Veda knows so fucking little. How is she going to take it when she sees the township? Most packs are formed with at least three Alphas to an Omega. My mistakes stack one on top of the other.
“Come here, Veda. I will walk with you,” I say, nodding to my side where I want her.
Her soft brown eyes harden when she takes me in, and it hurts. She’s soft with everyone else, but I can’t blame her for hating me. I never gave her a chance. Her reaction to me is on me, but it still cuts deep.
She licks her lips, tasting my pack brother on them before nodding and following me around. As she moves, Marshall and Bill look back at their son with questioning gazes. Jesse shakes his head, telling them we’ll talk about it later.
So much we have to explain.
Jesse jumps back into the truck, peeling out as I move Veda out of the way. She’s a baby deer walking in the tough terrain, even with her girly cowboy boots. Without thinking, I put my arm around her waist, helping her walk. I can feel that my touch has her tensing up, but I keep it there, waiting for her to ask me to move away.
She doesn’t.
We move at a safe pace until there are not many rocks and the small road opens in front of her. She can walk now, and I play around withkeeping my arm around her, just so I feel her skin on mine, but that would put me in the same situation as Jesse.
Wanting what you can’t have never ends well.
As the dust dissipates, we get the first view of the township, and my chest swells with pride when Veda gasps in wonder. It doesn't matter that I was raised here. The beauty of this place never fades, even to my eyes. There’s something magical about this place, as if it jumped out of a storybook.
Tucked inside the mountain range, where no one would dare to go, is the small township with wooden houses by the river. In the winter, the snow is thick, the mountains turn white, and the river freezes, making the place look like a snow globe.
In the summer, kids run around and splash in the river, and laughter is everywhere.
That’s how I grew up, and that's why I couldn’t stay. It hurts to imagine what my future would look like if I had been scent-matched with an Omega. A mate, a home, and kids. Staying meant watching everyone find their happiness but me, and I couldn’t take it.
“Wow, this is really beautiful,” Veda’s voice brings me back to the present.
Conscience nudges into me, and I take a breath before lowering my voice.
“There are a few things I want to tell you.” My eyes are on the township, counting every step until I join my family. I can see Mom squeezing Derrick from here, her eyes happy as she takes us in.
“What is it?”
“Everybody here has more than one dad,” I blurt out.
It’s not a perfect explanation of anything, but it’s a start. She expects to meet a mom and a dad, and I’m about to give her a mom and three dads.
"Oh, cool! It's like an LGBTQ community?”
Her tone is so soft, I start laughing. I didn’t even think about that. We have packs that are together happily without an Omega. My uncle has three husbands, and they are very happily mated, but her assumption catches me off guard.
“No, I mean sure, in some cases, but I don’t mean just that.”
We stop in our tracks as I stumble over my words. Veda watches me carefully, waiting for whatever I have to say, but damn, I never promised to be good with words.
“I mean, I have one mom and three dads. Most people do. This is a township for the packs to live in peace.”
“Wait—” She shakes her head. “What is a pack?”
Before I can answer that one, my mom comes barreling in, her hands around Veda quickly.
“Oh my god! Hello! It’s so nice to meet you!”
I want to be upset that we were interrupted, but it’s impossible with Mom.
She always hugs first, questions later. Veda huffs out of breath with the strength of mom’s hug, but her mouth breaks into a smile. Something inside my chest moves and grows, but I’m not allowed to feel anything, and I blame Jesse for the unwanted reaction.
Mom takes a step back, her hands still holding Veda’s as she takes a look. I see tension on Veda again. I notice she’s very sensitive to criticism, and it’s probably my fault. I made her feel unwelcome and like she had to prove something. Fuck, I screamed at the girl about earning her keep. Yeah, I’m an asshole.
