“Which is why I have invited any eligible bachelor alphas to the Gala to meet you. Even some Nouveau riche alphas,” she sniffed with a visible shudder. “I want you to pick from this group.”
“But mother—” I began but she didn’t let me get any more words out.
“Juneau, you cannot keep rejecting any alpha that comes your way. Your last heats have left you abed for days with sickness and I worry that your body cannot continue on like this. Besides, you know what I always say about older omegas.”
I sighed, my stiff shoulders sinking. “There is no such thing as a spinster omega.” I provided the answer that she’d made me parrot to her ever since my perfume came in when I was fifteen.
“Exactly, and why is that?” my mother asked, folding her hands primly in her lap.
“Because they are all dead,” I finished begrudgingly.
“Yes, because they are dead. Omegas are not meant to live their lives on their own, Juneau. They need the protection of an alpha or an alpha pack, or else their heats will ravage their body until they die early. My Aunt Hilda thought she could live her life without an alpha and ended up passing away at only twenty-eight years old, that’s Timothy’s age!” I watched her press a hand to her chest like even the mention of my tragic aunt filled her with fear for my future.
“I can’t, in good conscience, join your father up in heaven if you aren’t settled first. Nicholas would never forgive me!” Her green eyes filled with tears that I knew were partly for show. Mentioning my father was usually how she was able to guilt me into doing things, and to her credit, it worked like a charm.
“Fine, I’ll try my best to pick an alpha to be courted by,” I told her with another heavy sigh.
“At the Gala,” she insisted, straightening and dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief that she’d produced from the bodice of her dress.
“At the Gala,” I agreed and watched her formerly morose expression brighten immediately now that she had gotten her way. “Wonderful! Now, you have your last fitting for your gown today and Nicky should be coming in from the city so we need to get the master’s suite all ready. I also need to let Maria know that we need to hire a new maid, I had another one quit this morning…”
I listened to her rattle off my schedule with a secret smile. Apparently, Timothy had struck again.
Chapter Two
“Nicky!”Isquealed,throwingmyself into my brother’s arms and let him spin me around in a wide circle.
“Juneau, that is not the appropriate way to greet the master of the house,” my mother reminded me as she finished descending the stairs that I’d just skipped down. Despite her scolding, her expression was pleased as she accepted a kiss on the cheek from her eldest son.
“Oh, Mother, let her. I love being greeted with enthusiasm by my little Tot,” Nicky told her as he grinned down at me. Since I had last seen him he’d grown a golden beard that was neatly trimmed and his blue eyes twinkled as he handed his coat to the waiting footman. He looked more and more like our father every day and I could tell that it made my mother emotional because her mood lifted as she enveloped Nicky in a hug of her own. “Where’s Timothy this morning?” Nicky asked, glancing around for our middle brother.
“Probably still hungover in bed,” I muttered under my breath, earning me a withering look from my mother.
“He told his valet that he would join us for a light lunch later,” my mother informed him as she glanced around Nicky’s bulk. “And where is my Ivy?” She asked, looking for my brother’s omega.
“Here!” A cheerful voice called as Ivy breezed through the doors followed by her flustered lady’s maid, Nan. Ivy was one of the prettiest women that I’d ever met and it was no wonder why my brother had chosen her amongst the plethora of omegas that had thrown themselves at him when he’d announced his intention to marry.
While our hair was golden, Ivy’s was the lightest of blondes. It looked like spun moonlight, or silver liquid falling over her shoulders. Her skin was nearly as pale as her hair and a pair of shockingly bright blue eyes crinkled at the corners as she greeted us with affectionate hugs.
In my mother’s eyes, Ivy was the perfect omega and the perfect match for my brother. The only caveat to that was that they didn’t have children yet.
“You are so thin my darling, how will you ever carry my grandchildren inside of you with that frame!” my mother exclaimed as she folded Ivy into a hug. I caught my brother’s eye and we shared an exasperated expression as he spoke.
“Mother, she’s just fine as she is,” he said, ignoring her comment about children. I thought that they were too busy enjoying themselves to think about children yet, which was completely cosmopolitan to me.
“Hello, Tot,” Ivy greeted me, also using my childhood nickname as she enveloped me in a warm hug. She smelled like vanilla and a little bit of my brother’s apple scent which told me that they had probably been cuddling on the ride in from the city.
“Hi, Vee,” I said, using her own nickname. We grinned at each other as we pulled away.
“Mother has a whole slew of things for you to help us do for the Gala,” I told her meaningfully, watching the woman grimace at the idea of extra tasks.
“I do indeed! We still need to decide on the florals and what livery to have the staff wear during the Gala, also…” My mother started to list the endless amount of tasks that we would need to do and I watched as my brother started to inch away.
Traitor, I mouthed at him while pretending to listen to my mother. He shot me the same grin that my father used to wear when our mother was starting to go on one of her tirades before he turned and disappeared down the hall to his study.
“And you’ll get to see Juneau’s finished dress, it’s absolutely gorgeous!” my mother told Ivy as she looped her arm through the other woman’s and began to draw her toward the Pink Room.
“And positively itchy,” I whispered to Ivy as I passed by her and watched as she struggled to keep her composure. If I had to be tortured by my mother’s constant attention, then at least Ivy would be right there with me.
