32. Phillip
Chapter 32
Phillip
A re you fucking kidding me?
Hazel was at her engagement party?
Engaged to someone that wasn’t one of us?
My stomach turned.
“Who the fuck do her parent’s think they are?” I thundered as I slammed my car door. Roman, Cormac, and I had sped to Hazel’s family home, pulling up to see Sebastian’s truck careening into the drive.
“They’re colossal assholes, but this is a new level of fucked up, even for them! I knew we were right to not trust them,” Sebastian snarled as he stalked over to us.
We all wore matching pissed-off expressions. Cormac was bouncing up and down on his toes while Roman stood still… too still.
“So we’re clear, we’re never leaving her alone with her family again, are we?” I growled. I didn’t really care what that answer was, because there was no way in hell I was going to allow it to happen. It just would have been nice to be backed up by my pack mates.
“No fucking way,” Seb agreed. “They are a bunch of emotionally abusive assholes, and yet she’s always put up with them.”
Everything I had heard about these people was negative. I hated that Hazel had to experience an upbringing like that.
“Well, let’s fucking go get Duchess!” Roman shouted, walking toward the front door.
“Do we have to be polite?” Cormac asked excitedly, hot on his heels.
His reply was simple. “Nope.”
This was going to be a shit show… I wasn’t even mad about it.
A staff member wearing black and white opened the door, the pleasant smile dropping at the four large, athletic alphas rushing to the entrance.
“Sweetness!” Cormac bellowed as soon as he was through the door.
“It’s a fucking party, all right,” Roman muttered with a frown, glancing around at the entrance to the large reception room full of people.
“Cormac?” The beautiful, honey-sweet voice echoed in the entry hall as Hazel appeared from a corridor, a woman who I assumed to be her mother hot on her heels. “How on earth did you all get here so fast?”
“We didn’t trust your parents, so we followed a few minutes behind you and were at a diner nearby when you messaged.”
“I never actually went anywhere,” Seb confessed. “Drove about five minutes away and parked, just in case.”
Red rimmed Hazel’s eyes. Had she been crying? My anger grew into unadulterated fury at the sight. Her mother sauntered up behind her. Who the fuck was this woman who thought she could make my pregnant omega cry without any consequences?
The mother’s eyes went wide at the sight of all of us, and she took a quick moment to compose herself before speaking. “This is a private party. You’re going to have to leave immediately,” she said in a fake, pleasant tone. She clearly wanted to get us out before too many people noticed.
Too bad. I was fairly certain Cormac was in the mood to cause a scene.
“Mother!” Hazel hissed, whipping around to glare at her mother.
Cormac wasn’t waiting. He strode forward, looping an arm around her waist and pulling her toward him.
“Hazel, please, for the love of god, tell me these boys aren’t the reason you’ve been too ‘sick’ to see us lately.” The hag of a woman Hazel called a mother didn’t manage to keep the sneer off her face.
“Yes,” Hazel declared, looking at us with an expression I could only describe as nervous pride. “This is my pack.”
The announcement hung in the air for a moment, and all our expressions warped from angry to goofy, lovestruck grins.
She’d called us her pack.
We would make sure that, after this, she knew, without a doubt, that we were a pack. All five of us.
Mrs. Giltbrook’s face became panicked as she glanced between us. Crossing my arms, I raised my eyebrows at her in a go ahead, try it look. It wasn’t the right time to beam like a love-drunk fool.
That could—would—happen later.
Guests had started milling out from the reception room and were watching us, whispering between one another as they sipped on their glasses of champagne.
“Hazel, sweetheart, I think you’re a little confused.” Her mother’s tone was simpering and seriously infuriating. She grabbed Hazel’s wrist, keeping her close. “We need to get back to the party. Your fiancé is waiting.” She attempted to tug Hazel toward the main room, but our omega remained still, her feet planted on the ground.
The irrational urge to break the wrist of this woman for putting her hands on Hazel was powerful. How fucking dare she fuck with our girl?
Cormac shot a withering glare at Mrs. Giltbrook and wrapped both arms around Hazel. “Sorry, but unfortunately, you seem to be confused,” he said, mirroring her overly polite voice that was full of hatred.
Her mother’s mouth opened and closed a few times, her brow furrowing. I was impressed her face even moved because she had clearly been shoving filler into it at every opportunity.
“I’m sorry, but you have to leave. Now.” Her voice hardened as she attempted to pull Hazel back. Only, Cormac wasn’t letting that happen.
Roman stepped forward, his polite, customer service smile on his face. “We will be leaving… with our omega.”
“Hazel is not your omega.” Her polite fa?ade faltered, replaced with revulsion as she stalked toward Roman. “My family doesn’t socialize with your kind!”
Roman’s eyebrows rose, and he chuckled. That only infuriated the woman further.
“What on earth is going on?” A tall man with thick, graying hair joined her side.
“Mother is embarrassing us,” Hazel said with a huff. I deduced that he was most likely her father.
“These people”—her mother spat the word—“are claiming they’re Hazel’s pack. They’re a bunch of no-good ruffians, trying to interrupt our nice event!”
“Hazel?” He frowned at his daughter. “Is this true?”
Both of her parents looked around the room. It was rapidly filling with guests who were gossiping. From what little I understood about these people, I knew that any kind of scandal would be their worst nightmare.
“Kick them out! They’re causing a scene,” she hissed. Truthfully, she was the one making a scene; she was just too obtuse to realize it.
Little did they know that Cormac would happily make one hell of a scene if they didn’t let Hazel go immediately.
“Yes. Let’s go, guys.” Hazel ducked toward Roman, Cormac ushering her to safety with us.
“Hazel Giltbrook! Come back here!” her mother snarled.
Turning to face her mother, Hazel shrugged. “No, I don’t think so. I’ll be leaving with my pack.” She grabbed a glass of champagne off a nearby waiter’s tray. Lifting it to her lips, she stilled for dramatic pause, peering down at the glass. “Oh, silly me!” She laughed.
Her mother cocked her head, the look of pure rage never leaving her face. “Hazel!”
“I can’t drink this!” Hazel continued, like her mother hadn’t spoken. “Given that I’m five months pregnant.” She shook her head, handing Cormac the drink, and with a shit-eating grin, he downed the glass.
Both her parents stared at her, speechless, her mother’s skin turning a very unhealthy looking gray color.
“Fuck, yeah, sweetness!”
Mrs. Giltbrook’s face twitched as she tried to absorb that shocking little bit of information.
They reached me, and I pulled my omega out of Cormac’s arms and into my own. I was flanked by Sebastian, who reached out to cup her face, giving her a silent look that spoke volumes.
“Are you going to continue insulting me?” Roman asked Hazel’s mother, laughing.
“Get out of my home!” the woman snapped. “You are absolutely disgusting, degenerate, perverted lowlifes!”
“Careful, Mrs. Giltbrook. You’re causing a scene.”
“I don’t give a fuck.”
Hazel made a small squeak of surprise. I got the impression that her mother didn’t swear much.
“There’s a reason I don’t associate with creatures like you, I sw?—”
She was cut off by one of the bystanders who was watching us with a puzzled expression. “Roman, my boy! How are you?”
“Mr. Fayette!” Roman responded, friendly as usual. And maybe a little smug. “How are you?”
Mrs. Giltbrook’s gaze jumped between the guest and Roman. “You know this boy?” she asked, her voice tight.
“This is Caroline Kingswood’s boy! Surely you’ve met them? I’ve spent many summers with his family.” That was an understatement. If memory served, Derik Fayette spent his summers in a small but extravagant seaside gated community, where Roman’s family also happened to own property. It was the kind of place where money wasn’t all you needed to acquire property; you needed connections and popularity.
Her face turned white, her expression pure panic. “K-Kingswood?”
Roman nodded. It took monumental effort to not burst out laughing. Mrs. Giltbrook cared deeply about her social standing, and it was finally dawning that she had just been hurling insults at the son of one of the most influential women in society.
“Do you want to continue? What was it you were just calling me, a degenerate ?” Roman cocked his head as he spoke.
Hazel’s mother stuttered, standing up straighter, running a hand over her hair. “N-now, let’s not be hasty.”
“Hasty? You set up an engagement party for my omega, without her knowledge. Hazel is my pack’s omega, and pregnant, so she’s not going anywhere. Unless she’s being kept against her will, there is nothing you can do or say. Duchess, are we keeping you against your will?” he asked, turning to the omega in my arms.
“Nope,” Hazel said, popping the p.
“In that case—”Roman turned back to Mrs. Giltbrook, his arms spread wide“—I guess we’ll be taking our leave. I wish I could say it was a pleasant visit, but my parents taught me not to lie.”