Page 29 of Brave New Omega, Part 2

Chapter 29

CALLUM

I hand my keys to the valet and take a deep breath.

We are here for Loren, at Celeste’s express invitation. Alfonze should be on his best behavior, since there’s enough of his only daughter’s new Pack in attendance that making a scene over Loren would be more of an embarrassment than just allowing us all to be here after he expressly forbade it.

I roll my shoulders under the close fit of my linen shirt and suit jacket. I can track logic all damn night, but it won’t make me feel better.

I hate this house and most of these people.

“Welcome to Bellrose Manor,” Loren says, his voice cool and impassive, a part of the mask he wears when he’s with his family. “I honestly never thought I’d bring my Omega here,” his mask slips and he offers Katie one of his vulnerable, sweet smiles. She presses her hand to his cheek and he kisses her fingers.

Damn. We are all wrapped around her as though she needs a protective shield. But Katie is not an Omega to need a guard or entourage. No, she’s a warrior queen waiting to command armies, if we fool Alphas can get out of her way. Fuck, I love her for it.

I offer her my arm, as Loren and Max flank out on her other side. We are one unbroken chain, Pack Murphy at attention.

“These gatherings are all about show,” I say, my voice pitched low enough that only Katie can hear. A few other cars arrive with old money pack members gathering on the wide pavement in front of the Manor. “They are about showing off who has what, and who knows who. It’s less about socializing than it is about posturing.”

“It’s an intelligence gathering event,” Katie says, and I narrow my eyes at her.

“You know, they want to know what the other packs have – how much money they can throw at this, or that, so they can position themselves accordingly. I watched my fair share of period dramas back on Earth and it’s the same. These aren’t about friendship, they’re about information and presentation.”

She smirks up at me.

“Intelligence,” I murmur. I’d never thought of it that way, but it makes perfect sense. Well, if this is just an intelligence gathering evening, maybe I can do some recon.

“You’re thinking about strategy,” Katie says, her chin high as we reach the front doors.

“How did you know?”

“Your left eye crinkles when you’re thinking hard,” she says. I glance sideways at her. How does she know? Can she read my tells already, even without the bond? She shrugs and offers me a playful grin.

“What are these damn Omega instincts good for if I can use them to gather intelligence on my Alphas?”

My Alphas .

“You are a minx,” I say, but we smile at each other as we reach the stairs. Heat simmers between us. Need and desire, but also fear and hurt all warring for dominance in the gap between our bodies and the miles between our hearts.

Katie tenses as we enter the main foyer. It’s a narrow hallway with a massive gilded mirror hanging across from the entry, designed so that the first thing you see is yourself. I’ve always thought it unnerving, but I guess it’s high society's way of letting one another preen. Bunch of fucking idiots.

Katie fidgets with her dress. I can’t blame her; as much as I love looking at her in the dress, I want to see her out of it more than I want to breathe. Gods, Loren and Max both have already had our Omega. I don’t begrudge them that – there’s been this angry wall between me and even my powerful desire for her.

I just can’t seem to push past it.

Not it. No, not it – her . Genevieve.

All the damage that I was so sure was behind me, it is still a tangled mess.

“Oh, Loren, darling. You made it.”

I hold back a growl when I hear Matilda's voice. His parent’s newest pack member. A sickly sweet Beta, as likely to stab you in the back as she is to pat it. She’s a graceful woman in her early sixties, still blond and beaming with eyes pinched from too much of the prescription tightening creams.

Loren’s back is stiff as he allows her to hug him. I know he hates touching her, hates allowing her near us, his Pack. She schemed her way to the top of the Halvassa glitterati and it shows.

Loren’s mother wasn’t like this. I knew Claudia before the illness ravaged her–when she had been one of the few voices in Pack Bellrose willing to talk sense to their Alpha. She fought for her son, had even defied her Alpha to do it. Loren didn’t want to be Alpha of his own Pack, he didn’t need that position to prove himself a worthy Alpha, and a fucking good packmate. She saw all of that, before the illness took her.

A hand squeezes my forearm.

“You okay?” Katie’s brown eyes are wide, assessing. She misses nothing, reading me like an open book. I relax my jaw. The necklace twinkles at her throat, and her fingers are a firm pressure on my arm, grounding me.

“Yeah. I really hate these events,” I say flatly.

“Why Inspector Murphy, who have you here?” Matilda’s cherry pie and spun sugar sweetness threatens to gag me. Her chemically-enhanced perfume chokes, cloying at my throat and nostrils. I hate Beta perfume enhancers.

“Matilda Bellrose, this is Katherine Wilder, our… our Omega.” I hesitate with what to call Katie. She is undoubtedly our Omega. No one, not even the Bellroses’ would deny a blood match like this one. But Katie herself hasn’t truly agreed. We haven’t discussed bonding and building a Pack together–not yet. But to throw her to the wolves and say we’re just courting her? After all our failed attempts – no, this is better. I think.

Katie's fingers dig into my forearm and she pastes on a smile that doesn't fully cover her fear. I can smell the spike, like cider vinegar under the sweetness of maple syrup.

“An Omega?” She looks from Max to me, then glances back to Loren, who is speaking quietly with two of his father’s other Alphas, Clement and Ludwig.

“I would say that it is about time, but everyone knows that. My dear, however did these men convince you to consider them? You are far too pretty to be hoodwinked by these three.” Matilda laughs and flashes one of her society smiles, as though it smooths over all her jabs.

Katie shakes her head, offering up a slightly more convincing smile. The notes of vinegar shift, so subtle I’m sure only Max and I can smell it. It becomes more pungent, like the salty sweat from an intense workout.

“Quite the contrary, I assure you. I believe that they have done me an incredible favor.” She looks up at me, and for a heartbeat that open, vulnerable expression is back–her brown eyes wide and honest, a heat buzzing between us that tells me that what she says is truth and not artifice. She blushes, the pink highlighting the perfect shape of her kissable cheeks.

“Oh? I smell a story that I simply must know!” Matilda squeals like a child shown a birthday cake with the prospect of wishes and presents right in front of them.

“Tilly, are you holding up the line with your chatter?” Eugene, yet another of the Bellrose Alphas, says. He comes to stand behind the Beta, who flutters her eyelashes at him.

I want to gag.

“I was just meeting Loren’s Omega,” she says. “Can you believe they finally are courting again? Took you boys long enough to get over your broken hearts.”

Max’s hands curl into fists, and I growl low in my throat.

“Oh yes, I remember the lot of you, moping around with your tails between your legs.” Eugene laughs. “Women will do that.”

He offers an exaggerated wink. I’m ready to throat punch him. As if Genevieve’s betrayal was merely a broken heart. No, it was cataclysm. She broke our hearts, our pride and nearly our Pack– not to mention endangering military operations at the border. To what end, we still can’t figure out.

“Let’s go find our seats,” Katie says, dropping her hand from my arm to interlace her fingers with mine. She’s already hand-in-hand with Max. All we need is Loren and we are a complete unit. Tonight will take all of us.