Major gazes me over his shoulder before returning to Pa. “I don’t have medical journals. I know the town hall has some that would help.”
Dad nods. Up until now, they have let Pa take the lead in saying what is on their minds, but I wish they could understand what is going through ours. We shouldn’t be the ones who explain this to her. It’s not fair that she doesn’t know. I rub my temple and try to think through the situation, wondering if we should grab one of the medical journals before she gets back and present her with facts.
“We also found we had word from another pack that lives close to Willow Ridge about an Omega’s traffic ring,” Major adds.
The temperature in the house changes. All three stand in alert. “What do you mean?” Dad asks.
“We don’t know enough,” I say before Major has to confess once again that he doesn’t have all the information. “But it seems that Omegas are being kidnapped and sold off. And it has been happening for a long time.”
“Veda is in danger,” Major adds to make it obvious to everyone around. “We can’t trust her grandfather. He told enough lies not to deserve the benefit of the doubt. We can’t trust other packs not to be working with the ring.”
Tension cracks in the air, and I find myself holding a breath. It’s against everything I believe not to have Veda glued to my side rightnow. Any moment she’s away, it’s a moment I’m fearing for her life. Just now, I told myself I couldn’t do anything if she decided to leave us, but I’m making a liar out of myself because there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to protect her.
“Okay, let's all calm down,” Pop says. “I say you did right, son. You could have talked to her before bringing her here, but if you can’t trust anyone, you can trust us. Your instincts are correct.”
“We don’t want to alert the other packs,” I make sure to add.
Every eye turns to me, and it’s crazy to think I was once comfortable with attention. I crack my neck, turning my eyes to my brother, but his mouth is set in a line.
“Bringing people here will catch the attention of traffickers.”
Pa shakes his head. “How do you think people will feel when we tell them they can’t bring their kids to see a new Omega?”
“Veda is not a prize to be won,” my brother grits out.
“No, she’s not,” Pa agrees. “But this means a lot to our people, and I can’t see how we can keep the news from spreading.”
Are we about to see a bunch of packs arriving back home and trying to scent-match with Veda? Every muscle in my body tenses, and I know right there that’s not going to work for me. I won’t sit and watch Alphas showing up to Veda like fucking peacocks begging to be chosen.
“We can talk about it later,” Dad says, sensing how this doesn’t feel good to us.
“We know a few things about her upbringing,” Major says. “I’m sure St. James is a Beta. I’d know if he was not, but he treated Veda badly. Real bad.”
“So the question is, did he treat her badly because he’s an abusive asshole or because he was trying to suppress her pheromones?” Dad sums it up.
Neither of the alternatives is good enough for me, and for the first time, I know right in the pit of my stomach I’m capable of killing a man. The image of St. James bleeding on my feet doesn’t bring me any feelings. I could watch that man rot and do nothing to prevent it, not even to give him the dignity of a grave.
“Veda is a wonder,” Pa says with more tenderness than I’m used to hearing from him. “Not just because she’s the first unmated Omega we’ve seen in a long while, but because it’s truly a wonder for a neglected Omega to perfume as she does.”
Anyone can see that. There’s a disconnect between what she had to endure and her sweet perfume. My throat closes, and no words come out. I feel uncomfortable as my dads look at us like we did something wrong. We weren’t hiding Veda. I understand that time is running out. Fuck, we’ll need to make peace with the fact that she’s going to scent-match right in front of us.
“All I want is to keep her safe,” Major says.
“You don’t understand enough to keep her safe,” Pa replies.
“Maybe because Omegas weren’t around when I was old enough?” he spats in reply, and I wince. “How the fuck am I supposed to know how to deal with that and a fucking trafficking ring?”
“Enough swearing, Major.” Dad makes his way across the table and puts a hand on Major’s chest.
My own chest is protected by my arms curling in front of me. Whatever this is, I don’t want it. I know Dad, he loves us to feel all the feelings, and that won’t work for me.At all.
“You came for help, and we’re here to help. You want the best for Veda, right?”
“Of course.”
“Did you scent-match?” he asks, and we both flinch at once.
He knows we didn’t. He would be able to tell if his sons were mated. When the silence stretches, he asks once again, “Scent-matching happens fast. She’s been with you for two weeks now. Are you mated?”
