My dad reached across from Mom to grab the salad dressing. “What’s her name?” he asked, his expression serene as he not-so-innocently poured the dressing.
“Not you, too,” I groaned.
“Yeah, tell us her name,” Luke, Rose’s almost husband, said. “Get the attention off of me.”
Rose scowled at him. He had just gotten the news that they would have to postpone their honeymoon because a court case he’d been working on had been moved up a full month.
“It’s early, okay,” I said, trying to fend off their attacks. “We just met. There’s nothing to tell yet.”
“Where did you meet?” my mom asked.
“At an Omega Rights Committee meeting.” I froze, my water glass suspended in mid-air as I realized my mistake.
“She’s an omega?” Rose and my mom gasped at the same time.
“Don’t make a big deal out of it,” I warned. Even Dad was looking up from his salad with interest.
“He has always been interested in… what do you call it? Pack life?” my mom said, her brow furrowed.
My family was all betas, used to marriages, not matings, and with one person, not multiple. “Lots of people live in packs.”I peered around the room, looking for the wedding planner. Wasn’t she supposed to tell us to do something right about now?
“I don’t get why you’d want to share one woman with a bunch of other guys,” Luke said with a shrug.
“I don’t get whyyou’rechoosing work over a honeymoon,” Rose said, shooting daggers out of her eyes as she sipped her wine.
“Rosie, please, you know I tried to get out of it. They said I either stay for the case or find a new job. Do you really want me to be unemployed?” he asked.
Mom and I locked eyes. Trying to reason with Rose when she was angry was not the right approach.
“I don’t know. Could an unemployed man take me to Italy?” she hissed. “Maybe Henry has the right way of thinking. This whole tying yourself toone manthing seems a bit overrated.”
My dad pushed his chair back, putting his napkin on the table as he stood. “Take a walk with me, Ro-Ro.” He was the only one who got to call her that. Rose and my mom might be the most alike, but she was a complete daddy’s girl. She got up with a huff and linked her arm with Dad’s as they walked away.
Luke groaned, putting his head in his hands. “She hates me.”
Mom patted his arm. “George will get through to her.” She paused before adding, “But you better take my baby on the world’s best honeymoon after this.” Luke looked up, eyes wide as he took in Mom’s stern expression.
“Yes ma’am, I promise.” He nodded furiously, and I had to cover my mouth to stop my laughter.
My mom turned her piercing gaze on me, and then her eyes softened. “I hope you tell me more about this woman…omega, if she continues to be important in your life.”
“I promise.” I swallowed hard. “You wouldn’t be upset if I was part of a pack, would you?”
My family had never understood the draw of pack life for me. I’d had an amazing childhood, but with a doctor mom, lawyer dad, and sister who was always popular at school, I’d ended up feeling lonely a lot. I wanted to know what it was like to be a part of a close-knit group where everyone lived together. And even as a beta, there was something magnetic about omegas. No, scratch that. There was something magnetic aboutWestin.
“Of course not,” she said. “It doesn’t matter to us if that’s what makes you happy.”
I nodded. “Thanks, Mom.”
She leaned across the table and took my hand, giving it a squeeze. “Maybe she would be a good influence and tell you to visit your poor mother more.”
I smiled as I rolled my eyes. Now that my mom was retired, she wanted all the family time she’d missed out on while working long hours in the hospital.
“Oh look, there they are,” I said, gesturing at Rose and Dad.
Rose smiled as she sat beside Luke and pulled him in for a sweet kiss. I grinned. Wedding saved.
My silent phone burned a hole in my pocket, and I turned my focus to my wilting salad to stop myself from checking it again. Only a couple more days until I was back in Luna and back to the omega haunting my every thought. Being away from her like this had shown me I was incapable of giving up on her. She was way too good for me, but I would do whatever I could to prove that I’d be a good packmate for her, if she could ever dream of having me.
