Page 146 of Forget
“I can’t wait until I drive the Mustang again,” he laments as he unlocks the doors to an SUV. The snow isn’t the best for his muscle car. “Evan is headed to your Dad’s with Aiden, so they just went together. We’ll take his vehicle today.”
I’m not ready to be surrounded by Aiden’s scent all day.
Hiding my grumpiness, I nod as I climb into the vehicle. Fuck me, he smells good. Why does he have to be such an ass? I am in over my head when it comes to Aiden. He blows hot, cold, and depraved. That’s the only way I can explain it. While they’re all dangerous, I feel like a little rabbit trying to constantly stay calm around him the most often.
I mean fuck, he even ran me down like one pretty recently.
Shivering, I pull my belt over my lap and connect it.
“Are you cold, poppet?” Caelin asks, concerned, turning up the heat.
It would be one thing if they all treated me like shit but they don’t. There are moments like this where they’re sweet, and it just ties me up in knots.
“Thanks,” I murmur, glancing out the window as he drives out of the garage. “I’m just spending the day atOmega’s Haven.”
“No meetings?” he teases me, and I shake my head with a tight smile.
That’s the other odd part of this week. Dad managed to get the food delivery service to refund me, but said they’re a tainted well, so I need to find someone new. I’ll be doing that today, and setting up a meeting with the Regional Omega’s Women’s Society to figure out if they are in fact the reason that I am having rotten food delivered to the shelter.
It’s pretty fucking low if they are. It’s one thing to fuck with me, but quite another to fuck with people who are struggling to patch together a new start to life.
“Not today,” I tell him. “Things seem to be figuring themselves out without them. I’m having a video call with Fisher Morris tomorrow, though, about Pack Dayton. He reached out to me to ask for one.”
“Really? On a professional level?” Caelin asks, an odd look coming over him. Honestly, he looks a little constipated, and I hide my smile as I glance away.
“Yes,” I say. “Remember, I’m a locked down omega on paper. I doubt he’ll be inappropriate in any way, and he’s a lot older than me. Fisher seems nice.”
“I’m sure Mr. Morris is,” he grunts.
Domh is the one who told me to meet with him.They have nothing to be jealous about.
“Anyway, it’s going to be a quiet day,” I continue. “I’ll just be talking with omegas in the outreach center.”
“I have to say I’m a little disappointed, poppet,” he drawls. “Evan and Domh talk non-stop about what a force of nature you are, but I won’t be able to see it today.”
“I’m a chaotic dumpster fire who occasionally gets lucky,” I snort. “The planets are aligning at the moment forOmega’s Havenand I don’t have any fires to put out today.”
“I think you should take a closer look at what we see,” he says mildly. “You’re motivated, passionate, simply lit up with excitement over what you’re doing with this organization. At some point, I firmly believe that other people will pick up what you’re doing and will expand it to other cities and states.”
“That’s the dream,” I admit. “Everyone deserves hope and a soft place to land, and I never had that. Fuck, God knows that Wren definitely didn’t. When I met her, I felt drawn to her, as much as I wanted to scare my cousin away for being a judgemental asshole. I just want better than what is considered society’s best.”
“I’m sorry to say it, but I didn’t realize how bad it is,” Caelin sighs. “The women’s group you’re meeting with pushes the narrative that Minneapolis is one of the safest cities for omegas to live in. Chicago is the next safest, yet auctions are run in both places.”
“The auctions are a way to keep omegas in line, but I am willing to bet there are people who don’t believe they really exist,” I say. “There’s nowhere for omegas to go after they escape that life, either.”
“There is now,” Caelin grunts, pulling just down the street from the alley I usually walk down. “You, Wren, and everyone who has helped are the reason why there is. When shit feels hard, remember that.”
A wave of emotions surprises me as I clamp my lips together and nod, opening the passenger door and getting out. Blinking furiously, I curse at how silly I’m being. A little bit of praise is all it takes for me to burst into tears?
Get a grip, Aisling.
The truth is that I’m holding on by a thread. My soul is exhausted, and I don’t know how to fix it. Things are on a good path, yet all I can wonder as I trudge down the snowy path in the alley, is when the next shoe will drop.
“Shaw, I have a problem,”I say hesitantly on the phone.
I’m not going to have a chance to go out there again before my heat, and I’m cutting it really close.
“I already told you that we would be more than happy to torture your pack for you,”Shaw grunts, making me snort. “I’ll make sure no one knicks their precious cocks.”