1. Gabriela
CHAPTER 1
GAbrIELA
Nothing was ever this good.
That particular lesson, I learned early enough, probably before I knew how to say mom and dad . They were the ones who taught me through constant disappointment, after all.
Now, at twenty six, I was a careful woman and a fearful mother, the one carrying the incredible weight of breaking generational trauma.
Ugh, no. That was too much.
I spent my days serving lunch at a truck stop on the highway for minimum wage until they rescued me. And by rescued, I meant taken from my sad, one-bedroom apartment and led to their village. And by them , I meant Teresa and her husbands.
She tracked me down, and once I agreed to hear her out, Teresa sat me down and told me the most absurd story I'd ever heard.
Omegas, alphas, and knots.
Born of a deadbeat dad and a drugged-out-of-her-mind mother, I started to work at fourteen because I knew from an early age the only person I could count on was myself.
It wasn't crazy to think my mother bailed on her village just like she neglected me many times over, but it was hard to believe there was a place somewhere near the Bolivian border where people were waiting for me with open arms.
In the end, it didn’t matter how crazy Teresa sounded. She offered me something I couldn’t refuse, something I was never offered before: help.
Maybe I would have said no to the aid of a stranger with a fantastical story if my bank account wasn’t in the red, if my rent wasn’t late and the possibility of living in my car with my six year old daughter, Alice, wasn't quickly becoming the only alternative.
I had nothing to my name, nothing to leave behind but pain. She offered to bring me to the village and find me a home.
“I can’t afford much rent,” I warned her.
She laughed because she planned on charging nothing. I couldn’t believe it. The only person who was ever kind to me was my grandmother, my father’s mother. She felt guilty for his disappearing act and made sure to always look after me. She didn’t have much to offer, being just as poor as we were, but it was because of her I knew how to love.
It was because of that love I was a better mother to Alice than I've ever had.
In the six months I was living with Teresa’s people, I waited in fear for the day everything would fall apart.
Nothing was ever that good. Nothing ever stayed the same.
I watched as Alice thrived at school, as we made a home in that small Bolivian village. I tried my best with Spanish and everyone tried to accommodate my Portuguese.
Good food, warm home, nothing to worry about.
So, of course, I was worried.
It was a dream I never dared dreaming. I had a roof over my head, no more bills. The only hiccup was Teresa’s promise to find me a pack.
A pack of three or four men.
I didn’t even want one. Men were trouble.
Liars, impossible to rely on.
Alice and I were better off alone.
I never thought Teresa would find me a pack. What man would want a woman who came with a six year old?
I was so sure none would ever want me, I ignored Teresa’s search. I thought she’d kick me out once she realized, omega or not, I was born to be alone. But then, one day, Teresa knocked at my door with the biggest smile I’d ever seen.
It took me a moment to really understand her devastating words.
“You did what ?”
“I found your pack.”
“You found me a pack?”
She shook her head. “I found your pack. I sent your blood to the?—”
I waved her away, I knew that already. When I arrived, she explained that mating was biological. I couldn’t mate random alphas—there was only one pack for me, like freaking soulmates, another reason why I thought this would never happen. She asked for permission to send a blood sample to a lab, where they were going to try to match me. I said yes and tried to forget about the whole thing.
But now, it was back to bite me in the ass.
“And are they okay…” I turned my head to the living room, where Alice sat, playing with dolls.
“Of course,” she chuckled. “They are excited to finally meet you. Their names are?—”
“Ah,” I breathed in, rubbing a hand over my heart. “Give me five minutes here, Tere. This is a lot.”
That wiped the smile off her face. “I thought you’d be happy.”
I bit down my bottom lip. “I never thought you were going to find them, to be quite honest.”
One, because it sounded insane. Two, because I was a single mother who didn’t have enough to pay rent. I had no job, no prospects, no education.
I wasn’t a prize. Not for one man. Not for a bunch.
“They never thought they were going to find a mate, Gabi. They can’t wait for you to get to Ireland.”
“Ireland?!”
My eyes grew wide, and I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed, looking over to Alice once again. She was doing so well here. Now we were supposed to go to Ireland?
“I bet they would be open to relocate if you ask…”
“No…” I shook my head.
This was the deal, wasn’t it? I came here knowing what they really wanted was to pair me up. Marry me off. I knew this, and yet I let myself get comfy.
“Gabi, you don’t need to go now. Actually, you don’t need to go at all.”
“No. No.” I plastered a fake smile over my face.
I was a big girl. I could do this.
“Do you speak English?”
I nodded. It wasn’t amazing, but I learned by watching movies. I knew enough not to starve.
And Alice…
“She’ll pick it up soon enough. Kids are adaptable,” Teresa guaranteed when she saw my gaze find my kid once again.
All I wanted was stability.
All I wanted was normalcy.
All I wanted was for things to remain the same.
But nothing ever stayed the same.