as my mind drifts to a certain strawberry-scented omega.

As Maya reaches the door to my office, I say, “And can you get me the city’s Building Inspector on the phone?”

Because the sooner I get Freya back home, the better it’ll be for me and my pack.