I sighed as Jay and Claire sat down, placing platters of cold chicken and cut up vegetables before us. Perfect for chatting around the table.
Jay was looking at me with understanding, and I realised now was the time to explain our world to my mate.
“I’ll explain what I mean, but be patient while I do, okay? It’ll sound strange to you.”
She grabbed a piece of chicken and nodded. “Okay.”
“All right… well, in our town, there hasn’t been a single female born in over fifty years, did you know that?”
“Yeah, Claire told me.”
“Good. Well the way the elders handled that had never been done before, but in retrospect, was kind of a brilliant move. They asked us, when we reached twenty-one, to make groups of triads. But we had to choose one Alpha, one Beta and one Omega for each family.”
“And they are—other than ancient Greek letters?” Nevaeh smiled as she picked up a carrot and crunched on it.
“They’re a…” I wasn’t sure exactly how to explain it, especially to a human.
I looked to Claire for help and she smiled. “They’re a classification, so to speak. For size, job and personality traits.”
“Okay, so you’re an Omega?” Nevaeh looked over at me, but Claire sat forward in her chair and took over the conversation.
“After you see it once or twice, you’ll recognise it each time. An Alpha is the largest of the three. He’ll be the most possessive and physically huge, like Dex and Grayson. But they’re teddy bears. Gray even more so, actually. A Beta is next. They’re the Alpha’s right-hand man. Slightly smaller but still fast and strong, and also extremely protective.”
“And an Omega is the smallest and the nicest?” Nevaeh asked, smiling at me. “Is that why you thought being an Omega was a curse?”
I shrugged. “Yeah, what can I say? I hated being the smallest of my family, both as a kid, and now. I can’t run, hunt or lift the way Gray and Aaron do. I could train every day for the rest of my life, and I’ll never be as strong as Gray is naturally.”
Nevaeh smiled openly this time. “But if that makes you the nicest one, why would you care about all their puffy muscles?”
I laughed.
“They’re not puffy muscles, beautiful. But I appreciate the sentiment.”
Nevaeh looked away and I realised my error. “Oh, sorry. That just slipped out.”
When she looked up, her gaze was harder. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Anything.”
“What am I doing here, really? I mean… I came to visit Claire, but there’s something else, isn’t there? And you know. Can you tell me?”
The heat of her awareness and focus bore down on me.
I didn’t really want to tell her, or risk having her be mad at me. I wanted to sit in this moment where she was looking at me, with a clear, open face, wanting my help.
But it wasn’t meant to be.
I had to tell her the truth.
“I can. But you have to promise you won’t… freak out.”
Claire laughed. “Oh, she’s gonna freak out, Brad. If you can’t handle it, you can leave and I’ll tell her.”
I straightened up and tried not to snarl at the doctor.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Then tell her.” Claire indicated to Nevaeh with a flick of her hand, who waited patiently for me to spill the beans.