Page 176 of Claiming the Pack's Omega

"Then we should get going," I say. I turned to face the rest of the guys. "Let's do this."

The drive to my parents’ place is uneventful, though my hands do get progressively more clammy the closer we get.

"Damn, this place is crazy," Reyna says as I drive us past the gates and up the long, winding driveway to their mansion.

Because that's really the only way to describe my parents’ house.

They've always been incredibly conscientious of status and do everything in their power to show off their own. The three-story mansion with ostentatious pillars and a long marble staircase leading to the front door is no exception.

I put the car into park and all of us move to get out. Milo extends his hand to Reyna to help her down and she smooths a hand down the crimson fabric of her dress.

"One of us will be with you at all times," I say to Reyna.

Reyna holds onto Milo's arm as we all walk the steps to my childhood home. The moment the door opens and I see the expression of the butler I've known for as long as I can remember, I know things aren't going to go well.

"Good evening, young master Killian."

"Good evening, Arthur," I say. "How have you been doing?"

"As well as you can likely imagine," Arthur says. There's a tightness around his eyes that betrays his true feelings. While my parents pay the help well, they don't make it a habit of making their jobs easy. "Please be cautioustonight."

"You know I will be," I say softly as I walk inside.

"That's not ominous at all," Reyna whispers to Milo behind me.

As the five of us walk into the foyer, I instantly know what Arthur was talking about. My mother comes strutting down the staircase in an incredibly pretentious cream color dress. I don't know how she makes something that likely cost a ridiculous amount of money look cheap, but she's been very successful. It then hits me that this dress looks suspiciously bridal.I'll have to keep that in mind for when we have our wedding, because I won't stand for her ruining a day that should be all about Reyna.

I don't know why my mother would choose to wear a dress like this, knowing that I'm introducing the only omega that I've brought home in nearly a decade, but she's always been the kind of person to make a scene.

"Damn, that dress is ridiculous," Theo whispers to Reyna. She tries to stifle a giggle—rather unsuccessfully, I might add—but luckily, my mother is far enough away for her not to have heard.

"Oh Killian!" My mother says, throwing her arms around my neck the moment that she makes it down the stairs to us. I stiffen under her hold, but still wrap my arms around her like a good son should.

I pull away at the first opportunity, taking a large step back.

"It's been so long!" She holds my cheeks in an undeniably maternal way. I feel like bugs are crawling across my skin where she's touching me. She never held me like this as a child, so why is she doing so now?

It dawns on me then, when I notice the way that her eyes keep on drifting over my shoulder and to Reyna. She's putting on a show. A strange, territorial showto prove that she's the more important woman in my life.

Unfortunately for her, that's a spot in my life that will never, ever be hers again.

I reach up and pull away her hands from my face.

"Hello, mother." I don't say it's good to see her. Because it isn't. But there's still a level of formality that I have to adhere to so that she doesn't throw a fit.

"How cold of you," my mother says. "You think you'd show your mother some affection, considering how long you've stayed away from home. But I see how things are."

Well, looks like she's still throwing a bit of a fit. If nothing I ever do will ever be good enough, then why should I continue pouring the amount of effort I have been?

"How about you introduce me to this newomegaof yours?" She says the word omega like it's a curse. As she turns her gaze to Reyna, it grows so sharp it could cut glass.

Despite this, Reyna keeps her chin up. You think she's grown up surrounded by the catty Northside omegas all her life, with how well she carries herself.

"Yes, I'd love to introduce you. Mother, meet Reyna, the omega my pack is courting," I say. I'm about to tell her thatReyna is our scent match, but we're interrupted by a loud commotion.

"Oh, look who it is, looks like my little brother decided to show his face after all." My older brother's voice cuts through the foyer.

I feel every muscle in my body lock up in preparation.