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I blink at her. “What?”
I’m used to people fawning over the handsome Lawrence, not having anyone call him an ass. If she wants to call him an ass or something even worse than that, I won’t stop her.
She abandons emptying clothes onto the bed to peek up at me, my attention briefly snagging on a pretty lilac sundress. I think I want to try that one on next.
“He always seemed like someone jammed the biggest stick in the world up his ass. All uptight and control freaky. Was he?” she asks.
I stare at her, struggling to work out what to say, when she shakes her head and goes back to emptying the bags. “Sorry, I’m being nosey. There was something about him that reminded me of Mom’s and my old pack. Mom says I don’t always have a filter, and she’s probably right.”
When my stomach rumbles, I glance at the grease stains on the paper bag. Whatever is in there is going to be loaded down with oil, salt, and fat. All bad things in Lawrence’s eyes. Things no omega of his should have anything to do with.
“Old pack?” I try to ignore the tantalizing smells coming from the bag, lifting my knees and wrapping my arms around them in a way that muffles my growling belly.
“They were traditionalists.” Hali waves a clear pink zipped pouch victoriously in the air. “I knew it was around here somewhere. I got you some makeup as well. Just some mascara, blush, and eyeshadow sets. I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I picked out some brands I liked.”
“Thanks,” I say, making no move to take the pouch. I can’t say I’m in a hurry to wear makeup if I don’t have to.
“Anyway, they didn’t want Mom to do anything. Which I guess is okay if you don’t want a woman to work after she has a kid.” Her cheerful blue eyes briefly dim.
“But?” I prompt quietly.
She places the manicure set on the bed beside her and crosses her legs, shrugging. “She should have a choice. They didn’t give her a choice to do anything. Our alpha just railroaded her into everything he wanted to. The betas in our pack weren’t as bad. Mom had enough when they started pushing their wants onto me. She got us out.”
That’swhat you do for your child. You protect them. You don’t sell them.
The back of my eyelids burns, and to hide my sudden sadness, I grab the greasy bag and pull it open. A container of soggy-looking fries and two paper-wrapped burgers sit at the bottom of the bag.
“Do you want a burger?” I offer. “I don’t think I’m going to eat both.”
After the breakfast I inhaled, my stomach needs a break from that epic workout.
“Why not? I’ll just go watch Rune work out and hope the weight will come off me instead.”
I hand Hali the burger. “Rune works out?”
Of course he does, Everleigh, as if you haven’t noticed the size of his shoulders, his muscled thighs, or the way he flung you and Kylian into the sky.
Hali unwraps her burger as I plop a fry in my mouth. It’s cold, too salty, and greasy as hell.
I immediately reach for another.
“Yup. He practically lives in the home gym they built. I used to watch him work out until Mom made me stop ’cause I was leaving piles of drool on the mat,” she admits so wryly, she surprises a bark of laughter out of me.
She smiles. “It was a lot. He works out shirtless and if you saw what I saw...” She shakes her head.
I shove another fry in my mouth so I won’t start drooling and offer her the rest.
“So you and the alphas have never…” I let my voice trail off suggestively as I ask myself why the hell I’m asking and why the hell I care. Hali is pretty and the alphas seem to like her. Even Cian was smiling at her, and I get the impression he rarely ever smiles.
“Nope,” Hali responds promptly. “They’re pretty to look at, but we’re family at this point. They’re like the big brothers I never had. Anyway, I think they have their eyes set elsewhere.”
I ignore the long look she gives me. “They hook up with betas at clubs, last I heard.”
“Until they find their omega. And when they do, that will stop,” she says, giving me another look I can’t quite work out.
“Why do you keep looking at me like that?”
“No reason.” She grabs the fries as I unwrap my burger, a thin-looking cheeseburger with ketchup and pickles that my rumbling stomach demands at once.
