Page 27 of Cost of Courting (When it Raines Omegaverse #6)

Chapter twenty-five

Selene

It’s tradition in the neighbourhood that, once every three months, we have a street party where everyone brings a plate, and we cook up some meat.

I was surprised when it suddenly snuck up upon us.

I told Pack Dread about it but didn’t really know if they would attend.

It’s one thing to talk to people separately, but it’s another to announce our involvement with each other to the whole neighbourhood.

I can understand if they don’t want to.

Am I nervous they might be embarrassed of me? Perhaps. I don’t have an education, a fancy job, or rich relatives. My strengths are pure endurance and the fact I don’t know when to quit. I’m not connected to a gang or club either, in fact, I actively work against them. I’m just me. Is that enough?

Mary grabs the end of the table I’m dragging. “Hey, haven’t seen you in a while.”

I frown at her. “Did you hit your head again? Pretty sure I saw you at the shops yesterday.”

Mary titters. “But you’ve been so quiet and busy.”

“I’m always quiet and busy.”

“But, this time, there are four wonderful reasons why, aren’t there?”

I sigh heavily and put the table down on my front lawn. Mrs Farrows clucks her tongue and points at the table.

“Right there, David.”

David is a young, gangly youth of fourteen. His straw-coloured hair clashes with his acne, but, even with that and his awkwardly long limbs, he’s going to be an attractive beta because he’s the spitting image of his father when he was a boy, or so the women of the neighbourhood tell me.

He lifts a huge cooler of Mrs Farrows’ familiar fruit punch and then trots back into my house for the supplies.

I grab some streamers and give them to the little kids. It’s a couple of dollars and some fun. I also get out a big bucket of chalks and watch as they go running off to a part of the road with no people.

“Look who’s here!” Mary squeals.

I watch their car pull up with butterflies in my stomach. I don’t know what to expect. I’m used to fighting everything and everyone. But, in this situation, I don’t need to fight. I don’t think, or maybe I do.

Bailey gets out first wearing a simple blue-green t-shirt that matches his eyes. The only reason I can look away from him is because Kingston gets out and laughingly throws an arm around Bailey’s shoulder.

They look so carefree, so happy.

Mael and Edric carry bags over to the table, and I frown when I see all the meat. I open my mouth to tell them we don’t have a grill, but Bailey and Kingston jog down the side of their house and return with a huge metal barrel on legs, wait…is that a grill?

It is.

How did they…they built it. I look away so no one can see that I’m choking up. I shouldn’t be. Hell, I shouldn’t even be surprised.

These are the alphas I remember who were so enmeshed in this community with me.

They give me space, catching my eye several times and sending obvious smiles my way. I continue working while I find myself falling into a happy mess. I bring out the slices, sandwiches, and salads I prepared last night.

Did I make Kingston’s favourite? Yes, maybe I did.

More and more people arrive, and the table fills with food, and the air fills with laughter. Someone turns on the music, and the fairy lights and the booze are brought out.

Dot walks up and smiles at me. She looks happy and more relaxed than I’ve seen her in ages. She’s even wearing a really pretty sundress.

“Hey. Nice turn out this year. I particularly like the eye candy you invited.”

I snigger. “Hi, how are you, and they came on their own?”

“Oh, sure, they did.” She shrugs and glances over her shoulders at the alpha’s grilling. “They haven’t taken their eyes off you.”

I blush and pour her a drink. She reaches out and plucks it from my hand, chortling.

“Where’s Luna? ”

“I have no idea where she is,” I murmur, letting the disquiet and unease rise back to the surface. Compartmentalizing is good sometimes, but, right now, it’s almost impossible.

I love Luna. She is the only family I have. She’s smart and good and has a brilliant mind when she uses it. So, why does she get so dumb around alphas?

“You haven’t seen her?”

I lift my eyes and find Jo Tanner not far away, eavesdropping. I’d be annoyed, except I know that he has loved her forever, and he is the only person who cares about her as much as I do.

He’s bigger than all my alphas and with far more muscles, but he lacks that aggression and dangerous edge mine have. He’s got gentle giant vibes and an old injury to his foot that happened in school that has given him a pronounced limp.

His hair is short and dark, and his eyes are kind.

I wish more than anything that Luna would wake up one day and realise that this alpha is it for her. She won’t find any better than him.

“No, she’s mad at me.”

He pulls a face. “She will forgive you.”

I shrug and pour him a drink. “I hope it’s before she gets into trouble.”

He bites his bottom lip and looks away from us.

“Maybe I’ll go look for her.”

“You should stay and try to enjoy yourself. She will turn up.”

He shakes his head. “She might need me.”

I don’t even try to dissuade him.

Dot turns and watches him go. “One day, he’s going to have to forget about your twit of a sister. It will take an act of a god to get her to look at him with anything but derision.”

I want to argue with her, but I can’t.

“But you aren’t looking at them with derision. Not anymore. What happened?”

“Oh, I know you’ve heard on the grapevine. Why are you asking me?”

I skirt around the table; she falls into step beside me.

She’s right, they do watch me as I walk away.

I can feel their eyes. The comforting, strange thrill of knowing the alphas I am so conscious of and so deeply aware of reciprocate with almost physical glances and smiles that are like a hand caressing my back.

The bonds throb with warmth, love, contentment. All is well in our world, in this moment.

The music blares through the neighborhood, and my friend Dot walks with me side-by-side. It’s rare for us to get together in public like this. It’s rare for us to be this happy and relaxed as a group.

It’s because of them. I’m willing to take more risks .

I nod to Cindy, Peta, and Evie, making a mental note that I never see them apart anymore. Are they a pack? Why has it never occurred to me to wonder? I wonder if they are happy.

“No fights for a while?”

“No. I’ve been able to avoid them, thankfully. Though I’m not sure for how much longer.”

Dot opens her mouth but pauses. Whatever she was going to say falling away as Kingston looms up in front of us, his eyes on me, a soft smile reaching in and lighting me up from the outside in.

“We have to head off for a little while,” Kingston murmurs and kisses my temple. “I promise we’ll be back in an hour or so.”

I shrug, trying to hide my disappointment. “Okay. Who’s going?”

“The three of us, but Bailey has taken some of the kids down the street to play a game of football. I promise, my heart, we will be back as soon as we can.”

“Okay, I’ll be here.”

He kisses me, the lightest brush of lips. In front of everyone.

I am claimed.

My heart clenches and expands, happiness spills out of me, and I am not alone. And now everyone knows it. That smallest token gesture has changed the entire neighbourhood dynamics. It tells them everything they need to know.

And everyone I see is smiling as the three of them get into their car and drive away.

Dot nudges me with her elbow. “I hope they are keepers.”

“Yeah, they are.” I finger the bonds.

“Good grief, girl, do you need smelling salts? Look at those bites!”

“Yes,” I say dreamily. “Wait! What?”

Dot laughs. “Come on, I want some of Mrs Fritz’s pasta salad. I dream about that salad.”

We wander back and join a circle of people talking. I notice the cheerful smiles of my neighbours. The chatter, the weight that has lifted off our shoulders.

The peace.

This is why we do these street parties. Because we need a break from the monotony of stress and survival and to give ourselves relief from the endless struggle. To remember that no matter how it goes down, we’re not alone.

People shake my hand and hug me until I lose myself in their familiar scents.

Two hours pass, and, even though I search for my alphas and wait for their return, I’m enjoying myself too much to be that upset with their absence .

A car honks. Silence ripples across the crowd, people turning to face the car that is pushing into our party. The sudden tension and fear through the crowd is like lightning to me. I can feel it with my skin in the air all around us.

The wrongness.

Long before I see the driver, I know who it is.

Benson smiles through the windshield. I turn and grip Dot’s hand.

“Bailey,” I whisper.

Her eyes widen in fear and she nods and steps back. Cindy and Peta step sideways into the gap, closing it. I fold my arms under my breasts and watch him stop the car and get out.

“You’re having a party without me,” he coos and then bursts into laughter. “Look at your faces.”

“Yes. We are. So, go away,” I say loudly.

He turns a hostile smile on me. “Selene, it’s been a while. Far, far too long. Hammer has missed you terribly. He had a secret of yours he shared with me, and I thought maybe we could discuss it?”

To my surprise, Benson rounds the vehicle and stops at the back door, pulling it open. To my utter horror, Luna steps out. Nothing could have hurt me more in that moment than seeing her get out of his vehicle, her hand in his.

She’s in a black dress that looks like it cost a fortune. Heels that I don’t know how she’s walking in. Her makeup is flawless, her hair is smooth and shiny, falling in a sheet. She looks cold and alien.

“Luna,” I growl.

She ignores me, turning one of those simpering, perfect smiles on Benson.

He leans down and kisses her cheek, and she blushes prettily. It’s like she doesn’t even realise what he is. Like she can’t fathom that he is that evil monster who terrorised us.

I’m so angry with her, but I also know it’s not her fault.

No, this is mine.

“Run up and grab your bag, my sweet.”

“Luna!” I bark.

She glares at me and ignores me as she teeters up to the house.

Benson keeps smiling, uncaring of the rage that is aimed at him.

I step close to him, staring into his beady brown eyes, knowing it will piss him off. “What are you even doing?”

“Me? Dating.”

I let out a fierce growl .

“I have you to thank, by the way, for getting her so riled up that she literally came and threw herself into my arms.” He leans against the car and looks me up and down, then licks his lips suggestively.

I narrow my eyes.

“I’ll dump her if you give me the male omega,” he whispers.

My eyes go wide. I don’t even consider it. I can’t. The horror of such a choice rips me apart.

“No. I don’t trade in flesh.”

“Too bad. Well, you can come trade in blood next time, then.”

He steps back, knowing he’s already pushing me too far.

Jo limps through the crowd. He sees Luna and, for a moment, she pauses. I hold my breath, hoping and praying.

I know why she leaves.

She wants out. She wants pretty things. Luna hates this life.

So she pretends she can’t see him and allows Benson to hand her into the car.

He turns back to me, stumbling into me and gripping my wrist hard enough to bruise.

“Obey me and give me what I want or it’s going to get much, much worse.”

I grit my teeth, refusing to allow the pain to leak out. He holds for three heartbeats and then lets me go.

There’s nothing I can do as he leaves with my baby sister. Any move against him would hurt the people around me, and Luna…she chose this.

I have to protect the people who can’t protect themselves.

But it leaves me shattered, and, when he’s gone, I walk away from everyone, leaving the party and going to a place where no one will find me.

My nest.