Page 208

My half-sleeve is fully visible and for a moment, I worry that Mama B won’t like tattoos. Mother certainly doesn’t. Then I look at my alphas and realize she probably won’t give a shit because each one has theirs on display under the rolled-up sleeves of their button ups. They’ve got their best jeans on, hair styled, scruff neatened up after a group trip to the barber, and?—

Shit, am I drooling?

Considering I want to lick them from head to toe, probably, but it doesn’t change the fact that anxiety is twisting my guts. I hold my breath, trying to find calmness that has left the building. All I have to say is, thank fuck for descenter.

“I’m going to puke.”

Not the first time I’ve said it today, probably not the last, either. Nate lays his hands on my shoulders. “They’re going to love you.”

I can practicallyfeelhim thinking,just like we do. Like keeping it to himself is the hardest thing he’s done. It’s comforting to know where I stand with two of these alphas,

Connor’s been texting more since game night two weeks ago, but he’s still working all the time. Snuggling with me for an hour before bed then staying up till dawn at their place. After almost three months of courtship, we’re moored together but still not a unit.

Yet, he slips behind me, hands wrapped around my waist. Offering comfort that brings more peace than I expect.

“I’m not good with parents.”

“Because yours are fucking awful.” Agitation pouring off Nate. In the month since my last court date, he’s only gotten more pissed off about how they treated me.

Connor’s arms tighten around me, then relax again. “My parents disowned me after I divorced Shelby.”

The lore drop distracts me from my doom-filled thoughts and my head whips around, mouth open “Seriously?”

“Mmhmm. Told me there was no reason to waste a perfectly good marriage. I could find a new pack and keep my wife because that was the ‘right thing to do.’ When I told them my decision was final, they told me they no longer had a son.” There’s this agitated energy around him as he roots around formy scent and doesn’t find it. He finally sighs and stays there anyway.

Rage is swift and hot in my blood. What the fuck is wrong with people? How can you bring a child into the world, raise them to be their own person, then abandon them when they do exactly that? How can you fight for their abusers when all they’ve ever given was money and hurt? It makes no sense.

When we have kids, we’re going to be the best parents around. Our children will be supported and respected and so fucking loved they’ll never feel the lack of it.

I mean, whenIhave kids.

Because I’m not thinking of a family with these men so soon. Obviously.

“Fuck them. You deserve better.”

“So do you, angel.”

Snuggled tight, we take a grounding breath until Connor smiles against my skin. “Our parents suck, but Mama B and Will are fucking amazing. When I met Dez in school, he dragged me home the same day. From the moment she met me, I was just another Barrett boy to Mama. She teased me, parented me, loved me more than I ever deserved. She’ll do the same for you if you let her.”

“I don’t want to let her down.”Like I let my mother down.I don’t say that, but the guys know.

Dez hip checks Nate out of the way so he has space to hold my hand, and my biggest alpha ends up in front of me, cutting off the view of the house and surrounding me with the scents of my pack.

“You could never,” Dez says. “The love my family has is truly unconditional and Mama’s the best support you could ever want.”

“True,” Nate says. “She was my mom’s best friend growing up and they stayed close after graduating. Mom struggled withinfertility and Mama was right there. When Mom finally got pregnant with me a few years after Dez was born, Mama B held that test and cried. Threw her the baby shower to end all baby showers. Was there for every birthing class and appointment alongside my parents and held Mom’s hand as she gave birth. When they got pregnant with Ella, she did it all over again.”

I know that support. That love. I get it from my friends all the time, including Erin and Travi. It’s incredible, but those arefriends.Family is so much harder to handle.

Corey and Jacob’s parents were awful, and Lance was raised by his grandmother who didn’t like me one bit.

Where did you pick this one up, the shelter?

After a few years of awful comments, I refused to see the bitch. Never regretted my decision, even if it got me in trouble with my pack.

I was never good enough. Never therightomega and I can’t help but wonder if I’m subjecting myself to the same trauma as before.

Dez rubs our cheeks together, staying close when I clutch onto his arm. “They already love you, but even if they didn’t, we would never allow them to be disrespectful. You’re our omega, Daphne. We choose you, no matter what.”