Page 7 of Loving My Omega (The Perfect Designation Trilogy #2)

Chapter

Seven

O n the bus ride back to the apartment, I texted Mike what Professor Davidson proposed. He agreed that obviously we would do it. It was the only way I would be able to continue his class for winter but Mike wasn’t happy hearing about my dad calling the school. We had hoped that it would be the end of it after they couldn’t track my phone anymore. The fact that they were still trying didn’t sit well with either of us.

Jumping off the bus, I headed into the apartment complex, but stopped for a moment. There were a few people standing out on the balcony and more standing at the bottom of the stairs. No one was saying anything, but all of them had accusatory looks on their face. That usually meant that Ass-n-tonio, our current landlord, was up to no good.

Turning, I headed up the stairs. Mrs. Williams was standing in front of Mrs. Truman’s open door, but the look on her face didn’t bode well. She saw me and I saw sadness flash in her eyes. Slowly, I walked over to Mrs. Truman’s apartment.

The entire place was packed up in boxes. It hadn’t looked like that when I left for the school earlier. There were two shifters in her apartment. Considering they looked like the grandkids, I guessed they were Mrs. Truman’s kids Nicholas and Rachelle. This was the first time seeing them in person though.

“I…um…I had tried to reach out. To see how Mrs. Truman was doing. Is there…?” I stepped closer to the door, noticing now that the apartment was almost completely empty already.

Nicholas looked up and narrowed his eyes for a moment. “Are you Colton? The sweet boy next door Bridgett would never shut up about.” His attitude and sarcasm came across loud and clear.

My eyes narrowed. “ Bridgett ? She’s your mother .”

“No, she was my mother’s mate.”

Shaking my head, I couldn’t believe his audacity. “Just because you think you’re some hot shot fucking Alpha, doesn’t mean you get to forget where you came from. Mrs. Truman raised you. She thought of you as her own. She could have abandoned you, simply because your father is a fucking asshole of an Alpha…”

“Watch what you say, boy.”

I growled, my hair raising on my arms. “You aren’t Alpha here. You can’t do shit. She was the best shifter. She took care of all of us.” My hand motioned to the entire apartment building. “She was there for all of us. As much as she had been abandoned by her kids, torn from her mate, she took care of all of us. Just because you had your head up your ass, unable to appreciate all that she has done, doesn’t mean we don’t!”

Part of this was coming from my hormones. I knew that. This whole situation with Mrs. Truman set me on edge. Then hearing about my father. Trying to get everything straight. I was too stressed and this Alpha was just adding insult to injury.

“Well, she’s dead. So she can’t do much now, can she?”

All the breath was taken from my lungs in one fell swoop. Two steps and my back hit the railing. It shook off some dirt and Mrs. Williams reached out to hold my shoulders. My mouth opened, but my lip shook. Shaking my head, I looked from Nicholas to Rachelle, who stepped into the living room.

“What my brother means to say is that she passed away yesterday.”

“I…she…wait…she’s gone ?”

She nodded, setting down the box in her hands. “She had a heart attack. The one she had here was a minor one, but she had a second one in the hospital and they couldn’t revive her.”

With the initial shock dissipating, tears poured down my eyes as I stared at her two children. As much as she complained about them, Mrs. Truman loved them. They were her own. She wished that she could have done more for them, stopped them from going to the Alpha. He was the one who helped fuel the sense of entitlement they felt. That they weren’t her children despite him not being anywhere in their life until they were older.

Nicholas shook his head. “She’s going to get buried at the pack next to Ma. Dad probably wouldn’t allow it, but it’s what Ma wanted before she died.”

“You…are the worst !” I choked out, grabbing my jacket.

It was so hard to breathe. Everything felt like it was crumbling. The one person who I relied on most. I’d asked her so many questions. She gave me so much stability. She loved me. She loved me like my own family wouldn’t. Mrs. Truman meant everything to me and I hadn’t even been able to say goodbye.

“I’m the worst? Are you serious right now? We have to clean up here…”

Rachelle kicked Nicholas. “These people cared about her. You’re making it worse. Stop.”

“Whatever. Let’s just get this done.”

She let out a sigh. “Oh!” Rachelle grabbed a box and walked to the door. “She said to give this to you. It’s got a few things in it. She made us promise to give it to you, otherwise she would haunt us in the afterlife.”

Gingerly, I took the box from her. Sure enough, it was sealed with tape and had my name with my apartment number written on it. I took a deep breath, but it caught at the apex. This was all I had left of the woman I loved.

“I don’t know why she thought you were so great. I never thought, as an Alpha, I’d get compared to some little kid and lose. She was off her rocker. I knew she was getting up there and we had been preparing for her to pass. We honestly didn’t think she would last this long without Ma.”

Growling, the box slipped and fell from my hands. I didn’t realized I had moved until I had Alpha Nicholas by the front of his shirt. My hands had shifted, the deep black fur from of my wolf covering down to my elbows. The silver in my eyes reflected in his scared ones. Mrs. Williams called out my name, but I bared my canines at this asshole.

“You…you sniveling piece of shit. You dare speak about her like that! She was a fucking pillar to us! Don’t go tossing her around like she was just an old person and it was her time. Because it fucking wasn’t!” I screamed in his face as tears streamed down my face. “You don’t know anything about her! I’ve never seen either of you around here and I have been here for almost a year! At the very least, you should have sent the grandkids. They at least give a shit!”

“Put me down you stupid shifter. I’ll have you reported!”

I scoffed, shoving him back. He stumbled and tripped on a box, sprawling out over the floor. Shaking my head, I spit at him.

“Fine. Report me . Tell them how a little five foot seven shifter bested you as an Alpha. Who told you off because your mother meant more to him than you!”

Mrs. Williams grabbed my wrist and pulled me gently out of the door back into the hallway. “Colton, don’t…Bridgett wouldn’t have wanted this.”

Sucking in a breath, I covered my mouth as I let out a sob. Finally, I fell to my knees, curling over myself and let out a wail. I howled as I wrapped my arms around myself. Rocking back and forth, I felt Mrs. Williams rub my back, but it was no use. Nothing felt comforting anymore.

My body wanted to shift, but I couldn’t. I wanted to run away, but I didn’t have the strength to even get up. I continued to cry, gasping for air as I couldn’t stop. My mother was gone. My mother, the strength I didn’t have in myself, was gone. The first person who I ever cared about losing, the fear now realized that settled into me after I picked her up off the floor.

“Colton, sweetheart…”

Sniffling, I shook my head. “She can’t…she can’t be gone. She said…she promised…we…were supposed to go to bingo. She said she would make me an apple pie. We were going to have dinner…and I could…ask her anything. She promised…she would go with me. She…promised...” I broke down again, this time mostly just tears.

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

My head rose to see Rachelle, carrying out a box of stuff from the apartment. “She did talk about you a lot. You were her favorite. There was no argument there.” She gave me a sad smile. “Thank you for finding her. I’m sure you were exactly the person she wanted by her side at the end.”

She turned and walked down the steps with her box. I stared after her before I wiped my face with the sleeves of my shirt. Grabbing the box, I struggled to lift it off the floor but I managed. Not looking at anyone, I walked over to my apartment door. Fumbling with my key and the box, Mrs. Williams had to come and help me.

Opening the door for me, I stepped in and set the box on the ground in the kitchen. I stared at it for a moment, confused at what to do with it. As though Mrs. Truman would pop out of it. Because now, this is what I had of her left. Looking back at Mrs. Williams, she gave me a sad smile with tears in her eyes.

“You two were always the closest out of all of us. Even though you only moved here recently, you breathed life into her, Colton. Her eyes shinned again with you around.”

I shook, my body unable to hold the amount of sorrow I was feeling. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

Her shoulders fell as she looked me over. “Did you want some help?”

“No…no…thank you. I just…need to be alone.”

Mrs. Williams nodded, slowly closing the door. “If you need me Colton, you know where to find me. I’m happy to help.”

Nodding, I didn’t trust my voice right now. The door shut and I reached out, locking it. Slowly, I peeled off my jacket and my sweater. Padding into the bathroom, I lifted the lid of the toilet and threw up into it. The tears that had froze now poured out again and I shook. Another wail tore from my lips as I held onto the edge of the toilet.

She was the only mother figure I had. She saved me so many times, helped me, loved me even though I wasn’t her cub. She helped me and I couldn’t even repay her. There were so many things I wanted to tell her, to say, to thank her for. I slipped to the floor or the bathroom and leaned my head against the wall. My wolf howled with me, sharing the pain. She was special to both of us. Mrs. Truman was gone and I’d never felt so fucking alone.

Hours passed and I know my phone was going off, but I couldn’t bare to answer it. If I stayed huddled on this floor then I could ignore the fact that there was an outside world. I could hide away and not have to deal with this soul crushing grief. How did people do this? I hadn’t lost family before. Sure, members of my family had died and I’d been to a handful of funerals but I didn’t care about them. They didn’t give me a reason to after all the neglect and abuse I took from them. Mrs. Truman was the first person I’d ever lost that I truly loved.

Tears welled up in my eyes and I knocked my head against the wall. She wouldn’t hit me with her romance novels again. Her homemade pies that she slaved for days over, only to tell us she happened to make too much. Never cooking a meal for a single woman, or even a small family. It was always large family portions and then making sure everyone was fed in the complex. Her soul was so pure and wonderful.

A couple times I caught her saying I was too good for our kind. That wasn’t the case. I was young and stupid. I ran and hid. I pushed myself away and hated the world, never giving anyone a chance to get close. She was the one that was too good.

Time and time again, Mrs. Truman proved she was too good for her kind, her kids, for everyone but that never dissuaded her from helping others. It wasn’t just in her old age either. She’d fought for the rights of Omegas, stealing her love away from the Auctions. Still raising her mates children when her mate had to accept an Alpha’s request just to be together. She’d done so much over her life. She had so much to do as well.

I curled up into a ball, my head falling on my knees. I needed her. I still needed her and she promised. Abandonment was a feeling I was all too familiar with but this was different.

“…why didn’t you take me with you…”