Page 32 of Talk About… Dramay
“It won’t come to that,” I promised her, even though it wasn’t truly something I could make happen. This all hinged on analpha who’d failed her before. I hated that I couldn’t do more, be more.
They looked like they wanted to say something, Hudson’s mouth opening and closing before Lane cut him off.
“Well, our job is to help make that happen,” he said quickly before turning to me. “Your job… Roman?”
He had to check the tablet for my info first before he had my name. That was the exact reason we needed this meeting before making our trip down.
“Art teacher. I also run an outreach program that sets up bi-weekly art sessions at a local nursing home for the residents and my students.”
“That’s adorable,” Hudson said. It would have sounded patronizing if he didn’t look sincere.
“And you two?”
“Let’s just say we’re looking to start over as well. We both worked in omega services as matchmakers maybe? That’s about as close to our real jobs as we can get,” Lane mused, looking at his alpha. “Maybe say we’re temporarily working in finance?”
“That works,” Hudson shrugged. “We’ll have to figure out where to go from here anyway. Maybe something in Rockwood Valley will spark interest.”
“It’s pretty small, but it’s amazing,” Ori said, her excitement painted all over her pretty face. “I’m sure it’s changed a ton but it’s also beautiful. I haven’t been camping in so long but we used to go all the time when I was a teen.”
“You camp?” Lane asked, letting out a little laugh.
She narrowed her eyes. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“No,” he said, holding up his hands. “I didn’t mean it like omegas can’t camp, more funny because our other pack member who’s joining next week is camping right now. He goes on a yearly trip to rebalance himself.”
“Oh,” she said. Her cheeks flared pink and she squirmed a little in embarrassment.
“We’ll have to plan something together when he gets back,” I said. “Do we give…?”
“Tate,” Hudson supplied.
“Do we give Tate the same backstory and job?” I finished.
Hudson shook his head. “Let’s just say he owns an online book shop.”
“He does?” Ori’s eyes lit up. “What kind?”
“Custom dust covers and sometimes sprayed edges. It was something his sister started and he kept with it,” Lane explained, then winced. “Just don’t ask him about her.”
The urge to prod was strong but I bit my tongue. We weren’t entitled to their life stories. We weren’t a real pack.
“I think there was a bookshop in town, unless it’s one of the shops that shut down. Either way, she didn’t do anything like that,” Ori said, still in awe. Jealousy started to rise for the first time.
I hated the attention this non-pack alpha and beta were giving her. It felt like pack and I was a bit worried that at the end of these three weeks, it would be hard to separate those feelings.
Oriana
Holy hellthese two were going to be the death of me. The longer we sat and talked, learning little bits of information about each other, the more they flirted.
My cheeks hadn’t stopped burning since they walked in.
Not to mention, they were hot as hell.
Of course, that thought made me feel guilty with my mate right next to me. This was going to be the longest, most painful three weeks of my life.
“We took a train down so we could just drive together. Are you both driving separately?” Hudson asked. It felt like every time his attention landed on me the rest of the room faded for a moment. I swallowed hard and tried to find my words, but thankful Roman was keeping his cool.
“We both packed up what we couldn’t leave behind and had movers take it to Rockwood Valley. Then we sold our cars and got a new SUV that could fit us all. I saw the jade green Ford Expedition and fell in love,” I admitted. It was an insane expense, but I’d lived fairly frugally and had the extra funds. Roman, being Roman, chipped in what he could without draining his savings. I reminded him that we were pack and it was okay to offset based on our own assets. I wasn’t the type to expect my pack to pay my way.