Page 57 of Power Shift

Clover spins away from the oven and points lazily at me. “Briar won’t agree with you there.”

“Don’t try it, Clove. We both know you have always done what you want, when you want to. It’s what makes you such a force to be reckoned with. I only want you to be safe when you’re drinking on your own, out in a place that isn’t meant to be safe for us,” I say, trying my hardest not to lecture her but sounding exactly like I am anyway.

Sadie takes a sip of her drink before asking, “Has there ever actually been a place meant to be truly safe for us that isn’t an omega-specific building?”

“That’s a great question. I’m afraid the answer is most likely no. At least, I’ve never found one.” Clover reaches into the cupboard above her fridge and pulls out a small bottle of vodka. “I’ll pass on this, but I think you deserve something hard, Bee.”

Sadie watches me closely, her expression more open than it has been in the past, but still not to the point where I know she’s completely comfortable around us yet.

“What’s going on?”

I take the seat beside her at the table and sigh, rolling out my neck. Usually, I’d be open about this sort of thing in this sort of environment, but with Sadie, I don’t know what is okay to say and what isn’t. It doesn’t feel right to talk about an alpha around her, let alone a pack of them, considering everything that’s going on in her life.

I’d like for her to be a friend eventually, and starting off that friendship on the wrong foot isn’t ideal.

Reading all of that on my face, Sadie adds, “I can handle talking about men, Briar.”

“I believe you. I guess I just don’t want to overstep. To be honest, we’ve never done this kind of thing before,” I tell her.

Clover joins us at the table, a hand falling to rest on my shoulder once she’s set the alcohol bottle down. “The whole inviting clients thing over for a girls’ night is probably frowned upon in the professional world. But I can’t say that I regret it. Maybe it’s just easier for us to say that we don’t know what you’re okay with hearing about. Give us your boundaries, babe. We want to make sure we can be the best friends possible if you end up wanting that kind of relationship from us.”

“I do want that. I don’t know if it’s obvious, but I’m not the most outgoing person. Friendships have never come easy tome. Even as a kid. I think it’s gotten harder in my adult years, though,” Sadie reveals, tapping a blunt nail against her dewy glass.

I think there’s edible glitter in her drink. A closer look at the pitcher tells me that I’m right. Clover really went all out tonight for her.

“We have more in common than I thought, then. Making friends has never been my specialty. That’s always been something I left up to Clover,” I say.

Sadie nods, a small smile curling her mouth. “In that case, I guess, my boundaries are only that neither of you treat me like I’m glass. I haven’t been easy to break in a long time.”

“I have no doubt about that. From the moment you walked into my office, I knew you were strong as hell,” Clover says.

Some of the tension drains from Sadie’s posture as she settles in the kitchen chair and focuses on me. “It’s settled, then. Tell me about why you need a splash of vodka in your drink now.”

Clover winks at me before pushing away from the table and busying herself with dinner plates and the silicone oven mitts on the counter.

I reach for the glass already set out on the table for me and fill it nearly to the brim with the glimmering pink mocktail. Before adding the vodka, I take a sip of it. Watermelon erupts on my taste buds, followed by a heavy hint of mint.

“My dear Briar is having knot-related problems,” Clover says while I’m busy twisting off the cap of the vodka bottle.

A laugh slips up my throat. “I wouldn’t exactly say that.”

“What would you say?” Sadie asks.

“I’d say that I’m struggling the most with the only member of my potential forever pack whodoesn’thave a knot.”

Sadie’s brows shoot up. “A beta’s being the complicated one?”

I finish pouring the vodka and set it aside before swirling my drink around to mix it in. Once I’ve taken the first sip, I answer.

“It’s odd, right? I mean, there are problems with the last alpha in the pack, don’t get me wrong. He’s the only one I haven’t met but already know doesn’t want me around, which isn’t great. I guess I just didn’t expect to have the designation closest to us as omegas to be the one who was so . . . standoffish with me.”

“He thinks he’s not her scent match, regardless of the fact two of his alphas have made it very clear they are. They even went to Briar’s place and?—”

I cough to cut Clover off. “I think there’s a block keeping him—us—from feeling the pull of a bond.”

“Which is ridiculous. I know that betas work a bit differently than omegas and alphas, but to ignore a scent match?” Clover adds.

A timer goes on her phone, and she’s quick to silence it and pull the casserole from the oven. The cheesy top is now perfectly golden brown and crispy, which will make it a bit easier to convince myself that it’s not fake vegan cheese.

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