I blew out a breath, watching Kade carry Esme out the front door. The last few hours had been glorious torture with her sprawled across me, sleeping like that. I wasn’t an Alpha, but I wasn’t immune to her scent, and I’d spent the better part of the evening singing obnoxious songs in my head so I didn’t get so hard my dick was jabbing her in the stomach.
“Think we overwhelmed her?” Luke asked.
Avery laughed. “Yes. But I also get the feeling she would have been overwhelmed regardless of the pack.”
“Overwhelmed, maybe,” Ben said. “But she didn’t freak out entirely. Hell, she slept. That has to count for something.”
“It does.” Avery nodded. “And the fact that she couldn’t take her eyes off the nest. It feels like she wants this, even if it terrifies her.”
“But why does it terrify her?” I finally voiced the question which had been nagging me all day. “She was shocked when we said we wanted to court her.”
Kade stepped into the doorway and looked at me. “I have an idea about it, but I plan on asking her more about it when she’s more comfortable.”
“She’s gone?”
“Yeah.” Kade sank into his chair again. “Snuggled in the back seat.”
“What’s your idea about it?” I asked.
Kade sighed. “I don’t want to dive too deep when we don’t know the truth. But I feel like it’s her sister. She made sure we knew she wasn’t the same. Her family hired a pack matchmaker. She didn’t want Eva to come with us or watch a movie with her in it. But I can tell she loves her sister. Which makes me think she gets lumped in with her a lot, and maybe the other packs she’s met have had a… different view of who she is. If that’s all that’s ever happened? No wonder she’s shocked a pack wants to court her for her.”
“Fuck.” I said the word under my breath.
“But like I said. I need to ask, and I’ve told her I’m going to later.”
While she slept, we watched the movie, and Wes chatted with us. He seemed like a good guy. Happily mated, and happy to do his part to help Esme. But he was very close-lipped about our girl. Which frustrated me as much as I admired him for it. Esme needed people in her life who had her back.
I pinched the fabric of my shirt and lifted it to my nose. Her scent was still strong, but it was nothing compared to her in person. “Honestly, now I’ve scented her, the shirt isn’t enough. Sorry, Ben. Your shirt might get booted from the place of honor.”
He laughed. “If it can be replaced with Esme in this house and pack? I’ll be more than happy to burn the shirt. Or frame it to remember the moment our lives changed.”
Luke was staring at the painting on the wall. “I still can’t believe it.”
We all loved those paintings, but Luke had been the driving force behind them. Though he was the traditionalist in our studio, his taste in art varied, and he’d always loved their wild style. I couldn’t believe she’d done them either. Just one more reason this was a small miracle.
I didn’t know if we would have gone to a matchmaker to find someone, but we’d thought about it. That huge section of the house reserved for our Omega was like a bruise we were all aware of, bumping into it every time we remembered or passed the empty room. Now it might not be empty.
This weird mix of excitement and terror was going to make me sick.
“What do we do now?”
“We court her,” Avery said, as if it were only that simple.
“Right, but how?”
Ben leaned forward. “I don’t think we can let her rest too long. If she has that kind of doubt, she’ll talk herself out of it.”
“Do we have her phone number?” Avery asked. “I didn’t think to ask.”
“I’ll reach out to Eva and see if she’ll ask Esme if it’s all right to get it from her,” Ben grabbed his phone.
I stood and stretched. “Okay, but let’s not make a habit of going to Eva for things about Esme. All it’s going to do is reinforce everything she’s afraid of.”
“Look at that,” Kade said. “The Beta pup has some smarts.”
As I passed I held up my middle finger toward him, and he laughed, a rumbling sound. At the doorway, I stopped. “Once we have her number, anyone have a good first courting move?”
“Honestly?” Luke shrugged. “I think Ben is right. We can’t let her rest too long. But as far as courting, it has to move slowly. Another night like this, when she’s not in complete shock from meeting us and seeing the house would be a good start.”
Right. Her sister sprang meeting us on her, and I was glad it worked out. But I only wanted Esme to have positive memories of us.
“Tomorrow,” I said. “Let’s make sure to touch base with her tomorrow. She needs to know we’re serious.”
Ben quirked an eyebrow. “Sure you don’t have an Alpha hiding under there somewhere?”
“Ha ha.” I let the sarcasm drip. The guys gave me shit about being a Beta, but it didn’t bother me. I was who I was, and though they gave me shit, they didn’t treat me differently. I was an equal member of the pack, and that was that. “I just don’t want anything to get in the way of this,” I finally admitted. “Not when it’s something we’ve all been waiting for.”
There weren’t any snarky comebacks to my statement. They all felt the same.
“See you all tomorrow?”
I didn’t wait to hear them say goodnight. Sleep wasn’t the main thing on my mind—it was a melody. One that popped into my head while Esme was sleeping on my chest. I needed to get it down while it was still fresh in my head.
Sitting down in the studio corner of my bedroom, I picked up my guitar.
