12. Bethany
Chapter twelve
Bethany
It takes a little over two hours, but then a silver car pulls up and the back door opens, leaving a dark void that beckons me forth. I give Bill a hug.
“Thanks, Bill.”
“It’s my pleasure, Bethany. Goodluck with whatever you decide to do, and if you ever get into a pinch, come and find me. My husband would love to help you out. We’ve got a spare guest room with your name on it!”
“I will!” I pocket his business card and wave one last time.
With apprehension, I walk towards the car and slide into the backseat. As soon as I’m in, arms fold around me, wrapping me in a hug that smells like home. That feels like home.
“Fucking hell, Bethany. Where have you been?”
“Locke!” I choke on his name and start to cry.
Someone shuts the backdoor, and then we’re moving, the driver doesn’t say anything, he just ignores us.
We hug for a long time, in silence, just holding each other.
“I couldn’t believe I got that call. I thought I was dreaming. Shit, look at you, Bethany. You grew up,” Locke says as he pulls back, looking me up and down. “You’re a woman now. What happened to those chicken legs?”
I hit him in the arm lightly. “Hey!” I smile and knuckle my tears from my eyes. “It happens, growing up. Tried to stop it, but alas, I failed.”
Locke has golden hair like Uncle Charles and Kelly and Lia. They all have the blue-green Raines eyes. But Locke is lithe and wears thick eyeliner and fashionable clothes make him look incredible. He really does look like a rockstar.
“You became a rockstar, though, congratulations. Is it everything you hoped?” I scan his face, searching for happiness.
Locke looks away, and there’s a shadow of pain that I recognise. I reach out and grip his hand.
“Locke?”
“I’m fine,” he whispers. “Damn, I forgot how perceptive you are.”
He shifts his arm away from me, and I catch sight of an enormous bruise on his upper arm. I stare at it and look up. Maybe I’m not the only one in trouble. Maybe he needs help, too.
Or it could be nothing.
But the atmosphere doesn’t feel like nothing. Tentatively, I lower my voice and touch his hand.
“Don’t let bad things happen to you. If you need to run, run. Keep fighting until you find your happy ending. The family will understand.”
Locke shifts, and those blue-green eyes land on me, seeing more than I want him to see.
“And what about your happy ending? Did you find it?”
I fall silent. One fact remains true, and that is I’ve never been able to lie to Locke. I could lie to Kelly and Raider, even Lia and Ryn, but never to Locke. “I found them. They don’t want me. Simple.”
Locke curses. “Then they aren’t your happy ending. They are just a blip on the horizon.”
I shake my head. “You’ll understand if you meet your scent match, Locke. It’s like nothing else. You just can’t imagine life with anyone else. They change the way you think.” I look down at my hands. “Being apart from them is agony.”
Locke covers my hands with his ring-covered fingers. “I don’t think I’m going to ever find them.”
“Probably not up here singing, no.”
“I’d need to run very far to find them.”
“The ends of the Earth,” I agree.
He looks really thoughtful. I’m loath to interrupt him. His phone vibrates, and his eyes refocus on the here and now.
Locke swallows hard. “So, I have a confession.”
I groan. “You called Dad?”
“We agreed. Whoever finds you first will call Uncle Wayne the minute we know. Sorry?”
“How long until they arrive?”
Locke holds up his phone and shows me the message. “They’re here. But I have to go perform. I won’t be able to see you before I leave. They keep us pretty locked up.” He pauses. “Why did you leave? I never could understand why you left the farm.”
I stare at him, unable to answer.
He nods. “Must have been bad that you thought the world was less scary than what was happening at home. Out of my car, Cousin. Your parents are here to give you a talking to.”
I hug him again, kissing his cheek, and ignore the way he stiffens before he relaxes.
“I missed you, Locke.”
“I missed you, too.”
I get out of the car and turn, watching as my past creeps up on me. I watch their crying faces through the windscreen. My past.
My home.
My dad jumps out of the car before it even stops. He looks older, his face more lined, but he’s tall and lanky with a long ponytail of brown hair, a beard, and a wide-brimmed, tan-coloured Stetson hat. But my dad has my eyes. The clearest blue.
“Dad.”
He doesn’t answer me, just lifts me up and pulls me into a hug that steals all the air from my lungs.
Someone slams into me from the other side, and I feel Uncle Sol sniffling. A third presence has Dad and Sol backing off, and I look up to find Uncle Charles. He gently cups my cheek.
“Are you okay, my beautiful Bethany?”
My eyes fill with tears, and I shake my head.
He steps towards me and envelopes me in his protection. A moment later, I feel Aunt Auggie. I open my eyes to find her staring at me. The same beta who took care of me when I was sick, who taught me to cook, who loved me as if I were hers.
“Who broke my baby’s heart?”
I start to laugh, and then cry, and my family gathers around, holding me close. Forgiving me like I wasn’t sure they would. Letting me feel the pain and collapse in their arms.
I sit in the hotel room as I pick through the words to explain what I heard that night.
Dad stares at me, stunned. “We would never have forced you.”
“You wouldn’t have needed to, Dad. That was the point. I could never say no to Raider or you,” I half-shout, frustrated and upset that I’m causing him to hurt.
“But-”
“I don’t feel about him like that.”
“We thought you did. We were sure you did,” Sol says. He closes his eyes in pain. Sol has light brown hair and green-coloured eyes, but it’s the smile lines that make me feel like I’m home, that I’m safe. The other beta of the pack was always the person I went to when I needed to cry
“No, I’m not his omega. I always knew that. I loved Raider like a sister. And he was confused. It would have been miserable for all of us, and we,” I look at them anxiously, “we deserved to be happy. Didn’t we? Doesn’t Raider deserve a chance to find his scent match?”
“So, why not call?” Auggie asks flatly.
I bite my lip and look down. “I thought I could find them and bring them back and show you that it all worked out for the best. Maybe I thought it would be easy.” My eyes well with tears.
“But you met them?” Auggie asks as she grips my hand. She’s a petite beta with a larger-than-life personality and dark hair and eyes. Right now, she seems defeated.
“I did meet them. They helped me when I was in a terrible spot.”
“And?”
“They don’t want an omega.” I breathe it out, and the pain of that sentence is not going away.
“Oh, darling.” Charles smiles, when he does, it still manages to pack a punch. He’s a beautiful man, with Kelly’s golden colouring and the Raines blue-green eyes. He doesn’t bring out his alpha much, but we were all afraid of upsetting Charles. “They always say that at the start.”
I look up, confused. “What?”
“You think it was easy to win these three over? It took all my skills. They denied it, fought me tooth and nail. They did not want to be a pack.”
“This is true. Your uncle Charles learned how to farm to court me.” Auggie chuckles. “Those days were so much fun.”
“You can give up or you can show them what they’re missing and convince them.”
“Convince them?” I ask, but I’m listening hard. My heart’s racing, a second chance? I’ll take it.
“Absolutely. Court them, woo them, tease and tantalize them.” Charles nods his head and sits back with his arms folded over his chest. Oozing smugness. “But, first, let’s go check out this bar of theirs, and then I think you need to insist on the job they offered. You have nowhere to go, after all.”
My eyes widen. “Uncle Charles, you are diabolical.” Those blue-green Raines eyes sparkle at me.
“Locke will not make it. He tried, but it looks like Ryn is going to come down and help,” Auggie says with a smirk, looking up from her phone. “And Lia sends her love.”
I glance around the room, confused. “What’s that mean?”
“Wait and see,” my dad says with a wink.