CHAPTER 1
Breakfast is tense as ever at my parents’ house. I know why, but I refuse to acknowledge it.
It’s a new season for the Foxes, and my Alpha father, head coach, Kristoff Applegate, does not want me coming back to work for his team.
Too fucking bad because I’m coming back, for reasons he would probably hate. I’m willing to negotiate to keep my job, but I’m not going to be the one who cracks first. If he doesn’t want me coming back to help manage the social media for the team, he’s going to have to fire me, and I know he doesn’t have the guts to do it.
It’s probably terrible that I know I can manipulate my own dad, but it’s entirely too easy. His guilt over feeling like an absent parent when I was younger is just too palpable. I don’t blame him, nor do I feel abandoned by him, but it’s still how he feels. It’s the whole reason he let me work for the Foxes last season. He wanted more time with me, and he wanted to ease some of his guilt.
Well, if I have to use this guilt to keep my job, I will.
It’s not even that I especially like doing the team’s social media. It’s that I have a plan in place, and I will not let him ruinthis for me. He’d be so pissed if he knew my ulterior motives, and maybe he has an inkling of what I’m up to, but I’m ready to deal with the fallout when it happens.
My mother Rosemary is the one to cut the silence. It’s not a surprise; she’s a no bullshit lawyer who has no problem pushing around her Alpha designation when she needs to.
“So are we just going to be silent all breakfast, or is someone going to speak first?” she asks.
“Breakfast is delicious, honey,” my Beta dad, Henderson, says to my mom, Willow.
“Thanks, baby,” she says to him, and he grins at her.
Our family dynamic is basically stamped in concrete. It hasn’t changed much since my childhood. My Alpha parents are the more strict and serious ones while my Beta dad and Omega mom tend to be more relaxed about things. It can be chaotic sometimes. But I can’t deny that I love it—it’s exactly what I want for myself. I want a pack where everyone loves everyone and it’s just one giant love fest like I grew up with.
Working for the Foxes is part of that.
“Sloane, sweetie—” my father starts, and I cut him off.
“No, I’m coming back to work for the Foxes. Liz is expecting me to help. I don’t want to be cooped up in my apartment all day, and I love working with the team…and you,” I say quickly.
My exhausted father rubs his massive palm against his face. He’s the biggest person in my parental pack but also the biggest softie.
“Listen, I love having you around, believe me. But I think…” he trails off.
“Kristoff Applegate, if you call our Omega daughter a distraction, I will poison your food next time,” my mom steps up for me.
Willow Applegate is a formidable force, and I learned how to be an Omega from her.
Take no bullshit or prisoners is her Omega motto. It’s how you get what you want. She taught me to love my designation and how to use it to my advantage, something I’m sure my father is loathing right about now.
“Not a distraction, it’s just some of the guys seem to have a hard time focusing when you’re around. We won the cup last year, and we have a lot of new members on the team. There’s a lot of pressure on my shoulders, and I don’t want to have to worry about looking over my shoulder. Especially now that not one, but two Omegas have been drugged in my fucking stadium,” he says.
Okay, I’m going to have to do more negotiating than I thought.
“I’ll go on suppressants and use deodorizers,” I spit out. My mom gasps and clutches her chest like I said I’m going to commit murder.
“You should not have to conform or put chemicals in your body to make others around you comfortable,” she gasps.
“If that’s what it takes to be on the Foxes, I’ll do it. At least let me stay till my birthday,” I plead with him.
I can get what I need by February 14th. It’s cliché, being a Valentine’s baby with red hair and an absolutely, hopelessly romantic heart, but I can’t help it. It’s who I am.
“Have you put more consideration into seeing the matchmaker?” my mother Rosemary asks.
None of my parents are stupid enough to mention a dating site or the desire to push me into pack life in front of Mom. She’s a firm believer that Omegas can happily have their heat serviced by friendly Alphas and that no Omega should be forced to bond and pack up early, least of all before they truly know themselves. She even wrote a book on it.
I might be the most well-adjusted Omega I know, and she’s the reason why.
“I’ve considered it,” I lie.
