A sliver of moonlight trickled in through the crack, pooling over my cheek.
The three Alphas sang.
“Layla,” Blake sings out, his voice growly and sincere. “Layla is the prettiest Omega I ever did see.”
“She’s perfect with perfect purple hair,” Josh then hummed, strumming a ukulele, “and I like that. She’s radiant, and so much prettier than all other Omegas.”
“Harmony and Eucalyptus are so much uglier than her,” the last singer, Dreydon with the military tattoos, grumbled. And I got the sense Blake made him sing these lines. “She outshines them all, she’s the prettiest Omega in Applewood Falls.”
Harmony and Eucalyptus were two Omegas in Applewood Falls who were cheerleaders in high school. They frequently made mean comments about me and thought they were better than me.
I opened up about their bullying to Blake, and he listened. He even painted my fingernails while I talked, and he didn't judge… he just, heard. He heard me, he understood what mean girls they were. Mean Omegas.
Never before had an Alpha just… listened. Sat, and heard me talk about my high school bullies. Without offering solutions. Most wrote me off as immature, or stunted.
Blake? He cared… and he heard me. He really heard me, and I didn't feel silly speaking.
Hot tears pooled in my eyes, lathering a dizzying haze over my vision.
“I’m in no mood for a serenade. Please believe me.” A hiccup sounded.
Blake threw back his brown hair, confidently strumming his guitar. “Let us in, fair Layla. We wish to sing to you and bring you these muffins that we baked.”
Josh shot a worried look at Blake.
“We’re not good enough for her, man. We’ll never measure up, and she probably has half of Applewood Falls in her back pocket. It’s time we give it up and admit we’ll be single forever.”
“No,” Blake maintained, a growl slipping out. “I know this is our match, man. Did you smell her perfume earlier today? Pink raspberries.”
“Please don’t discuss my perfume in front of me,” I tried to say as maturely as I could, though I fended off tears. It was unavoidable.
“She wants us, man.” Blake was so confident in his view. And I liked it. “Don’t you see? She’s the one for us, and she really gets and appreciates us. We’re not after an Omega for her scent or her heats. We want the woman inside of her, not just the Omega who is attracted to us.”
“Please.”
I was past the point of being near tears. They streamed down my cheeks, and I couldn’t help but stare up at the moon.
I really felt all the emotions associated with being serenaded. I felt like a woman at a One Direction concert, I thought. Blake was Harry.
Harry Styles was, basically, singing to me.
Blake faced me, and I smelled the most delicious cinnamon and sugar flurries wafting toward my nose. When he strummed on his guitar, I felt seen. Really seen, like I was the girl he actually wanted to be with and date.
I could not believe it.
“May we come in?” Blake waggled his eyebrows. I couldn’t help but blush.
“My nest is off-limits, but the rest of my cottage is open.” My eyes roamed around, as if the Applewood Falls City Council was about to pop out of the bushes and put handcuffs on me.
“Oh boy,” the second Alpha, Josh, shouted boyishly, high-fiving Blake as they both rushed up my stairs. They breezed past me, though not before burying me in a hug. Their guitars and ukulele bumped against me.
My eyes went to the last Alpha.
Anxiety formed a ball in my throat and I struggled to breathe.
His tattoos shimmered in the moonlight.
Dreydon.
