“OK, darling girl. Let's get you to school.”
Chapter 9
“Hi, I’m Riley Taylor,” a beautiful woman with long red hair pulled back into a ponytail said, approaching us with her hand held out. “And this is my colleague, Candy Baker.”
“Candy Baker?” a little voice piped up. I looked down in time to see Evie wrinkle her nose. “You make candy here?”
“Ah, no, my mum kinda had some weird ideas about appropriate names,” the curvy woman said, dropping down to Evie’s level. Her smile was dazzling as she held out her hand. “And what’s your name, munchkin?”
“I’m not a munchkin!”
“Evie…” I growled. Riley’s eyebrow jerked up at that, her eyes seeming to take everything in.
“My name’s Evie McGregor,” my daughter said primly, then shook Candy’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“And she’s a complete handful,” I said, placing my hands on my daughter’s shoulders.
“Nice to meet you, Miss McGregor,” Candy said with a wink. “So, your mum is going to have to answer lots of boring questions.” Evie’s shoulders slumped at that. “Buuut, we have a special area for cool kids like you. There’s toys and a Nintendo Switch with lots of awesome games there. If you wanted to, we could go and hang out in there while Mum talks to Riley?”
“Can I, Mum?” Evie’s head whipped around to look up at me. “I can, can’t I? It’ll be boring in the other room and I don’t want to answer questions. You made me do that last time and—”
“And you need to take a breath,” I said, in my best mum voice. Quiet, but vibrating with all the steely determination a beta could manage. She stared at me, her eyes narrowing, her lips thinning, her shoulders becoming tight, right before she— “But yes, if that’s OK with Ms Baker?”
“Candy, please. Ms Baker is my mother, and, frankly, really scary,” the woman said with a wink. “We like to do some observations in a low stress environment. Colt’s great with kids…”
Almost summoned by her words, a very tall, very muscular man came strolling in, hands shoved into his jeans’ pockets.
“Hey,” he said, in the kind of deep, resonant voice I’d become all too attuned to, pulling out one hand and offering it for me to shake. “I’m Colt. I’m Riley’s mate and I tend to help the ladies with the intake interviews.”
I gripped his hand quickly, but pulled away as soon as I could. His touch burned in a way I understood all too well. Alpha. I saw the bites on his neck and Riley’s, which was more than enough evidence of their relationship, but the way they stood together? They were maintaining a polite distance, but their bodies angled towards each other rather than the rest of the room, which told me a lot.
“And you must be Miss Evie.”
My eyes widened as I watched Evie respond. She stepped away from Candy like a child under a spell, staring up at the man with a rapt expression. It wasn’t because he was a man. Evie didn’t really like being around beta men, not unless they were Taylor. Male teachers, men at social gatherings, they were the ones she tended to butt heads with the most. I watched her square her stance, her arms folding across her chest as she stared him down, and Colt, he went curiously still. He met her gaze head on, no challenge there, just quiet, constant confidence.
“You’re getting this?” Candy muttered to Riley.
“Oh yeah, I’m getting it.” Riley turned her focus to me. “I think you’re in exactly the right place. Colt and Candy will take Evie for a while so we can have a chat about the services we offer and then you can see if you’re interested in pursuing things with us. Come through.”
We walked past a receptionist who gave us a warm smile, then through a big spartan space that was all gleaming white and stainless steel.
“This is our lab,” she explained, “but the offices are through here. Can I get you something to drink?”
“Ah, just a water,” I said.
She ushered me inside her office and then produced two bottles, placing one before me.
“So”—her fingers flickered over her keyboard as she pulled up something on her laptop— “from Dr Forrest’s notes, it looks like we might have a baby alpha on our hands.” She sat back then and frowned slightly, as what she’d just said sunk in. “Has anyone done genetic testing for Evie?”
“She doesn’t have a triple sex chromosome,” I replied, because we were on well-worn territory now. “She’s not intersex. She doesn’t show any signs of being transgender. I’ve been told genetically she’s female and when psychologists and myself have talked to her about it, she seems definite in confirming that’s what she is.”
“Right, right…” the woman said, her finger scrolling as she flicked through the reports Carmen had sent her. “So we’ve got a genuine female alpha.” When she looked back at me, I was surprised to see a look of exultation on her face, one she quickly apologised for. “I’m sorry, my specialisation is in genetic issues specific to alphas, betas and omegas. I was a beta myself and I transitioned late in life to becoming an omega.”
She paused then, blinking before going on.
“I still really struggle with that label. But yeah, when some genetic anomaly walks in the door, I get excited, but…” She smiled then, a soft and gentle thing which was completely at odds to her previous response. “But she’s not an anomaly to you. Evie’s your baby.”
“Ah, yeah…” My throat felt thick and swollen so I grabbed the bottle of water and took a long mouthful. “She’s only nine, but…”