Page 133 of Forget
My own mother ignores me completely, knowing the score as she comes up and introduces herself to Aisling. The door opens again, allowing Wren and Shaw entry. Wren strides in as if she owns the place, linking arms with Aisling. It’s clear that they’re a united force, making me wonder why she’s acting like this.
“Good morning, ladies. I have to say we were a little surprised when you all decided to reach out about volunteering opportunities. We appreciate the invitation to come to speak to you, we really do,” Wren says, looking out at the faces of alphas, omega, and betas in the room.
“You’ll understand we have certain concerns about your interest, though?”
“We serve the community in any way we can,” Mom says with a shrug. “Alpha, beta, omega, it doesn’t matter. I’ve been friends with many of these women for years, and my aunt started bringing me to these get-togethers when I was twelve. We aren’t here to change how you do things, unlike other organizations. That is where our interests lie.”
“I didn’t think about how you would perceive our invitation, or how other organizations would overshadow it,” Evan’s mom murmurs. “Who have you spoken to?”
“I’ve been pushing off a meeting with the Regional Omegas’ Women’s Society,” Aisling sighs. “They’ve been blowing up our emails with condescending messages about how two young omegas can’t possibly juggle everything that we do.”
I snort in derision before I can hold myself back. At her and Wren’s raised brows, I internally curse.
“You run around doing nothing but serving the omega community,” I tell them. “Meetings to update current agreements, entering new agreements to open the doors for new resources, time spent at the outreach and shelter to speak with the women there. I don’t know how you manage it, but I do know you do it with grace, Aisling.”
Wren nods. “I feel bad sometimes that I don’t drive and feel anxious regularly leaving the house,” she says. “I do as much behind the scenes things as possible, but my pack doesn’t like for me to leave without a guard.”
“You’ve been through too much to risk being kidnapped,” Shaw growls, his arms crossed over his chest. “Hell, I worry about Aisling traipsing all over Minneapolis and getting in alphas’ faces about shit she needs. I’m just glad she asks for my presence when she thinks she needs backup.”
“Goodness, I hope that we’re not that scary,” Sue mutters.
“The Regional Women’s group is,” Aisling sighs, glancing at me. “I just had a problem with a grocery order. I’m worried that it’s the beginning of spoiled food and people refusing to work with us. I texted Wren about it on our way over, so she’s a bit keyed up.”
“They wouldn’t dare,” Rebecca growls. As an omega, she scares the hell out of me. I’ve been smacked over the head enough times with a spoon by most of the women in this room to hold them all in high esteem.
“I know that Emilia hates not being in charge of things, but that’s devious even for her.”
“I don’t know,” Wren says, shaking her head. “You haven’t seen the communication between us. Emilia Richardson insists that we will fail without her ‘gentle’ guidance. We aren’t grooming the people we help to act in a certain way. It’s clear she thinks omegas should all be demure and packed up immediately.”
“I’m perfectly capable of making decisions without an alpha telling me what to do,” Aisling says. “I make a schedule every morning, have people depend on me, and don’t need to report to someone.”
Shoving my hands in my pockets, I think about her words. We have been heavy handed with Aisling while she’s been icing us out. Domh got yelled at because he was dogging her steps and peppering her with questions, but if I really allow myself to take a step back, she’s not used to having to answer to anyone.
If I’m being honest, she shouldn’t have to unless she wants to. Aisling is one of the most independent people that I’ve ever met, because she’s had to be. Her mom dying when she was a teen forced her to grow up quickly in order to survive. Our need to get her to talk to us by asking a million questions is driving her up a wall.
“Due to this, we don’t know who to open up our organization to,” Wren says softly. “It’s easier to be suspicious of everyone than to choose badly and have the people who depend on us suffer.”
“Now you sound like me,” Shaw rumbles. “My apologies as it seems as if I’m rubbing off on both of them.”
Mom smirks, but glances at me in concern. I’ll have to explain to her how close Aisling is with Pack Mohan. It’s not a sexual thing in the least. I can finally come to terms with that, even though I wish she would lean on one of us instead.
“Well why don’t we sit down and talk?” she asks. “I can reassure you that we aren’t like that. Every month, we donate to an organization. Sometimes it’s a donation of money, other times it’s our time or influence. The latter may be better if Emilia is being a cunt.”
Aisling holds back a laugh at my mom’s words while I smirk. Mom hasn’t ever held back where it counts. There’s about afourth of the society here, and all people who have been around for a while.
These are women who really do dedicate their lives to doing good, and there are so many walks of life within the fifteen people in this room.
“With that kind of invitation, I’m hard pressed to say no,” Aisling teases. “I also skipped breakfast because I was running a bit late.”
I hold back an eye roll as I move to stand against the wall, and Shaw joins me as everyone sits down.
“Still fucking up, I see,” he murmurs, his eyes on the girls. “I bet she’ll be living with us by the end of the winter at this rate. There’s a she shed that she’s more than welcome to move into.”
“Absolutely not,” I hiss. “Why the fuck do you have a she shed anyway?”
“My pack fucked up when we first met Wren,” he says. “We bent over backwards the best we could to get Wren to forgive us. Now, we spend every day telling our omegas how much they mean to us. Shit happens, you can’t depend on biology to fix it.”
I have to admit that he’s right. Nothing any of us do is enough. Her life is busy, and she uses it as a barrier between us. I can’t very well kidnap her from the city, because so many people depend on her, but I can help her forgive other people in the meantime.