Page 66 of Knot Broken

“So what’re you doing here then?” Geoff’s sly smile made clear I wasn’t going to like what came next. “She’s not a real omega. You’re not a real alpha. The two of you would have to be a perfect match.”

Everyone started to talk at once, but Mum cut them all off.

“Geoff!” She turned to face my brother. “Pull your bloody head in.”

“Well, he’s not, Mum. If the dickhead⁠—”

“Don’t say dickhead…” Kelly muttered, then face palmed when she realised she’d said the same thing.

“Was a real alpha, he’d just shift like the ones in the country do. Not…” His eyes glittered as he stared at me. “Need to spend hours and hours in a laboratory to learn how to turn into an oversized dog.”

“If anyone’s a bloody dickhead, it’s you,” Noah told Geoff in a low growl.

“Uncle Geoff is a dickhead!” Charlie crowed.

Kelly’s fingers pressed into her eyes. I watched her shoulders sag, Noah’s tense, and then Geoff half rise to his feet. My oldest brother had a hair trigger temper, just like my dad.

Which meant I knew exactly how this was going to go if I didn’t do something.

“I’m sorry.” I did stand up and for just a second, enjoyed the sight of Geoff having to crane his neck to stare up at me. “I’m sorry I took up so much of Mum’s time when I was a kid. Trust me when I say, I would’ve rather been born literally anything other than a latent alpha.”

“You’re not to blame,” Mum said. “The doctors said it was a freak genetic mutation⁠—”

“Freak is about right,” Geoff grumbled.

“But I can’t be too sorry.” I stared into the idiot’s eyes. “I mean you’ve made sure to extract everything you can from Mum since.”

“Ethan—” she said, shooting me a worried look.

“She does your washing, cooks you food. Does she wipe your bum for you too?”

“Bum…” Will snickered, shooting delighted looks at his brother.

“Mum—” Geoff spluttered.

“Feels guilty about how things went down and keeps indulging you as a result.” Noah’s calm statement of the facts had the whole table going quiet. “Kids, you look like you’re done with dinner. Take your plates into the kitchen and scrape them into the compost bin before heading into the lounge room. You can watch TV until we’re ready to go.”

“I’ll make a start on the dishes,” Kelly said and that had my face burning in shame.

“No, you… I was going to say relax, but maybe just have another glass of wine until this shitshow is over,” I told her. “I’ll sort the dishes as I’ve lost my appetite.”

“Ethan…”

Why did Mum have to invite everyone over? I thought furiously as I carried dirty dishes over to the sink. Dealing with Geoff would’ve been bad enough, but when we all got together… Mum talked about family, but I remembered this. Dad standing over her, red faced and shouting so loud the whole street could hear him. Mum trying to placate, settle him down, then when he pushed her too far, she’d shriek right back. A war fought domestically, right up until the divorce papers were signed. Trouble was, Dad didn’t take all of the tension between us with him when he walked out the door. It felt like it was festering wound that scabbed over but never really healed.

“Ethan.”

I jumped, too intent on rinsing the dishes to hear Mum come up behind me. Her hand hit my shoulder and it was then I felt the muscles relax. A point of warmth in all of this crazy, it helped me get through the last of the dishes, but when I went to fill the sink, she stopped me.

“I’m sorry, love.” Her hands went to my arms, turning me to face her. “I just…” They fell to her sides. “I’m not sure what I expected. It’s not like I didn’t know how everyone would react.”

“I’ll take you out for lunch, Mum,” I offered. “Come by your work and whisk you away from all of that paperwork. We can talk then.”

“About this Nadia?” The hope in her eyes had me smiling despite myself. “Ethan, you’ve barely said two words about her, but I think anyone can see she’s someone important to you.”

“My best friends’ girl,” I replied smoothly. “She’s going to be a part of my life…” A small frown formed. “If we keep sharing a house. I mean, maybe they won’t want that. If she shifts, goes through her heat⁠—”

“And how would you feel if you had to move out?” she asked. “You’ve obviously got a room here.” My ugly snort had her laughing. “Though I would prefer less sons, not more, living here.”