31. Bailey-Rose #2
“Gareth, you didn’t read the whole thing,” Ulysses pointed out. “It says right here, ‘due to the unusual nature of matching, we require additional information before the scent match can be officially recognized.’ ”
“Hold on, who alerted the Scent Matchers we’d found our Omega?” Warrick questioned.
Yun-Sun paused in his pacing to raise a hand. “I did.”
“Really? How did that go, and why are you just telling us now?” Gareth challenged.
Rubbing a hand over his buzzed hair, Yun sighed.
“I didn’t think it was a big deal. They were still sending us notifications of new Omegas and followed up on the email we sent about possibly adding in male Omegas.
Seeing as we’d just found Bailey-Rose, I informed them that we no longer needed to use the database and to remove our pack from the system.
I didn’t hear anything back from them, so I assumed there were no issues, nothing to tell. ”
“How long ago?” Vili inquired.
“Ah…” Yun paused, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Oh, it was the day we moved her into the house. I got an alert on my phone, so I ducked into my room to answer the email from my computer.”
Gareth dropped his head into his hands. “Oh, thank fuck. If there had been a major issue, they would have moved way faster than this to get their answers.”
“It make sense,” Vili interjected. “Kitten not in system, no, rejected from system. I think they want to know how we feel or if we know she rejected.”
Gareth scoffed, flopping back against the couch.
“Those elitist pricks don’t deserve to know any of that stuff.
Bailey-Rose isn’t one of their clients, and it’s not like it’s the first time a pack has found their Omega on their own.
The damn system has only been around for fifty years. We just went old-school.”
“However, our pack was in the system,” Yun-Sun reasoned.
“Plus, you know they changed the laws that even in cases where packs and Omegas naturally find each other, they must be registered with the Scent Matchers. While I feel it’s odd to be given short notice, there isn’t a reason we can’t go.
I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to risk there being an issue and giving them a reason to deny our bonding. ”
Fear struck me like an arrow to the chest. “C-can they do that?”
“I don’t know, sweetheart, but I’d really rather not test the possibility. I’m sure all they want is to meet with us, hear our story, answer a few questions, and make sure everything is on the up and up,” Yun assured me.
Ulysses pulled me onto his lap, cuddling me close, giving me the comfort I desperately needed right now.
“Hey, I have an idea. We wanted to go to the studio, right? What if we went over after breakfast, took a look around the place, and while we have this meeting, you can paint? This way, you have a little breathing room and don’t worry about us as you get lost in your art.
I saw the way you disappeared into that sketch today.
You haven’t done any art since we showed up, so I bet your creative side is begging for you to let it free. ”
That did sound like a rather perfect idea. Being able to draw at the lake had pulled the cork from the bottle, allowing my creativity to run wild. “Sounds like a hard offer to pass up. I suppose if you guys have to leave me on my own, it’s better to have my art than be all alone in the house.”
“That’s the spirit,” Ulysses cheered, kissing my nose. “There is nothing to worry about. This is all going to blow over, you’ll see.”
Everything in me wanted to believe him, but I’d be lying to myself if I hadn’t been wondering when the shoe was going to drop.
Things have been perfect, more than I ever could have dreamed of.
It only made sense to me that it was time to wake up from the dream I’d been living.
However, I would keep that line of thinking to myself and enjoy soaking up every second of my time with the men I was hopeless to live without.
“Can I suggest a movie?” I asked, twisting to look at the others. “It’s a bit of an acquired taste, though.”
This seemed to pique Vili’s interest. “What movie, kitten? I love odd films.”
“Ever heard of Labyrinth? It’s an old movie with singing, puppets, and amazing costumes,” I explained.
Gareth’s mouth popped open in surprise. “That was Callie’s favorite movie.
I haven’t seen it in ages, but I can promise I remember all the words to the songs.
That girl would sing them at the top of her lungs randomly throughout the day, especially during farm chores.
” Gareth chuckled, rubbing his forehead.
“God, I can still see her feeding the chickens, telling them they reminded her of the babe.”
“What babe?” Warrick asked, his face showing true confusion.
“The babe with the power,” I answered.
“Okay, what the hell… neither of you is making sense. What power could a baby possibly have?” Warrick said, exasperated.
Gareth grinned like a fool as he leaned in and pretended to whisper in Warrick’s ear, “The power of voodoo.”
“Voodoo? Now I know you two are messing with me,” Warrick shot back. “There isn’t a baby in the world who can practice voodoo.”