Snowflake Unbound, page 10
Jack looked over and frowned. “What was that?”
“Alexi. He didn’t have his camera, and my foot popped a little.” She smiled. She smoothed her hand down the front of his suit jacket. “If I had known I was going to be here for longer than a few days, I would have brought more clothes.”
He sighed. “I could do with you having less clothing.”
“I know, pet. Courtship first. I am trying to convince my body you are doing something different, and so far, it’s working. I am not tensing up when you touch me, so that’s good.”
Jack sighed. “Give me your phone.”
He put his number into her phone and then sent himself a text, so he had hers.
He grinned. “Now, a picture of my son and mate, please?”
She chuckled and sent him a few pictures of Erik, a few of them together, and a photo that Alexi had taken of her and sent over of her in the dress from the day before. It was her joking before she attended the birthing.
They walked inside, arm-in-arm, and Ford greeted them at the door. “Wow, Luna. You look edible today.”
She grinned at the omega. “It doesn’t hurt that I smell like a cookie.”
He walked toward her and inhaled. “Oh, yeah. That’s good. I just need to find an alpha that smells like a cappuccino, and we could make sweet music together.”
Jack growled low in his throat.
Ford cackled. “Fine, the oranges and cream can come along. Is he representing you now?”
“Uh, I am not going to perform in public. Representation is not required.”
Jack paused. “You know, that might not be a bad idea. Then, I could get paid to follow you around and watch your back.”
She snorted. “The amount that I play is miniscule, and thanks to my gemstone collection and the shops, I have enough funds for my needs and for all of Erik’s grandkids.”
Jack blinked. “I didn’t realize that you actually owned the shops.”
She laughed. “They were birthday gifts from Rickart. I have to tell him to cancel this year. I do not need another boutique.”
Ford snorted. “According to Erik, you had better make that call quickly. Rickart has already been sniffing around.”
“Aw, shoot.” She checked her phone. “Right. Time got away from me. Damn. This means a formal luncheon at Hyura. I am going to have to go get a luncheon dress.” She smiled. “Hey, Ford, does Olivia like to shop?”
“No, but she likes your style, and sometimes Yemeen’s designs can get a little much for her. She needs some maternity jeans.”
They were walking through the house toward the studio, and Yemeen appeared. “Did I hear my name?”
Ford nodded. “Yup. Luna agrees that your designs can be a little much.”
Yemeen snorted and looked at Luna and paused. “Agatha Renoir?”
“Yeah. She’s a sweetie.” She fluffed out the cold shoulder baby doll top.
“I didn’t think she did tops.”
“She does for my shop.”
“You own Lunatic?”
“I am Luna.” She grinned and let go of Jack. “Go do whatever the hell you do, and I am going to go hit things.”
Ford laughed and escorted her past Yemeen. He was looking at her with a calculating eye.
She shook her head at Ford. “Your pride is fun. All that aggression focused into specific pockets of interest and all of them artistic.”
Ford laughed. “Olivia is the most practical of us all, and she’s a writer.”
She smiled and was escorted to his studio, where the drum kit gleamed and called her. The headphones were ready, and he smiled. “I have a few tracks queued up, and the music is being translated into braille.”
She laughed in bright peals. “Is the stuff laser printed?”
“Yeah.”
“She can read that. She has really sensitive fingers. I was just yanking your chain about the braille.”
He looked at her with narrowed eyes. “You have a large evil streak.”
She laughed. “I really do, and it is because of cocky men.”
“Well, Zara contacted me and said that she would be here within the hour. Is her voice really good?”
“Really. Like silk wrapped around a cello. You won’t regret it.” She grinned. “You might regret Minnie, and Karo, definitely. Come on. Let me see what I can do, and then, I can play with them.”
He nodded, and they started the process. Song after song she listened and played. Each version got better, and it looked like Ford would wet himself with excitement. She took off the headset. “Why do you look more omega than I have ever seen you?”
He sighed happily. “You are my teen omega dream. I used to fantasize that you were an alpha that was going to sweep me off my feet. Then the rumour went around that you died with the others, and my heart was broken. After that, I kept my focus on music and videos, and then, short videos of you started popping up at ren faires, holiday events, summer festivals. All in tiny towns and the conspiracy theorists had a field day.”
Luna looked at him. “Can you bring up an original posting of one of those events?”
He nodded and walked over to her, showing her.
They were all posted on Erik’s account. “Oh, he is so getting grounded if he ever moves home again.”
“Who posted it?”
She sighed. “My little bastard. Well, he’s a big bastard now.”
He chuckled. “Well, his posting set the conspiracies alight. I started keeping to the boards again, and then, you were at Nora’s party, and you look the same as you did then. All those fantasies flared up again, but I have mates now, and we haven’t discussed free passes.”
“Considering that Jack is standing behind you looking like he wants to eat your spine, I would consider the lack of a free pass a good thing. Though, I have never slept with an omega.”
He grinned. “Maybe I can negotiate, and you can add me to your collection.”
“That is selfless of you.”
“Isn’t it, though. I can just give and give and—” He stopped as Jack wrapped an arm around his throat and pulled him backward.
Luna waited while the raised voices brought Yemeen and Ambrose to their second omega’s defense. She sighed and walked out into the hall and pushed Jack back. When he still growled at Ford, she slapped him. Hard.
Jack froze and looked at her with outrage. “What the hell, Luna?”
“No posturing and no threatening the omega. Frankly, if I had to, I could take him. It wouldn’t be pretty, but he would go down and stay down.” She looked at him. “I could do the same to you, but it would use up some of the energy I have stored up.”
He frowned. “You slapped me.”
“You were about to get into a brawl with Ford, Ambrose, and Yemeen, all because Ford is an inveterate flirt.” She stared at him. “Ford flirts with everyone. It is one of his defining characteristics. Why are you mad all of a sudden?”
His brows were still furrowed. “Because I am not your mate, nor your fiancée, nor your husband, not even your ex. I don’t know what I am.”
She whispered in his ear, “You are the man who is going to tell his parents that they are grandparents. Go do that. My truck is here, and I can get around on my own for a few days.”
He looked at her, opened his mouth, and closed it again. “Right. I will go and let them know. I should be back tomorrow.”
“Good. There is no reason to be jealous. The only ones in the running for my bed are you, Loki, Tim, and possibly Fenris if Sarah really doesn’t want him.”
“I don’t want to leave you alone if they decide to show up.”
“I am not alone. Our son is a few houses over.” She smiled. “I also need to talk to Rickart, so it is probably better you are out of town.”
A stern voice said, “What is going on here? Is this kind of congregating in the hallway a usual event? Zara needs clear pathways.”
Zara chuckled. “Yeah, Luna. Clear the path for important folks.”
Luna smiled at Emma Nickelson and Zara. The lace binding her eyes was a pretty touch.
Emma handed Zara over to Luna. “I will be back when she texts me.”
Zara snorted and sniffed. “There is a ton of alpha musk in here, and omega... apples?”
Ford chuckled. “That is me. I am on your right, and my arm is out if you want to come into the studio and let Luna defend her own honour.”
“Luna doesn’t need to defend it. Her honour is absolute. Her actions may be sketchy, but her motivations are pure.” Zara flicked her hair over her shoulders. “You just have to make it past the sense of humour.”
Luna chuckled.
She kissed Jack softly once Zara was gone. “Go and do what you have to so you can come back to me. And apologize to Ford’s alphas, and I will apologize to Ford.”
“Why should you apologize to Ford?” Yemeen frowned.
“Because Jack is here because of me, and there was no way he could have known that Ford was one of my fans going back eighteen years. My being here is a freak event that satisfied something deep and nerdy in him. Let him have his moment.”
Jack kissed her softly. “You are good at that.”
“What?”
“Calming me down. I think I can get used to it. I want to get used to it.”
She nodded. “Now apologize like a big boy, and you can have a cookie later.”
He grinned and laughed. “Right. Yemeen, Ambrose, I am sorry I called your omega a horny little skank.”
She headed back into the studio and walked up to Ford. “I am sorry that Jack insulted you.”
He grinned. “You told him you would apologize?”
“I did. Are we good?”
He hummed and nodded his head. “And he’s gone. So, a kiss for the apology and all is good.”
Zara snickered as she was touch-reading the music. Her fingers had gotten weirdly sensitive after her abduction, and she could read most print.
Luna smiled and stepped up to Ford. He was buff for an omega and took her in his arms before he kissed her softly, slowly, and deeply. It was strange not having a forked tongue in her mouth, but he kept kissing her, and it was enjoyable, but there was no zing.
He lifted his head. “Nothing?”
“Well, I am sure you would be very satisfying in bed, but I am focusing on one particular male, and you aren’t him. All my senses keep looking for his taste and texture.”
“Damn. After all these years, I am too late. You are in love, and it isn’t with me.” He grinned, but there was regret in his eyes.
“You have an omega you love and alphas you lust after. You don’t need an insane beta in the mix.”
Zara snickered. “Is Karo here already?”
Luna smiled and stroked his cheek. “So, if you let me go, we can get to work on Zara’s rhythm.”
Zara smiled. “The rhythm method was how I got here, to begin with.”
Ford was startled into laughing, and they got Zara to the mic and got started.
When Minnie zoomed in, she brought her guitar, and Karo walked in without a word, tuned up, and read the music. They discussed the plan for it, checked the levels, and got to work.
Ford was chortling. “You are going to make me so much money.”
They laughed, and after several hours, they broke for lunch. Nora had invited them over, and since she lived next door, they walked the twenty minutes between the huge homes via the enormous grounds. Karo kept her arm still so Zara could hang on.
Zara wasn’t her original name, Karo wasn’t her original name, and Minnie liked children’s cartoons.
Luna grimaced that the ladies had to hide, but their alphas were still actively looking for them, and Minnie just didn’t like who she had been before. She needed a more cheerful and spunky outlook on life, so she changed her personality and let the new one annoy those around her. Relentlessly perky was overriding Minnie’s previous practical side.
Nora was at her lounge door, and Gwen set out the lunch. She grinned and waved. Everyone cooed over Aurora, and when Zara carefully held the squirming baby, she stroked the little face softly and touched the little fingers. The baby was giggling and kicking madly.
Zara laughed. “It’s a good thing I didn’t have one of these. I would have dropped it and then had to find it again.”
Despite her words, she handled the baby expertly. She lifted the baby to her shoulder and rubbed her little back. A shockingly thunderous belch emerged.
Nora smiled. “I don’t suppose you need work as a nanny?”
Zara smiled. “I would love to, but I am still learning to dress myself. If it wasn’t for Mrs. Nickelson, I would still be stuck staggering around, bumping into walls. She may be seventy, but she’s a champion at everything she touches, and she puts me through training every single day.”
Luna grinned. “She also takes no shit. That charming beta chewed out three alphas and an omega when she got here.”
Zara grinned. “And you. No one blocks a doorway with her around. She’s a monster when it comes to keeping me moving.”
Luna smiled. “I am glad. She’s rehabbed a few betas, but you are her favourite by a long shot.”
Karo smiled slightly, a flicker of a smile that faded quickly.
“Yeah, well, tomorrow she is sending me out for groceries. By myself. I can feel her following at a distance, but she tries to pretend she isn’t worried.”
Karo murmured, “How far does your second sight extend?”
“About a hundred feet. Just enough to duck if there is someone rushing me.”
Nora asked, “How did your eyes heal?”
Zara sighed. “You want to see?”
“If you don’t mind.”
Zara shrugged, carefully kept the baby on her shoulder, and then, she eased the stretchy lace up and opened her eyes. Luna knew what the milky grey orbs looked like. But she was interested in how the lids had healed. They had been pretty rigid.
Karo winced and touched the bite marks on her own arms. “They are looking pretty good, considering the last time you showed them.”
Minnie agreed. “Your lids look flexible again, so that’s good. Are you healing?”
Zara covered her eyes. “That’s what the doctors say. With the right compounds and the right mate, I may be able to recover some sight.”
Luna snorted. “It all comes down to a dick skipping down the road toward you to solve your problems.”
Zara paused. “That is a mental image I am not going to shake. But they caused it with that damned acid venom, so it makes sense that there is a counter agent out there somewhere. If it trips and falls into my vag, I will let you know.”
They giggled and had the barbeque that Gwen had prepared. She had been rejected because she wasn’t an omega and nearly killed because of it. Her alpha had not been pleased when he finally decided to listen. She had gotten a restraining order and two broken limbs out of the arrangement. None of his protective instincts had been active, but his aggression had come out in full force.
They finished their meal, kissed the baby, told Nora about the music, and they then sauntered back to the studio to work on a few more of the songs. They had gone through most of the soundtrack by four, so they kept playing until they had done three versions of everything.
Ford’s pride was all home, and they stretched and finished before trying to figure out a place to go for dinner. Zara smiled. “I have to go home. Emma is coming to get me. It is a term and condition that I don’t go off into public spaces until the guys who did this are arrested. Since that didn’t and won’t happen, I have to head home. I will wait out front.”
“We will wait with you.” Karo offered her arm, and Zara took it without asking.
Her newly discovered sonar was something that had saved her life, and it was probably what had freaked her captors out the most when they found her missing. A freshly blinded woman didn’t get up and sprint down the street to the nearest coffeeshop.
They had learned one thing about demon alphas. Their kind got their reputation for the way they treated their mates. From what they guessed, Zara should have been able to see through the eyes of her mates, which would have been weird enough if she had consented. She hadn’t even really known those assholes before.
“Luna, stop thinking about it. You are overheating your poor brain.” Zara smiled.
Minnie was in awe. “You can tell what she’s thinking?”
“Not really, but she is broadcasting worry, fury, concern, rage, and then there is a plotting element. That is what she feels like when she is thinking of me.” Zara chuckled.
Ford moved to stop them. “Would you join us for dinner?”
Zara paused. “I haven’t called Emma yet. What’s for dinner?”
Ford offered, “A combination of Thai and Korean barbeque.”
“Excellent. Yes, please.” Minnie chuckled.
Zara nodded. “I am good for that. Karo?”
“Makes no difference to me. I am here for the company.”
Luna grinned. “Lead the way.”
He led them to the living room, where Olivia reclined on Ambrose with Dexter stroking her legs. Yemeen was holding a tablet and scribbling with a digital pen, and Argus was fresh from a shower, looking over plans for a project.
Olivia saw them, and she jumped to her feet and rushed over. “Luna! I hear you have met Erik’s father.”
The sentence hung in the air, and the betas started laughing. Olivia blushed.
Luna nodded. “Yes, Jack and I have met, and he’s started a courtship.”
Ambrose snorted. “Right. That was why he was guarding you like a wolf with a puppy.”
“No, he was guarding me that way because Ford kept threatening to get into my pants, and it was giving Jack a tic.” She smiled. “Imagine if Olivia had had a wide and varied sexual history when you met her, and then, after you had connected, another male was coming up and trying to seduce her, but instead of it being your omega neighbour with the omega fetish, it was a strange male who posed a threat. Who might change her mind about staying with you before the marks were in.”
