Chapter 21 Sofia
Sofia
The dress is one I bought for myself with my earnings.
I was going to wear it out to dinner with Pack Collins, but it never felt right, so it just sat in my closet.
I was so proud of the fact that I’d earned the money myself.
Funnily enough, I was more excited about buying and owning a dress than I was about Pack Collins.
It’s pale pink with a sweetheart neckline and an asymmetrical skirt that is made of a material that floats.
It’s just so delicate and feminine and pretty.
I’ve never owned anything like it before.
I’m not sure why I’m wearing it today, only that I want to look nice for them, and it feels like something powerful. Imogen has taken Danger again, so he doesn’t have to sit through whatever diabolical plans my mother has come up with.
With a last glance in the mirror, I go downstairs. Mum made Pack Hart wait for me at the Sandy Heart Café. When I get downstairs, I find another blast from the past. My mother’s best friend Ophelia.
She’s still got the blackest hair, though now it is streaked with silver; her dark eyes take in everything. She’s just as strong as she’s ever been.
“You’ve come home,” she says and looks me up and down.
“I have.”
“How did you find the world?”
I shake my head, remembering the girl I used to be. “It was pretty awful.”
Ophelia grins. “It can be if you’re in the wrong place with the wrong people. How does it feel to be home?”
I glance around. “I can breathe again.”
She opens her arms wide, and I trip down the stairs and fall into her embrace. “We missed you so very much, no one more than your mother.”
I sniffle. “I missed everyone, too.”
We hug for a couple of minutes and then she sets me back, wiping under my eyes to clean up my eyeliner.
“Right, so you’re a target for the Pack Makers now?” Her scarlet-painted lips curve at my expense.
“I am. Do you know any way out of it?”
“Nope. And I wouldn’t, anyway. I think it’s good for you.” She brushes down her ribs and over her hips, straightening her suit jacket.
“You do?”
“Absolutely. You don’t belong out there in the world; you belong here, and if you can find an alpha or three who can help you decide to stay, I am all for it.”
I groan. “I feel like this whole town is trying to set us up.”
“Yes, I really can’t deny that. Sucks to be you.” Her voice is thick with sarcasm.
She puts an arm around my shoulders and guides me down the front steps. “So, tell me about your alphas.”
“You already know Elijah, Devon, and Mack.”
“I know, but I want to hear you gush about how perfect they are.”
My cheeks turn bright red. “That was mean.”
“It’s like no time has passed at all. I still remember the poem you wrote about Mack’s lovely eyes. Brown eyes stir my soul, warm smiles and lingering looks, oh, do you look at me, beautiful boy with the heart-shaped mole.”
“You are dead to me.”
She laughs so hard she needs to stop and compose herself. “You weren’t good at poetry, but you were damn good at being in love.”
I sniff and wait for her to finish chortling.
“Why do you even remember that?”
“Oh, I like to recite it every now and then when I’m getting ready to pitch an idea to some big CEO-type alpha. It really makes me stop seeing the suits and powerful auras and see the little boys with their heart-shaped moles.”
“Aunt Ophelia!” I whine.
“As calm as the sun beating down in summer, I wish I could still my random heart hummer.”
I cover my face with my hands. “Oh, god. It was awful.”
“I am so glad you never read it to him.” She wipes tears from the corner of her eyes.
“Me, too!”
We turn onto Main Street, and I can see a sizable crowd gathered near the café. All of a sudden, I just want to run in the other direction, just bail out of this mess.
“Are you nervous?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because they are larger than life, and I can’t understand why they would want me,” I say with perfect honesty.
“I can see why.”
“I don’t even have a job.”
“Not yet, but you’ll find something. You, Sofia, are like a cat, you always land on your feet.”
I huff.
“Listen to me; sometimes we have to walk through a lot of seaweed before we get to the water.”
I blink at her, then slowly smile. “You can’t take Sunshine out of the omega.”
“Hell no, you can’t.” She throws an arm over my shoulders and hugs me tight.
Aunt Ophelia kisses my cheek. “I’m heading out of town, but I needed to see you. Don’t you dare disappear on me again, little omega.”
“I won’t.”
“Good. I’ll be back in a few weeks. Tell your mum she owes me a block of her best chocolate.”
“I’ll see you soon.”
“Love you, sweetheart.”
“Love you, too.”
She doesn’t linger, just turns and walks on those impossibly tall stiletto heels back to the black limo waiting for her.
Her black dress makes her look like she’s made out of all sharp angles, and her hair is cut in a sharp bob at her chin.
She was born here, but she doesn’t really belong here anymore. She’s thriving in the city.
I turn and face my mother who is standing outside the café. On the roof above, one single seagull watches the events with a critical eye. I really hope he doesn’t bring his mates.
“Attention. Welcome to the second date. I hope all my matches are enjoying each other’s company. We have one week left until Valentine’s Day and the final decision. Will your match be your Valentine? Will you find love? I hope you still have your love rocks; you’re going to need them.”
There is a smattering of cheers, and people seem more enthusiastic this time. I work my way through the crowd, smiling at people who recognise me and say hello.
“Your second date is to take your match to the place that means the most to you. Last week, we did speed getting to know the fun parts of you. This week, it’s time to get deep and vulnerable and show something more.”
“What if I don’t have a deep and vulnerable side?” an alpha calls out.
Everyone laughs.
“We all know that you do, Shane. So, dig deep and show that pretty omega who she will be getting before she high tails it back to Yarrenberry.”
“The winners of the last round were Yolanda Mills and her alpha Grigori. Congratulations. You get a candlelit dinner at the end of the date today.”
I look up and see Sebastian frowning at Yolanda. Surely, he doesn’t still have feelings? I think Sebastian is just angry with everyone these days.
“Go! Enjoy the day. The group that can prove where they have been with some happy snaps of their date will get a reward on date three.”
As the crowd disperses, I thread through until I see them.
They aren’t looking at me, so I can observe them in peace for several long seconds until Devon turns my way and stiffens.
His movement triggers the other two, and, in seconds, I’m left hopelessly, helplessly waiting for them because I can’t walk away, and I can’t find any reasons to even try.
Not when they are looking like they want to drop to their knees and devour me.
I smooth down the sides of my skirt, which draws their attention down and then back up.
Mack is the first to break. He strides over to me and pulls me into a hug, kissing me. My heart thunders. He just kissed me in front of everyone. Why aren’t I upset? Because this isn’t fake anymore. This is real, and I’ve just been in denial.
“You look incredible.”
Devon drapes an arm over my shoulder. “You really do. Edible.”
“Devon!” I hiss, glancing around.
He laughs as Elijah runs his finger down my cheek, staring into my eyes.
“You are the most beautiful omega.”
The pleasure his words bring I can feel all the way down to my toes.
“You kids better get moving.”
Kids? I wince but smile at Harry as he walks past us to talk to my mum.
“Who wants to go first?”
“I will,” Elijah says.
He leads us to my father’s restaurant just one street away and then behind it in the car park.
“This is where I slept for a couple of days when I first moved back to Sunshine. All I had was my car and some clothes and a bag that had some important things.”
Elijah looks at me and smiles.
“Your pops found me one morning, dragged me inside, cooked this meal that I couldn’t even manage to put a dent in, then offered me a job.
I’d never been homeless before, and I certainly had never had to live it rough, but I was still a year off being able to access my inheritance.
There was no way I was going home. So, I said yes, and he calmly and patiently taught me what it is to love cooking.
” He laughs. “I still remember the day he told me he was your father. He knew who I was, but I hadn’t put two and two together yet. I almost passed out.”
He reaches out and takes my hand.
“I came back because of the memory of one night, but your pops made this place my home.”
“Eli,” I don’t know what else to say to him to convey all the feels that are crushing me, but he somehow seems to know.
Mack pulls Devon in around us, holds up his phone, and says, “To second chances.”
I murmur the words as Elijah pulls me back into his arms, hugging me from behind.
“You have an amazing family.”
“I know.”
My pops saved Elijah, and I wonder if he did it because he knew or suspected this would be the outcome.
“Oh, my turn,” Devon says. He takes us to the pub and stares at it. “I know you’ve been wondering about the difference between Seb and I. Why it’s a bit more strained?”
“I had, yes,” I say cautiously.
“This is where I told him that I had feelings for you, that those feelings hadn’t changed in four years, that they won’t change, and whether he likes it or not, if I ever got my chance with you, I was going to take it.”
I wince. “How did that go?”
“He hit me,” Devon laughs. “We tussled, and then I think he set it in the back of his mind, and we just started doing less together, still best friends, just with our own lives.”
“Didn’t that hurt your feelings?”
“No, because if I had been with Seb, I never would have sat down next to Elijah, who was having a drink, and we wouldn’t have met Mack, who was working behind the bar at the time.”
Devon cups my cheek. “So, this is my vulnerable place. Where I finally told my best friend how I felt, knowing it would change things. Knowing that my life would forever be different. I was scared I would lose him, your family, and you, but I couldn’t keep it in any longer.”
“I’m sorry.”
Devon smiles. “I’m not.”
“Okay, happy snaps,” Mack says.
We lean in and smile, though I want to cry for them.
“My turn,” Mack says. “We aren’t going far.”
He leads us back to Main Street and to a spot against the railing where you can see the whole cove.
“This is the spot where my life changed. I was looking at you down there walking on the beach with Asher, Felix, and Cordelia. I was wishing I was with you when my uncle grabbed my shoulder. He turned me around and said that I needed to come with him. There’d been an accident.”
“Mack,” I murmur and lean into his side, holding onto him.
“For two days, I was so happy, but it all came crashing down so fast. He dragged me away. I didn’t fight him; I was too stunned, but when I finally understood we were leaving, I broke free.
I wasn’t going to be able to get to you.
So instead, I went and got a piece of you, that drawing, my parents’ photos, and a couple of things that meant everything to me.
But this is the place where I was both the happiest I’ve ever been and the most devastated. ”
This is Mack, raw, open, and bleeding.
“Thank you.” I cling to his hand, refusing to let go.
Devon sidles in, and we all look at the camera.
“All right, little omega, your turn.”
I hesitate because there are so many options. In the end, I lead them down Rice Avenue and to the tiny, little bookshop that also acts as a library.
I push open the door and see Marla Duthink behind the counter exactly the same as the last time I was here, except she looks terribly old now.
“Marla,” I say and step towards her.
“I’ve been waiting to see when you’d come to see me.” She opens her arms, and I rush into them, hugging her tight. “Pun intended, of course. I’m sorry things didn’t work out for you, but I’m so glad you are home.”
“I brought some people to meet you.”
“You did?”
I turn to my alphas. “This is Marla. She owns Sea Change, the library and bookstore. Marla is the reason I found the courage to leave Sunshine.”
They know her. She’s the ancient, reclusive, grumpy beta with terrible eyesight who the kids call a witch. She’s got a whip-sharp temper and a vile sense of humour, but she’s one of the best people I know.
“This is my friend,” I say to them. “But this is the place where I decided to go and live for me and stop waiting for you. It’s the place where, I guess you can say, I grew up.”