He pulled me into a hug and I whispered “Traitor” in his ear, making him chuckle. When he pulled away, though, his expression was solemn.
“Thanks for sending Felix to the house. It means a lot to Olive.” He cleared his throat, looking a little awkward. Lars was usually stoic except when it came to his omega.
“Of course.” I squeezed his hand. “She’ll be okay. We’re all here for her.”
He nodded and cast a look over his shoulder at our moms, who were still arguing about knots. “Good luck.”
He jumped out of the way to avoid my shove and laughed as he crossed the yard. I eyed the gate. Should I also make a run for it? I loved my moms, but they could be…a lot. Since childhood, I’d carried around the sneaking suspicion that they secretly wished I was stronger and more independent. Instead, they’d gotten an omega daughter who made nest mood boards and fantasized about being spoiled by a pack.
“Let’s change the subject.” I sat back down and shoveled another bite of cake into my mouth. Mamma had made my favorite Swedish princess cake, and I was trying to decide how sick I’d feel if I ate a third slice.
“Good idea.” Lala winked at me across the fire pit. Of all my moms, Lala was the one who understood me best. Probably an omega thing. “Do you have any weekend plans, honey?”
I nodded. Before my afternoon nap, I’d been scrolling socialmedia and had come across a video of an omega who was solo-backpacking the Appalachian Trail. She talked about how restorative the forest was, how connected she felt to herself and the world, and something had sparked inside me. I wanted to feel like that. While hiking the entire Appalachian Trail was out, Starlight Grove was at the base of Solstice Mountain.
“I’m going on a hike.”
My fork scraped against my now-empty plate. Fuck it. I was going for a third slice.
I glanced up when I realized my moms had fallen uncharacteristically silent.
Jojo cocked an eyebrow. “Oh?”
I nodded, shoving down the antsyness coursing through my body. “I want to try something new. Get connected with nature.”
“We did the Thousand Step hike the other day,” Lala said, referencing the popular nearby hiking trail. “I hadn’t been in a while and was reminded how pretty the mountain is.”
“No, I mean like real hiking.” They still looked bewildered, so I added, “With camping.”
Mom laughed but quickly choked it off when she took in my expression. “Wait, you’re serious?”
That familiar prickly defensiveness rose inside me. “Yeah, I’m serious.”
My moms exchanged looks.
“Is this something you read on a blog?” Mamma asked, her sharp gaze fixed on me.
“Yes, because I have no original ideas. It must have just been something I saw online,” I snapped, ignoring the fact that she was correct. Damn her for knowing me so well.
“But you always complained when we went on hikes as a family,” JoJo said. “You’re not really the outdoorsy type.”
“Do you have camping gear?” Mamma asked. “Have you done any research on how to do this? Are you planning to go with someone? Maybe Lars and his pack could take you.”
Frustration churned in my stomach and I leaned into the emotion to keep myself from bursting into tears. Why did everyone always think I was so inept? Was I really that bad at everything I did?
“Honey,” Lala said. “I know the past year has been hard…”
“I was talking to Sandy,” Jojo said, cutting her off. “She said her nephew found his pack on the Flame dating app. Have you tried that?”
“Maybe we should change the subject—” Lala started, but I’d had enough.
I jumped up from my chair, knocking it to the ground. “Are you serious? You can’t even pretend to support me on my birthday?”
“Of course we support you!”
“Why would you say that?”
They were shouting over each other, but I shook my head.
