“So you said. All right.”
“All right?” my dad echoes, disbelieving.
“All right,” Mom says firmly, turning to him.
Dad takes that in and sighs. “All right.”
He gives me a bear hug before returning to his spot in front of the fire. Flora and James shrug at each other and slip back into the family chaos.
My mother wraps her arm around me and steers me toward the delicious smells of the kitchen.
Rafe
I’ve never had a big family dinner. You see these kinds of things in movies and on commercials trying to sell you a can of biscuits, but not in real life. In real life people are too complicated.
But apparently I was wrong.
There’s a house in the middle of rural Traverse City that is a living commercial. Everyone smiles. Little groups form. One couple is talking about flower arrangements with another couple. The twins who greeted us at the door keep bickering, but in a good-natured way. A beta guy with short-cropped hair introduces me to his boyfriend—they’re both in college. Betty, the eldest sibling, and her pack of two alphas and a beta wrangle their three young girls, who keep sneaking cookies and smearing chocolate on their dresses.
It's insane chaos, and I’m loving it. Winnie was right. Her family seems to welcome me with open arms and little by little my anxiety about tonight ebbs away.
I look for Eli, who Icannotimagine is loving it, but he’s standing in a dim corner taking it all in. I consider going to him but then think better of it. I don’t want to add to his stimuli. He’ll come to me if he feels like it.
Winnie looks so happy in the chaos, so at home. It makes my heart swell. I knew before that she was our omega and that I wanted to bein her life, but this, giving us this wonderful family to become a part of, this feels like icing on top of a cake.
“Hey, I heard you guys do tattoos?” A guy in his early twenties, likely a college kid, asks.
“Roy, what the hell are you going to tattoo? Some Star Trek reference?” The woman who calls him out is Tia, one of the many sisters I’ve met since arriving. I think Winnie said Tia was younger.
Roy ignores Tia, so I do too. “We do. We’ve got a portfolio online if you’re interested.”
“So, since you’re my sister’s mates, do I get like… a family discount or something?”
“Roy!” I hear Winnie half-screech, half-reprimand from across the room. I have to bite my lip to keep from laughing.
“What?” Roy asks.
I meet Winnie’s eyes across the room.
“Yeah. Anyone related to my mate can have a discount,” I say, without breaking eye contact.
It’s the first time I’ve called her my mate in public. She recognizes that too. Her cheeks heat, her skin deepening in color. Her beautiful eyes go bright. I wish we weren’t in a room full of family, because I want to scoop her up and kiss her wild right now.
“So are we talking, like, sixty percent? Or more like ten?” Roy jabbers on.
“Oh my god, Roy.Shut up.Can’t you see they’re having a moment?” Tia groans.
I chuckle, and Winnie laughs too. The moment is broken—but it meant everything to me.
Eli
This is a lot. I appreciate that the house is beautiful. That the music isn’t technically loud, the lighting is normal, everyone’s talking and no one’s shouting. The mask is doing its job but it’s still a lot. It feels like I’m in a mosh pit at a heavy metal concert. My nerves are fried and I can’t stand one more piece of sensory input.
“Eli.” A soft voice behind me.
I turn, already bracing for someone to ask if I’m okay. It’s the worst question in the universe.
But it’s Winnie’s mom. Gentle eyes, warm cardigan, the kind of person who looks like she couldn’t hurt anyone.
