“I want nothing to do with the Royal Court, that place is toxic, and until there’s someone that can change it, it will remain toxic.”
“You know that it will never get better unless someone takes a stand?” I lean back on the couch, blowing out a sigh of relief. Thankfully he won’t challenge my claim to the throne, not if he doesn’t want it.
“I’m not the person to change things, I like the quiet life. Working in a library, spending my days surrounded by books.”
“Why didn’t you play a bigger role in my life? It was nice having you around as the librarian, but it would have been nice to have a dad.”
“You had your mom and the guys. When I learned that you were bound to them, that they were your mates, it was too late for me. You’re grown now, we can never have the life I wanted.” He lets out a sigh, like he’s keeping more secrets.
“No, but it would have been nice to have you in my life more than the once a month visit to the library. Either way, we can’t change the past, just the future.”
“If you want me in your life, I can do that, I can be there for you.” He sits up. “I wanted to be a part of your life, your mother thought it’d be better this way.”
“I don’t need a father figure now, I need friends. We can start there.” I fold my arms over my chest, feeling better about the conversation. Now, to actually figure out the how?
Chapter Six
I sit in the back of the SUV between Colson and Mitch. Darrell is driving, and Dash is up front controlling the music. He turns on some of his 90s grunge rock music, letting it blare through the speakers.
My fingers find the hem of my knee length dress that I'm wearing to meet the people who gave me one of my mates. I’m uncomfortable wearing such a formal dress, but Colson says that we have to play the part. So here I am, playing the part of the well rounded good girl that the town knows me as.
Colson rubs his hand over mine to calm the nerves, lacing his fingers in mine. I watch my hand as he pulls it to his lips, kissing it softly. “It’ll be fine,” he mouths. I give him a soft smile and nod my head. He can’t be sure about that. He can’t be sure it’ll be fine, what if they hate me, what if they say I’m not who I say I am? The thoughts keep turning. I worry that they’ll say I’m not good enough for their son, even though they have absolutely no say in the fact that we’re mates. It’s fated, there’s no say in it.
His father is an Alpha, but his mother is an Omega. We had to schedule our meeting accordingly, making sure to avoid both of our heat cycles. Today, it happens to be the perfect day. Her heat cycle just ended and mine won’t come for another week or two.
When the car comes to a stop, I look out the windows nervously. There are two houses beside us, both beautiful. One white with navy trimmings. One light gray with white trimmings. Both lawns are perfectly manicured, and each of them fly the country flag in the front. Very cookie-cutter like. Makes me want to gag.
“Come on, Lolli,” Colson says, opening his door, offering me his hand. I take it, letting him pull me out of the car.
I let him lead me to the door of the light gray house with the white trimmings. Slowly, the door gets closer, and I can feel my heart racing, the nerves setting in like crazy. There’s another hand that reaches for me, taking the opposite hand as Colson.
Turning my head, I see the dark slicked back hair and icy blue eyes looking down at me. “We got this, baby,” Dash says with a huge smile.
“So the whole truth then?” I let out a shaky breath.
“All of it.” I hear Darrell come up behind me, grabbing my shoulders and placing a kiss on my head. There’s a pinch on my butt that causes me to snap my head around to look, seeing Mitch smiling as he steps back. I shake my head at him with a small laugh.
The door swings open before we even knock. “Hello!” a woman with tight blonde curls says. There’s a little gray in her hair but barely noticeable. I see her rounded cheeks and pointed nose, with a large smile. “Welcome to my home, Veronica.” I can see where Colson gets his looks from.
She doesn’t even bother to greet the guys. “Thank you for inviting me,” I say softly. She offers me her arm. I look up to Colson, who nods for me to take it. I reach out, looping my arm into hers as she drags me into the house, taking me to the right.
The house is very clean, everything has a place. I see soft gray walls, with a decorative border at the top. Pictures hang everywhere. Mostly of Colson and Dash as kids. They spent a lot of time over here, but most of their time was spent at our house. I guess I know why now, but they still spent enough time here to have tons of pictures together covering the walls.
One catches my eyes, where Colson stands in a tree branch with Dash standing below the tree, flexing his muscles. They were like twelve at the time. I smile at them being so young with their odd haircuts and weird clothes.
“Please, come in, boys,” she hollers over her shoulder. I laugh when I watch the four of them pile in. “So, Miss Veronica, I hear you’re the Omega to both Colson and Dash.”
“Actually, they’re all my mates,” I correct her. They said to tell her everything, may as well start there.
She gasps. “All of them?” she whispers, turning her head to look at Darrell. “Even your step dad?”
“Yes,” I whisper back, trying to not chuckle at the look on her face. She looks both worried and excited at the same time. It’s hard to read, I’m not sure where this is going to go.
“Well, the Goddess sure likes to play it close to home.” She turns away from me. “Evan!” she shouts. “This little omega here has four mates! I told you that she’s the real deal!” She pats the hand that's looped through hers. “I told him,” she says to me, smiling from ear to ear.
“That’s nice, dear.” I hear this Evan say, must be Colson’s dad. She leads me through a dining room, filled to the brim with plants and more pictures. The wooden rectangle table is covered with a maroon table runner with a vase of fresh cut flowers, pinks, purples, and blues. Not sure what kind of flowers, but they’re pretty with their puffed up ends.
I take the chair offered to me next to the one at the end. “So, tell me.” I watch her sit down, smoothing out her pale pink dress and flowered apron. “What's your plan?”