Page 1 of Truth or Pack

“Say it with me. Not just no, but fuck no,” my best friend directed through speakers in my car. I was starting to regret calling her in the first place.

“I really don’t think I have to worry this time, Bea,” I reassured her, even as unease settled in my stomach.

“Girl, keep lying to yourself all you want. I’m just trying to help you be prepared to face off with your family yet again. You know I’m only one call away,” she argued.

“I set boundaries last time. They’ll respect it. My dad promised, remember?”

“Oh, like that time they promised it was just family at your parents’ anniversary party, then they set you up with the most boring pack in the world?”

“But they had money, looks don’t matter anyway,” I mimicked my mother’s snotty tone. For a pack that was working class and lived a modest life, my mother had made it her life’s mission to marry me and my sisters off to wealthy packs.

Two down, I was the last to go.

“Honestly, your first red flag is that you’re set to arrive half a day before anyone else in your family. That and you said dear old mom stopped responding to your texts last night,” she said. Hervoice was a little more gentle this time. “If that’s not an omega setup, I don’t know what is.”

“If it’s a setup, then I’ll kick them out, turn off my phone, and enjoy a week at the lake with my pretty new stack of books. Sun, water, books, and a lazy vacation? Sounds magical, honestly. Is it wrong to hope they don’t come?”

Bea’s laughter had a grin stretching across my face. I had one of the book boxes I put together go viral, so I’d spent the last month working like a psycho and barely able to keep up with orders. Smiles were hard to come by when I was barely staying awake.

“Nope,” she said around a snort. “I hope they don’t, too. Lord knows you need a break. Oh! Maybe some other vacationing packs will be around and you can find you a sexy alpha or two to keep you company. If so, send me pics!”

“You’re ridiculous,” I said as I took the last turn down an old country road that meant I was only twenty minutes from Willow Lake.

Even if I was a bit worried about what I’d find at the end of my drive, I couldn’t help but feel the warm swell of nostalgia hit me.

Things were different when we were kids. We spent the entire summer here the year before I went to high school. Our family was normal back then. Lots of late-night movies and family time. Country drives. Days spent in the water. Trips to the ice cream shop and local pizza place.

Until the very last night.

That was when they decided to tell me I’d been accepted to Craven University. A stupidly elite private college. Everything I read on it seemed perfect, but when I delved deeper, I learned you had to have insane money to go.

Or a scholarship, I realized too late.

Not to mention, I applied to my own schools. Ones I wanted to go to. Eventually, I gave in.

Those were the worst years of my life and I was still haunted by the bullying I went through. All to make my parents happy.

Whoever said omegas were sweet and not vicious were fucking liars. They were the ones that made my life hell.

And here we were again with the lies. I already knew it.

Bea was right, I should have cut contact after I turned eighteen. It would have served them right.

Maybe my sisters were happy to go along with it, but I wanted a romance like I read about in books. Sweet, doting packs who were obsessed with their omega. Plenty of spice to keep it interesting. Dates, heats, everything changing when we meet.

I wanted it all. Call me naive, but I was holding out hope with everything in me.

Yet, each year I went past thirty, the more my mother bombarded me with blind dates and awkward introductions.

You’d think packs being angry with her for setting them up to fail would convince her to let it go, but my mother was a stubborn woman.

“I’m about to lose signal, Bea. I’ll call you when I get to town. You know how these country roads are,” I finally said. She must have picked up on my tone, a long sigh escaping her. Though, from the way her response was choppy, I wasn’t wrong about the signal.

“Call me,” she managed before the call dropped, my phone beeping to let me know I was officially nearing Willow Lake.

Ending the call, I rolled down my window and breathed in deep. It smelled like fresh air and nature.

The large wooden sign with a depiction of the lake itself and willow trees surrounding it popped into view as I hit the last curve, officially bringing me to the small town. I hadn’t realizedjust how much I’d missed it the past few years until I was seeing it in person again.

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