The window slides open next to me. “What have you come to confess today, child?” the preacher man asks, although, his voice seems different today than normal.
“I uh.” I pause, playing with the fringe on my shirt. Anything but the truth. “I’ve missed church for a while, suffering through the anniversary of losing my mother, learning that things aren’t the way I always thought they were. Everything kind of hit me all at once, and I just wanted to hide away.”
“Yes. Loss takes a lot out of us, but that’s when we need God the most, when we need his guidance. Skipping church doesn’t mean that he ignored you, just that you ignored him. If you want him to heal you, then you must let him back in,” he says.
But I don’t need to let him in to heal me. My life was sloppy, and I was lost and confused, but that was months ago. My life is good now. Darrell continues to do his job keeping the secrets of the world. Mitch has taken it upon himself to teach me how to fight, saying that if I ever get into a situation that one of them couldn’t be around, then I need to at least know how to get away from the situation. Dash and Colson graduated high school a week ago, taking turns helping me with my studies so I could graduate too. I held my head high when my name was called to walk across the stage. Even though I wanted to shrink away from embarrassment.
I learned that David and Sadie don’t actually get along, and I’ve started writing to David, so he has some sort of friend, even if he never writes me back. I avoid putting any details in the letters that could be misconstrued in case Sadie’s reading them. I just offer my friendship, telling him that us Omegas need to stick together.
So even though this preacher man tells me I’ve lost my way, he couldn’t be more wrong. I know who I am, and I wear it with pride now. I’m the Omega of four strong Alphas, each and everyone of them would burn the world down for me.
The herbs Darrell found, have done what we wanted them to. I’ve yet to conceive a child, and I’ve had four heat cycles since I started taking them. I drink them in tea form, one cup a night to ensure that they stay in my system, especially since my heat cycle isn’t on a regular track.
I ignore the rest of whatever the preacher man said and finish my confessional, feeling like I accomplished nothing. It’s not like I can confess that I’m no longer a good girl, or am I? I giggle at my own stupid joke as I open the confessional door and find my way out of there. Knowing full well that I have a harem of men waiting for me just outside the church doors.
There’s a question that burns in my soul lately. I’ve learned as much as I can about being an Omega. But that’s only part of who I am, so what does an Omega Princess have to offer?
I’ve taken it upon myself to create a permanent nest, I hated that I kept ruining sheets, towels, clothes, and whatever I could get my hands on. I have so much money now that using part of it to reconstruct the basement made perfect sense. I couldn’t hire someone from the outside to come create a large nest area, so my guys all took turns helping me build the perfect area. They weren’t allowed to decorate it, just build it. So now our basement is my nesting area, and none of them are allowed down there unless invited; it’s my space, not theirs.
Customizing a bed was the hardest part. There was an area in the back corner that could fit a large bed, and I had one made. Twelve foot wide and twelve foot long. It’s massive, and I love it. It’s not a normal bed though, it's where my nest is, therefore it's low to the ground like I wanted. There’s a mesh curtain that blurs out the area but still lets in the light, keeping it slightly private but allowing me to still see my mates. I have it pulled back, tied to the poles at the corner of the bed.
My heat cycle drives me wild, but it makes them nearly insane. I’m only ever fully sedated after all my mates have been with me, and even still that only lasts for a few hours, then I’m up and ready for more. Once I fully gave into my heat cycle and allowed them to spend the time with me, well lets just say that we don’t leave the basement for days. They’ll go upstairs and get food and try to feed me, but all I want is them. I can’t even sleep without them, which makes for awkward sleeping arrangements, especially when three of them are related. When my heat cycle takes over, I don’t really care about who lays where, as long as they are all there. Usually we end up in some sort of tangled pile in my nest, passed out from exhaustion.
The only thing I have to watch out for is Colson, he’s been pushing the other Alphas a little further than normal. Mitch and Dash fall in line easy enough since we all live together. Colson still leaves to go home here and there, and when he returns to us, that’s when he challenges Darrell.
My heat should be starting again soon, and as soon as it’s over, I’m getting to work on figuring out my life. What does my life entail outside of my Alphas? That’s one thing I need to figure out, but how? I’ve gone to the library a few times since learning that Neill is my father. I really don’t want to talk to him about it, but knowing him could help me figure out who I am.
“Lolli?” I hear Colson at the top of the stairs, keeping his distance. I always need to be down here right before my heat starts; it's annoying yet soothing.
“Yeah?” I holler up at him, pushing off the chair that I currently sit in.
“I’ve gotta head over to my parents for a day or so. Can you come up here?” he says as I frown. I hate when he leaves. Climbing the stairs to meet him means I have to say goodbye, again. Reluctantly I climb the stairs though.
He’s dressed differently today. His usual jeans, white tee, and leather jacket are gone. Replaced with black slacks, a soft cream button up, and a gray two button jacket. “So fancy,” I say, giving him a quick whistle. His sandy blonde hair is slicked back and tame versus the wild ride it's usually on. However he still wears his large black framed glasses, perched perfectly on his nose, outlining his gorgeous green eyes with flecks of oranges.
“I have a meeting to attend,” he says, opening his arms to me. “My parents know that I’ve mated, and we have to start working on the legality of it.”
I tuck myself into him, hugging him tightly. “What does that mean?”
“It means that you’ll have to come out of hiding and be announced as my mate soon.” I feel his voice vibrate against my cheek.
I push off him. “I can’t come out into the public like that,” I say, furrowing my brows. “The danger you guys keep talking about, putting me under a spotlight as your mate, won’t that put me at risk?”
“We have to announce you as his mate before the town starts talking.” I hear Darrell from behind me. “The keeper of secrets can only do so much.” He offers me a smile, letting his cheeks wrinkle around his icy blue eyes. I notice he’s also dressed like Colson. Wearing a pair of tan slacks, with a sky blue button up, and a black suit jacket.
“Are you going with him?” I ask, stepping away from Colson.
“We all are.” I turn to see Dash, looking more like his father than ever. Sporting a slicked back hairstyle, navy slacks, white button up, and a tan suit jacket.
“But why?” I ask, looking between them all.
“So we can get ahead of this.” Mitch comes around the corner from the kitchen, dressed in brown slacks, a tan button up, and a cream colored suit jacket.
“Ahead of what?” I ask, feeling more nervous than I’ve ever felt. “I thought you guys wanted to keep this all under wraps? Keep this hidden, keep me hidden.” The room suddenly feels like it's spinning. I can’t catch my breath. “I’m not prepared for this.”
“Veronica.” Darrell’s voice booms over everything, snapping my attention to him. He steps up to me, pulling me against him, hugging me tightly. My breathing begins to even out, to match his.
Thump.