Chapter 26
T he shop that Ash chose was insane. The floors were a glittering marble, the mannequins dotting the room dressed to the nines in over-the-top gowns.
“Can I help you?” the beta seemed skeptical but kept a smile on her face.
“My girl here needs two outfits. One a ball gown for an upcoming event. Then something fitting for an afternoon at the country club today. Something that’s elegant, but unbothered,” Ash explained. “You can charge it to my card.”
He pulled out his wallet and plucked a credit card, handing it over. She glanced down at it and all that skepticism faded.
“Yes, of course,” she promised.
Then her attention was on me. It felt like she was peeling away at layers as she studied me, cataloguing every feature and flaw until she nodded once.
“Let me choose?”
“Uh, sure,” I said.
“She gets final say, but we’re open,” Ash corrected gently. The girl grinned and clapped her hand. All smiles now.
“Now, when you say unbothered. Are we talking aloof, or turn heads, draw attention, and still not give a single fuck?”
“The second for sure,” I said, liking her more and more by the second.
“I’ve got you,” she promised as she rushed off, plucking things off shelves and racks without even asking my size.
“We’ll be waiting right here,” Holt said as he sat down in the chairs near the dressing rooms like he was ready for a show.
Ten minutes later, I was standing in front of a wall of mirrors, wearing a gorgeous, deep-red maxi skirt. It was bright enough to draw attention but not be tacky. The black crop top was fitted, but barely showed a sliver of my stomach so it was still classy.
She slid on a pair of black heels and a black clutch that matched. “Now, we have some accessories up front. I think with this outfit some cute earrings and a red lip shade would complete it.”
I felt cute but elegant, the soft fabrics and price tags telling me I would fit right in.
When I walked out of the store with a garment bag in hand, new lipstick on, and outfit in place, I felt like I was ten feet tall. I was ready to face my parents.
“Fuck, she’s hot like this, isn’t she?” Ash groaned.
“It’s the confidence,” Mathias confirmed. “So fucking perfect, baby.”
I gave them a grin as I slid on a new pair of high-end sunglasses. “Let’s go wreck my parents’ lives.”
Holt laughed. “Let’s do it, darlin’.”
I took the hand that Holt had held out, and like the gentleman that he is, he opened the truck door for me.
"Thank you, my fine sir," I teased with a wink, and a smile spread wide on his lips.
Holt raised the hand he still had a hold of up to his mouth and placed a soft kiss on the back of it.
"How did I get so lucky?" I mused as I stepped up into the passenger seat.
"Darlin', we are the lucky ones," Holt told me before he closed the door for me.
Mathias and Ash jumped into the back but I still felt bad that I was up front. I turned in my seat, offering to switch. "Are you sure one of you doesn't want to sit up here?"
"And let the other have their way with you in the backseat? I don't think so," Ash answered.
"That could be fun," I joked as Holt climbed in the driver's seat.
"If only we didn't have to go to the country club," he sighed as he started the engine. From the tension that rose out of nowhere, this wasn’t going to be an easy trip.
"As long as we’re together, there’s nothing that we can't face," I promised as we headed towards the drama that seemed to linger around our families. At least we had that in common.
"You're not wrong. I just hate that someone is trying to start trouble already," Mathias stated from behind me. He reached forward, brushing his fingers over my arm to reassure us both.
"Drama is everywhere, there’s always going to be someone that’s unhappy and wants others to be the same," Ash said.
"Wow, dude, that was deep for you." Holt laughed as we got on the highway.
I gave him a playful slap on the shoulder.
"Ouch," he chuckled. "What was that for?"
"You know," I told him. "The only drama I like is on paper."
"Speaking of that, when are you going to edit and post those videos?" Ash asked. I looked up into the rearview mirror in time to see him wiggle his eyebrows.
"Well, I’ve been a little busy," I joked. “To make sure they are perfect, I'll need to edit them and I don't know if I'm ready to show you off just yet. My omega is feeling a little possessive still."
"Ooo, overprotective. I like that," Ash purred, making me bite back a grin.
"Yeah, it’s not you two assholes alphas being extra this time. It's a nice change," my sweet beta teased. I loved that our pack never took things too seriously. We were playful and had fun, teasing each other and just liked being around the others. It made it a lot easier to face days like today.
"What do I need to know about the country club?" I asked, trying to change the direction of the conversation.
"They’re all rich assholes that try and one-up each other at every turn. So, it's best just to smile and nod. Let them talk about themselves and answer questions with a question," Holt told me.
"Act like you own the place and smell something bad," Mathias added. “You’ll fit right in.”
"‘Smell something bad?’ Why?" I questioned that line of thinking. Sometimes, it was hard to tell when they were joking or not.
"The look of disgust, that’s the key," he told me.
"Key or not, I don't know if that is something I can do."
"Just be you, darlin'. We've got your back," Holt reassured me. “I’d rather you be nothing like these people.”
"And I've got yours," I agreed. "How much longer till we arrive?"
"About twenty more minutes,” Holt said.
"Oh good, I get to DJ," I smirked at him as I connected my phone. The music turned on and everyone was singing along, forgetting about our worries. At least for a few minutes.
My nerves started to rise and my leg began to bounce as we stopped at the gates of the country estate. It was breathtakingly set on the edge of the mountain range. The greenery of the golf course greeted us as Holt entered the code and we were on our way in.
The clubhouse and all the other amenities were located in the center of everything. It was a grand estate and I didn't feel like I would fit in. Even in my fancy new clothes.
There was a hand on my shoulder that gave me a little squeeze of reassurance.
"They don't deserve you," Mathias told me. “Don’t give them a second fucking thought. You look great, we’re strong together, fuck the rest.”
This bond would take some getting used to, I didn't mean to send that down to them.
"Mathias is right. Don't let anyone dull your sparkle," Ash added.
"Never," Holt agreed.
"How's a girl gonna do that with you three and all these compliments coming my way?" I asked, though my leg still bounced as he drove through the parking lot. I wasn’t going to be able to let this anxiety go until this was over.
There was silence as we pulled into a spot and parked.
My hand went to the door handle and Holt grabbed my other wrist, "Don't you dare."
Ash jumped out of the back and pulled open my door, "Did you forget you're ours, princess?"
"No?" I asked. "But I didn't know that I couldn't open my own door."
"I know you're being sarcastic but we will spoil you any way we can," he said as he held out a hand for me.
I took it and hopped down from the truck as graceful as I could. Mathias held out a hand for me, and I slid my palm in his, but still held onto Ash with the other. Part of me wished there was a way to hold Holt's as well.
"How are Daisy and the babies doing? Are we okay to leave them?" I asked, just remembering all the days I missed with the babies.
"They are all thriving. I promise we will go back and visit them as soon as we are done here. You won't believe how big they already are," Holt told me with a smile. The way he talked about his cows and the adorable crinkle in the corner of his eyes had me melting a bit, until I registered what he said.
"What? They are bigger? That is not fair," I pouted. A whole week and now they’ve grown.
"They aren't too much bigger, twins take a longer time to reach the size of just one calf. They have grown some, though," he admitted.
"Will I still be able to pet them?" I asked as he guided us towards the people milling around.
"That will be up to Daisy," he told me, but the conversation cut off as we stepped into the foyer.
There was a familiar fake laugh to our left and my blood ran cold as I turned to see Sadie pawing at some older gentleman and woman standing there.
"Shit," Ash whispered under his breath.
"Do you know them?" I asked.
"You could say that, let me introduce you to my parents," he said with absolute defeat.
"That’s our cue to hit up the bar," Mathias said as he let go of my hand. He and Holt left me to the wolves… traitors.
"Don't worry, I got you," Ash promised, giving my hand another squeeze.
"Ah, it's about time you got here. The meeting is starting in less than twenty minutes," his father said, side-eyeing me.
"Diane, this is the girl that I told you about. She stole your son from me, can you believe this bitch?" Sadie asked, looking from me to Ash's mother with a sneer on her face.
His mother looked at me like she was gauging my worth. Of course, no shock to anyone, she seemed to find me lacking.
"Really? She looks like a downgrade to me," she commented with a pinch of her lips, glancing at me up and down.
"That's enough. No one speaks to my mate that way and Sadie just did. We haven't been together for almost a decade. How is it that she stole me from you? You never even had me, Sadie," Ash said in a cold voice that had her immediately pouting. "This isn't how I wanted to introduce you, so I won't."
Ash fake smiled at them and gently pulled me away from them, not looking back.
"Let's go find the others, shall we?" he said as we went off in search of our pack.
Too bad Sadie and his parents weren’t the worst thing we encountered here. The moment we found the guys we had to go to the meeting they’d called. I wasn’t entirely sure why we were keeping up pretenses, but I let it go for now.
Seeing my parents was so much worse. They stood out among the others, their clothes not quite the same caliber as the rest. Still, Mom was dressed to the nines and her makeup caked on as usual.
“Thank you for joining us,” Mom called out. “We have been working diligently to turn this year’s gala into a night to remember. In order to raise even more for charity, we would like to start the night with a fundraiser auction. An evening with our most eligible bachelors and bachelorettes.”
This sounded more like prom than a high-class gala, but the rest of the room was buzzing with conversation and most seemed to be in her favor.
“Do you have a list of those willing to participate?” a woman called out. The cougar was more than eager and I swear I was ready to drag my men out of here before I had to fight someone for casting a hopeful look their way.
“Of course, though, the highlight of the evening would definitely be Holt, Mathias, and Ash,” she beamed, gesturing back to me.
The room fell silent, all eyes drifting back to where she gestured and landing right on me in the center of my men.
My eyes narrowed at her and I started to stand, but Holt beat me to it.
“There seems to be a very big mistake and a whole lot of lack in communication. We have a pack and are not participating, nor were we asked to,” he said bluntly.
“Oh, don’t act like she is going to stop you,” Sadie snorted as she joined my mom in front, Ash’s mother joining a second later. Apparently, they were quite the trio.
“I’m your daughter,” I said to my mother. “If I’m not worthy enough, why are you here?”
The words slipped out without a single remnant of a filter but I certainly didn't take them back. I’d had enough of them and their awful behavior.
Now everyone was watching her, and us, bouncing back and forth between us.
“She’s welcome here,” Sadie said through a clenched jaw. “You aren’t.”
“The last time I checked, I’m the one with the pack you want. If you find you're having a hard time hanging onto a man, maybe work on that awful personality of yours. You attract more flies with honey than vinegar and all that,” I said as I waved a dismissive hand her way.
She did not like that.
“Ash! Are you serious right now? After everything we had?”
Ash, Holt, and Mathias stood, pulling me up with them.
“Let this be a formal withdrawal of membership support for you,” Ash said to my mother. “We are the only reason you could afford this, and it came with stipulations...which you blatantly ignored.”
Then his eyes shifted to Sadie who was beet-red now and seething. His mom slowly withdrew herself and took her seat, putting a divide between them. Seemed she was loyal only to herself.
“As for you. I’ll get an order of protection against your crazy ass if you even talk to us again. I found a mate who is far better for me than you could ever be. Don’t worry, we won’t be back and we absolutely won’t be attending this disaster of an event.”
With that mic drop, we filed out of the room, heads held high and a sense of pride and accomplishment burning in me.
I’d finally separated myself from them, told my mother how I saw her, and I’m embracing the real family I have in this life.