“Everything all right?” James asks, still looking like a cute disheveled mess as we wait for Ezra.
“Dad just texted me.”
James’ cheeks heat. “About that, I promised Luna we’d come to a family dinner on Sunday.”
I sigh, not really wanting to sit at a dinner table with my father and Margo. But the desire to be around Luna trumps that.
“We can do that,” I say.
“Are you going to talk to her?”
I groan, not even knowing where to start when it comes to Luna. Ezra and James are so fucking sure that she has lingering feelings, but there’s no fucking way. She could have her choice of any pack, why would she choose one where she wouldn’t be the only Omega and it would be frowned upon by most people?
“I’ll think about it.”
“Okay, so you’ll think about talking to her. Does that mean you’re putting a pause on buying purple shit for her nest?”
I glare at him, and he smirks and shrugs his shoulders. Rolling out my shoulders I sigh and text my dad back.
Me: See you at dinner Sunday?
Dad:Perfect! Margo will be so happy.
Me:Is Luna coming?
Dad:I’d guess so.
I try to push my anger down for how easily they look past her. James squeezes my bicep, and I look down at him. “Come on, I’m starving.” I nod, and Ezra walks out of the bathroom.
“Damn, love, I’m not getting all this fucking cum out of my pants anytime soon,” he jokes. James just shakes his head.
“Can we please get something to eat now?”
“Oh no, our Omega is hangry,” Ezra says, and I want to smack him upside his ginger head, but I hold back as James walks ahead of us.
I drive us to his favorite drive-through, and I wonder just how fucking unhinged I am for building my Omega stepsister a nest in my home with all the intention of making her mine, despite the fact that I haven’t even told her how I feel.
Chapter 7
Luna
“Luna,isthathonestlywhat you’re wearing?” my mother asks. I sigh and turn around to face her. She’s wearing a tight pantsuit that accents her height. Her makeup looks like she’s ready for the runway, and her hair is in a tight bun at the nape of her neck.
I look down at my blue sundress and shrug. “What’s wrong with it?”
“You know Ian will be wearing a suit, while you’re dressed like this.” Her hand motions up and down my body like I’m offending her. I guess my presence does that. Stewart opens his mouth but promptly shuts it.
I roll my eyes, and Stewart nudges my shoulder as my mom walks into the kitchen to make sure the chef has everything prepared for dinner.
“She just wants everything to be perfect,” he says, and I bite my tongue. The way he always defends her pisses me off. It’s not like she treats Stewart like gold, even though she should. He pays for everything we have. My mom loves talking about Alpha work ethic and how superior they are, but she doesn’t seem to hold it herself. She just wants to be a part of her society clubs, even if it means being with a Beta.
She won’t even bond him, for Christ’s sake. How pathetic is that?
When Stewart first married my mom, I had hopes that things would get better, that maybe I’d have someone who would be a barrier, someone to be my protector. That’s not what happened. Ian didn’t even live with us, but he was the only person in this family who ever gave a shit about me. He came to my events, bought me gifts, and asked me if I was okay.
Do you know how nice it is for someone to just ask how you’re doing sometimes? It’s never like that in this house. It’s always what I’m doing wrong or what I could be doing better. My mom and Stewart don’t really give a fuck about me.
I push the sadness away. I can get through this dinner, go to work, and make more money. Even though it’s not ideal, I’m going to do this for myself. I don’t need a pack to get me out of this situation, I will free myself from this house.
