Chapter 21 Derrick
twenty-one
Derrick
“So you brought a girl who doesn't even know what she is to my door? And I’m just supposed to explain everything to her?”
Pa hits the nail on the head, and I shift uncomfortably in my spot, leaning over the counter.
This is exactly what we came to do. We never met enough Omegas to know how to take care of one, and we definitely never met one who had to be explained what she is.
I don’t fucking know how to break this to her.
Major balls his hands into fists. “She needed to see what it all means. This place, the community. She’d run away, thinking I’m crazy.”
He thought about this more than I did. My fears were about how to explain her own biology to her. I never thought she might reject it all and want to leave. What would we even do if she tried? Fuck, we can’t let her go, but if she decides to leave for Dallas and forget our names, I can’t stop her.
“And you think bringing her here is much better? These folks haven’t seen an unmated Omega in twenty years!”
Major flinches, and I grow worried that Pa is right and this whole thing is a mistake.
Bringing her here felt like the right move, but our brains are muddled with childhood memories. We think this is the safest place in the world, and we wanted her to feel a fraction of that. I never meant to bring her somewhere where people would ogle her like a zoo animal.
“Shit.” I can’t help but curse.
Major gazes me over his shoulder before returning to Pa. “I don’t have medical journals. I know the town hall has some that would help.”
Dad nods. Up until now, they have let Pa take the lead in saying what is on their minds, but I wish they could understand what is going through ours.
We shouldn’t be the ones who explain this to her.
It’s not fair that she doesn’t know. I rub my temple and try to think through the situation, wondering if we should grab one of the medical journals before she gets back and present her with facts.
“We also found we had word from another pack that lives close to Willow Ridge about an Omega’s traffic ring,” Major adds.
The temperature in the house changes. All three stand in alert. “What do you mean?” Dad asks.
“We don’t know enough,” I say before Major has to confess once again that he doesn’t have all the information. “But it seems that Omegas are being kidnapped and sold off. And it has been happening for a long time.”
“Veda is in danger,” Major adds to make it obvious to everyone around. “We can’t trust her grandfather. He told enough lies not to deserve the benefit of the doubt. We can’t trust other packs not to be working with the ring.”
Tension cracks in the air, and I find myself holding a breath.
It’s against everything I believe not to have Veda glued to my side right now.
Any moment she’s away, it’s a moment I’m fearing for her life.
Just now, I told myself I couldn’t do anything if she decided to leave us, but I’m making a liar out of myself because there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to protect her.
“Okay, let's all calm down,” Pop says. “I say you did right, son. You could have talked to her before bringing her here, but if you can’t trust anyone, you can trust us. Your instincts are correct.”
“We don’t want to alert the other packs,” I make sure to add.
Every eye turns to me, and it’s crazy to think I was once comfortable with attention. I crack my neck, turning my eyes to my brother, but his mouth is set in a line.
“Bringing people here will catch the attention of traffickers.”
Pa shakes his head. “How do you think people will feel when we tell them they can’t bring their kids to see a new Omega?”
“Veda is not a prize to be won,” my brother grits out.
“No, she’s not,” Pa agrees. “But this means a lot to our people, and I can’t see how we can keep the news from spreading.”
Are we about to see a bunch of packs arriving back home and trying to scent-match with Veda? Every muscle in my body tenses, and I know right there that’s not going to work for me. I won’t sit and watch Alphas showing up to Veda like fucking peacocks begging to be chosen.
“We can talk about it later,” Dad says, sensing how this doesn’t feel good to us.
“We know a few things about her upbringing,” Major says. “I’m sure St. James is a Beta. I’d know if he was not, but he treated Veda badly. Real bad.”
“So the question is, did he treat her badly because he’s an abusive asshole or because he was trying to suppress her pheromones?” Dad sums it up.
Neither of the alternatives is good enough for me, and for the first time, I know right in the pit of my stomach I’m capable of killing a man.
The image of St. James bleeding on my feet doesn’t bring me any feelings.
I could watch that man rot and do nothing to prevent it, not even to give him the dignity of a grave.
“Veda is a wonder,” Pa says with more tenderness than I’m used to hearing from him. “Not just because she’s the first unmated Omega we’ve seen in a long while, but because it’s truly a wonder for a neglected Omega to perfume as she does.”
Anyone can see that. There’s a disconnect between what she had to endure and her sweet perfume.
My throat closes, and no words come out.
I feel uncomfortable as my dads look at us like we did something wrong.
We weren’t hiding Veda. I understand that time is running out.
Fuck, we’ll need to make peace with the fact that she’s going to scent-match right in front of us.
“All I want is to keep her safe,” Major says.
“You don’t understand enough to keep her safe,” Pa replies.
“Maybe because Omegas weren’t around when I was old enough?” he spats in reply, and I wince. “How the fuck am I supposed to know how to deal with that and a fucking trafficking ring?”
“Enough swearing, Major.” Dad makes his way across the table and puts a hand on Major’s chest.
My own chest is protected by my arms curling in front of me. Whatever this is, I don’t want it. I know Dad, he loves us to feel all the feelings, and that won’t work for me. At all.
“You came for help, and we’re here to help. You want the best for Veda, right?”
“Of course.”
“Did you scent-match?” he asks, and we both flinch at once.
He knows we didn’t. He would be able to tell if his sons were mated. When the silence stretches, he asks once again, “Scent-matching happens fast. She’s been with you for two weeks now. Are you mated?”
Major’s hands close into a fist, and he breathes out tension even as the word rolls off his lips. “No.”
Dad flicks his eyes at me before turning back to my brother. “So that means letting her go.”
It’s world-shattering, bile rising up my throat. I knew this, I fucking knew this, but the blow still hurts. My teeth ground as I try not to show any emotion after my father’s words. It feels fucking wrong that Veda’s chance for happiness is not on the ranch with us.
Fuck, I got used to seeing her in her cute outfits going to feed the chickens. Her smile as she looks at the golden acre. That land is more alive because she’s on it, and all that is gone now. It's all happening so fucking fast.
Major nods, his posture tense, but that’s all he shows.
“Maybe you have time. Maybe she’ll scent-match with you. Who knows?” Pop smiles, but I don’t.
Everyone in this room knows that’s virtually impossible at this point.
The temperature climbs, and I feel suffocated inside the cabin.
I hate to be reminded of what we missed out on by never experiencing matehood.
I’m usually good at pretending I don’t care.
The situation was permanent, and thinking about an Omega that doesn’t exist didn’t do me any favors.
It’s easy to forget about a mystical creature I don’t know.
But how can I forget about Veda?
I can’t stay still. I can’t look in my dad's eyes anymore and watch the pity in their gaze. I swallow gravel and pain, and I stumble out of the cabin to leave.
It’s childish to leave my big brother to deal with our parents, but my whole body tingles with awareness and shame, and I can’t take it anymore.
The more I put space between me and my parents’ home, the more I feel stupid for not holding on.
I know Major feels like he needs to shoulder every responsibility, and I just proved him right.
My feet decide my path. I’m not looking where I’m going, only that I desperately need space. The voices in my head are loud until I hear a sniffle, and I know right away who it belongs to. I lift my eyes and find Veda watching me with tears running down her cheeks.
The instinct to protect hammers inside and takes over. Why is she crying? It’s a fucking bad idea, but before I stop myself, I take her hands in mine. “Come with me.”
I’m in so much trouble.