“So, what did you do?” Oliver asks me.
“I didn’t DO anything. Which is the problem. I just forgot to talk.”
“Oh Molls. You’ve got to be the worst mannered Alpha’s daughter there ever was.”
I laugh, but honestly, he’s right. Daughters in the Alpha lineage are always trained to be mated to an Alpha and become their Luna. But since I’m adopted, and broken, I’ve never taken the training seriously. I could throw together a dinner party if I had to, but I’d much prefer to be in the kitchen cooking for it instead.
“See any hot guys up there?” Oliver asks, breaking me out of my thoughts of my failure.
“Oli, I met 1 family before Dad sent me down. But, of course, I found an attractive guy. He’s the future Alpha of some pack. I don’t think they ever said where. My dad knew his dad pretty well.”
“I’ll have to sneak up and check out the options during the ceremony, not that I’ll be finding my mate in a room full of Alphas. It doesn’t hurt to enjoy looking though.” he tells me as his face falls.
My heart stings for my best friend. Oliver is an omega. He probably would have been named head chef if it hadn’t been for me. We’re the same age and became friends while in school. Most Alphas don’t send their kids to the pack schools so they won’t fraternize with the Omegas, but my dad felt it was important for pack unity if Robbie and I attended the school. He was right, too. Robbie and I made friends with kids from all class structures and it really helped us to understand how privileged we are to be the Alpha’s kids, and to have everything we do.
Oliver and I met in elementary school and became the best of friends. His dad had passed away when he was a kid but his mom was amazing. She used to let me come over after school to play and sometimes I’d get to stay for dinner. She taught me how to cook, even though she didn’t work in the pack kitchens. She loved food and taught us everything she could in those years after school and during summer break when we’d go play in the falls and come back completely filthy and starving.
When we were in middle school Oliver came out to me. I’d never met a gay wolf, but it didn’t bother me. Unfortunately, as Oli got older and confided in more people, word spread and he was treated very poorly by other kids who just didn’t understand him. Robbie tried to step in and would hang out with us, but it didn’t matter to the other kids as much as he’d hoped. Oliver’s mom died in a rogue attack just before he turned 18, so he left school and started working in the pack kitchen. It was terrible what happened, but I’m glad we landed in the kitchen together.
Oliver has always been the person who encourages me most and it’s helped me be brave. Brave enough to tell my dad I wanted to work in the kitchen. Brave enough to accept that I’m just a broken wolf. Brave enough to try all the new things we wanted to in the kitchen, and even beyond that. A few years ago, we cut back the overgrown area behind the pack house and planted a huge edible garden.The first two years it wasn’t amazing, but we did more research and with our hard work this year, it has been really successful. The pack house grocery bill was cut almost in half for the summer from everything we’ve been able to harvest, though we didn’t have the abundance we’d hoped for to store for the winter months.
I know that I’ll find Oliver peeking up the stairs during the Alpha ceremony checking out all the guys there. I truly hope that he finds a mate one day. One of us should be happy, and I’m OK that it’s him.
“Oli, you better not burn my brother’s dinner because you’re sneaking off to check out the Alpha’s” I tell him, mostly joking, but completely serious at the same time.
“I’d never dream of burning Alpha Robert’s celebration dinner, my dear” he tells me while grabbing my hand.
Suddenly, I’m met with the smell of pine and tobacco and I instantly know it’s my brother walking in. He smells so much like my dad, but still his own. I turn to make a joke about him becoming Alpha today, but when I see his face, I know it’s not the time. He’s so serious, too serious. He’s never like this around me.
“Molly, I, uh, I need you to come up to Dad’s office… my office, with me.” he says, and he’s so uncomfortable to be telling me this.
“What’s wrong? Is everyone OK?” I ask, knowing deep inside that something is wrong.
“Everyone is fine, Molly. Dad needs to speak with you.” He tells me, looking anywhere but my eyes.
“Dad? Why isn’t he greeting the guests? Why didn’t he just mindlink me? Robert,” I say to him, almost in a panic. “What’s going on?!”
“Molly,” now he starts, and now he looks me in the eyes. There’s so much emotion and sympathy in hazel eyes and I know it’s bad. It’s very bad. “Your mate is here.”
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“Molly, your mate is here.” I hear my brother say. My heart falls to the pit of my stomach.
“How… how does he know he’s my mate?” I ask, so meekly. “I haven’t met anyone but Alpha Blake and Future Alpha Chris. One of them is mated and the other, well, he didn’t say anything when we met.”
“It’s not either of them, it’s Seth. He could smell you on Dad. Dad said you hugged him just before you came down here and I guess your scent lingered.”
“It could be anyone that Dad was near. It’s not me. It CAN’T be me.”
“Molly. It’s you. Come on, they’re all waiting.”
“All? How many mates do I have?”
“It’s just one, kiddo. But we’ve got to get up there. You can’t keep them waiting.”
“No, Robbie. No. I’m not going up there just to be rejected and hurt. This isn’t happening. It’s a mistake. I can’t have a mate.”
“Molly, it’s ok.” Oliver jumps in now as he sees my panic and recognizes my brother does not have control of this situation. “You’ve always assumed you have no mate, or that if you do, that they’ll reject you. Maybe he won’t. Maybe he’ll see you for the amazing wolf you are.”
He’s trying. They both are. Trying to convince me that it’s going to be ok but you can see in their eyes they both know it won’t be. Especially my brother. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a look like this on his face before. He’s so worried about me. My mate must be terrible for him to be so concerned.
I can barely breathe. It feels like the walls are closing in on me and my chest hurts with each breath. My fears come to the surface and I can’t contain them. I slowly slip out of my shoes without either of them noticing. There’s a back door out of here right behind them. They’re both faster than me- my brother having the Alpha gene making him far superior physically to me. So I do what I have to do to get out of this situation, and I begin to cry.
My brother’s face softens as he steps across to me and envelopes me into a huge hug. It’s a move I wasn’t expecting, and it’s making it even harder to remove myself from the kitchen. In all honesty, his hug feels good. I feel so safe when I’m with Robbie, but then I remember that he’s trying to take me to meet my dad and mate and whoever else is there just so I can be rejected and feel that pain but these thoughts make me cry even harder and as Oliver has now gotten up and is coming closer I decide to make my final move to get out of here.
“Robbie, I need to sit down” I tell him and my ever doting brother does just what I expected this time and immediately releases me and turns to grab the chair that Oliver had just vacated. I make my move and run to the door. My hand reaches the knob and the goddess must be with me because it’s unlocked and I take off to the garden. To my surprise the smell of my brother gets more and more faint with each step. I decide to chance a look back to see both men standing outside the back kitchen door, Oliver’s arm is across my brother’s chest when I hear him say “Just let her go Robert. Give her a few minutes.”
“Molly, your mate is here.” I hear my brother say. My heart falls to the pit of my stomach.
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