Chapter Fourteen – Colter
I can’t focus after I meet her. Every time I pick up the paintbrush, it’s like every ounce of creativity leaves me, and I’m nothing but a body, a husk with no brain of my own. If I try to do anything on the canvas, I’ll only mess it up.
Raeka.
She was pretty, but of course she was. She’s an omega. Being pretty is what they were born to be. It’s their job. It’s an omega’s job to be beautiful, to tempt alphas to claim her and then protect her, just like it’s a beta’s job to be the buffer.
That’s all we were good for. Betas are the most numerous in society, and yet it feels like we’re the most forgotten.
Betas don’t form packs of their own. Sometimes they join alpha packs, but typically they pair off with other betas and live normal lives, pretending the alpha, beta, omega hierarchy doesn’t exist.
I can picture Raeka clearly, even after a single meeting: full blonde hair that fell past her shoulders, mostly straight, with a bit of a kink to it.
Big eyes whose hue was somewhere between a silvery gray and a pale blue.
Eight inches shorter than me. Perfect porcelain skin on a figure that was hard not to stare at.
All these years, and now my uncle decides to bring an omega into this house? Why wait so long? Why not do it years ago? He could’ve had his own mini-pack by now, the house running rampant with his kids. Why wait until now to bring in someone like Raeka? It doesn’t make sense to me.
I can’t lie; he’s had his hands full with me. I wasn’t the best kid, but then again, I didn’t grow up under the best circumstances. I tried not to think about it too much, what happened eleven years ago, but it defines me in a way nothing else can.
I might’ve grown since the accident, but deep down I’m still that scared little boy, pre-awakening, with the world before me.
I was a Chase. I could’ve been an alpha, like my dad and my mom.
I could’ve been the next arm of the Chase name—I’ve always painted, always been an artist. It ran in the family.
Gideon was an artist, even if his choice of instrument wasn’t paint.
My mom was wicked with a needle and thread, constantly making designs for the fashion arm of the company, and my dad was logistics.
But no. Things had to turn for the worst. I couldn’t be an alpha. I was a beta. And my parents died thanks to some drunk asshole who decided to get behind the wheel that night.
I don’t know how much time passes, but eventually my uncle joins me in my studio. He has his hands stuffed into the pockets of his slacks, and he studies me hard. “We’re going to have dinner in thirty. Could you please come downstairs and eat with us? I’d like to introduce you to Pax and Raeka.”
I’m sitting on my stool before my canvas, though I don’t have any paintbrushes in my hand—I gave up a while ago, settled for disassociating, something I’m very good at.
The only thing in the world I’m better at than disassociating is painting.
I turn away from the canvas and sign, I met her already .
“You did?” he sounds shocked at that, and then he shakes his head and smiles somewhat, though that smile falls off his face quickly.
Smiles aren’t something that stay around for long in this house.
Happiness, joy; any positive emotions don’t stick around, either.
“I shouldn’t be too surprised. She clearly likes to do whatever she wants. ”
When I don’t say anything back, he asks a question: “What did you think of her?”
What did I think of Raeka? I could say something normal, like she seemed cool and she was very pretty. I could tell my uncle that she’d pop him out some beautiful kids and he can finally stop paying so much attention to me. So many things I could say, and yet…
All I do is shrug.
Gideon mimics my shrugging motion. “What does that that mean?”
I assume he won’t let it be, that he wants an actual answer, so I heave a sigh and tell him what I think he wants to hear: She seemed nice. And then, for some reason, I add, Why’d you pick her?
“She’s lively. I thought she’d be a breath of fresh air in this house.
God knows we both need some.” It looks as if there’s more my uncle wants to say, but he must stop himself, repeating the statement about dinner: “Thirty minutes, okay? Please clean up and join us downstairs. You already met Raeka, but at least let me introduce you to Pax.”
Pax. He must be the other alpha that’s moving in.
Don’t really understand why we need another alpha in this house, unless Gideon is worried about someone trying to steal Raeka from him or something.
My uncle isn’t the strongest alpha; he’s kind of a nerd, which is apparently not typical when it comes to alpha-kind.
Maybe he’s concerned he won’t be able to fully protect both Raeka and me if something happened.
To that, I say: let it happen to me, then. Life sucks. I don’t know why I’m still here. I should’ve died eleven years ago, with my parents. This sham of a life I’m living… it’s no real life. The world wouldn’t miss me. Gideon might, but the world wouldn’t.
I know my uncle won’t let me remain upstairs tonight for dinner, so I sigh and give him a nod, relenting even though I don’t want to. Sitting at a table with his new omega and the odd alpha bodyguard? Not my idea of fun.
But maybe their addition to the house will give Gideon something else to focus on instead of me. Maybe I’ll have more peace and quiet.
As I think that thought, something deep inside tells me I can’t be more wrong.