Chapter 24
Cordelia
I’m sitting with Sebastian when he gets the call from Grandma Sol. When the old alpha speaks, we all listen, but I can honestly say that, in all my life, I’d only been summoned a handful of times.
“Bring your omega,” she says into the phone loud enough for me to hear. My stomach drops, and Sebastian catches me as my legs collapse, swinging me into the safety of his arms.
Seb looks at me and kisses the tip of my nose; it’s strangely reassuring. “It’s not my choice. We can refuse, but she will hunt us down and be incredibly loud and embarrassing about it.”
I snort a laugh. “What about Katsu and Fox? We said we’d have lunch with them.”
“I’ll send our apologies.”
I shrug, though a massive part of me is disappointed. I wanted to have lunch with them. Last night was amazing, but Fox was gone when I woke up. The pang has lingered all morning, leaving me uneasy.
This alpha I am infatuated with leads me down to his grandparents’ house and walks in without knocking.
The inside of the house is neat and clean with polished floorboards and cream walls.
It’s got a lot of open space and large windows that go from the floor to the ceiling.
There’s a plant in a tall stand in the corner and a table capable of seating eight that is covered in a pink tablecloth with a plate of muffins in the center that make Seb’s stomach growl.
“Hello, demanding-old-lady.”
“Hello, soon-to-be-smacked-insolent-grandson.”
Sebastian laughs, grabs his grandma, lifts her up, and kisses her cheek. She’s only a half a foot shorter, but he makes her appear tiny.
She growls at him, an impressive sound that echoes around the open space. He just huffs a laugh and sets her down.
“What muffins do we have today?”
“Chocolate for you. Always chocolate. I wouldn’t dare summon you with anything less.”
“Aww, granny, you know the way to my heart.”
“Don’t call me granny, you little shit.”
I look at Sebastian and wonder how anyone could gaze upon his massive form and think little. Shit, yes. Little, no.
“So, you called,” he says around a mouthful of muffin. He pauses to groan. “Oh, man, there are drugs in these, aren’t there?”
“I will accept you teasing me about everything else, Seb, but never about food. I do not need to drug people; I’m just that good.” She looks at me and smiles. “Hello, Cordelia.”
I approach slowly, she pulls me into a hug.
“You’ve always been part of the family, but now you are officially part of the family, and I wanted to welcome you and talk about the situation.”
“You know?” I ask and drop my eyes, fuming.
“Of course. I know all the gossip. My little birdies told me.”
“Shoo! Shoo!” a loud voice comes from outside.
Grandma cackles and holds up one finger. “Excuse me. One moment. Ha, take that, you old coot. This is no longer a palace for seagull squatters. This is my magpie house of horror.”
I turn and look out the front to find seven magpies standing on the grass. When Grandma laughs, they throw their heads back and sing with her. It is eerie.
I’m not sure what it is about magpies, but they look not just dangerous but like they hate you. I do like them, though, even though they have reputations for swooping and causing terror.
Maybe not in a flock so massive.
Grandma comes back in and washes her hands.
“You are mad!” Grandpa grumbles, stomping his boots as he follows her around. “We had a good thing with the gulls.”
“A good thing? Do you remember how many there were? I had to hose the lawn down, there was so much shit on it.”
“But magpies? They’ll peck out your lovely eyes, darling. We need to get rid of them. I love your eyes.”
“Nonsense. They will just chase your damn seagulls elsewhere. And thank you, honey, you have lovely eyes, too.”
He huffs and spots me, a massive grin splitting his face. “Oh, Cordelia. You look so pretty today. Pack life clearly suits you.”
Sebastian lifts a hand and waves. “Gwanpa,” he says around a mouthful of food.
“You are a poor excuse for an alpha. I thought we taught you better. Look at this hot mess. There’s chocolate on your forehead, Sebastian. You aren’t two anymore. It’s a wonder he even managed to pull a beautiful omega like you.”
I blush, but one look at Sebastian with chocolate on his face and fingers, I wonder about it, too, until I remember he’s my Bas.
“Grandpa, you wound me.”
“I do not, you ratbag. When are you going to come and help me paint the house? I’ve got plans, and you promised.”
“I can come down this Friday. We can do it in one day if I bring Devon, Mack, and Elijah.”
“You should bring your alphas, too. Fox and Katsu, right? They should be the ones to come,” Grandma points out. “Besides, I’d like to meet them.”
“What for?” I ask, then wince when everyone turns to look at me.
“Why, to make sure they are good enough for you,” Grandma says with a toothy but savage smile.
“Me?”
Sebastian rolls his eyes. “You didn’t think they were worried about me, did you?”
Well, yes, I kind of had.
Oh, this makes me feel all kinds of vulnerable. It’s so sweet and mildly alarming.
“All right, sit down.”
I sit obediently and watch as Sebastian flops down into his seat and tilts onto the back legs of the chair.
“Tell me, are you happy with the alphas?” Grandma says as she passes me a muffin that is not chocolate. I inhale, and my eyes meet hers in surprise. “Orange poppy.”
“How did you know they were my favourites?” I murmur.
“I know everything,” Grandma says easily and sits opposite me.
“Yes, they are kind and funny, and perfect. Oh, this is delicious.”
“Okay, so, what’s this about Lynn Marino?”
I take a breath, feeling my chest ache, and then I tell her the whole sordid tale from start to finish. Somehow, she manages to coax me into eating two while I tell the story, and with delicious orange poppy muffins in my belly, everything doesn’t feel quite so hopeless.
She stays quiet when I finish, staring out the window behind me, her eyes distant.
“You have to tell them.”
The words fall into the room, silencing everything, making my heart drop heavily. Of course, I have to, but maybe I was hoping she had another way.
“I know, I just want them to get to know me better, to realise I’m not the kind of person who would do that. I just need a little bit more time.”
“It’s like a bandaid, you have to rip it off quickly.”
I hunch down in my seat.
“Cordelia, this town loves you, and everyone here will have your back, no matter what happens. You do understand that, don’t you?
I have often wondered if your mother's habit of choosing a new pursuit every few months has made you feel isolated. I am sorry we didn’t do a better job of making you feel like you fit in. ”
“I do fit in; I love it here,” I protest, but a tiny part of me uneasily thinks she’s just saying what I’ve believed all this time.
“If that were true, I think perhaps you would have just asked for help or told someone you needed a job. Why are you still living with your mother?”
I open my mouth, and the instant answer surprises even me. “I didn’t want her to be sad and alone.”
“Her sadness or aloneness is not your responsibility. You fix what doesn’t need fixing, what you are not responsible for breaking.
You are trying to make up for everything, and you always have done this.
It’s time to stop thinking about what is right and proper and start doing what your heart wants. ”
I shift on my seat, and she sighs.
“What if I don’t know what my heart wants? I mean, I want them, that’s not in question, but I love…” I hesitate, looking at the table so I don’t have to look at Sebastian. “I love Lynn Marino, too.”
“All right, here’s some wisdom for you. End this farce before the last day of this event. Do not let them make a future with you by starting with a lie.”
“I will, I will tell them. Even if they hate me, I will do it,” I say with burning cheeks, feeling about an inch tall.
“Good girl. Now, about this one,” Grandma points a thumb at Sebastian. “How has he been, really? Is he eating enough? Is he happy?”
I smile at Sebastian and tell her the truth. He does skip some meals when he’s working, but he’s very happy.
“Good.”
There’s a knock at the door, and Elijah walks in with Katsu and Fox. Seeing them here sets all kinds of crazy feelings off inside me. Happiness, nervousness, paranoia.
“I can’t stay, just dropping them off,” Elijah says with a grin.
Grandma stands up, and the alpha energy in the room crackles. Fox hunches smaller and lifts his chin in submission, but she’s focused on Katsu.
He doesn’t submit. No, instead, he bows formally.
“Good afternoon, Grandmother.”
She blinks.
“My name is Katsu Blizzard of Pack Blizzard. I am the lead alpha of our pack and have come with no ill will and only peace in my heart for one who will be family one day.”
Grandma’s hand rises to her chest. “Oh, my.”
“Grandma, are you all right? Shall we start chest compressions?” Sebastian asks.
She snaps her gaze to him, her eyes almost blazing. “You rotten child.”
He grins, and she dissolves into laughter.
“Yes, you did well. Keep this one.” She places her hand on Katsu’s shoulder.
I glance at Katsu, feeling even more nervous than before.
Grandma walks over to Fox and looks up at him. He smiles, but it falls, and then he just looks so vulnerable.
“You’ll fit in here perfectly. Welcome home, my child.”
I think Fox’s eyes get glassy, but he nods, mumbles something, and turns away from us. But his scent is warm and light in the air.
“So, this is it? Stamped, sealed, has your approval? Can we go now?” Sebastian says around a straw as he sips his freshly squeezed juice.
“Sit down and have another muffin. I have questions.”
The questions are gruelling and come from both alphas. Grandma and Grandpa know exactly what to ask to have us all squirming.
At the end of the hour, I’m sitting there exhausted, sweating a little, wondering if there is anything else they could possibly ask.
“Well, you kids have a good day.”
I blink. What?
“Just kicking us out, just like that, huh?” Sebastian says, clearly amused.
“Yeah, just like that,” Grandpa says. “It’s time,” he says theatrically.
“Time?”
“Yes,” Grandpa glowers and grins like a villain in a movie. “It’s gull-feeding time.”
“You promised Sofia that you’d stop that,” Sebastian growls.
Grandpa shrugs his shoulders and gives us such a charming smile that it’s almost impossible to stay mad at him.
“They are cute, and now it’s only a few of them. Besides, Sofia is my grandkid, not my parent. I’ll do what I want.”
Sebastian throws open the curtains, and we find thirty or more lined up on the porch rails, fossicking around on the grass. But in amongst them are the magpies.
“I think your plan failed miserably, Grandma,” Sebastian says dryly.
She stares at all the birds, her mouth open in what looks like horror. “Hot damn.”
“It’s an army of birds; world domination is mine. We take the land, the sea, and the skies. Nothing can stop us now, bahahahaha.”
Grandma sits down and grabs Sebastian’s phone. “Find me a cat. Or twenty.”
I choke on a laugh. Grandma loads us up with chocolate muffins and ushers us out the back door.
“There's no point trying to get through the birds; you’ll just get poop on your shoes.”
I hug Grandma and get out of the way, turning back to watch how sweet Sebastian is with her. Fox embraces her, too. She’s surprised by it.
Katsu bows to her again and then kisses her cheek.
“Come paint the house!” Grandpa shouts.
“We’ll be here,” Fox yells back.
Together, we walk slowly, a bit aimless, but then Sebastian leads us down to the beach. We walk along the sand, not talking, just content.
Her words haunt me. Tell them. Tell them before it’s too late.
I open my mouth, but Fox whirls, and I find myself enveloped in a hug.
“What’s this for?” I murmur, holding onto him.
His fingers tangle in my hair. He buries his face in my neck, and he just holds me for several seconds without saying a word.
“I just want to hug you. Do I need another reason?”
I tighten my arms around him and let the scent of him invade me, calm me. He feels like home on a rainy day, like a fire when I’m cold, secret recipe hot chocolate when I’m sad.
He spins us around, and I laugh when we fall down in the sand. He gets up and runs at Sebastian, then at Katsu.
We play, racing after each as the afternoon light warms us. And it’s fun and like nothing I have done in a long time.
Katsu goes and gets us chips and drinks, and we sit on the beach as the sun sets.
“We’re going to stay,” Fox says suddenly.
I whip my head around, staring at him in shock. “What?”
“We’re going to relocate to Sunshine Cove. This is your home. We would never ask you to leave, so we’re going to pack up, and we’re going to move into that house with the nest you love so much, and we’ll live here,” Katsu explains.
Sebastian laughs softly. I look from Katsu to him to Fox.
“You…what?” The words don’t make any sense.
Katsu laughs and pops a chip into my open mouth. Seeing him playful is something that never really grows old.
“We’re going to come and live with you.”
I know I shouldn’t be happy, and there are things, but they are moving here. To Sunshine Cove to be with us.
“Really?”
“Really, really.”
I grab another chip and lean against him. He puts his arm around me.
“It’s all going to be okay; you’ll see. Everything is going to work out.”
And I believe him. I shouldn’t, but I do.
The sunset is a glorious streak of pink and red against the light grey clouds, and then it fades, and dark takes over. The temperature lowers until Katsu stands up and hoists me up with him.
“Let’s get you home.”
“Home?”
“Home is wherever you are,” Fox purrs as he walks past.
I don’t think it’s possible to be this happy, and though I know a storm is coming, right now, I think maybe we can weather it.
At least I hope we can.
Until I have to tell them everything, then I’m not sure what will happen, but maybe our foundations will be strong enough.