Chapter 14
Sarah was mostly right about it not being a long car ride; three hours isn’t as long as it could be.
While I’d rather have taken the Amtrak, someone would have to pick us up from the station, and then we’d be stuck if things went south.
My girl seems really nervous about having her family meet me, going so far as to call them repeatedly and tell them they have to be nice to her beta mate.
It makes me feel a bit like a freak, actually.
But if it helps her comfort level, then I can deal with it.
We’ve actually been on the road for about five hours now, but half of that was just trying to get out of the damned city.
Of course, no one drives in L.A. Have you seen the traffic?
Her parents actually live a lot closer, just outside Pasadena, but we’re going to her grandparents’ house, though she calls them Abuela and Abuelo since they’re her mom’s parents.
She spent all of last night assuring me that she has both alpha and beta family on her mom’s side that’ll be there, so I won’t be the only beta.
Plus, her sibling’s packs have a few betas interspersed.
Her main concern seems to be making sure I’m comfortable, but I’m not flying home or lying to my own family to avoid the holiday, so I’m honestly good with whatever.
I get to be with her, so I have no complaints.
She’s been as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs for the last few days, and it’s getting progressively worse the closer we get.
If I’d known it was gonna stress her out this much, I’d have made more of a push to stay on campus. I hate my girl being so on edge.
“So, go over names again, your brothers and sisters? What should I call your parents? Or your grandparents, for that matter. Do I need to learn all your cousin’s names, ’cause from what you’ve told me, I should have started before we left the dorm if so.
” Her strained chuckle makes my heart clench as my attempts to help her laugh and relax fall flat.
I guess thinking about all the people isn’t super helpful.
I can deal with people, I can even be pleasant about it, but I’m already looking forward to getting back to her room at the center and just holding her, when she can relax again.
“Oh, there’s the driveway. Turn left up there at the sign.” Looks like we’ve reached the point of no return as I throw the blinker on and turn into the long dirt road. It’s another half a mile before the house comes into view, and honestly, that’s a bit of an understatement.
It looks like it started out as a two story…
I don’t know house types. It has that funky tan plaster-looking outside with the tiled roof, like the magic house from Encanto.
Yes, I watched that movie, several times.
The music was amazing, and being the outcast is relatable.
Everybody brings up We Don’t Talk About Bruno, but seriously, Surface Pressure is life-changing.
We pull up and park beside a big trailer, and my minivan looks tiny in comparison.
Sarah laughed till I thought she was going to hyperventilate when she first saw the Big Blue Beast, or just Bs, and asked why the hell I drive a mom-mobile.
Now she understands that I can fit all my instruments and her drum kit in the back and still have space for the second seat. Minivans are seriously underrated.
She’s faster than I am getting out of Bs.
She lifts Shaggy’s carrier out of the backseat and then stands there, frozen, as I circle around to her side.
There’s loud laughter and talking coming from inside.
The front windows are open to the cool afternoon breeze, and it’s a stark reminder of where I come from—it’s probably below freezing this time of year, everybody wearing heavy coats and complaining about the weather.
I don’t even know where my heavy coat went since I moved to Los Angeles. Do I even still have that?
Sarah clings to my side as we make our way to the front door, and I’ve already ascertained it’s not from the cold.
Her fingers intertwine with mine in a death grip, and it’s so strange to see my feisty girl off-kilter.
Other than that first day, she always seems to have her life handled.
I know there are a few things that bother her, and she seemed trepidatious about this trip, but I didn’t expect the complete personality shift.
She whines low in her throat when I untangle our fingers and pull her against me in a tight hug.
I debate picking her up and heading back to the car.
Yeah, it took us a while to get here, but I’ll gladly take her right back to campus and we can cuddle up in her nest. I know her bunny would be upset if he was stuck for that long, but we can fold all the seats down and she can hang out back there with him while he gets some of his wiggles out.
Instead, she squeezes me back with one arm and steps away, looking into his carrier at his surly expression.
Yeah, Shaggbutt is not a fan of long car trips.
She squares her shoulders and takes a deep breath before letting it out slowly.
“Come on, Shaggy has a long rabbit run set up in my room, unless they’ve put somebody else in there for the night. Poor little dude needs to stretch.”
She doesn’t bother knocking on the door, just opening it and going in.
My parents would freak out if someone just came into the house without knocking, so now I’m the one staying close to her as she walks down the front hall and past a living room on one side.
It’s packed with people, but everyone seems so engrossed in their own conversations that they don’t notice us.
Unfortunately, when we pass the kitchen on the other side, there’s a loud shriek and then Sarah is engulfed in people.
They jostle her and Shaggy, and I wonder briefly about stepping into the herd of stampeding omegas to rescue my girl and her rabbit.
Before I can make a decision, a heavy hand falls on my shoulder.
It looks like the commotion has called out some of the people we passed earlier, and three big alphas are standing behind me, glowering between me and Sarah.
A rough growl rumbles from the scowling man with his hand on my shoulder.
“So, you’re the beta that followed our baby sister home, huh? ”
Oh great, brothers.
Overprotective asshole brothers.
Fun fun.
Before I can say anything, Sarah is there snarling up at the one touching me.
“Jacob, remove the hand or lose it, only warning.” I don’t even try to hide my smile.
I’m glad that she’s back to feeling feisty, but all three alphas break into wide grins.
The bigger one drops his hand, but then passes me, scooping Sarah up into a hug before taking Shaggy’s carrier and handing it to me.
“I missed you, Pipara! How are you? You look like shit.” Sarah gets passed back and forth between her brothers, huffing indignantly at their ribbing.
I try to catch her eye to see if she needs rescuing, but I’m pretty sure she could take them if she had to.
None of the alphas are huge. About my height, but broad-shouldered and muscular, as alphas tend to naturally be.
But Sarah fights dirty, at least she says she does.
I haven’t actually seen it yet, but I hope her brothers won’t go far enough to actually upset her.
After a few minutes, my omega is set back on the ground next to me.
The big one from before, Jacob, ignores me to talk to her.
“So, a beta, huh? Well, he’s not tiny like we expected.
We thought you’d finally found someone your own size.
” The two guys behind him chuckle good-naturedly, but Sarah looks like she’s about to go off on somebody.
Shaggy takes the pause in conversation to try to thump in his carrier and the whole thing shakes, drawing Sarah’s attention.
“You three are assholes. We’ll discuss this later.
I need to go let Shaggy out for a break.
Has anybody been stuck in my room, or is he still good to run loose in there?
” The three alphas guffaw at her serious expression, but straighten quickly when an older omega approaches from the group behind us.
“Oh, come here, Nieta. Hugs! Hugs!” The woman is even shorter than Sarah as she wraps her arms around my girl and holds her close. Sarah’s face is pulled into a tight smile as she hugs the woman back. Her body leans into the embrace, but her shoulders look stiff and uncomfortable as she pulls away.
“Sorry, Abuela, I need to go let Shaggbutt out to run loose. I’ll be back in just a minute, ok?” Her voice is higher, taking on a falsely pleasant tone that sets my teeth on edge. I know Sarah doesn’t talk to many people around campus, but she never seems this tense.
“Oh, of course, of course! Go let the little conejo out to run. The poor thing has probably been cooped up for too long. Did you stop and give him any playtime on the way here?” Sarah just mumbles under her breath, grabbing my hand and dragging me further into the house and up the stairs at the end of the hallway.
And now I feel like an asshole for not thinking about stopping to let the damned rabbit out to exercise on the trip.
I thought we just wanted to get here as fast as we could so he could get out of the carrier for the night. Fuck my life.
We make it to the top of the stairs, and Sarah turns right, taking the third door on the left, almost at the end of the hallway.
I follow close behind, Shaggy rattling in his carrier, and I feel like I should be apologizing to him now for leaving him in there.
She quickly takes it from my hand and sits it inside a long wooden pen that takes up half the room.
Not that the room is huge. There’s enough space left for a full-sized bed with a set of dresser drawers at the end of it.
A pretty turquoise runner is lying across the top, covered in nicknacks.
Sarah starts talking quietly to Shaggy as he hops out of the carrier and thumps a few times before taking in his new surroundings.
I’m sure he’s been here before, but I don’t know how well he remembers the space.
I take this moment to look around the room, absorbing everything I can about my omega, and trying to piece together what I know about the fiery girl I’ve been living with for the last month with the frills and flowers I’m seeing around me.
There’s a quiet whomp noise as she falls face first onto the bed, and her voice is muffled by the blankets and piles of pillows. “I’ll go get his stuff out of the car in a minute. I just need…I just need a little time before I face them all again.”
I crawl onto the bed next to her, wrapping my arm around her waist and pulling her body against mine.
“Do you want me to go get it? They don’t know me, so they probably won’t say anything, and it would give you a few minutes to decompress.
Besides, you know I can talk to anybody, so if they try, I won’t embarrass you too much.
Or, alternatively, we can set up in here and hide away for the entire week, sneaking out only at night to gather food and bottles of water…
which we will then have to use as waste containers because I don’t see a bathroom attached to this place. ”
It’s frustrating that I don’t even get a smile from that.
Instead, she scoffs at my statement, turning her face towards me, one eyebrow raised in skepticism.
“I’m not worried about you embarrassing me.
I’m worried about my family eating you for breakfast without me there as a buffer, telling you embarrassing stories about my childhood, or Mamá finding you and asking when you plan to impregnate me. ”
My laugh bubbles free at her last statement, and she just stares at me until I realize that wasn’t a joke.
Shit. Ok, well…I’m not opposed to kids, but that seems kind of sudden.
Her voice is muffled again as she turns her face back into the blanket.
“So yeah, just give me a few minutes, and you can keep an eye on Shaggy while I brave the insanity.”