But Thea wasn’t a blonde bombshell with her own fashion business and a heart as big and bright as her soul.
I shouldn’t dismiss this Omega. At least this time my parents thought to set me up with someone with brains. The last two thought Chicago was its own state.
“Thea sounds like a nice young woman. It will also be nice to see Christos and Nico again. I think it’s been about twelve years since we’ve vacationed with the Alexpoulos family.”
“Yes, about that. Both of them have married and had children, but they’re in Greece. It will just be Thea and her parents joining us.”
Meaning it will be my responsibility to entertain Thea, and every family member in the room will be watching us with anticipation. I loathed being put on stage. Jason usually helped with that feeling. He didn’t mind the spotlight, but he wasn’t the eldest son of the Vakalis family.
I rolled my shoulders, trying to shift the weight that pressed down on them. I could already feel my father’s judging gaze. Most of the time, he was fine, but when it came to the family line, he refused to see things any other way. When I was younger and rejected the first Omega they’d introduced me to, I dared to tell him I wanted to marry for love. He threatened to disown me if I didn’t take a proper Greek Omega as a mate.
Jason had told me that my father didn’t mean it, but I knew he did. Father saw the continuation of the family line as my duty, and love was not mandatory for that to happen.
Another voice spoke to my mother in the background, and she covered her phone as she responded. She came back on and cleared her voice. “Your grandmother wants to speak to you. Take care,gios. Be careful working out there in the storm.”
A smile lifted my lips hearing that my grandmother was there. My father’s parents lived with my parents for part of the year, and their stays have been getting longer. Not that anyone would admit it, but they were getting old, and they were eagerly awaiting great-grandchildren. I had two younger sisters, and one of them was engaged, but even if she had kids, they wouldn’t have the Vakalis name. The responsibility was still on me.
“Thanks, Mama. Have a good night.”
The phone was handed off and there was a rustle folded by a squeak of what probably was a chair as my grandmother sat down. “Ozias!Chara mou. I have missed you.”
“I miss you too, Yaya. How have you been?”
“My joints are stiff. The winter is cold this year. I told your grandfather we need to go someplace hot like Fiji or Bora Bora, but he is stubborn and ignores the fact his legs are so skinny now, he needs to eat more and have a blanket across his lap all the time.” She gave a little snort, and I laughed. My grandparents were the most wonderful couple. Best friends and so in love, even in their winter years.
“The last I saw of Pappous, he was marching around and barking orders at the workers building the pool. His legs might be skinny, but they’re still powerful.” My parents installed an indoor pool this year, and having been involved in construction for most of his life, my grandfather still believed he knew it all. Though later in the fall, he admitted to me that he learned a lot about new building techniques from the crew and was proud tostill be learning something new. I loved him all the more for it. “It’s all the Moussaka he eats.”
“No matter if they're powerful, Fiji still would be warmer.” My grandmother huffed and chuckled. “Enough about us. Are you getting enough food? Eating stuff to keep you warm?”
“Yes, of course. I bought the ingredients to make spanakopita tomorrow. I haven’t had one since I saw you last month.”
“Good boy. I’ll make you and Jason kayanas when you come to visit, and give you tsoureki to take home with you. Alphas like you need lots of food.” It was her belief through and through, and Jason was more than happy to let her feed us. “Now I need to talk to you about love.”
“Me?” While she went along with my parents when pairing me up with Omegas, she didn’t push nearly as hard.
“Yes, I had a dream last night. A foretelling,” she stated with a growing excitement in her voice. “You will meet your mate and, surrounded by snow, you will fall madly in love with her.”
My shoulders sagged. My grandmother had vivid dreams which she believed were true, and sometimes, it was astonishing how she did predict what was to come. She had whispered to me she knew I wouldn’t be a doctor, and I would save many more lives since I didn’t choose that path. She also knew Jason would be my pack brother. But now me finding my mate? It seemed she thought Thea was going to be the Omega for me too.
“Don’t resist it, Ozias. You always put others first. Let the madness take you.”
I ran a hand through my hair and swallowed a groan. “You wish me to go mad, Yaya? I will just let Jason sing me that entire album he wrote as a teenager about all the girls he loves. It’s incredibly bad and would drive me out of my mind.”
She laughed. “Oh,chara mou. I do hope you’re bringing that handsome young Alpha on New Year’s Day. I love his company. But heed me, allow yourself to love, Ozias.”
“Jason is coming.” I grinned. “So have you met Thea? Anything you can tell me about her that Mama hasn’t?”
“Thea?” My grandmother paused, humming to herself. “I don’t think I’ve met the girl. I assume that’s the Alexpoulos Omega?”
“Speaks five languages and likes art,” I added with no enthusiasm.
“Oh, that’s lovely. I would like someone to accompany me to the art galleries here. Perhaps she is the girl I saw in the snow with you.”
If my future mate did that, I would love her all the more for it. There was part of me that believed in my grandmother’s dreams, but logic said it was silly. I’d give Thea a chance though, but falling madly in love? Not when it already felt like a business transaction.
“Mind you, I didn’t see her face. She was bright as a star. Almost blinding.”
So what she really meant was it was her great hope I’d find a mate, any mate. I didn’t doubt she wanted me to be happy, and she believed having a family was the path to that, but the suffocating weight of duty wasn’t about madness. It was about resigning myself to how my life must be.
