“You got that right.” Ric yelled back but he was looking at me and he leaned in close to my ear to say quietly, “I regret every minute that I haven’t kissed you up until now. I’ll be sure to make it up to you in the future.”
A shudder of anticipation shivered down my spine as an image of just how he could make it up to me flashed through my mind.Down girl, I chastised my inner omega. Ifyou keep it up you are going to mount the man in the backyard for everyone to see. My stomach fluttered at that thought, telling me that I wasn’t as opposed to public sex as I thought I was. I finally understood why all of the omegas at the academy were so sex crazed, I had to be careful or else I was never going to get anything done.
I was still considering pushing Ric down onto the bed and having my way with him regardless of the onlookers but Owen wasn’t finished, “Family meeting in five minutes in the living room!”
“Later.” Ric growled in my ear before helping me get off of the bed without falling flat on my face. We crossed the lawn together, hand-in-hand and stepped into the kitchen. Only Gage remained, scrubbing Leon’s blackened bacon pan in the sink.
“Why don’t you go on?” I whispered into Ric’s ear, looking meaningfully at Gage’s broad back. Thankfully he caught on quickly.
“Gotcha. Go cheer our gentle giant up sweetheart. He’s been miserable for the past few days so go easy on him.” With one last kiss Ric left the kitchen, leaving Gage and I alone.
I approached him slowly, trying to figure out just what I was going to say to him. I was still a little bit mad about the whole Link situation and it would probably be a sore spot for a while until I could sort through my feelings about it. But Gage had been my protector in the pack since day one so it made sense that he would make the decision to keep information that could potentially hurt me to himself. Didn’t make it right but it was what it was.
I reached out and placed my hand flat on his shoulder blade, feeling him stiffen under my touch. Gage turned the water to the sink off and wiped his hands on a dish towel before turning to face me. His face was stoic as always but I could see the apology in his eyes and before he could open his mouth I put a finger on his lips.
“I don’t want you to apologize. You wouldn’t mean it and I know you’d do it all over again if you had the choice.” Gage was a protector, from his alpha instincts to his personality in general. Even if he’d presented as a beta I had a feeling that he’d be just as protective. I couldn’t fault him for that even if it was misguided. “I love you for who you are, Gage, even if you are frustratingly overprotective.”
Gage placed his hands on either side of my hips and dropped his forehead to mine, “Do you? Love me I mean.” His voice was a bit croaky—telling me he hadn’t spoken much over the past few days. Like he was punishing himself for hurting me.
“More than you know.” I whispered and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. Gage’s shoulders drooped with relief and he lifted off of my feet and swung me around the kitchen, a full smile breaking out over his normally solemn face.
Our joy was, of course, interrupted by Owen who was standing in the doorway to the kitchen with his arms crossed and a fake-stern expression on his face, “I swear you people wouldn’t know the word ‘punctuality’ if it bit you in the ass. Come on you two, the family meeting is starting in the living room.”
Gage put me back on my feet and gave me one final blistering kiss that echoed Ric’s earlier promise of ‘soon’. We headed for the door, passing Owen who was now leaning against the door frame with a cheeky expression.
“Keep it up Owen and I’ll have Leon punish you.” I joked and gave him a quick kiss before following Gage through the entryway and into the main living room of the house.
The living room featured a velvet blue sectional that looked like it was built into the floor forming one of those cool conversation pits that was popular in the 70s, the whole thing was covered in various blankets and throw pillows. It struck me again just how many nest-like spaces existed in this house, from my nest in the bedroom to the platform bed swing out in the backyard. I was surprised that they had ever purchased this place at all. I would have thought that Leon and his previous anti-omega stance would have kept him from even considering this place.
Well, all's well that ends well I supposed and sank down into the cushions, pulling a nearby pillow onto my lap rested my chin on it. My eyes immediately went to Link who was sitting across the way on the other side of the sectional by himself. Everyone else arranged themselves around me. I let Gage pull my feet into his lap as we settled into what was undoubtedly going to be an uncomfortable conversation.
“Alright, thank you for attending the first ever family meeting.” Owen was standing at the entrance to the stairs that led out of the conversation pit holding a plastic fairy wand with pink feathers glued to it. “This is going to be a constructive conversation and in order to keep it that way I have a ‘talking stick’. Whenever someone is holding the stick they get as much time to speak as they need, no one else is allowed to interrupt unless they get permission from the talking stick holder.”
Was he serious? I couldn’t help but laugh and the rest of the pack echoed my laughter.
“O, you can’t be serious? What help do you think a talking stick is going to be?” Leon asked, looking fondly at our beta.
Ric nodded, trying and failing to hide his own smile. “I have to agree with Leon here Owen, it seems… I don’t know, it’s a bit useless isn’t it?”
Owen crooked a brow at us, “Yes please tell me, the only person in this room full of adults who have issues ranging from commitment-phobia to daddy & mommy issues and who has actually gone to therapy consistently, why is this useless… Anyone?” He pointed the fairy wand at each of us.
We were all silent. He had a point.
Owen smiled, pleased, “Great. Now this meeting is where we make our way towards transparency. The only way we are going to move forward in ahealthymanner is to be completely honest with each other. Starting with who I’m sure everyone is the most curious about—Lincoln?”
He held the fairy wand out to Link who shot me a glance before taking it beginning, “Can I tell you my side of the story?”
“So what did the academy hope to achieve by their antics?” I asked incredulously, gripping the fairy wand so tightly in my fist that it had begun to bend. Link had just finished telling his side of the story and I was pissed all over again. Not at Link—well still a little bit at Link—but now that I had the full picture I hardly believe the truth.
“It sounds like they figured you would move on eventually. It is in your instincts to seek a pack. They just didn’t count on your sheer stubbornness,mon coeur.” Dominic teased from his place next to me and I elbowed him in the ribs making him hiss. Good, serves him right for calling me stubborn.
“Why didn’t they try to find you after they realized that I was waiting for you to come back for me?”
“And miss out on that sweet-sweet matchmaking commission that they get from successfully pairing an omega with their pack?” Ric snorted, “Please.”
Well that was utter bullshit. The academy had gone unchecked for too long, from controlling the lives of their everyday omegas they were blatantly making a profit against the best interest of the omegas that were supposed to be protected under their wings. Unfortunately taking down a multibillion dollar industry was going to have to wait because I had other more pressing matters.
Fixing my gaze back on Link I kept my face impassive, “What do you want from me? Link? What is the endgame for you coming here?” I didn’t know what I wanted the answer to be. I was quickly realizing that the Link sitting in front of me was a stranger compared to the boy he’d been. I had to mentally make a list of all of the things that were the same: his scent was the same citrus and salty ocean waves as it had been when we were small, his green eyes still just as expressive. His hands were fidgety, like he couldn’t sit still, that was the same.
