Chapter 30 #2
Despite my embarrassment, part of me preens at the surety of her comment. I’ve always been one of Henry’s favorite people—he’d tell me that whenever I was having a hard day or our mother said something particularly hurtful—but now I have half a dozen people who make that claim.
I’m not sure I’ve ever been this happy.
The conversation shifts to talk of pack life.
I ask Verity if she ever struggles to make all of her alphas feel equal in importance and love.
She tells me how she makes a point of going on individual dates with each of them every month, and that it’s normal to have times of struggle where one member of the pack needs some extra attention.
She’s patient and open with me, never once making me feel like I’m stupid for asking questions or deficient for not knowing all the ins and outs of sex with a pack.
She tells me about her first heat, which I find both exciting and terrifying because now that I’m done using the scent and heat suppressants, my own first heat looms large in my future.
Verity is careful not to give me any specifics about my brother as it relates to sex, for which I am extremely grateful, but she doesn’t shy away from my curiosity.
I think she may be becoming one of my favorite people too.
“Let’s do this again soon,” she says as she hugs me tightly. “I’m so glad you’re home now.”
“Me too,” I tell her. “And, yes, please. I would love to do this again soon.”
“Olivia? Is that you?” My mother’s voice cracks like a whip, reverberating through my parents’ expansive house the moment I step through the front door.
It feels far too large and cold compared to the pretty house the guys share.
“It’s me.”
“Where have you been?” Her face is pinched as she storms toward me, her lips pursed.
I try not to bristle at her condescending words or the harsh tone. I’m not a child, and yet she continues to treat me like one. When the guys showed me the beautiful nest they’d created for me, I’d believed that, logically, it was too soon to move in with them. I’m questioning that logic now.
“Excuse me?” I try to keep my tone light. The last thing I want is to get into an argument with my mother.
“You are unbelievable, you know that?”
“What’s going on?” My dad, Eric, strolls into the room, frowning at the sight of my mother bristling before me. He gives me a quick smile before turning to my mother. “Why are you yelling?”
“I’m not yelling,” she shouts.
I have to fight to keep my lips from twitching, and by the look on my dad’s face, I’m not the only one.
“Then what’s wrong, dove?”
“Your daughter ignored my calls today. I was able to get a last minute appointment with the matchmaker, and Olivia couldn’t be bothered to answer her phone.
Carrie is very in demand. She took you on as a favor to me, and this is how you repay me?
Honestly, Olivia, for someone supposedly smart, you seem incapable of understanding how important it is to mate well. ”
“Marnie,” my dad warns, his voice low and displeased. There’s an apology in his eyes when he looks my way, but it only goes so far. My mother has always gotten her way with my dads. Always has, always will. She’s the center of their pack, and, for better or worse, can do no wrong.
Me, on the other hand . . .
“It’s true. We’ve given her every opportunity, and how has she repaid us? By holing herself up in some disgusting lab and snubbing eligible packs. It’s embarrassing. Do you know what my friends say?”
“Olivia is an adult, Marnie. She’s capable of making her own decisions.” My dad lays a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugs it away.
“Obviously not.” My mother turns to me, her otherwise pretty face made ugly with a sneer. “You will stop disappointing me. There are standards, Olivia. You’re a Wellington, and it’s time you start acting like one.” She turns on her heel and storms out of the room.
My dad appears uncomfortable. He rubs a hand against the back of his head and glances between my mother’s retreating back and me. “Don’t worry about her, honey. You know how she gets. She simply wants the best for you.”
She wants me to make her look good. But I don’t bother telling him that. Instead, I force a smile and shrug. “Sure, Dad.”
Whether he believes me, or is simply happy to have an out, my dad gives me a quick one-armed hug and scurries out of the room after my fuming mother.
All the happy, buzzing feelings I’d enjoyed today are gone, replaced by the sharp awareness brought on by the flood of adrenaline through my nervous system.
That’s it. I need a break. Heading upstairs, I pack a bag with a few days’ worth of clothes. Even if I don’t fully move into the packhouse yet, I think it’s time I start distancing myself from my parents. The less time I have to spend in this suffocating mammoth of a house, the better.
No one notices when I leave, a duffel bag slung over my shoulder, and I’m not sure whether I’m relieved or disappointed.
Not that it matters. They’re no longer the people whose notice I crave.
That honor now belongs to one sexy beta and three gorgeous alphas, and I know they would notice if I up and disappeared.
I consider calling them and asking if they’re okay with me staying for a while but ultimately don’t. They built a nest for me. One that’s perfect and beautiful. They want me to live with them.
But maybe I’m also a little scared they’ll change their minds.
My stomach is a tangled ball of nerves when I park my car and drag my bag up to their front door. They gave me a key, but since they’re not expecting me, it doesn’t feel right to use it. So I knock.
There’s a commotion inside, then Liam pulls the door open, his brow furrowed. It smooths out immediately when he notices me, then rises when he notices my bag.
“Princess! Are you okay? What are you doing here? And why did you knock? We gave you a key.” Liam steps outside to grab my duffel bag before pushing me inside where the rest of the pack stops what they’re doing and watches us.
Wringing my hands, I shove down my nerves, clear my throat, and look up at Liam through the fringe of my lashes. “Could I . . . Would it be okay if I stayed here for a while? My mom is . . .”
“Stay forever,” Hayes replies from the kitchen. He puts down the knife he was using to cut an apple and strides toward me. “You don’t have to ask, vixen. We built you a nest and gave you a key. This is your home now. We’ve just been waiting for you to be ready.”
He’s so sincere, so sure, I deflate. Why was I worried?
“You’re sure?”
Liam brushes a strand of hair away from my face and presses his forehead to mine. “Don’t be ridiculous, Liv. Of course we’re sure. You’re ours. You belong with us.”
I belong with them. I’m theirs.
“Welcome home, baby,” Sawyer says, his smile so bright it’s almost blinding. “Let’s get you settled.”
“I’m glad you had fun with Verity,” Liam says, pressing a kiss to my temple as I unpack my duffel bag. “But I’m sorry about everything with your mom.”
I shrug, trying to play off how much the situation hurts. Not just my mother’s judgements, but my dad’s unwillingness to stand up to her and speak up for me. But of course, Liam sees right through me.
“It’s okay to be upset, princess. They’re your parents. They’re supposed to love and protect you. Unfortunately, as I know all too well, that doesn’t always happen.”
“I know,” I say, sighing. I snuggle into his side when he wraps his arms around me.
“You know we’ll always love and protect you, right?” Hayes’s voice is a deep rumble that soothes something inside of me.
“Of course.”
The men I’ve fallen for study me, and I squirm under their collective scrutiny. I’m feeling raw, and unsure. Not about them, just about… Well, everything.
Sawyer steps up beside Liam and brushes a strand of dark hair from my face, his gaze intent on mine. “You don’t sound so sure. Maybe that’s our fault. We’ve been wanting to talk to you about this for a while now, but it’s just never felt like the right time. Seems like this is the moment.”
My eyebrows scrunch together. “The moment for what?”
“We want to claim you,” Sawyer says softly, his voice filled with emotion. “We want to make you ours permanently and show the whole world that you belong to us and we belong to you.”
Tears prick the backs of my eyes and I suck in a deep breath. “You do?”
“Of course we do,” Wilder says. “Will you let us help you through your first heat when it hits and let us mark you? It’s just a formality as far as I’m concerned, because you’ve been ours since the moment Sawyer brought you home that first night.”
“What do you say, princess?” Liam runs his fingers through my hair. “Let us make it official?”
The smile that breaks out across my face is so big, it’s almost painful.
What do I say? As if there’s anything I could say besides, “There’s nothing I want more.”
And with that, my future is sealed.