“Mine first,” Ian says under his breath, a gleam in his bright blue eyes.
My alphas and their unchecked desire to see me in their clothes. I love it.
My men thank Bethany profusely, but the parade of presents just keeps on coming.
I unwrap a posh leather book bag, a full stack of books, a complete set of my absolute favorite highlighters in a veritable rainbow of colors and a cute pen case to stash them all in, the new collection from my favorite nail polish brand, and a Yule mug filled to the brim with brightly colored KitKats.
Simon unwraps the same mug and we gleefully clink our mugs together and snag our favorite flavors off the top of the other’s mug.
I think I’m done, but Cassian finds one more present for me under the Yule tree and passes it over to me.
It’s from Melissa and I pause. While I don’t know the Leclercs well, Ireallydon’t know Ellie’s mother. I carefully pull the bow loose and take the top of the printed box off. Inside, nestled among layers of tissue paper, are yards of coordinating fabrics in dreamy pastel prints.
I’m trying to puzzle out their purpose when Melissa sees that I’ve opened the gift.
“It doesn’t look like much yet,” she grants. “But Simon said you like the quilt I made him so much that I thought I’d make you one, too.”
My mouth drops open, and I know I’m gaping, but I can’t seem to stop. This wonderful woman, who I barely know, is going to make me a whole quilt? Saints, it’s not just the Leclercs that have invited me into their family, but the Monroes as well.
My eyes get misty, and I have to blink away the sting of tears.
I stammer my thanks and when I can’t find the right words, I hop up from the sofa and pull the older omega woman into a tight hug.
She hugs me back just as fiercely, and after a moment, whispers in my ear. “I’ve got a bunch of little gold jingle bells we can sew on that sweater of yours so you can give Ellie a run for her money.”
She graces me with a wink when we part and truly, truly, no omega has ever had a family as amazing as the one I now have.
* * *
The morning is so overwhelminglywonderful that I almost forget that a journalist is coming to interview me and Cassian about our mating, all so my new mate and I can back my father into a corner.
It’s when Bethany says, “Let's get you ready for the gallows, dear,” that the reality of my afternoon sets in.
The two older omegas lead me back to my room and sit me down in front of the vanity. Melissa plugs in a curling wand and runs her fingers through my hair thoughtfully while Bethany digs through the drawers in the vanity, drawing out makeup, all of it new, still wrapped in plastic, and all of it in my favorite brands.
She catches my faint smile in the mirror as she unwraps a bottle of foundation. “Cassian wanted you to be comfortable here, and I wanted to spoil my son’s mate absolutely rotten. I adore Simon, but this ismuchmore my speed than computer chips or whatever it is that Colin got him.”
“You're very good at spoiling,” Melissa chides. “Almost too good.”
“You both are,” I tell them softly.
“You have been comfortable here, haven't you?” Bethany asks, unscrewing the foundation's cap.
“It's been a dream,” I admit. “Holidays with my family are… very different.” It's the grossest understatement. Before my designation revealed and after my mom left, holidays were cold, quiet affairs that only got worse once my designation revealed. As my father’s obedient daughter, I’d been forced to play hostess to the important alphas that would flood the manor every New Year’s Eve, enduring their pinches and too-familiar touches, and the snide, cutting looks from my eldest brother, flinching at my father’s disdainful words, exactly as he expects me to. And as of this year, holidays at Rose Manor meant being told to let a monstrous alpha defile and mate me.
"It's over, sweetie," Melissa says softly. Her expression is gentle, but dark memories shadow her green eyes. She knows, maybe all too well, what it's like to be terrorized by an alpha. And just like she did, I’ve escaped my tormentor.
I crinkle my eyes in the best smile I can manage while Bethany blends in my foundation. None of this feels real. I should be making final arrangements with florists and caterers for my father’s New Year’s Eve gala, and yet here I am, about to be interviewed about my mating to Cassian. I can barely believe it’s true, that this isn’t all some wonderful dream, that this isn’t just my great escape, but my future, too. Saints, I have a lifetime of Yules to spend with the Pack Leclerc and the Monroes, with my men at my side. It feels too good to be real.
“Don’t simper when you’re on camera,” Bethany tells me. “Every instinct you have will tell you to make yourself small, but the woman my son fell in love with and mated isn’t small. Be the omega Cassian told me he wanted to spend the rest of his life with the first day he met you. You’re a bright, funny, kind, and determined young woman. Don’t be anything less for the press.”
“Disarm them,” Melissa adds, wrapping a lock of my hair around the curling wand. “The world will be expecting your father’s daughter. Saints, when Simon told me he was your new tutor,Iwas expecting your father’s daughter. Let the world see who you truly are. Our kind need stories like yours. Every young omega who sees your story will see that it’s possible to find true love. That they can be happy. But above all, be the brave young woman I know you are.”
Saints, they make it sound so easy, but I can’t remember the last time I was this nervous.
Cassian knocks softly at the door just as Melissa zips up the deep blue silk dress Bethany picked out for me. It skims my shoulders, and when Melissa tucks my hair back, it perfectly reveals the new mating bite on my neck.
I call for Cassian to come in, but he stops just inside the door, and I feel his awe through our bond, the way his breath catches as he takes me in.
