Page 99 of Family: Posy 4

"That's very kind of you, Posy," Alberta murmured, "but I don't know that they'd be happy to see us. We met them once when Logan first found your mother, and she was her daddy's little girl. I can't imagine Alpha William would want us there after— After what happened."

"Nonsense." Posy's frown should have been all Alberta needed to see to know she'd be wasting her breath to continue arguing. "My father did nothing wrong. Why would they hate him or you?"

"He wasn't strong enough to protect his mate," Lincoln said with a bowed head. "They'll hate us for allowing Alpha Briggs to harm Naomi."

"No, they won't," Posy disagreed. "And if they do, I'll set them straight."

"The Swifts are all alphas, betas, or gammas while Ethan is the only one in the family with anything other than omega blood," Alberta tried again. "They are dominant and powerful. We are submissive and subservient. They'll look at us as lesser and blame us for—"

"I won't allow that to happen. And omega doesn't meanlesser. It means kinder, gentler, and nicer."

"But—"

Tired of this conversation, I decided it was time to step in.

"What Posy wants, she gets," I decreed in my unyielding 'end of argument' tone. "I'll call Alpha Liam and let him know to expect all of you."

Ethan was too busy trying to push his wolf back to care about whatever I was saying, but the rest nodded with wide, wary eyes, and the youngest cousin, Eden, actually trembled. The smell of fear filled the living room, and I felt a little bad about that, but I couldn't be soft with strangers like I was with Posy. I was first alpha of Five Fangs, after all.

Posy's family, Garnet murmured.Not strangers.

They are family, but still strangers,I corrected.They are not part of our pack. I cannot trust them completely and relax my guard. Not with our little mate here and vulnerable. If they fear me, they won't try anything.

Omegas wouldn't, anyway,he argued,and they love her already.

Better safe than sorry.

He frowned, but said no more about it.

"Visiting the Swifts might be a good idea for another reason, too," Jay chimed in. "I helped Alpha Liam with an issue a few months ago. One of our betas and his gamma died in the ... incident. Ethan, maybe you could find a place there as his gamma."

"Thank you for the thought," Ethan said with a nod, "but unless I find my mate, my wolf's going to get us killed. A job is the least of my worries right now."

"Hey, Ethan!" Posy moved to stand next to him and grabbed his hand in her excitement. "Maybe you'll find your mate at Crystal Caverns! Wouldn't that be amazing?"

She bounced on her toes as excitement lit up her face, and Ethan's tense expression softened as he stared at her. All at once, the glint of wolf light winked out of his dark eyes, and the Everleighs exchanged amazed glances. I looked at my brothers and we all nodded, understanding that this was probably the first time in years that his wolf wasn't fighting to ascend and rip the world to shreds until he found his mate.

You should talk to him, Ash told Jay in the alpha link.

And say what?Jay snapped.Just because we share similar experiences doesn't mean that I know what to say to help or comfort him.

Youalwaysknow what to say, Cole retorted.It's one of your best traits.

Well, not this time. Other than to say, yeah, it sucks, whatcouldI say?

Just remind him that there's light at the end of the tunnel,Wyatt suggested.You can assure him that once he finds his mate, his wolf will settle and his life will be worth living.

True as that is, Jay can't guarantee that Ethanwillfind his mate,I interjected.Besides, that might rub it in that Jay found relief and Ethan, who's been suffering for four years longer, hasn't.

Exactly,Jay sighed.Posy's doing more good than I could right now, anyway.

Seeing Ethan's peaceful eyes as she held his hand, we all had to agree.

Then Posy launched into introducing us, and we plastered on our polite faces so we made a good impression. Thelastthing we wanted to do was embarrass or disappoint her in front of her family.

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Posy

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