22. Vili
My heart nearly burst with joy as we entered the giant warehouse full of everything and anything you could imagine for an Omega.
The only reason you ever stepped foot in this place was if you had an Omega in your pack.
For a moment, before we found my sweet darling kitten, a kernel of fear had started to grow in my heart.
What if there wasn’t an Omega out there meant for us?
“Look out, world’s best Omega coming through,” Warrick yelled as he raced past with a cart.
It took me a second to realize that Bailey-Rose was in the cart’s basket with how fast it flew by. Her peals of laughter filled the air as she tossed her hands up like she was on a roller coaster. Gareth’s face fell into a frown, but I caught his arm before he charged after them.
“She is fine,” I said when he glared at me. “Let them play… he be careful.”
Realizing he was reacting to this for the wrong reasons, I watched as Gareth took a deep breath. “You’re right, and I’m guessing one of the store employees will scold him the moment they see what’s going on.”
That wasn’t why I stopped him from putting an end to their fun, but if it would keep him from lashing out, I’d take it.
I slapped his back comfortingly before heading down the aisle after them.
Our first stop was to the customer service area, where we could get a tablet with all the items in the store loaded on it.
Bailey-Rose could pair it to her account, pull up everything she saved, and it would provide us with the location of the items.
“Remind me why we gave into doing this when we all know how tired she is?” Ulysses muttered under his breath. “We’re so fucked if none of us can tell her no to things.”
“No, this good idea,” I shared.
My three pack brothers looked at me in surprise. “Really? How so?” Yun-Sun questioned.
Taking a moment to sort out my thoughts, I tried to explain, knowing my ability to communicate clearly was a challenge I often wanted to scream in frustration, knowing how I spoke made me sound like an idiot.
It wasn’t anyone’s fault but my own. I came here knowing nothing about the language, so I had a lot to catch up on.
Since the day I was born, I’d been taught to take ownership of my mistakes.
They aren’t anyone else’s problem to deal with, just mine and mine alone.
My parents were always such cold, detached people who viewed everything as a transaction.
The way they interacted with people was brusque, to the point, and without emotion.
Wealth provided them with a comfortable life, but it also made them callous.
No one wanted to be their friend out of the goodness of their heart, or that’s what they believed.
Everyone whispered behind their backs, wondering if they were actually human or robots.
One of the many therapists I had growing up believed that to compensate for how disliked my family was, I chose to do everything to have people like me.
I’m not sure I agree with that being the root of why I was so different, however, I’m sure it played a large factor.
My goal in life was to make everyone I came in contact with feel they’d been seen, that I would remember them, and they would think fondly of the face that got them to smile, relax, and feel I had time for whatever they needed.
This mindset is what connects me to my pretty lady.
We share the same heart in this matter, but damn, I wish I didn’t sound like such a fucking idiot when I spoke.
“How we worry for our kitten, she worries for us,” I explained. “I think our kitten fears news of surgery will cause more worry, and we’ll become obsessed keeping her safe. Already we have talks about this with little things, now we know bigger problem. So bigger response.”
Ulysses paused to consider what I’d said. “So she’s worried if we go back to the house, we’ll want to talk about the surgery, maybe try and convince her to do it.”
Shrugging, I tossed up my hands. “Only guess, but yes, I think what you say.”
“Guys, hurry up,” Warrick shouted from the end of the row.
Ulysses chuckled as Gareth rolled his eyes, but Yun-Sun still seemed a little lost in thought.
I fell into step beside him, hoping he might share with me what was going on in his brilliant mind.
While I haven’t told the guys much about my family, I knew Yun-Sun and I shared similar issues with our parents.
Likewise, Yun-Sun chose to be his own person, and that led him to us.
By the time we reached the service counter, Yun still hadn’t shared his thoughts, so I let the matter drop.
He’d open up if he needed to, and the past twenty-four hours had been a roller coaster of feelings and hormones.
I didn’t blame him for wanting some time to understand how he felt about what we’d learned.
“Hello there, how can I be of service to you today?” the woman behind the counter asked.
Warrick smiled at the woman and leaned against the counter. “We’re here to do some nest shopping, and our girl has a profile on your website. Could we get one of those tablets that helps you find stuff in the store?”
“Certainly, I’ll just need the young lady’s name to look up her account so I can pair it with the tablet,” she said, her gaze shifted to Bailey-Rose, no longer in the shopping cart.
“Oh…” Bailey-Rose seemed surprised by this. “Could I just log in myself?”
The woman frowned slightly. “That’s not how the system works. Look, you’ve already given us the information on the website to start an account, so you’re not telling us anything we don’t already know. It’s for your security that we do it this way.”
Not liking how this woman spoke to my precious kitten, I stepped up and rested my hands on Bailey-Rose’s shoulders. “Do not speak to her like that,” I stated.
There weren’t many times that I let out the part of myself that proved I was my parents’ son.
However, to defend the person I treasured more than anything in my life, there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do.
My kitten’s head tipped back as she looked at me with wide eyes, and her lips parted in surprise.
Giving her a smile full of every emotion I felt for this stunning woman, I dropped a kiss to her forehead.
Once I felt my girl was settled, I turned my attention back to the employee.
“You want name, I give you name,” I offered, my voice cool even to my own ears. “Vili Rantala, there is account made.”
When we first started our scent matching quest, I created one wanting to prepare myself for when the day came.
I studied all there was about making a warm and comforting home for a new Omega.
So far, we’d been doing well with Bailey-Rose, but I would take nothing less than the best for our Omega.
Our pack had more than enough money to do whatever it took, and I planned to apply that thinking to this shopping trip.
“I’m sorry, did you say Rantala?” another woman asked, stepping away from the shelf she’d been stocking and joined in the conversation. “Forgive me, I couldn’t help but overhear. Would you be related to Henning Rantala, the founder of Silveda?”
“Yes, he is one of my fathers,” I answered in a soft voice.
“Oh. My. God,” the woman squealed. “Tanya, radio Philip and tell him we have a VIP and his pack in our store.”
When Tanya didn’t move fast enough, the woman clapped her hands urgently. “Right now, Tanya.”
“No, no, this not needed,” I assured the exuberant employee.
In an odd way, it was hard to take reactions like this when all my pack brothers were people of note to society.
She, of course, brushed me off and stepped up to Bailey-Rose, causing me to tighten my hold on her ever so slightly.
I didn’t want to alarm my sweet kitten, but I’d learned long ago to be prepared for people to act irrationally when they found out I was rich.
While I might want to fill the world with light and joy, leaving it a better place than I found it, people were unpredictable.
Something shifted the second I realized I’d found my scent match.
Not generally an overly dominant Alpha in daily life, the need to protect my Omega had become a major driving force in every action I took.
“Forgive Tanya. We have procedures to follow, but I understand not wanting to give out your name when you’re bonded to someone of his status,” the woman said kindly, taking Bailey-Rose’s hand in hers.
“Thankfully, we do have a system set up for situations like this that will make your shopping experience more enjoyable.”
In a move that shocked the woman and me, my kitten yanked her hand free. “You know what, I don’t think we need your help or a tablet. Thank you for your assistance, but we’ll be off to do some shopping.”
The woman blinked at her then looked up at me, utterly confused. “Thank you, as my kitten say, we go shop now,” I explained and started to turn away.
“Wait one moment, please,” a man called, running over in his three-piece suit, making him look like the odd man out in this setting.
Bailey-Rose looked at the man, her expression annoyed.
“Look, we just want to shop like normal people. I don’t want to sit in the fancy rooms, drinking champagne as I click on a computer screen and you pull my order.
That isn’t fun nor does it give me a chance to really look at the item before buying it. ”
“Yes, I understand that, Miss Thatcher… it’s noted in your file.
Would you allow me to offer one of my staff to handle the things you personally pick out?
That way, you don’t have to worry about a full cart or something being on a shelf you can’t get to?
” The man asked as he tried to catch his breath.
“Forgive me, our elevator is out of order, and I had to race down five flights of stairs.”