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“Ah, see, that’s just fear talking, boy. She isn’t your dad, and she isn’t your mother. She’s not those evil men, either. She’s your omega, wearing a silver collar of your healed bite bond on her neck. She’s not going to leave, and she will fight to stay with you. She will fight to the death to protect you.”
“Sometimes, you don’t have a choice. Sometimes, people just go.” I spit bitterly. I grab an empty mug and turn it around and around.
Oma puts a hand on my arm. “You spend all this time throwing up false walls for the world to see. Did you never stop to see how strong you’ve grown?”
I blink at her.
“The boy I met, och, he was so mad. So very mad. Fighting for air, fighting to live, fighting for love. And you grew, my son, and you don’t need to fight for air. You can walk proud in the world now, it’s yours. You live your own life now, not the ones your parents bestowed on you, and you got a right to walk with pride for that life. You turned out better than I hoped. And love? You have a company of people dedicated to you, the love of your Oma, here, two men who will help you burn the world if anything dares harm the omega you adore. And her heart is in her eyes for everyone to see, and those eyes are fixed on you.”
The anger burns out of me. “What if she gets hurt or dies?”
Her old hand squeezes mine. “Life is full of chances and what ifs. But the biggest lesson I learnt from my pack is simple: we’re strongest when we’re together. An omega is the universe’s gift to balancing out what’s missing from a pack. Trust it.”
I swallow hard, thumping the cup on the dark teak of our kitchen table. I feel ill. “I need to apologise.”
“Yes, son, that’s another lesson, and I’m glad you’re quick on the uptake. Send the big boofhead out to speak with me and go fix this thing with that poor girl.”
I rest my palms down on the table and take a deep breath to steady myself before I stand up with a rush of energy and sneak down to her room. She’s sitting on our enormous bed, looking so small, hugging one of her favourite pillows, a tiny, little, square, fluffy thing that smells like me.
I stand in silence, just staring at her.
“Kitten, I’m sorry.” The words slip out, but I mean them.
She lifts her chin. There’s not a glimmer of tears in her eyes, but her cheeks are red, and she looks like she’s ready to flay skin.
“I don’t want to see you get hurt. I shouldn’t have shouted. And tried to demand you do as I say. That was really shitty.”
“Yeah, it was.”
I crawl onto the bed and kneel in front of her. “Forgive me?”
“Are you asking or telling?”
“Asking, so fucking asking. Begging. I can beg. I’m not too proud.”
She half smiles at me. “Would you listen to what I have to say? Just hear me out?”
I nod, eager to earn her forgiveness. I suddenly wish we could just run away, forget the Gala and hide out in our country estate.
“You have security roaming around the Gala, but how are you going to have someone sneak around and get the information you need?”
“Scarlet.” I say clearly. “Scarlet is going to look.”
“And what if people want to speak to her? People watch her. She’s a powerful presence. She draws eyes.”
“We have two other operatives.” I explain. “We’ve thought about this a lot.”
Missy curls her lip. “Fine. But I think I should be there.”
“If I thought for one second you weren’t capable, I would eat my boot. I know you’re capable. But this is going to be a situation where we are so distracted. It could be so dangerous. It’s personal for us three, and that means we’re not going in how we normally would.”
Missy drops her chin. “Will you consider it and keep an open mind?”
“I promise.” I shuffle closer to her and pull her into my arms. “We good?”
“Yeah.”
The bond lightens inside me, and I know that though the fight isn’t over with the pack, it’s over between my omega and I.
