Page 17

JULIAN

“Fuck this fucking shit!”

Cam yelled, ripping his tie off again. “How come every time I do this it looks like a fucking child tied it?”

I shrugged, gesturing to my shirt. “This is why I’m not bothering with one. I don’t think Marlowe is going to care.”

He growled, then restarted the YouTube tutorial he must have watched half a dozen times already.

“Okay folks, first thing you gotta do is…”

I chuckled and headed back downstairs to find Nolan vacuuming. Aside from Lowe’s living room nest which Cam had slept in every night since she’d been gone, he’d insisted Nolan and I clean the rest of the house from top to bottom in preparation for her return.

Cam had even bought a bouquet of flowers and put them in a vase on the table, along with boxes of chocolates and her favorite ice cream. He’d frowned the whole time shopping at the store that afternoon, but I knew it was just nerves.

For what though, I had no clue. Not that I didn’t also want to spoil our omega, but she wasn’t the type who needed to be impressed like that.

A loud roar indicated he’d failed again, and he stormed into the living room and stood in front of Nolan, pointing at his neck. “You do it!”

he barked.

Nolan bit back a laugh and turned off the vacuum. “How old are you again? Pretty sure I knew how to tie a knot before my Designation Ceremony.”

Designation Ceremonies were when twelve to thirteen-year- old shifter pups would head off to the temple and have the priestesses declare whether they were alpha, beta, or omega. We’d get dressed up and have a big party with friends and family afterwards.

I thought back to the look of pride on my parents’ faces on my Designation Day, and shook away the sadness at having lost them both.

Tonight was about Marlowe.

Cam had been the most vocal about her absence, and being the newest and youngest member of the pack, I found it difficult to chime in with my own misery. I let Cam complain to me, I listened and nodded, and then I took my frustrations out at the gym.

I looked down at my phone, opening the last text she sent me. A selfie at a gas station outside of Madison, two red licorice ropes hanging out of her lips like walrus tusks with the caption “SOON.”

She had asked me a couple of days ago where I would want to go if we went on a trip somewhere, and the first place that popped into my mind was Alaska. A shifter family from Anchorage had moved to my town when I was in first grade, and I remembered the kid talking about all the wildlife he’d seen up there, from bears to seals, whales to walruses… it just had always stuck with me, and

I’d promised myself that as soon as I’d made it and could afford to go on a real vacation, I was going to Alaska.

Having Marlowe in my life now, as well as a good job and a pack I respected? Yeah, I’d definitely made it.

Once Nolan had finished making Cam look presentable, we grabbed our coats and headed out the door. “Give our omega a big hug and a kiss from me,”

he called out.

Cam grumbled under his breath as he climbed into the cab of his truck. He checked his phone again before pulling out. “She says she’ll be there in an hour,”

he said roughly.

The look on his face made it clear he thought that was still too long, and I worried that his current mood would sour even worse at the party. Things were already a little weird at the office ever since Cam nearly beat the CFO to death with his bare fists. He’d always been a bit of a loose canon—rough around the edges, quick to yelling, that sort of thing.

But he’d never fully attacked anyone before.

Not that I could blame him. When I’d heard what they’d all been saying about Marlowe, I nearly drove straight to the hospital to finish the job he’d started.

That evening he and Nolan shifted again for the first time since the attack in order to blow off some steam, and it had become a nightly routine for them. I wanted nothing more than to join them, and Cam even offered to give me some of his blood so that I could get some magical juice that would allow me to access my own wolf.

But I wanted to tap that shit straight from my omega source. I still hadn’t bonded with Marlowe yet, and it felt weirdly like cheating if I went through Cam instead.

Despite all the midnight adventures, though, Cam was still on the edge, and looked like he was ready to lash out the second someone looked at him funny. So I tried to get his mind off things.

“What’s the grand prize for the raffle again this year?”

“What?”

Cam snapped back.

“The grand prize,”

I repeated in a calm, measured tone.

Every year the company would host a raffle at the solstice party, with prizes ranging from gift certificates to local restaurants all the way to vacation packages.

Cam shrugged. “I don’t know, Disney World or something. Trish is always in charge of that.”

“Damn, that sounds tight. You ever won anything at one of these?”

He snorted, shaking his head like I was an idiot. “Do you have any idea how bad it would look if the owner got one of the good prizes? The running joke is that I only ever win something stupid, like socks. Keeps morale up.”

We pulled into the parking lot outside at Ash & Antler, the industrial loft where we were hosting the party. It was one of the nicest event spaces available for rent in Maiingan Hollow, and since moving to town I’d probably been to at least five weddings and three Designation Day parties here.

Thumping music and flashing lights made their way through the large windows as we walked up, and Cam mustered up a happy face, opening the doors and loudly greeting everyone in his view.

He made the rounds while I grabbed a drink and a table, getting ready for Marlowe’s arrival. She was still forty minutes out, but luckily I wasn’t the boss and I didn’t have to go pretend to be friendly to anyone.

Cam relieved Trish and took over the next few rounds in front of the giant raffle drum, calling out the prizes as each employee took their turn.

“Alright Lilian, let’s see what you won… Aw damn, paintball lessons? I wanted those. Any chance you’d trade me for…”

he dug a ticket out of his pocket and read it out loud. “Some scented candles?”

The beta female who worked in procurement laughed. “Are you kidding me? Byron’s been kicking my ass at paintball for years. This is my chance to pay him back!”

Cam grumbled and looked at the paper in hand. “Dammit, still gotta find someone to switch with me.”

Lilian grabbed her ticket and headed towards the prize counter. “Keep ‘em and give ‘em to your omega,”

she said with a wink. “Females love scented candles, trust me.”

“Says the female passing them up…”

he grumbled.

Lilian patted him on the shoulder before leaving. “Sorry, I just love kicking my boyfriend’s ass more.”

I took a look at my phone.

Thirty-seven more minutes to go.

“…so I just want to say thank you for an amazing year. We may have lost our last co-founder, James Linden, but I’m confident in the direction we’re taking this company, and I’m confident in all of you to help get us there. So… yeah, Happy Solstice, and try not to drink us into the red!”

Cam was finishing his end-of-the-year speech, and I was finishing my fourth beer when a pair of slim, pale arms wrapped around my shoulders from behind, the familiar scent of pistachio and honey flooding my senses.

“Hey hot stuff, miss me?”

I got up and turned around, my omega looking drop-dead gorgeous. Her strawberry blonde hair, down and in loose waves, popped against the sparkly, dark green dress. It was tight, and short, with thin straps and a deep v neck showing off her perfect breasts. Even with her black heels, I still dwarfed her, leaning down to grab her cheeks in my hands as I rested my forehead against hers.

“Fuck yes,”

I sighed. “Lowe, you have no…”

“MOVE!”

Cam pushed me out of the way and embraced her tightly, lifting her off the ground and swaying back and forth, her legs dangling in the air.

“Baby, don’t ever leave me again. I hated every second of it.”

She laughed, nuzzling him back. “Yeah right, I’m sure you had lots of fun bro time with Julian.”

Cam buried his face in her neck and breathed her in deeply. “Nah, he’s a shit cuddler.”

He finally put her down and gave her a once-over. “Damn, baby… you look like a hot Christmas tree.”

The look on Marlowe’s face was priceless, as she scrunched it in equal parts confusion, offense, and humor. “What the hell, you told me you liked this color?”

“I do! You look amazing.”

Marlowe looked at me for confirmation. “Is it just me, or does it sound like Cam wants to fuck…”

I whispered in her ear, “Tell him he looks good in his suit, he tried real hard today.”

Her eyes widened and she audibly ‘“aww’ed”

before looking back at Cam. She grabbed him by the tie and pulled him down, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Well, you just look good.”

Cam shrugged his shoulders in a poor attempt to seem nonchalant. “Yeah, whatever… enough talking, come dance with me.”

Marlowe grinned and let herself be dragged onto the dance floor, giggling through Cam’s excited whoops. I decided to let him have a bit of alone time first—he was pack leader, after all. I got another beer and sat back down, and I couldn’t keep the smile off my face as I watched the two of them match each other’s energies. They were strangely goofy and sexy at the same time, with lots of hip swinging and thrusting, shaking and waving their arms, all mixed into old school dance moves with just enough touching to keep it office party appropriate, but still plenty to let you know they were definitely going to rip each other’s clothes off soon.

When they both started to dougie I nearly lost it, taking a video to send to the rest of the pack. After a few more songs I had waited enough and got out there to join them. I grabbed Marlowe from behind and brought her close, swaying to the beat of a slower R&B song as she leaned back into my chest and closed her eyes, smiling when she breathed me in.

I ran my hands down her sides, bringing my lips down to her neck and kissing her along her flushed skin.

I didn’t need to worry about being as work appropriate as Cam, thank the Moon.

I also didn’t give a rat’s ass about the stares. Not many people at the company had met Marlowe yet, and they were still unsure how to think of her—was she James’s daughter, the company owner, Cam’s and my omega, or all of the above?

A few males got a little too close, trying to get a whiff of her, but Cam and I kept her safely between us.

“I’m thirsty!”

she yelled over the music. “Let’s go get something to drink!”

“What do you want?”

I asked. I was happy to help her out, and give Cam one more song before I asserted my need for her attention a little more strongly.

“Vodka soda, please!”

she said, reaching up on her tiptoes to give me a kiss on the cheek. She squeezed my arm for support and I nearly just grabbed her to take her home right then and there. Instead I took a deep breath to compose myself, and went to the bar.

When I got in line, I took out my phone to check if anyone had seen the video I’d taken of Cam and Marlowe yet, and my heart stopped when I saw I had ten missed calls between Elias and Nolan, and several texts.

Nolan: EMERGENCY! Everyone needs to get to city hall NOW!

Elias: What’s wrong? Are the vamps back?

Nolan: Maybe worse, just get here now. Everyone including Marlowe. Archer, you need to drive your ass up here ASAP.