Page 48 of Let It Snow (Eden’s Omegaverse #7)

A week later

I press my face to the narrow gap between the gate and the wall, my heart pounding so hard I can barely hear my own thoughts.

The unpleasant surprise comes when I spot a small guard booth set up on the edge of the driveway, right on the grass. Of course, the Nolans must have taken Detective Arnold’s advice seriously, something I completely forgot about. Inside are two guards.

So I have to knock them out temporarily, cutting off blood flow to their brains for just a moment. They’ll wake up soon with headaches and dizziness, but I need a bit of quiet to think.

For a moment, I just stare at the Nolans’ white house, its garden lights spilling along the walls. From a distance, I see bright light pouring from the windows, silhouettes moving inside.

My breath catches in my chest, and my hand instinctively drops into the pocket where I keep Snow’s letter. I know it by heart by now, tormenting myself by reading it and sobbing over it all week.

I want so badly to see him, even from afar, but I feel so stupid; I ran off, left him like what we had had meant nothing. I just stood there and watched him leave.

And I paid for it. I've been on heavy painkillers for a week now. Damn you, Moon! You were right.

Now I have no idea how to rebuild what we had with Snow. Why does it always have to be this complicated with me?

I keep coming back to the same conclusion: nothing ever feels good enough to me. I can’t seem to enjoy what I have. Instead of focusing on the good, I zero in on the bad. It’s like getting a hundred positive comments and obsessing over the negative one. One!

And the worst part is, there wasn’t even a real ‘negative comment’ this time. I just let the heat recovery phase get to me, scramble my mind, and make me lose sight of what really matters.

My parents told me the same thing. "You’re crazy, Summer! No omega should make decisions in that state. The best relationships have been destroyed by things said during heat recovery."

I press my lips together, hesitating for a moment. But I have to make it right. Just like Moon predicted, my brain cells finally came back online once the hormone storm passed.

So I haul myself up and swing over the fence.

The second I land on the other side, my nerves spike.

What now? Do I just go to the door and knock? Or sneak around to the room where I used to stay and act like nothing happened, like I never left? Because in a way, I didn’t. Being away from him feels like not existing at all. It’s been a bad dream I couldn’t wake up from for the past week.

Yes, the Pull between Snow and me is different. It doesn’t kill me, but it sure gives me a constant pounding in my temples, not to mention the stubborn boner. Enough is enough.

Passing by the guard booth, I creep toward the porch, filling my lungs with air that smells of flowers and freshly cut grass.

Like a ghost, I move to the window and peek inside since the blinds are raised.

The Nolan family has gathered for dinner. I see Bay, Aiden, and Lake, and even Jordan. Snow is sitting in his usual place at the table.

From where I stand, I can see his clean, perfect profile. He’s leaning over the table, fingers resting near his plate, eyes fixed on its surface. My poor cock throbs with happiness and impatience.

My omega ears pick up their conversation.

Lake is trying to talk Snow into going out to the marina where their cousin Veyron’s yacht is docked. Apparently, Veyron reached out to Snow to apologize for what happened at the start of my heat and offered him a chance to spend a few days on his yacht.

Snow shakes his head.

Bay jumps in with a cutting remark.

"Snow, the tragic, romantic hero, prefers to hole up in his basement and torture himself instead of relaxing on luxury yachts," he says, grinning at Lake. "You can tell Veyron that if Snow’s not going, I’ll take the invitation. His yacht’s amazing."

Lake shoots him a disapproving glare. "I’m not gonna tell him that!"

But Bay isn’t done. He turns to Snow.

"By the way, my manager told me Dennis is in town visiting his dad. Maybe you should meet up with him? A good hookup might improve your mood."

"That’s enough!" Aiden cuts in, glowering at Bay too. Bay leans back and shrugs.

"What? Why so serious? I’ve always said old flames don’t die. Snow dumped Theo, Summer dumped Snow, so why not Dennis? Last option. Maybe seeing him would clear out some of this heavy snowstorm aura…"

I have no idea who Dennis even is, though just the thought irritates me. Snow doesn’t seem interested anyway; he just keeps eating in silence. Lake speaks up.

"Bay, you could try showing your brother a little support. Especially because you can relate—"

Bay raises his voice, clearly trying to drown out the end of his dad’s sentence, and in a tone that’s slightly more conciliatory but still sour, he says, "Then at least come with me on the yacht, Snowball. We can sail and talk about all the omegas we can’t have. Sounds good?"

"There’s a subtle difference between us, Bay," Snow says grimly.

"Oh? And what’s that?"

"My omega came back."

My heart nearly stops in my chest.

What?

Snow sensed me? He knows I’m here? Of course he does. Why am I even surprised?

I jerk back from the window so fast I trip over a low clump of evergreen shrubs and land hard on my butt. I hear footsteps. The door swings open. Lake appears, and a long blade of light from the doorway seems to slice straight across my face.

"Summer!!!"

The moment I see him, something twists in my stomach because I feel like such an idiot. Just a week ago, I said goodbye to him almost in the exact same spot in front of his house, and now here I am again, coming back like some silly goose.

I clench my fists nervously, but…

…Lake isn’t the kind of person who would ever make me feel like anything had happened that could change our relationship.

He practically launches into a sprint, moving with such ease and agility despite his age. He reaches me, scoops me into his arms, literally lifts me off the ground, spinning me around as he bursts out laughing.

"Summer, Summer," he keeps repeating, and then plants a loud, solid kiss on my cheek.

"Welcome back! You have no idea how happy I am that you’re here again," he whispers.

And just like that, I get emotional. Tears start running down my face. It feels good to be welcomed by him. I really do like him. A lot.

"Thank you," I mumble, holding him tightly. "I couldn’t miss out on having a dad-in-law like you. A dad-in-law and… a friend."

Lake chuckles and squeezes me even harder.

"Well, look at that, he came back for you, Dad, and not for our dear Snow," I hear Bay’s sarcastic voice behind Lake.

In the doorway now stand Aiden, Bay, and Snow, all of them watching me keenly.

"You’re so wrong…" I respond quietly.

My eyes lock with Snow’s, and a shiver runs so sharply through me that I let out an awkward little squeak.

"Hello, Summer," he says in a low voice that makes me blush.

"H-hello," I blurt out.

He studies me with that soft smile tugging at the corners of his lips. His whole presence feels like a warm welcome directed at me, yet he doesn’t take a single step closer.

Almost as if sensing the subtle tension hanging in the air between us, Lake quickly ushers me inside, his arm protective around me, murmuring that I came back at the perfect time because dinner’s just starting.

That’s another thing, besides my mutism, that my sex with Snow apparently fixed: my aversion to being touched by other people. Thanks to that, I can handle Lake’s hug without trembling.

He sits me down at the table and places a steaming plate of food in front of me.

The others join as if nothing unusual has happened, as if I weren’t any kind of surprise at all.

Lake doesn’t let the conversation drift into anything heavy.

He keeps it light, asking about my parents, how they’re doing, about their house in Iceland, what the weather’s like there.

He also asks the typical questions: if it’s already dark all the time, if the sun disappears behind the horizon, if I’ve seen the northern lights or polar bears.

Nobody else says anything, which is strange. Even Bay keeps quiet, focused on his plate, apparently deciding to spare me his usual sarcastic commentary.

Out of the corner of my eye, I stay acutely aware of Snow’s presence, but I don’t know what I’m supposed to say. Should I suddenly launch into some speech about the ridiculous things omegas do during heat recovery? Everyone already knows.

Deliberating on what to do, I notice that Snow has an exceptionally smooth complexion today.

I mean, he’s always had great skin; he never looked his age since, as a TMs’ kid, he already had a genetic advantage over his peers.

But now he actually looks twenty-five, as if his skin had a powerful glow-up.

Could it be that heat sex did its job in rejuvenation?

Maybe the Twin Souls magic worked just as reliably as TM’s?

I bite my lip nervously, tempted to comment on it, or at least chat about some random shit just to keep the energy flowing, but I can’t. I’m strangely choked up. Emotions boiling.

Lake saves me.

He asks if I’d like to put my backpack down and freshen up after the flight, reminding me that my room is still waiting for me.

I almost ask about my betta fish but swallow it. I just hope they fed it.

We get up from the table, and once again Lake slips an arm protectively around me, guiding me toward the stairs. I glance one last time at Snow, who’s still sitting at the table. Our eyes meet, but Lake pulls me along too quickly for any words to come out.

When we enter my room, my gaze immediately lands on the nightstand, but… the fish tank isn’t there.

"Where’s the aquarium?" I gasp, a little uneasy.

"Oh, the aquarium! Of course. Snow took it with him and looked after your fish," Lake explains warmly, walking over to my bed.