“And your eyes better not be where mine are, Tris,” I hiss nastily at her.
Tristan laughs as she slaps me on my ass, to make a point I guess, before she struts past me with her trademark catwalk, right into what should be the base or mattress room. I follow after her, my eyes still locked on the buns out the front though. Walking through the door, I have no choice but to pay attention to my surroundings and these tricky bitches. Again, I’m stunned into silence.
“Surprise?” Simona says. Her smile could easily be interpreted as a grimace, but it changes into a full dazzling, teeth showing smile once she sees my happy reaction.
“What’s this?” I gasp, still shocked. But I’m so full of sweet endorphins, I don’t think anything could steal the contented buzz I’m getting from being here. Seriously, there’s not one thing I haven’t enjoyed about today. Well, them quizzing Puck rubbed me up the wrong way, until I got side-tracked by the shelves of pastel indigo silk sheets. And then by the time I got to the hand knitted socks, even Sim sitting with Puck didn’t bother me. Too much.
“Second surprise moment of the day. We’ve got,”—Heidi interrupts, she’s definitely smiling. No doubt loving that I don’t have a clue on what’s going on—“a couple left to go.”
“A pamper station. In here though?”
Emmalina gives this slow wave of her hand. She’s been doing that at everything she shows me. I think it’s her special omega trait because no shit anything she points out is exactly what I was after. “Your alphas want me to explain, I hope that’s okay with you.” And goodness, the way she talks is like listening to marshmallows talk, if they could talk, I mean. Her voice is sweet and light, and listening to her explanation on the simplest things is near poetic. She’s really got being an omega nailed down. I don’t even hiss at her when she mentions my alphas this time.
My alphas. Repeating her words in my head unleashes a rush of nervous energy which is silly. Almost as silly as being in this room. It really is a pamper station, complete with lit up mirrors, shelves of skincare, makeup, hair products, and countless creams.
“I can do my hair and makeup,” I offer because I can.
“True, you can. You’ve got fifteen minutes to get ready, and then if it’s okay with you, I have to blindfold you. And yes, it’s me that’s asking you because apparently your alphas, and your girlfriends, thought you would take their request better from a complete stranger than you would them.”
My mouth drops open, stunned to silence once again. Slightly offended they’re all using Emmalina’s squishy sweet disposition to their advantage.
But does it matter? I’m sure if she wanted to, she would have politely refused. I throw my hands up in surrender. “Fine by me. The past few hours have been truly amazing. Being here and creating my nest has been an absolute dream. I actually feel like a different person. Now though, I want to get to the good part. And I really don’t care how it happens”.
“We were hoping that’s what you’d say,” Simona says as she comes to stand next to Emmalina.
These two are so similar, it’s eerie. The way they move is like they’re a single being, and together they shepherd me closer to the first makeup station. And while I was initially going to get ready myself, Emmalina makes her magic happen again. As I get lost in scents, textures, feels and colours of the endless products she shares, the girls get to work on my hair and makeup.
As part of our Omega training, grooming and deportment classes were a daily event. We had to endure so many hair and make-up classes, that I wasn’t joking before about getting ready myself in under fifteen minutes. Together they have me made up and ready to go in less time than that. But it’s not glamorous, it’s not supermodel, it’s not even blushing omega… it’s natural.
I look beautiful, don’t get me wrong, and they look the same, loose curls, hair down, dewy skin, a lick of gloss and a touch of mascara. Sitting back before swivelling in my seat, I say, “I’m not going to the gala, am I?”
Heidi swings around in her chair to face me. “No.”
Emmalina excuses herself to get refreshments, and as she leaves she takes a little of my happiness with her. Tris and Simona close in, and I get a tremor of apprehension. If they’re here with me, and I’m not going to the gala, the tremors gather speed, growing the longer they look at me with concern.
“Where did you disappear to before?” I ask slowly. And I know Koz and I are rock solid. I know it, like I know my name, but it doesn’t stop the awful memories in my head escaping the tight confines I usually keep them locked away in. It’s a completely irrational overreaction, and I hate being a slave to what happened eons ago, but it doesn’t mean it stops.
“You know we’d all tell you if they were going to do anything shifty, so lock that shit up right now, Raney Grady!” Heidi glares at me.
Her words make sense. They hit home and resonate. But that’s the thing about being hurt before, no matter how loud you know the truth to be, sometimes your past is a nasty bitch that buries in deepest. And why didn’t she mention Koz in that statement?
But that’s my memories talking, not my future. Nothing is stopping me from claiming my pack today.
“Two options…” Heidi says, her eyebrows flick up high in question.
And I know the question because it’s part of our Scorned rules. If we’ve got shit news to share, the recipient gets the option of a soft approach or the no fluff approach that hurts but it’s over in a flash.
I roll my eyes. Never once have I opted for the softly done approach. Whereas Heidi and Simona are huge supporters of the method. Tris flips and flops depending on her mood, but that’s her general approach to life.
“Okay, so while you and Simona inhaled the muffins and cookies Emmalina made for us, I did the ADV that you wanted done on Hayes.”
“You didn’t want to ask me to be there for that?” I huff out.
She nods her head, and her lips pull back all sassy like. “You’re right, I didn’t want to ask you to be there for that. Koz went and got the sample from Hayes, and I did the test.”
The test is simple, you drop a swab into a solution then dab it on a litmus paper, depending on a colour change you’re either infected or not. The physical test though is impossible to replicate and the only company that manufactures them is Heidi’s dad’s. You can order them online, but they come with a steep cost, making it impractical to carry them around in your purse, unlike Heidi who actually does carry a few in her bag at all times.
“Should I be worried?”
