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“So, what’s next?” I huff out, trying to cool the flush in my cheek by throwing my hair back over my shoulders. “Are you going to teach me how to curtsey?”
It was meant sarcastically, but Levi rises, full tea tray in hand and shakes his head. “You need to learn how to stand first before you can learn how to curtsey properly,” he says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
I look down the length of my body, the positioning of my feet. I’m suddenly hyper aware that I’m slouching and straighten my spine, cutting Miles a vicious glare when he starts giggling from where he’s still splayed on the couch.
TWENTY
—
T H A N E
Today’s the day.My parents are coming over to our house at noon, and by hell or high water, we’re going to see if Riley can pass herself off as a convincing Omega for our pack. Last night, Fox took her to go shopping for a new dress for the luncheon today.
Apparently, Fox has fashion sense—who knew?
He says it’s because they have a team stylist for when they have to look suitable for press conferences and events, and he’s picked up tips over the years. Either way, it’s good to know we have someone that can do that. God help us if Miles tried to dress us all, we’d end up in matching sweater vests.
Levi and Miles have been training with Riley for the past week. The other day, I walked in on one session when they were teaching her words she could and could not say. (All of her favorite curse words were obviously in the ‘could not’ column.) They were all curled up in the living room, giggling with each other like it was a slumber party. I was jealous as hell. I want that same easy-going relationship with her. I miss having that same easy-going relationship with the other guys. We had it once. And while we still do, I’ve never been able to give myself over the way I did before I had responsibilities.
Before I watched so many Omegas die.
It’s 11:35 in the morning, and I swear, time can’t pass any slower. Miles is at the kitchen island, acting like he’s working, but all I’ve seen him do is pressentera few times on his keyboard. Levi is in the living room, staring into space. Who the hell knows where Fox is.
And Riley? Riley is all dressed up, ready to go and pacing the house like a mad woman. I tried to stop her on her second round, but she said she needed to walk out her anxiety. She’s nervous. We all are. I don’t think a week is enough to train her how to act around my parents, but it’s all that we had.
Don’t get me wrong, my parents are good people. They truly are. You can’t do what they do andnotbe a good person. And they aren’t doing it for the money or the fame even though they’ve gained both over their careers. They know they’re a bit of an oddity, three married people all working toward the same goal, all working in the same field together. And it isn’t like they’re working in some boring and mundane field, like geology or home design. No, my parents are in a high-stakes, very emotional area of work, and it’s impressive that it hasn’t affected their marriage.
My Omega mother, Nelly, is solely focused on laboratory research. It’s easier for her that way, keeping her out of the way of Alphas in the medical field that might cause her trouble. She has her own office and lab and keeps to herself, studying mutating cells all in the name of finding that elusive cure for cervus. She’s passionate about research, and I don’t know if she would even sleep at night if my Alpha fathers didn’t make her come to bed. She has seen too many of her Omega peers get sick and die.
My dad, Richard, and my Papa, Craig, are more hands-on in their work. They both manage a clinic dealing with long-term service patients, a facility that often offers new trials and medicines. Craig splits his time between the clinic and the emergency department at the hospital. He worked solely in Emergency Services when he met Dad, and sometimes misses it. He’s mostly a consultant in the department, but he is hands-on whenever a patient comes in with acute cervus symptoms.
Together, they’re changing the world, but right now, I can only think how terrifying they will be in less than thirty minutes.
The click of heels on marble signals Riley coming back toward the kitchen on another one of her rounds of the house. My back straightens as she walks in, and awareness shoots up my spine. She really needs to stop coming in here, or I’ll never get anything done. “Riley, stop pacing. My parents will be here soon.”
She stops in her tracks, eyes widening as she turns to me. I soften my voice and add, “Maybe it would be easier if you sat down? That way, you’ll be ready when they’re here.”
Her shoulders slump. “Fine.”
She goes to the couch and doesn’t so much sit as she does perch on the edge of it, bouncing her knees. Maybe I should’ve just let her pace.
Riley looks amazing today. She wears a simple purple dress with a high neckline like I requested and it makes her look regal. Like she belongs in a painting hung over an ornate mantle. She looks like the perfect, subservient little Omega.
But I know she’s not. This lunch is going to be torture for all of us. Not for the first time I mentally slap myself for thinking this was a good idea.
What the hell are you going to tell your parents when she’s gone, idiot?
And then the even more terrifying thought…
What if she doesn’t leave? What if you can’t let her go?
As I gaze up and down her dress, that hungry need fills me again, the one I’ve spent weeks ignoring. What good are rut blockers if they don’t work? I should be able to look at her with nothing but objective distance, yet I want to throw her down on the sofa and have my way with her, parents be damned.
I’ve spent every night alone in my room, jerking off to thoughts of our few moments together the other night. She felt like heaven, and tearing away from her body was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. However, I still haven’t made a decision, and it’s unfair to all of us if we get attached only to have to tear that away. But I’ll admit, it’s harder to say no every day as we learn more about Riley, and she opens up to us. We’re starting to know her now. Not just surface level, but her heart and soul. Both even more beautiful than I imagined they could be.
Maybe I could trust her as much as I do the others. Maybe…
I clench my fists until the knuckles turn white. I’m not used to controlling myself around another person, but with Riley, I feel like she’s a drug I’m trying to detox from. Maybe that’s why I don’t trust her. I don’t trust myself around her. She’s become my addiction, and a dangerous one.
