Page 34 of Follow Your Instincts (Fairview City Omegaverse)

Maggie

I n the end, I wore the blue dress Kira had given me for that disastrous first pack meeting.

“Are you sure it’s not too tight?” I asked her over a video call. It felt like a second skin. It also showed the bandage on my knee, but I didn’t think there was anything I could do about that, other than wear the suit I usually wore in court. I didn’t think that would give off the right vibe.

“You look hot, babe,” she said, rolling her eyes. “He’s probably going to jump you before you leave for the restaurant.”

“I don’t think he sees me like that,” I said. “But I am glad that he’s willing to try to make things work for the sake of his pack.” I winced as I turned in my chair and hissed through my teeth at the ache in my ribs.

“How are you doing?” Kira asked more seriously. “I still can’t believe that asshole attacked you again .”

“I don’t want to talk about it. I’m fine,” I said shortly.

“Babe, you should talk about it. It’s kind of a big deal.”

“Talking about that shithead is not how I want to spend my time. I have other things to worry about, like the fact that my heat is coming earlier than they thought,” I said, swiping on some of the ancient mascara I’d brought with me .

“Oh my god, seriously? Well, hey, at least you’ve already got four guys ready to help,” she said, waggling her eyebrows.

“Three,” I corrected her, then mentally dropped that tally to two, remembering my conversation with Lucas. I was pretty sure Soren and Ben would be down to… help.

“If this Lachlan doesn’t want to get in your panties after seeing you like this, he’s too stupid to be with you anyway,” Kira said.

“Wow, classy,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Let me know how it goes, okay? I have to head out soon for work. Love you.”

“Love you too. Have fun,” I said and hung up.

Nerves settled in; talking to Kira had been a nice distraction, but now the prospect of extended time spent alone with Lachlan was even more terrifying.

This didn’t have to be such a big deal. I didn’t have to convince him to find me attractive.

It was just a chance to get to know each other better… right?

I took one last look in the mirror and steeled myself. It would have to do.

Lachlan was waiting for me at the foot of the stairs in the living room.

He was wearing an immaculate black suit that, along with his dark hair and scar, made him look like the sexy villain in a Bond movie.

His crisp white shirt was unbuttoned at the neck, showing off a V of exposed skin.

He watched me descend the stairs without speaking, his bright green eyes not missing a thing, and my heart clenched.

Was he always going to be this intimidating? I couldn’t read his expression at all.

“Hi,” I said breathlessly when I reached the bottom. His scent had kicked my heart rate into overdrive, and I felt off-balance.

He smiled slightly. “You look very beautiful tonight, Maggie,” he said formally.

“You look beautiful too,” I said. “I mean, handsome.”

His smile widened a little. He did look very handsome, especially when he smiled. “Are you ready?”

I nodded, not trusting my voice to be steady .

“Would you be okay with walking? We’re not going far.”

I just nodded again. Get it together, woman, I scolded myself internally. You’ve got to actually use words .

Lachlan helped me slide into my coat, and we walked out into the chilly autumn air. He took my arm and I leaned into him, enjoying his warmth and the heady pull of his scent. We walked a full block in silence.

“So where are we going?” I asked, trying to break the silence.

“You’ll see,” Lachlan replied.

So much for talking , I thought.

After walking another couple of blocks, we arrived outside of a tiny Italian restaurant called “La Tavola”. Lachlan held open the door for me. It was very small, only about 10 tables, and completely empty apart from the server that stood smiling at us.

“Welcome, Mr. Murray,” she said. “Right this way.”

She led us to a table near the back with a red-checkered tablecloth and a bottle of red wine already open in the center. String lights were hung from the ceiling, which was painted to look like the night sky, and gentle string music was playing. It was very charming.

“They know who you are?” I asked after she left the table. “Are you secretly famous, or are you just obsessed with Italian food?”

“I actually… rented out the entire restaurant for tonight. I didn’t want you to be worried about anyone bothering you. I hope that’s okay?” He searched my face intently.

“That’s thoughtful, thank you,” I said. It was thoughtful, but it also made the gulf of money and experience between us feel even wider. He nodded and smiled a little, but didn’t reply.

He poured us each a glass of wine, and I took a big sip, grateful for something to do with my hands and mouth since I didn’t seem capable of making normal conversation.

The server returned with a basket of focaccia. “The chef has prepared a tasting menu for you, but if you’d prefer to order a la carte, just let me know,” she said .

Lachlan looked at me and inclined his head. “What do you think?”

“A tasting menu sounds perfect,” I said.

She left again, and I grabbed a piece of bread to fill the silence that stretched between Lachlan and me.The focaccia was warm from the oven and so delicious I forgot to be nervous for a moment.

“Oh my god, this is so good,” I said.

Lachlan smiled. “They bake it fresh. Lucas is a big fan, too.”

“I’m surprised they all weren’t waiting in the living room too before we left,” I said, latching onto the topic of his packmates. At least I knew where I stood with them.

“I asked them to give us some privacy. Lucas and Soren understood, but I had to threaten Ben with disembowelment to get him to cooperate,” Lachlan said.

“Yeah that tracks,” I said, laughing. I grabbed another piece of bread then realized Lachlan wasn’t eating and got self-conscious again.

We lapsed into silence.

By the time the server brought out the first course, a gorgeous caprese salad, I was desperate for anything to talk about. Lachlan seemed perfectly content to sit in silence, staring at me or the table, and taking intermittent sips of wine.

I steeled myself. If this was going to work, and we were going to get to know each other properly, someone had to take the initiative. I took a deep breath, then plunged in.

“I think we have to talk to each other at some point,” I said, and shoved a forkful of mozzarella into my mouth.

Lachlan nodded and gave me a wry smile. “Probably. I’m sorry for being so quiet. I get this way when I’m nervous.”

“You’re nervous? I’m nervous!”

“What do you have to be nervous about?” He looked genuinely confused.

“Are you kidding? I’m having dinner with the head of the pack I’m trying to…

court or whatever. You’re so quiet and intense and intimidating.

And smart. And I have no idea what yo u’re thinking, or what you think of me, and it feels like I should be doing something to impress you, but I have no idea what that could be,” I said in a rush.

Lachlan startled me by letting out a hoarse bark of laughter.

“Well, I’m nervous because I’m having dinner with the beautiful, funny, and clever Omega that my entire pack is smitten with.

I’ve got a bunch of baggage that I somehow have to tell you about without scaring you completely away.

And you’re so gorgeous that it’s distracting me, but that’s nothing new,” he said, almost under his breath.

I stared at him. “You think I’m gorgeous?”

“Of course. How has that not been obvious from the moment we met?”

“I don’t know… it just seemed like I was more of a necessary evil to you. Like, you were putting up with me to make the rest of the pack happy.”

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “Well, that’s not ideal.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I just didn’t think you thought of me like that.”

Lachlan opened his mouth to respond, but the server came back with small bowls of ravioli in a brown butter sage sauce. He waited until we were alone again to continue.

“I don’t have any excuses for how I’ve behaved in the past weeks, only some explanations. This is not the first pack I’ve been a part of, or the first time I’ve courted an Omega.” He paused, looking down at his lap, before he continued.

“When I was twenty-two, I formed a pack with two other Alphas: Jeremy and Mitch. We were best friends in college, and we had similar goals in life: building businesses and finding our Omega so we could start building a family, too.” He paused again and gulped wine.

My stomach sank, while at the same time twisting with jealousy for this other Omega. Who could have let Lachlan go?

“It took a couple of years, but through some of the mixers and events, we met an Omega. Her name was Serafina, Sera for short, and she was… great. Our scents all meshed well together, and we started courting.”

My jealousy deepened. I bet she’s a proper little dainty Omega that also somehow has giant tits , I thought bitterly.

“Things went well. After courting for a couple of months, we made Sera a formal offer to join the pack, and she accepted. It felt like things were falling into place, like everything was perfect.”

Lachlan took a deep breath and I noticed his hands were shaking.

“On our way back from picking up Sera to move her into the pack house, we got in an accident. A semi-truck crossed the line and hit us head-on.”

I pressed a hand over my mouth. The jealousy I’d felt changed to icy dread. I reflexively grabbed Lachlan’s hand.

“Jeremy was driving. Mitch was in the passenger seat. And I was sitting behind him next to Sera. They… didn’t make it.”

He looked up at me, agonized, and I squeezed his hand. “No one?” I asked.

“Just me,” he said quietly.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry, Lachlan,” I whispered. I couldn’t even imagine what that would be like. I had never had that kind of bond with anyone but Kira. To have it taken away, all at once… I felt gutted just thinking about it.