Page 56 of Talk About… Dramay
When the car stopped she blinked her eyes open and Roman helped her out. She sighed as she looked up at the house.
“It’s weird without Grandma here. At some point I considered opening an antique shop here, but I couldn’t bringmyself to give it up,” she admitted. It was another piece of her she was offering and I held it close, considering it.
“Is that your dream job?” I asked. If so, how had she ended up in real estate?
“It was in my past life,” she huffed out a humorless laugh. “I went into real estate because it didn’t hurt as bad.”
“Now you’re home. You can make it happen. We’ll help,” Lane said.
“You’re leaving me, too, Lane,” she said in a quiet voice as she stumbled past us and into the house.
“You’re going to tell her, right? Before I have to?” Roman demanded, glaring at us both. “Don’t fucking lie to me and tell me that omega isn’t yours.”
“How?” Lane stuttered out in shock. His eyes were wide but I was merely impressed.
“No one treats an omega the way you do without it being a real connection. I’m assuming you’re waiting for the blockers to fade and this is the reason you stopped them?”
“Yes, and our other alpha isn’t here yet,” I agreed. “We didn’t want her to feel pressured until she could scent us herself.”
“She’s hurting and I won’t let that continue. Just tell her before she hates you for lying,” he said. “She’s fragile right now with trust, you break it and you might not get it back.”
With one last serious look our way, he hurried inside after her. Neither of us could follow right away. There was nothing we could do until she knew.
“Tate’s coming tomorrow,” I offered in the silence of the evening.
“Good. Because I’m ready to give in.”
Oriana
“Remind me to never drink again,” I groaned as I collapsed at the kitchen table. Roman chuckled as he dropped a blanket around my shoulders and disappeared, coming back a few minutes later with a coffee.
“Think you can handle breakfast?” he asked. His voice was pitched low, which I appreciated.
Especially when Lane walked in with all his usual exuberance.
“Good morning, Princess, how are you holding up?” he asked, laughing at my groan.
“Keep your voice down.”
“Nope,” he laughed, completely unrepentant. “Don’t worry, Hudson has a hangover cure. He ran to the store for breakfast and that. It tastes awful, but just do what he says.”
“No,” I muttered, though I doubted I could resist him if I wanted to. The betas chuckled before they were moving aroundthe house and leaving me to my misery. I sat up long enough to sip my coffee but it wasn’t fixing the hangover.
Stumbling to the kitchen I poured the coffee in a travel mug and went for my shoes. After struggling to slide them on, I walked out of the backdoor and took a deep breath.
Rockwood Valley always smelled fantastic. A mix of crisp mountain air and sweetgrass. It was home and I’d missed it far too much to ever leave again.
When I started walking again, I heard the others muttering but didn’t have the energy to answer.
“Where is she going?” Lane asked, barely containing his laughter.
“Should we follow?” Roman countered. He sounded worried and I tried to send reassurance through the bond but it was still so shaky without an alpha tying us together.
My head throbbed and my eyes were a little hazy as I pushed ahead, following the familiar path leading to the treeline.
Once I stepped past the trees and into the thick of the forest, I felt my entire body relax. Outside noise was dampened and tendrils of warm, morning light spilled through the canopy. The moss and leaf lined path hadn’t been used in a long time but I knew it by heart anyway.
I could clean it up later.