“All I know is I want to spend more time with her,” I say and Greer sighs.
“And if she isn’t open to a pack, isn’t open to dating?”
“Then I’ll have shown her how magical Scotland is, which is exactly what her mother wanted.” It would suck if she wasn’t open to dating, but I mean every word.
There’s a good chance that Maisie isn’t looking for a relationship, or even open to it. She has a life, well, pieces of a life waiting for her across the ocean. I also don’t know much about her sister. What are her intentions? I feel unhinged even thinking about the fact that I’m already plotting on a way to convince a woman to stay in my country, but nothing about this connection is rational.
“Callum isn’t going to like it,” Greer says and like he summoned the man, he walks out of the back of the restaurant bringing me a plate of fish and chips.
“How was the tour?” he asks, and I smirk at him.
He didn’t always used to be this grumpy; he’s always been serious and intense in his own way, but Fiona broke the fun part of him, the soft bits he only ever let her see were gone. Taking care of Fiona gave me joy on a basic instinctual level, but she never particularly showed much interest in me. Callum was her favorite, and it was evident. I'd hoped that when we bonded things would change, but it never happened.
Callum was broken-hearted, and I hate to say it, but I was relieved. It fractured our pack and for the last two years, I’ve been trying to figure out what could bring us back together.
“The tour was the best yet,” I tell Callum, dipping the fish in tartar sauce and taking a bite. At least getting his heart broken didn’t ruin what a great cook he is.
“What was so great about it?”
“Let’s see. Fergus didn’t have to shit during the drive. The tourists tipped me incredibly well.” I tap my chin a few times. “Oh, and the sexy, curly-haired Omega who kept me company the whole tour didn’t hurt either.”
“The one who said my food made her sick and has bewitched my nan and my dim-witted pack mates?”
“Dim-witted? Greer and I both did better than you in school.”
“Book smarts and street smarts aren’t the same thing. Why would you let her charm you? Omegas never stay, Lain. She’s going to leave here in under a month and take your sappy little heart with her,” Callum says, and I blink at him.
“Maybe she does,” I reply with a shrug, and he pinches the bridge of his nose.
“You two can do whatever you want, but I want no part in it. We aren’t a registered pack, anyway.” He tosses that last bit in like a grenade and it sends an ache in my chest.
“We are a pack. We live in the same house. We’ve been mates since we were in nappies. It’s been two years, Cal. Are you planning on never bonding with an Omega?” I say the words, assuming that he’ll scoff and just say he needs more time.
“I’ve been thinking that I’m just not for pack life, that I’m better off on my own.”
“You don’t mean that,” Greer chimes in and Callum shrugs.
“We’re different people now. I’m holding you two back. You’re over what happened with Fiona and I’m glad that you are ‘cause this fucking pain sucks. I can’t. I just fucking can’t,” he says, shaking his head and turning his back to us as he goes back to the kitchen.
I glance at Greer and for the first time in my life I have to wonder if one day I’m going to have to choose between Callum being my pack brother or the future Omega I’ve always wanted.
“Don’t even think about it, Lain,” Greer says, reading me like a damn book. “He’ll come around. Maybe not to Maisie, but he’ll come around.”
We can only hope so. Either way, I’m not going to let him deter me from getting to know Maisie, even if she is inevitable heartbreak.
7
maisie
Birdie already knowsthe town like the back of her hand and it feels nice spending this time together. It’s easier than I thought it would be.
“What do you think about this one?” Birdie says, holding up a sweater with Highland cows around the collar. “It’s cute, right?”
“It is,” I reply with a smile, until I look down at the price tag and point it in Birdie’s direction.
“Not that cute,” Birdie says, putting the sweater back on the rack.
If our mom taught us anything, it was to stretch a dollar. I won’t deny that I have high dollar taste, but I don’t have a job, so for now I need to live a little tighter than I usually do.
