Page 13 of Cost of Courting (When it Raines Omegaverse #6)

Chapter eleven

Selene

They are temptation incarnate, but I’m stone.

I want to be stone. The following morning, I go back to the house and find my bedroom empty but reeking of alphas and omega.

With a sigh, I push open the window, struggling as it fights me, but, eventually, I get it open a crack.

The fresh air helps to dilute the combined scents and make the room bearable.

I’ve got no time to linger. I jump in the shower, scour those scents off me, and get dressed in another pair of ripped skinny jeans and a t-shirt that is tighter than I normally wear.

I pull on my boots and go into my room, removing a section of the crappy floorboards and pulling out some cash I’d stashed for exactly this reason.

With my beat up phone playing music, I shuffle around, putting my hair up in a ponytail. I’m in the kitchen drinking water from the tap when I hear Luna. I turn and face her, but she just juts her jaw and turns on her heel with a grunt, disappearing back into the house.

With Luna, it’s best to just let her mood play out.

She will forget all about it sooner or later.

Still, it hurts that she’s so mad at me.

I’m not even sure why she’s mad at me and not Bailey.

It’s not like I knew who her boyfriend was.

But maybe that’s the problem. She brings home guys I don’t approve of, and, when it turns to hell like it invariably does, I’m the one who deals with them.

The number of breakups I’ve dealt with has been ridiculous. Sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee, consoling the poor fool, sobbing his heart out. Or standing off against them with a baseball bat and showing that I’m not going to let them continue this behavior.

I almost wish she would stop dating for a while and just go find herself so she can stop bringing home these degenerates.

With a quick look around the kitchen, I grab my keys, shove a flick knife in my boot, and jog out of the house. I’m already late.

I ignore the house across the road, especially the dark silhouette in the window.

The park isn’t anything special; it has some grass, a ring of trees, and a couple of picnic tables that have had graffiti added in so many layers that you can’t tell what its original colour was.

A group of kids are running around on the lawn with a soccer ball. They range from five all the way up to sixteen. The groups are roughly, depending on the day, evenly split between male and female.

At the picnic tables, a couple of parents, grandparents, and older siblings sit and talk. I walk over to the adults first and drop the cash on the table.

“Pizza today?”

Clark turns with a smile. “Morning, Selene.”

Her smile is expectant and knowing. She reaches up and brushes her snowy white hair behind her ear. Despite the colour, she’s not a day over forty.

“I swear you gossip more than the kids,” I grouse. I elbow Dave, who has his taped up glasses on and a too big t-shirt. “Tell me you don’t believe this shit?”

“Iunno, it’s a thing of beauty to see Pack Dread back together again,” he teases.

“Not you, too! I’m not Pack Dread!” I growl.

Mary snorts a laugh, her green eyes glimmering. “It’s so romantic.”

“They are not my pack!” I stress.

“Who is Pack Dread?” Peta asks, looking between us. She only moved to the neighbourhood a few years back. She’s got long blond hair and looks far too fragile for this life.

“Well, back in the day of yonder year, this here girlie we love so much was a teeny, tiny, little hellion. She was every inch as brave as the bravest kid, every skill she needed to survive this neighbourhood mastered. Selene was the infamous fourth member of Pack Dread, the four toughest, strongest kids this neighbourhood ever birthed,” Cindy says with a hoot.

She’s a loud-mouthed pain in my ass who calls me on all my bullshit.

Cindy is also a pseudo caretaker for all the kids with working or absent parents.

She brushes her brown hair over her shoulder and winks at me.

“There was a neighborhood pack?” Peta asks in awe.

“We weren’t a pack!” I protest, but it falls on deaf ears .

The group gets close, and I’m almost squeezed out, but Clark throws an arm over my shoulders, preventing escape.

“Oh, yes, there was. She tagged along with them everywhere,” my torturers hoot.

“When we first saw it, we thought they would tell her no, but they didn’t. Those boys just took her under their wing, teaching her all sorts of things, like how to punch, how to pickpocket, how to steal a car.”

I smile faintly at the memories. Those were good times.

“Why did they take her in?”

“No one knows, but the three of them let her into their group and treated her like a cherished pack member,” Cindy adds.

I close my eyes at the pain those words elicit.

“If anyone said a cross word about her, they were the first there ready with their fists. No one could touch her, not even her daddy,” Clark says.

“If anyone so much as looked at her the wrong way, the pack was ready.” Mary nods her head. “Yeah, they were devoted to her.”

“They chased out bullies and made this place safer, the four of them. It was a wild time,” Clark continues.

“You couldn’t have Kingston, Edric, or Mael without Selene. They were a team,” Davey throws out.

“Oh, the trouble they would get into. I remember the day they were all caught turning a tree into a pack house. The council wanted to cut it down. So, they climbed up there and refused to come down.”

“What got them down?” Peta glances at me with wide eyes and then back at Clark and Mary.

“Well, Selene’s dad threatened to whoop her ass, and Mael took exception to that threat, and those three descended like some kind of apocalyptic warriors and beat him stupid.”

“The council backed off, and the tree still stands. But they never did end up using it as a tree house.”

“They sound amazing.”

Yeah, they did sound amazing. Too bad it was all a lie.

I slam my hand on the table. “And then, they left.”

“Why? Why did they leave?” Peta shouts. “They loved you. It’s so romantic!”

“They met their omega,” Mary whispers. The laughter dies, and everyone gets quiet. “They left to follow an omega.”

“But…” Peta looks at me. “What ab out you?”

I swallow the shame and agony of that question. I’ve said it a million times over the years. What about me? What was wrong with me? Wasn’t I enough?

“We were friends. They left. We all moved on. No biggie.”

“And now they’re back,” Cindy says with a sly wink. “To pick up where they left off.”

I glare at them. “Pizza? Or burgers.”

The gaggle of women burst into laughter at my obvious deflection.

“You disgust me.” That just makes them laugh harder. “Fine, you order. I’m going to play.”

A couple of the dads join me, and Evie trots over, looking far too bouncy.

“Ready to play?” She flashes me a white smile.

“Sure, let’s do it.”

Our game isn’t by the rules. It’s a strange mix where we pair up an older kid with a younger one or another kid who has opposing strengths.

I got this idea from Pack Dread, though I will never ever admit it.

It teaches the stronger kids to watch out for the kids with different strengths and shows what they can do together. It increases their community, and it builds friendships and affection.

I’ve been doing it for four years now and have become a mentor to all the kids here and friend of the parents. All it cost me is my time and lunch. It’s my project that helped keep me sane.

To be honest, it eased some of the sting that their rejection left me with, kept me busy, and gave me a few minutes to forget.

My house is open to any of these people. They take care of each other, and I protect them.

I throw my head back and laugh as four of the smaller kids tackle me, sending me to the ground. This is what makes it all worthwhile. This is why I stayed here.

DJ, Paul, Cade, and Misha giggle and demand my surrender.

I hold out as long as I can and then admit defeat. Oh, I’m tired now, so it’s easy to do. How do they have so much energy? It’s been a couple of hours of running about, and I could use a piece of pizza and a drink.

“Food’s here!”

The kids run, and I roll to my feet, dusting myself off. I turn towards the picnic tables, smiling, but the smile drops. Cold fills me, and I wish like hell they weren’t here.

They are sitting with the parents, interspersed with the kids. Invading my territory.

All. Fucking. Four. Of. Them.

I grind my teeth, grab the ball, and walk back over to the group .

“Oh, we’re so glad to see you after all this time, Mael. Of course, you’ll be welcome. Selene never turns anyone away,” Peta says in the friendliest tone with a teasing glance at me.

Why did I make that rule?

And why is this neighbourhood suddenly playing matchmaker?

Mael sits down beside Cindy, smiling slightly while his damn devious eyes find me.

“So whose idea was this?” Edric asks.

“Can I pat your cat?”

I glance at the kids crowding around Kingston but just hear Peta as she spills everything to my enemies.

“Selene started it four years ago.”

The three of them look at me, their eyes wide, assessing, curious. Bailey is too busy showing Misha the tattoo’s on his hands.

I ignore them and grab a slice of pizza and walk over to where the older kids are gathered.

“Hey, Trisha, how’d the date go?”

“It went really well. He’s great. Thanks for helping me.”

Trisha is a nerdy girl with a great sense of humour and really shitty parents. She’d been asked out but didn’t know if she could trust him. I checked him out and organised for one of the older boys to be a very discreet chaperone.

I shrug. “Anytime.” I turn to Mathew, “And you, how’s school?”

“Better. Now the teacher has backed off and stopped picking on me. I actually managed to get a C on the test.”

Mathew is a foot taller than me but only just turned thirteen. His parents don’t have the time to notice that the teacher has had it out for him.

I nudge his arm. “See, I knew you had it in you.”

His smile dips a bit, and he looks down at his shoes. “Thank you, Selene.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“I know you didn’t, but all the same.”

To my surprise, this kid who hates physical touch turns and hugs me awkwardly before turning and jogging off.

I am so touched that I barely notice as Trisha waves and jogs after him.

“See ya, Selene!” she shouts.

I belatedly wave, but they’re already gone.

Clark appears next to me, sneaking up in a way that makes me think she’s going to be a pain in my ass. “Whoever beat up the teacher and got him to stop picking on our kids was a real lifesaver. ”

I look at her sharply. “Yeah, they were.”

“Too bad we’ll never know who did it.”

My smile returns, and I turn back to watch the older kids jostling and teasing each other. There are nine of them in high school right now. A couple on the verge of it, but more little kids, all on the precipice of being lost.

The older kids were write offs to everyone. I haven’t done anything spectacular. I’ve just evened the odds and given them a chance at getting out of here.

Funnily enough, the teens are avoiding the new pack. I ponder the situation. Is this loyalty?

“Those kids remember you guys. The younger ones don’t,” Clark whispers. “They adore you. Of course, they are on your side. Just because we’re happy they are back doesn’t mean that anyone here has forgotten the hurt they caused, Selene. We remember who helped us, who stayed.”

My eyes sting, but I stare at the kids until the feeling passes.

“Is everyone else okay?” I ask Clark.

She hesitates. “Mrs Gremaline is struggling.”

“What does she need?”

“Aside from a new alpha?” Clark snorts. “She hasn’t been able to get the money together for her debt repayments.”

I snarl softly, my body still aches a little bit, but it looks like I’m going to be fighting again.

“How much?”

Clark turns away, putting an arm around my shoulder and drawing me away.

“He’s been betting again. I found out she’s possibly a couple of months behind.” Clark squeezes my shoulder and walks back to the group, leaving me behind, while I try to figure out how to save Dulcie.

I spit out a curse. I’ll have to fight a couple of times in order to get her out of this. With another bitter groan, I put my hands on my hips, tilt my head back, and just take a second, letting the sunlight hit my face.

“Can’t give up. Can’t back down.”

“From what?”

I squeeze my eyes tighter and shake my head, but a soft paw and then a heavy weight slipping onto my shoulders has me opening my eyes.

Shade looks at me and lets out a low meow. I reach up and scratch his chin, but I can’t say no to anything that has eyes that beautiful.

“Selene, talk to us. Please. ”

I reluctantly look at Kingston and find the years falling away. The sense of family, the friendship, that feeling of belonging they stole when they chased after that bitch of an omega and tossed me aside.

“Nah. I see no reason for us to talk.”

I walk off. If the cat wants to stay with me, he’s more than welcome, but as soon as we pass the pizza, the cat, like his human pet, abandons me for someone better.

“See you guys next week!” I shout.

No one notices me. They don’t look at me. I let out a little growl of frustration and push them all to the back of my mind.

I have a situation that needs sorting.