Chapter 4 #2
I exhale roughly, but it doesn’t help me. Suddenly, something is as clear as day, something I’ve been pretending is true for a few years. I thought I was over him, but I'm not.
I’m not. At all.
“I, uh, yes. It would be good to have some fun, a couple of dates. Sounds good,” I manage to get out as I watch him pick up my hand and stroke his thumb across my knuckles.
“What happened to the pack you were writing your parents about? Did you cut the dead weight?”
Reality slams into me with the force of a train. I shut down, stepping away from him and putting on a smile that is a mask if ever there was one.
“So, I’ll see you there, right, Devon? Sebastian must be really happy to have you here.”
Devon scowls. And that is the line that has always kept us apart. Sebastian. He made the promise; I just got to witness it. Granted, he was seventeen at the time, and everyone has probably forgotten, but I cried for three weeks after I witnessed that.
“Rebel, don’t run away-”
“Not running. Have to get ready. For my date,” I say with a huge fake smile. “Where is my Danger?”
“Downstairs with Elijah,” he says with a sigh.
“Oh, good. I guess I’ll see you around,” I say in a voice that’s too high.
Devon scowls and stalks towards me, but I dart out of the room and into the guest room, locking the door behind me, then I continue retreating until my legs hit the edge of the bed, and I sit down heavily.
“It’s okay. It’s going to be fine. All teens have crushes. It’s a passing thing.” But every time I think of the way he said there were hearts everywhere, my face flames. But that then leads me down this slippery slide to his murmured ‘shame.’ What did that mean?
“Forget it. Get dressed and ready. Get it together, sunshine.”
It takes me half an hour to get ready. I walk downstairs in my jean shorts and sandals and that off the shoulder pink top Mum insisted I wear. It actually suits me, though I never would have thought to pick it out for myself.
Sebastian hisses at Mum and struggles free of her grabby hands. “What are you doing, woman? Stop it!”
“I just need to get that spot off your face. Come here and let me clean it.”
Sebastian roars and struggles while Devon, Mack, and Elijah watch on with amused smiles.
Those three smiles fall when they see me.
Mack’s eyes drop down my body and crawl back up, while Elijah chokes on the apple he’s eating.
Devon just stares at me. He’s got my puppy curled up on his chest again, sound asleep.
I’m starting to wonder if that will work on omegas; it looks like it might.
“I like this look, too,” Devon murmurs.
He’s going to be the death of me, I just know it.
“Hey! Stop! Do you have octopus arms? I’m a grown alpha, stop trying to put your spit on my face! Have some dignity!” Sebastian spins away and climbs up on the bench, his top and hair messy, he spends the next minute trying to fix it, while my mother circles him.
I can’t help it; I start to laugh and end up leaning on the door frame to hold myself up as Sebastian and Mum go around and around the kitchen. It ends when Pops throws Sebastian a wet flannel, and Dad grabs Mum's shoulders and turns her away.
“Are you ready, boys?” Pops asks the pack. “Pack Hart, are you ready to find your omega?”
Elijah looks sick; he glances at me with a look that can only be translated as an SOS. Well, the joke's on him because I can’t even save myself.
“We’re ready, Franco,” Devon says with another look at me.
“Dad, you have to stop her from doing these things; it’s humiliating!” Sebastian snaps. “Licking my face.”
“I didn’t lick your face.”
“You may as well have!” he shouts and shudders dramatically.
I snort a laugh.
“I need you to look perfect. I found you the perfect omega.”
“Argh! Can you just stay out of my love life?”
“No.”
Sebastian draws himself up and then collapses, defeated. “We still have that deal, right? One event, three dates. If I don’t choose this omega, you let me go and leave me to find love on my own. No more interfering.”
“That was an option?” I say into the room.
My mother stares at him. “Yes, that’s the deal.”
He shudders. “Fine. Let’s get this over with. I can keep an eye out for whoever stole Roy’s wallet.” He jumps off the bench and holds his arm out to Mum. “Shall we?”
She slips her arm around his. “Let’s do this, my eldest son.”
I walk to Devon, stopping awkwardly in front of him. “I can take him.”
“I’m happy to hold him; he’s asleep and comfortable.”
I look at my little dachshund and bite my cheek. It would be mean to wake him up, wouldn’t it?
“Come on, walk with me. I’d like to catch up with you,” Mack says smoothly. He puts a hand on my back and guides me out of the house. I can’t get away from him; I don’t even know if I can speak in sentences.
We walk in silence, following the throng of people that are heading for Main Street.
“What was the city like?”
“Lonely.” I answer before I can stop myself and then wish I could take the admission back.
“You didn’t have people?”
I shake my head. “The world isn’t like Sunshine.”
“No, it’s not. I hate to think of you being alone, though.”
My stomach flutters wildly. I’m too conscious of how close he is and the fact that he’s so much bigger than me now.
Elijah’s gold hair catches my attention as he bounces past. He too looks nothing like the teen I met all those years ago. He’s gorgeous with huge, blue, vulnerable eyes and tanned skin.
“I was fine. It’s what I needed, anyway.”
“Nobody needs to be alone, Secret.”
I suck in air at the nickname that I’d almost forgotten. We were each other’s secrets, and he called me that for the weeks we spent getting to know each other. Where interest turned into me scribbling his name in hearts on my desk.
“I have to…” I look up and lock eyes with my past, and he just smiles kindly back.
“Sofia Sol, when were you going to tell me you were back in town?” Cordelia Lake, my best friend since birth, screeches in a sound I have heard a million times before.
She runs on the spot, her black hair flying as she lets loose another screech that could shatter glass.
She has the most beautiful brown eyes. “Are the Sunshine Omegas back together?”
Asher and Felix flank her; their ethereal beauty is striking.
The fraternal twins look similar enough that sometimes they can pass for each other, and only close family can tell.
Felix is a rare male omega, while Asher is female, and their personalities are as different as you can get.
Felix is an artist, but Asher is a fighter, an adventurer who would live in the ocean if she could.
Both have light brown hair and arresting gold-green eyes.
“You guys got old!” I say, teasing them.
“Sofia!” my dad says with a laugh.
“Get your ass over here so I can inspect those wrinkles properly!” Cordie shouts. “I need me some Sofia squishies!”
We collide in a mass of arms. The twins joining us. It’s been too long, and text and email just aren’t the same thing; even video chatting can’t hold a candle to this feeling.
I have so much I want to tell them, but right now, in this minute, I’m just glad to be back.
“Oh, man, life’s about to get real fun now,” I hear Elijah murmur, and when I open my eyes, he’s staring at me with a look on his face that I can’t interpret, but it makes me feel good. Scared but really good.