The three of us sighed with relief. Now we had the opportunity to get to know her, court her, and prove to her we were worthy mates. Although I wasn’t sure I could ever befullyworthy of her. She was pure fucking sweetness.
“Josie chose to join your pack, but her parents and the director strongly opposed the decision. They spent the full meeting shouting, trying to convince her that this was a terrible mistake.” Amirah’s voice sounded strained.
I growled. The idea of anyone raising their voice at my mate made me murderous. How dare they try to influence her omega instincts?
Amirah continued, “The updated lab work showed Josie’s heat will start the next day or two. She needs to move in immediately. Her parents insisted on doing the traditional parent meeting and will be at your house tomorrow morning at ten. You need to be prepared and stay very calm. If you give them any sign that you are volatile or in any way unfit to bond with an omega, they will try to remove her. You must do nothing to jeopardize her position in your pack until you’re fully DC approved and bonded.”
“How was she after the meeting?” I asked, angry I hadn’t been there to protect her.
“She’s had a hard couple of days. Being around so many alphas can be overwhelming for any omega, but it’s particularly hard on an unbonded one right before heat. I didn’t have time to talk with her after the meeting, but she will be leaving shortly with Dave to head back to her apartment so she can pack her things.”
“Do you know what she likes? How can we best prepare her room and make her feel at home?” Ben asked.
“Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve barely gotten to talk with her. She seems smart, brave, and pretty skittish. She has a lot of anxiety, and no wonder with the way her parents treat her.” Amirah’s voice sounded as bitter as I’d ever heard it. I didn’t know how she worked alongside alphas who belittled her on a daily basis, but I had never been more grateful for her leadership in the Alliance.
Amirah continued, “She’s probably going to need to take things slow and to feel like she is in control as much as possible. She needs to have a nest available immediately, and you must remember that you cannot enter the nest without her explicit invitation.”
Theo eyed the phone with hesitation before asking, “Can you tell us if Josie has been on suppressants?”
Amirah was silent for several long moments. “I don’t typically share confidential information, but it might help you prepare better. Yes, she’s been on suppressants. I don’t know the details of her usage, but prolonged suppressant use can cause irregular heats once the omega goes off them. Her heats in the future might be closer together or vary in length.”
I was worried about how the suppressant use would affect Josie’s health long-term, but I glowed with pride that she had managed to be on them for this long without getting caught. Our little omega was smart and resourceful.
“I have to go now, but I’ll pass along to Josie and her parents that you’ll be expecting them at ten tomorrow. I’ll also tell the rest of your Alliance contacts that you’ll be out of communication for the next ten days or so.”
“Let Josie’s parents know we’ll have breakfast for them,” Ben called out.
I shot him a look.
“What? We need to be good hosts. And we need to feed our mate.”
At that, I softened. I didn’t want to host her parents, but Ben was right. We needed to make the meeting as relaxed and seamless as possible for Josie’s sake.
After hanging up the phone, we all sat and stared at each other. Theo, ever the planner and organizer, said, “We need to get the house ready, need to make sure we have plenty of food and stuff for her nest. If she’s going into heat, we won’t be able to leave, so we have to stock up.”
When we bought our house, we hadn’t paid much attention to the nest, assuming we would never have an omega to fill it. Now I thought of the empty room and it made me furious. Why hadn’t we prepared better for her? We should have known that she was out there, waiting for us. Now we didn’t even have a proper nest to offer her.
Theo continued, “One of us needs to make sure that we’re at her apartment tonight. We can take it in shifts.”
I jolted as the front door to the DC opened and Josie walked out with Dave. Our car was partially hidden in a secluded corner of the parking lot, so she likely couldn’t see us. Her shoulders shook, and my heart clenched as I realized she was crying. I opened the car door, ready to run out to her and comfort her. Theo grabbed my arm.
“Cam, we can’t do anything to jeopardize things now. She’s already chosen us, but they could take her away if we do anything outside the rules. She’ll be with us in less than twenty-four hours.”
I snarled, needing to be with her. Josie and Dave neared a large black SUV and he opened the back door for her.That should have been me.A woman was waiting in the back seat and pulled Josie in for a hug.My distress eased slightly that Josie wasn’t totally alone right now. As they pulled away, Theo started the car. I was already counting the minutes until we could bring our mate home.
ChapterEleven
Theo
Idowned my fourth cup of espresso, the caffeine hitting my system with a jolt. My hands trembled slightly as I set the cup down. I needed to get my anxiety under control before Josie arrived, but I felt like my heart was going to explode out of my chest.
I groaned, involuntarily running my hand through my hair.Fuck, now I have to fix it again.I stopped at the hallway mirror, trying to force my hair to look effortlessly styled as if that would somehow mask the chaos inside me.
I tried to block my anxiety from the bond I shared with my brothers, not wanting them to know how unmoored I felt. I couldn’t stop my racing thoughts, couldn’t stop obsessing about Josie.How had her night been? Did she resent having to move in with us? Would she be happy here?I wouldn’t feel settled until she was with us, preferably in my arms.
I sat down on one of the sofas in the sitting room and stared at the clock, willing time to go faster. The minute hand mocked me with its slowness. Sunlight streamed in through the large windows, illuminating the sparse room. We bought this house several years ago, falling in love with the historic charm and quiet of the neighborhood. None of us had cared much about the interior, filling it with furniture that was practical and not much else. It lacked the coziness and charm an omega deserved. At least everything was spotless. The welcoming smell of Ben’s baked goods wafted out of the kitchen, and the nesting supplies I’d purchased were waiting for our mate upstairs.
Yesterday I had gone to our friend Jewel’s high-end boutique while Cam took the first shift watching over Josie’s apartment. Jewel was a rare female alpha—one of only twenty in the entire province. We had known her for years and trusted her with our lives. She had greater cause to hate the Designation Government than most after what she had endured under their female alpha experimentation program.
