Page 18

Gwen

T he car dropped me off at Nia and Atty’s pack’s cute house. These weren’t fancy giant houses like where I’d grown up in Vancouver. Or farmhouse-y homes on land like Nonna’s. They were just neat, cute, pack-sized, but not overly large, multi-story homes with little yards and fences.

Lugging my bag, I knocked on the door. Pupper barked, which made my heart happy.

Atty opened the door. He was dressed dapper, though his feet were bare. “Finally.”

“Sorry.” Tears pricked my eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

Standing in the doorway, tears streamed down my face as Pupper came over and put his paws on my legs.

“Oh, Gwen. Whatever it is, it’s okay.” Atty put his arm around me, bringing me in and closing the door, while Pupper continued to bark for my attention.

I knelt down and pet Pupper. He was a couple of years old now. I’d found the sweet black dog, my first year as an EBUG, in the dumpster by my community college. I’d stuffed him in my shirt, taken him to the rink, since I had EBUG practice, and ended up giving him to Nia, who’d tried and failed to find his owner, so her pack kept him.

Pupper licked the tears off my face and for a long moment, I just sat there holding him in the middle of the entryway.

Patrice appeared. “There you are, we were about to get started without you.”

“Sorry.” The tears started flowing again.

After I’d left the Center, I’d ended up in an outdoor market. Still feeling raw from my appointment, I’d bought a floaty purple scarf, which matched my jacket, apples that looked straight out of a fairytale, fancy cheese, and fresh herbs. Then I had to run back to my place to get the gifts for the party and the cake I’d made.

Patrice looked startled. “Gwen, it’s okay. Are we having a bad day?”

I nodded as I took my shoes off and put them by the door with all the others.

Atty grabbed the bag. “Your boys bought the gifts for you, right? Because this is supposed to be fun, not stressful. I’d hate to think how many hours you’d have to work at the rink for this.”

The MASOs were having a favorite things party, where everyone brought the same thing for everyone.

“Um, I made the mistake of asking my sister for help. I was going to get everyone a crop top that said puck me and a homemade lasagna, and I didn’t know if it was good enough. The next thing I knew, she’d mailed me gifts for everyone from Paris. I have no idea what’s in them. She told me not to peek.” I hung up my scarf and jacket. Isa and I had been texting more, mostly pictures of her little kids.

“I’d have been okay with that,” Patrice told me. “It’s always nice to have lasagna in the freezer. Though that’s a lot to make. Your crop tops are cute and look comfortable to workout in.”

I grabbed my backpack and the cake, then followed them. The living room was filled with MASOs, eating food, drinking wine, and gossiping. Every one of them was dressed cute, most with their hair, makeup, and nails done perfectly.

My nails were cutely painted, courtesy of Valya. Though Clark had gotten me a wallet to match my bucket purse which made me feel fancy.

“It was nice of your sister to do that,” Atty told me.

“Oh, she’s totally bribing you. She’s hoping you’ll keep me from being a fashion disaster.” I waved at everyone.

“Which you are determined to be every time.” Verity came over and gave me a hug.

“Absolutely. Mercy and Kaiko are so good at taking all the things she keeps sending me and turning them into outfits that keep me at the bottom of the list.” I laughed, heading to the dining room table to grab some food and put out my cake.

At first I got annoyed with the clothes. Then I realized I could comply maliciously and have a little fun with it. Some of them were really nice.

Atty laughed. “Your outfit at the last game was spectacular.”

I’d been on duty. I’d also gotten the enchiladas Carlos’ mom brought me all over the very expensive top. Whoopsie? Clark was going to send it out to the dry cleaner with his suits.

“As was your game last night.” Verity refilled her glass of wine from a bottle on the counter.

Verity and her guys had come to the game, even though it was away at BosTec. Her brother went there. Dean, Grif, and Jonas had all graduated from there.

“That was a rough game. Your brother’s boyfriend is a fantastic player.” I heaped my plate with food, which had all come from a local Mediterranean restaurant.

“He is. Not sure how long he’ll last. My brother has been going through partners like he’s collecting coins in a video game. But our parents also didn’t let us date, so I can understand it,” she laughed.

“Hey, are you okay with me talking to Dean about non-hockey stuff? I don’t want to overstep, since he’s your omega.” I wanted to talk to him more about how he’d felt when he’d awakened out of nowhere, and how he’d dealt with it–besides concealing it.

“Of course you can. Is everything okay?” Alpha concern flickered across Verity’s face.

“Sure.” I grabbed a beer from the fancy tub on the counter and tucked it under my arm, then picked up my plate and headed into the living room.

“Celine.” I beamed as I saw her perched on the arm of the big alpha-sized sectional, talking to Muriel.

Muriel looked exhausted, but baby Sammy was teething.

“Ladybug! Catch.” Celine reached into her adorable designer handbag, then threw a couple of pouches of chocolate buttons at me.

Which I didn’t catch, because my hands were full. Putting my plate on the corner of the coffee table, I grabbed them, then pulled an ottoman over and dropped my backpack to the ground. “Thanks.”

“Atty, the fire pit’s fixed.” Tegan, LeeAnn’s alpha, came in holding a toolbox, face ruddy with cold. Her dark-green hair was longish at the top and shaved at the sides, and unlike most of the MASOs, wore jeans and a flannel. With her was Dex, Atty’s alpha.

“Great. Thanks.” Atty looked like he hadn’t asked or cared. He put my bag near me. Bags and boxes were piled everywhere.

Dex kissed Atty and headed back for the game room, but not before grabbing a bunch of beers and a bag of chips. Not all mates and significant others were part of the MASO group and some of them were probably hanging out elsewhere in the house.

A few people played with Jackson and the twins and some other kids in the backyard.

“Tegan, you’re back.” I grinned at her.

“Ladybug! I’ve been waiting for two years for you to play and you had to go do it while I was on an op.” Tegan laughed. She grabbed a beer and one of the dining room chairs, then sat in it backwards.

“Gwen, dearest, is there anything you want to tell the group?” Patrice sat down in a chair that matched the sectional, holding a glass of wine, and snagging a pastry from the tray on the table.

One of the MASOs I didn’t know well was a pastry chef.

“Today I blew my budget on fancy cheese and fresh herbs, even though I could just take the herbs from the greenhouse behind the athlete’s dining hall, like I always do?” I blinked as I stuffed food in my face, starving.

“These noseys want to know if you’re really an omega,” Verity explained. “Since you were in the omega ward of the hospital. They’ve been waiting ages to ask you. You don’t have to tell anyone anything.”

“I’m just broken. Not omega.” Yet anyway. It came out raw, because Dr. Kristy’s announcement that I could awaken had rattled me.

Patrice frowned. “Gwen, you’re not broken. We’re not trying to pry. We wanted to know if we could help you . Some of us are omegas, you know.”

“Oh. Thanks.” That was a nice sentiment. “I wish my mom was still alive.”

Tears pricked my eyes, and I looked away, rubbing my face with my hand. I’d love to talk to her or Nonna about this.

“Sweetie.” Patrice got up and sat down next to me, pulling me into a hug. She smelled like berry lip-gloss.

“I’m a beta shadow and it confuses the fuck out of everyone, including myself. That’s why I was in the omega ward.” I leaned into Patrice, her hug feeling nice. But then she was a mom.

“So much to unpack there,” Atty muttered. “Is a shadow what I think it is?”

“It happened years ago and has nothing to do with Austin, who, I think you all know, is alive and well, and not buried at the zoo.” I flinched as I remembered what Desiree had said.

“Merde.” Celine got up and sat down on the other side of me. “My mémé asked after the wedding if you were a,” she used a word in French, which I think meant something close to shattered mirror. “She was worried about you being so young.”

I nodded. “The wolves knew, too.”

“That is the most ladybug statement ever. We’re right here. As are your boys.” Patrice smoothed my wild hair.

Muriel giggled, bouncing Sammy. “Oh, they are right there. I’m always seeing them come and go from each other’s places. You should just move in all together.”

I squirmed, uncomfortable about how personal I’d just gotten. “I can’t believe I just told you all that.”

Some of them I didn’t know as well as others. But considering you could smell it, it wasn’t actually a secret. Most people just didn’t know what shadows smelled like.

“Can we open presents now. I hope Tegan brought everyone a puppy,” I added.

“Yeah, I was thinking of that for the holiday gift exchange,” Tegan admitted, taking a sip of beer. “I always have trouble figuring out what to get, given there’s now a no snowmobile rule.”

The MASOs did a holiday gift exchange, where they each bought a really high-end gift, then played a drinking game to determine who got what. One year, Tegan had brought a snowmobile, and it had nearly come to blows, because everyone wanted it.

“I’m partial to malamutes. A snowmobile sounds fun.” I took another sip of beer. I’d only be able to participate if Isa or someone could help me get something. It also felt so… extravagant. That was also the point.

“Why don’t we get started?” Atty said. “Also, Janessa sends her love. Elias and Winston are enjoying retirement, and the pictures of her new place are incredible.”

It was nice to know the Royce pack was doing okay. I hadn’t gotten to really talk to her at the party. Now that it was getting cold, I should find my ladybug beanie she’d made me, since it had survived hurricane Austin, having been in my rink locker.

“I’ll go first.” Tegan passed out cute fabric bags. “Everyone needs a drill and a set of tools for their home or car. There’s an assortment of colors, so feel free to trade.”

“You know you can use a drill and a scrub brush and make a power scrubber for your shower?” I’d learned that during junior hockey from my host mom. My tools were pink, and I traded Verity for purple.

Celine got us some fancy French skincare and a get-ready-with-me headband. Patrice handed out silk pajamas, the cozy kind with the button-down shirts and roomy pants, with matching eye masks and fuzzy socks. Verity got us plant lights and baking stuff.

There were also things with our hockey player’s numbers on it–like hand painted tumblers from the brand of the moment, custom beanie and scarf sets, a delicate bracelet with their number, a hockey stick, and the softest of throw blankets. We’d been given lists ahead of time with everyone in attendance. Atty gave us all duffels that we could carry everything home in, with our names embroidered on them.

Everything I got only had a 55 on it for Clark. I took a picture of me in the scarf and beanie, holding the tumbler, wrapped in the blanket and holding the pillow, then sent it to both of them.

“Okay, Gwen, what’s in your mystery packages?” Atty asked. “Gwen’s sister sent us special bribes from Paris. She apparently objects to Gwen’s fashion choices.”

Verity frowned. “She didn’t object to the Dubois you wore to the dinner, right? Or was she mad because it was your mom’s?”

“She thought I looked great and is now giving the person who fixed it for me a shit ton of business, restoring old Vecci gowns for an exhibit at the Guges Museum in Paris.” I shrugged.

“I’d go to that exhibit.” Verity nodded.

“We should take a no-kids trip during the off-season,” Patrice said. Several of them nodded.

I handed out the small, beautifully wrapped boxes, which were Vecci branded, with little Vecci phone charms nestled in the bows. “I’m slightly afraid, but she works for Vecci.”

“Oh, this is beautiful,” Verity breathed, taking out an exquisite square silk Vecci scarf. “These scarves are fall must-haves. I can see why she chose them.”

She wrapped hers around her wrist. Celine tied hers on her bag. Tegan twirled hers and tied it around her head. There was a little trading going on, since not all of them were the same.

Muriel draped hers on her shoulder and grinned. “Designer burp cloth.”

“Not baby goats, but they’re beautiful,” Atty told me.

“Baby goats were an option?” How did I not know that? Not that I could afford a baby goat for everyone.

“I know a great place for miniature baby goats,” Verity told me.

Atty shook his head. “No baby goats.”

Finally, we unwrapped Muriel’s, which was a pretty bracelet that recorded things. It also had a little emergency beacon.

“In case your alphas don’t think tracking your phone is enough. Or for when you want to record things and can’t use your phone,” Muriel told us. “I use it to record creepers. Shawn and I also use them to send each other our locations when our phones don’t work well at conventions.”

I always forgot that Vickers had a first name. Those two were super into cosplay.

“Amazing,” I told her, excited. I wished I’d had this when Austin had cornered me at Tito’s. They also didn’t look like anything but a bracelet.

We cleaned everything up and put our stuff in our bags, then got ready to watch the game. Someone had put out more food and drinks.

“Since Tegan mentioned it, we’ll be doing the gift exchange again at our holiday party. We booked the back room at Skyline, so no puppies, livestock, or snowmobiles.” Atty shot Tegan and me a look. “I’ll send out the rules. Participation is optional, advance registration is mandatory.”

Skyline was an ultra-fancy restaurant at the top of the Stonefeld Manhattan hotel. I’d never been.

“We still have openings on a few committees for the gala in February, which we help put on every year, to raise money for the Squire Foundation, which runs the Knights’ youth hockey programs for underprivileged kids,” Atty added, giving a few people looks.

Yeah, not signing up for help with gala planning. I saw what Babo and my mom went through for those. Pass. I'd help set up or make goodie bags, or whatever they had the EUBGs do this year to help.

Verity stood. “Well, this has been fun, but I’m going to the Maimers game.”

Their season had started and tonight was a home game against the Capitol Crushers.

I gave her a hug. “Have fun.”

“Do you want to come, I have an extra ticket,” she offered. “I’ll feed you and we don’t have to talk.”

“Thanks. I haven’t been to a skate smash game in forever.” I didn’t need to be asked twice. While this had been fun, I could only take so much chit-chat. It would be nice to see Mercy play live.

I grabbed my bag, and hers, then turned to the group. “Thank you, but I’m being stolen.”

Patrice gave me a squeeze. “We’re here for you. I know Atty and I tease you, but you’re the little sister that comes to dinner late, with dirt on her face and crickets in her pocket. It doesn’t mean we care for you any less.”

I laughed. “Usually it was lizards. My nonna had to ban reptiles at the table.”

“Which means you just brought small mammals instead.” Atty gave me a hug of his own. “Thanks for coming.”

We went outside and got into Verity’s hot pink sports car, the bags in the back with her crutch. I texted my guys, more for safety than anything. They’d already texted me about the pictures.

Clark

You look cute in my number.

Tenzin

Why just his?

Clark

Because she’s signed up as my MASO. Mine! All mine. Buh ha ha ha ha.

He’d added a supervillain gif.

Me

You two are silly. I’m leaving the party to watch your game with Verity.

From the skate smash game on my phone.

I added a silly gif.

Me

She had an extra ticket. Good luck tonight.

Clark

Have fun. Love you.

Me

Love you both

Tenzin

Love you, too, Precious. Be safe.

Clark was filling the chat with hearts. Tenzin added a gif of a heart. Such saps, and they were all mine.