“Mason?”
Jericho’s voice jarred me out of my thoughts. I shook my head and headed inside, where the rest of them were already waiting.
I forced myself to behave, since Flint and Charlie were treating me hospitably. They filled the table with delicious foods, just like Jericho did for me earlier. Even though I ate recently, I found myself hungry again, and appreciative of this miniature feast.
“So…” Jericho looked around the table. An awkward silence hung in the air. Somehow I felt like this friendly meet-and-greet wasn’t going exactly the way Jericho planned.
“You’re from the bad place,” Casey said suddenly, looking me dead in the eye. There was no malice in her words. Her expression was a mix of awe and respect.
“I am,” I said.
She nodded. Her expression was bright and serious. She seemed wise beyond her years. “We were from the bad place, too. But we live here now.”
My eyes flickered from Casey to Charlie to the tiny baby cradled in his arms.
“Has much changed since I left?” Charlie asked slowly.
“It’s gotten worse,” I said bluntly. “After losing you, Gunner implemented shock collars on all the omegas. They’d zap us if we set one foot out of bounds.”
Charlie gasped, then his expression filled with sadness. “I didn’t know… I didn’t want this for anyone.”
Flint put a firm arm around his shoulders and pulled him close. “It’s not your fault, Charlie. You didn’t know this would happen.”
“Still…” He looked up at me, his eyes watery with sympathy. “I’m so sorry that happened to you, Mason. You don’t deserve that. None of us do.”
I knew byushe meant omegas. But as I sat there, I felt my skin prickle. I didn’t want to be lumped in with Charlie. We were totally different. He was an omega who decided to settle down with the first alpha he found, from the looks of it. He had this picture perfect life, with an alpha on one arm and a baby in the other. Charlie seemed like a nice guy, really - but this wasn’t the life I wanted.
“It’s okay now,” Jericho said. His green eyes were gentle. “You’re free from that place, and you don’t ever have to go back.”
“That’s right,” Flint grunted. “Indigo Mountain is very welcoming of outsiders. We learned that when Charlie settled here. I’m sure you’ll be treated with the same respect.”
I forced myself not to flinch at his words. Why did he automatically assume I would be staying here? Typical boneheaded alpha.
“Thanks,” I forced myself to say.
Charlie smiled at me. “In any case, you’re safe here now. Scarlet Ridge hasn’t tried to launch an attack on us for a long time, and we have measures to make sure they won’t ever try it again.”
“That’s what you landed in, by the way,” Jericho said to me.
“The trap?”
“Yup.” He grinned. “And as you can see, it’s pretty effective.”
I grumbled. I didn’t want the whole pack knowing about how I’d gotten stuck humiliatingly in an animal trap, but thankfully none of them pressed the issue any further.
“So, do you have any ideas of what you want to do here?” Charlie asked.
Truthfully, I hadn’t at all, considering I had no desire to stay in this place. But I quickly realized that I had to make something up if I was going to keep up this charade.
“I, er, want to get some kind of job, I guess,” I said. “Since I wasn’t allowed to have one at Scarlet Ridge.”
I didn’t really care for the sympathy that flashed across their expressions. For some reason, being treated like a victim was really irritating me. I wanted to get out of here and back to Jericho’s place, if only for some peace and quiet.
Charlie nodded. “I’m sure you can easily find work somewhere in town.”
“We can help you out, if you want,” Flint offered.
“Thanks,” I said. “I’ll probably lay low for a few days and get my bearings before looking for a job, but I’d appreciate that.”
After some more awkward but friendly chatter, Jericho finally decided to leave. Although Flint and Charlie were nice enough, I felt strangely out of place. I appreciated their help, but my situation wasn’t anything like Charlie’s - I didn’t want to live the rest of my life here after getting knocked up by some alpha. Besides, I alreadywasknocked up.
As we made our way back to his house, my mind was a mess of anxious thoughts.
What was I going to do in this pack until my baby was born?
And how long could I keep up this facade?
