Page 47 of Ready or Not

“True that,” Holt says, shoving off the wall.

“What? I’m very astute,” Ranger says blandly. “Steele is muscle. We could likely survive without him, but no one comes close to Merrick’s tech skills. Without his best friend, Merrick would be useless. They’re a valuable asset.”

Sometimes, I legitimately can’t tell if he does care and hides it behind a veil of logic, or if he really is brutally coldhearted. Like, if Merrick wasn’t our number one tech guy, would he have brought this to our attention?

I ponder it the entire way down the hall but freeze dead in my tracks when I spot Vale talking to Merrick and Steele.

Mom sits on the couch, watching the entire exchange.

“Ohmigod, are you okay?” Vale asks, moving to hug Merrick. His arms extend out like a wooden soldier.

Steele steps up, grabbing the laptop from Merrick’s hand.

“My chest actually aches.” Vale looks at my mom. “Do you feel that?”

“Not as much as I would have twenty years ago, but yes, the pain is unmistakable.” Mom gives Vale a soft smile.

Merrick shoves his black glasses up and awkwardly looks around, like he’s begging someone to remove the omega from his personal space.

“Are you okay?” Vale tilts her head to look at him. “How could you be? I mean, that tightness in my chest is taking my breath away.”

“Damn,” Holt says from behind me.

“I’m not going to let Andrew Landis get to you,” Merrick finally says. “I missed something important once before, and someone I cared deeply for paid the price. You don’t have to worry. I’ve learned from my mistakes.”

Vale’s jaw falls open as Merrick pries himself out of her grip and heads off toward Steele.

“See you guys around,” Steele calls over his shoulder.

“I’ll be in touch if I get any hits,” Merrick says as they aim for the garage.

“Something bad happened to them.” Vale watches them as they hit the door to the garage.

“It did,” Bishop agrees, stepping around me to pull her into his arms.

“Well, I’ll be off too,” Ranger says.

Fuck, I forgot he was even here. He heads through the formal dining room toward the front door.

I’m still baffled.

Literally, none of us use that door.

I don’t even have a key for it.

“I should be going too,” Mom says, shoving herself off the couch and coming to say goodbye.

Bishop releases Vale, and Mom pulls her in for a hug.

Mom gives Vale a tight squeeze. “I remember having a very strong affinity for each of my alphas at different times during my pregnancies with Patrick and Cooper. I’d say, if you’re craving Cooper’s pheromones, then that’s simply your body telling you what it needs.”

My eyes get wide.

I was going to ask Patrick about that.

Holt grumbles under his breath about my mom being a traitor, but a slow smile crosses my face. If she needs my pheromones, then she can have them at any time.

Maybe my mom isn’t as angry with me as I thought. I move to give her a hug and she grunts, patting my arm. “Do better.”