Chapter Twenty
Carter
The attorney finally called.
We’d been doing our best to live under one roof with our omega without taking the final steps to join together.
I’d had a shift at the firehouse in that time, and while I missed her terribly, it had to be much harder for my pack mates to be in the house with the scent of her heat coming on but not quite there.
We all felt that we needed to wait as well for a resolution of her situation.
Anathea, although she hadn’t seen her family in a long time, held a strong sense of responsibility toward them.
She understood that her parents had sold her out, but from the bits and pieces her sister had typed to her since she left, she believed they regretted their actions.
My family had tried to use me the same way, but as an alpha, I had so much more leeway.
The fact I ended up with my money alone reflected that status.
Omegas were, in some packs basically useful for bearing children and whatever other needs their pack needed.
Usually sex and household duties. They were barely considered people and had no right to leave.
The contracts were just a thing they did to convince themselves it was okay to sell omegas into indentured servitude.
To ensure they knew they had no rights. The one I’d walked out on was really to my benefit.
All the good parts were the alphas’. I just didn’t want it.
Not just the female who was the wrong one for me but also the guys who I was more than sick of by that point.
They weren’t evil or anything, just not the people I wanted to spend my life with.
They were fine with the power play of our mating.
I wanted the scent match, the fated mate…
Although most alphas would not use the term, I wanted the fairy tale.
A story I didn’t even really know existed in the real world.
Most of the packs I knew were just the type I’d been supposed to be part of.
But I’d heard just enough about the possibility to hope.
And now, the fairy tale slept right upstairs in our omega suite and had agreed to stay here with us until she got another place. Or maybe until she decided to stay forever. I never wanted her to think it was anything but up to her. She’d had enough of people telling her who to spend her life with.
My wolf was 100 percent sure she was ours. I hoped hers felt the same and was mega persuasive.
And it would sure help if we could untangle the contract along with ensuring the Vex pack could not come after her or her family.
I hadn’t been home from work for an hour, was making a cup of relaxing tea when the call came in. I swiped the screen, more nervous than I wanted to admit about what he might have to tell me, but as the alpha, I’d have to support my pack whatever it was. Calm and in control.
“Hi, Bob.”
“Carter, glad I caught you. I know your schedule is rough.”
“It can be, but you can always leave a message if I’m out on a call. So, what did you learn?” I sat on a kitchen chair in case the news required it. “I’m ready.”
“You don’t have to sound so dire. We did reach the sister who connected us to the parents. I know they are the ones at fault or mostly for the whole situation, but they are truly regretful.”
“Good. They deserve to be.”
“That said, I got a courier to meet Teri in the nearby town with the contract. I wanted to see a hard copy.”
“And?” I’d end up paying a lot of his time and all the other services, but there was nobody I trusted more to help us.
“And it’s not valid at all. The parents signed it and either faked her signature or got her to sign. It’s hard to tell, but in any case, your omega was underage, and the contract, well… You know there are attorneys who will do up the contracts?”
“Yes. My pack used one. They were very official about things.”
“Well, hers did not. An eight-year-old with a crayon could do a better one. So even if the signature had been good, nothing else would be.”
My knees wobbled with relief, but we weren’t done yet. “All right, so legally they have no standing, not even in the shifter world, correct?”
“Yes.” After what he’d said about the crayon, I was pretty sure, but I did want a confirmation, which I’d just gotten. “No court or council would uphold it.”
“Now, do you have any advice on how we can keep them from acting as if it were still valid? Anathea is worried not only about herself but her family.”
“Since you authorized me to act on your behalf, I have already sent a cease and desist order and if they so much as show up in town, we will get the courts involved.”
“Thanks, Bob. It’s good to be able to count on you.”
“Just go tell your omega that she’s free to begin life with your pack.”
“Cross your fingers for us. She’s been through a lot and is just starting to trust us.”
We hung up, and I took a sip of tea, so excited to tell our omega the good news. What a weight it would take off her mind.