Maisie
“So…are we going to talk about the whole you kissing the Alpha you don’t like and you two looking pretty comfortable while doing it?” Birdie asks as she tucks in beside me.
Since we booked so late, all the small hotel had was a room with one bed. My sister and I are sharing a bed for the first time in a decade. Worst part is it’s a European hotel, which means it’s a queen instead of a king.
“Or we could talk about how close you seem to be getting to Graham.”
Birdie snuggles against her pillow, both of us facing each other.
“The other day you asked me how do you stop yourself from catching feelings, and the problem is I don’t know.
I’ve always been someone who falls in and out of love pretty quickly.
Part of me is scared that I’m following the same pattern, but there’s this other part of me that can’t help but to feel like they’re the perfect pack for me. ”
“Would you stay if they were?” I ask so quietly I’m not even sure she heard me.
“Is it wild to say yes? Confession?” I nod as she winces. “I kinda don’t have a job or an apartment to go back to.”
The old me, the Omega who was trying so hard to not be put into a box, the one who valued where I was in the company structure versus how happy I felt inside, would have scolded my sister.
This new me? The one who’s falling for two Alphas, who sees how good it is to let my Omega nature out?
It helps me understand Birdie more and I’m grateful for that.
“Greer asked me to extend my trip.”
“They want to court me,” she says and I stare at her. What are the fucking odds we’d be in similiar situations? I mean Greer and Lain haven’t said that word specifically, but they both seem to treat me like a skittish horse.
“We can’t be impulsive,” I admit, and Birdie nods in agreement. She’s never been shy about impulsivity, but something seems to be holding her back.
“I don’t want to be impulsive with them. The idea of hurting them makes me sick.”
“Me too, Bird, me too.”
For the first time since I was a child, I snuggle next to my sister, seeking her comfort. We’re holding each other for a long time until Birdie clears her throat.
“If you were to stay longer to figure things out, do you think you’d give Callum a chance?”
I’m taken aback by her question, but I don’t think she can tell with us lying here in the dark.
Because would I consider dating Callum? The kiss…
well, the kiss was pretty great. It’s not like I planned it when I did it, but when I saw his face and who was walking through the door, I just felt like I could make things better for him.
The way Greer and Lain talk about their past relationship and how it affected Callum, I didn’t want to give them that power.
But then he kissed me back. His massive hands were all over me, I liked the way his lips felt on mine. That’s on top of the fact that I’ve now seen him laugh and smile. He’s capable of not being a dick, and obviously he’s a good enough man to have been in a pack with Greer and Lain.
“Maybe. I wouldn’t want to feel like the reason for their pack having issues,” I finally admit.
“The way he looked at you after you kissed, it was like he’d finally saw the sun after weeks of rain,” Birdie says dreamily.
“It was a good kiss.”
“Hah! I knew it. Graham said he has a way of pushing people away. I guess it makes sense when you feel like you’ve lost so many people. The idea of letting someone in only for them to leave is a hard pill to swallow.”
My breathing is shallow as I ruminate over Birdie’s words.
My chest aches over the thought of him losing his pack mates.
I’m self aware enough to know that they had a rift in their pack before I even came here, that I’m just a catalyst. But I don’t want to feel even partially responsible for them not being a pack anymore.
“It all depends on whether I decide to extend my trip or not.”
Birdie sounds like she’s falling asleep as she responds. “I’ve never seen you this happy, Mais. I think if Mom were here she’d tell you to stay.”
“And what about you?”
“I think she’d tell me to make sure I know what I’m getting into.”
Her words hit me right into my heart, because wasn’t that just our mom in a nutshell?
A woman who had two daughters who were so different, yet she found a way to parent us both.
She knew Birdie needed a stronger hand, enough guidance to keep her grounded but not too much to overwhelm her.
Yet, I needed permission that she never got to give me.
Permission to not be in control all the time, to finally let someone in, to not sweat the small stuff.
I hold Birdie tighter, allowing myself to lean on her for comfort.
This. This is why we came to Scotland.
Just like yesterday, day time is reserved for sibling bonding, but the night is a shared event.
Shockingly, I don’t hate it. Actually, Callum is the whole reason we’re at the top-rated restaurant in town.
He pulled some strings with his chef friend, and now here we are, eating at one of the best places I’ve ever been to.
“Can I ask you a question?” I tilt my chin at Callum so that he knows I’m speaking to him.
“Something tells me I’ll regret saying yes.”
My nose automatically scrunches because what if he’s right and I’m just going to offend him more?
“The food at Greer’s is great. Let me start off there. But why don’t you work at a place like this?”
Callum takes a sip of his wine. He bought three bottles to go along with the meal, which seems ridiculous, but he said this is what would pair best with each course.
“Honestly? Because I don’t want to lose how much I love cooking.
For me, the kitchen has always been an escape and from there it grew into providing for my community.
I like making comfort meals and seeing the same people all the time.
I don’t think I’d like running a kitchen that was serving new people every night.
” As he says it, I grow a new appreciation for who Callum is and what he’s about.
“Ah. So you didn’t like me because I’m not a townie,” I surmise.
He arches a brow at me, it has no heat, in fact it’s down right playful.
“What about you? Why aren’t you just doing freelance work?”
I blink at him a few times and realize I’d never considered it. The corporate ladder was my measurement of success, not what made me happy.
“Honestly? I never even considered it. What would I do when I needed to take time off for my heats?”
Callum shifts in his chair, clearing his throat.
“You’d work for yourself, you’d make the rules.”
“You would be so good at it, Maisie,” Birdie says from across the table. “Just picking which clients you’d like to work with. You wouldn’t have to deal with Alphas who treat you like your work is less than because you’re an Omega.”
“Maybe. I’ll think about it.”
As I ponder my career path, and what the next month of my life is going to look like—it’s no big deal—our server comes out with our main dishes.
Callum pours the new bottle of wine, giving me my glass first, then Birdie, lastly him and his brother.
“Oh, a toast,” Graham says, holding up his glass. “To seeing about a coo.”
None of us can stop the laughter that falls out of us, and surprisingly, the rest of the evening is more enjoyable than I ever thought a dinner with Callum could ever be.
It’s late as we walk back to the hotel room. Graham and Birdie totally look like they’re about to dip off into an alleyway and do the dirtiest of things together and I can’t help but to miss the Heather Beag, and the two Alphas who have made this trip amazing.
“I know I’m not as charming as my brother. Thanks for sitting through dinner, anyway.”
I peek up at him from my lashes, tugging my jacket tighter around my body.
“You know, I say the same thing about Birdie. She’s more carefree, sometimes reckless, but at least she’s living her life.”
“You don’t think you are?”
“I think I am now,” I say softly, wondering if the words are going to bother him or not.
“Scotland will do that to ya. So will Greer and Lain, they’re the best men I know.”
He doesn’t go on about how I’m eventually leaving and to not break his friends’ hearts, which I’m grateful for.
I can’t help but to sneak a glance at Callum’s imposing form, but the moment I do, I stop paying attention to the cobblestones, and the tip of my toe has me falling forward and landing right on my knee.
I hiss in pain and groan from embarrassment. I’d been very careful with my wine consumption. This had nothing to do with drinking and everything to do with finding this Alpha attractive and being blindsided by his looks.
“Fuck. What hurts?” Callum asks, getting down on his haunches, his large hands already on my body, inspecting me.
“Just my knee.” I’m wearing pants for a change tonight, but I can feel the sting of having scraped the skin.
Birdie and Graham are too far ahead of us, almost like they were speed walking to the hotel.
“Come on, I’ll carry you back.”
“Oh, I can walk,” I tell him, letting him hold out a hand for me to get up off the ground. “I probably just need some ice. There is ice somewhere in this country, right?”
“Aye, we’ll get you your ice.”
He doesn’t even joke back, like he’s concerned I’ll need a hospital visit over a scraped knee.
“I’ve got a medical kit in my room. Come on,” he says as we walk a little slower back to the hotel.
When we get to Callum’s room, however, is where things get very interesting, because he doesn’t have a key and it seems like my sister and his brother are a little occupied at the moment.
“Fucking Graham,” Callum says, banging on the door a few more times with no response. “I’m sure they have something in the lobby. Let me take you to your room first and I’ll get what you need.”
Our room is literally two rooms down, yet he still walks me there, as if he needs evidential proof that I made it to the room and didn’t die of blood loss on the way.
“I’ll be right back,” he says, leaving me in the room as he goes and gets the supplies.
My first order of business is taking these damn pants off, which makes me want to cry, because the knee on the dark corduroy pants is so completely fucked, I’m probably going to trash them at this point.
Luckily, my knee isn’t so bad, only slightly bleeding as I sit on the bed and give it a glance.
There’s a knock on the door, which is too soon to be Callum, surely. It has to be Birdie, whose room key is sitting right here on the dresser.
“Birdie, seriously?” I ask, swinging open the door.
It appears Callum is exceptionally quick at getting tasks done. He’s also completely staring at my legs and how I’m just wearing panties.
“Sorry. I thought you were Birdie,” I say as I go to grab the blanket on the top of the bed to wrap myself with. It doesn’t give, so now I’m just standing here half undressed and completely mortified.
“They’re still…occupied. I could—I should go to the lobby and wait till they’re done. I uh…I have the first aid,” he says, and I’m not sure I’ve ever heard him stutter before.
“No. Let me just take care of this. You can wait in here until Birdie comes back. I’ll just be a minute.”
With a pair of pajama pants, I rush to the bathroom, not caring if Callum got a look at my cotton-covered ass when I scurried in here.
Birdie, when are you coming back?
Birdie, please. Callum just walked in on me in my panties and I want to be sucked into the floor.
BIRDIEEEE
My sister doesn’t answer, and I’m left with no other choice than to put my pajamas on and go back into that room and do my best to not seem awkward.
Callum is sitting in the green chair in the corner, which I’m grateful for as I sit on the edge of the bed.
“So…”
Callum waves me off. “I tried calling Graham, but he isn’t answering. I could go to the lobby and get a second key, but I’m not really sure I want to walk into that room and see what he’s doing.”
I nod in agreement. “So you never considered starting a pack with him?”
“Fuck no,” Callum blurts out, folding his arms against his large chest. “I love him, and I know there are plenty of packs with siblings in them, but it’s not for me.”
“But Greer and Lain?”
“They’ve been my best friends since nappies. Greer is steadfast, the person who’s always kept me going and Lain, well, he’s Lain. He’ll have your back at a moment’s notice and he has a way of making life fun.”
The Alpha in the corner looks tired, and almost sad as he talks about his pack.
“I’ve been a fucking pain in the arse to deal with. They deserve better.”
“It’s been nice seeing the real you this weekend. I can see why they would want you in their pack.” I can’t look at him as I say the words and instead, I grab the remote and turn on the TV. “You could lie down while you wait, if you want,” I tell him, getting under the covers.
Callum clears his throat. “Do you mind if I take my pants off?”
“I mean, it seems only fair considering you saw me in my panties,” I reply, which earns me another rare Callum smile.
Maybe they aren’t so rare after all.
He keeps his shirt on, which is slightly disappointing, but he takes off his pants. I do my best to not look at his gigantic Alpha thighs, but I’m just an Omega. Maybe I steal a few glances.
Callum doesn’t get under the blankets, he lies on top of them as a new show starts. Only the sound of the show and the limited street noise fill the space, when suddenly there’s something else I notice.
I take a deep inhale. The scent of sea spray hits me. At first I think a window might be open, but when I look at Callum, I realize that it’s him.
I can fully scent this Alpha and I realize with complete astonishment he’s my scent match.
Callum fucking—I don’t even know his middle name—Agnew is my scent match and it has me feeling nearly feral.