Page 99 of Their Knotty Pack
The five of us have been talking all day, and Miles confided in the girls about how he still hadn't told his parents about Pack Song, and how he's been passing as a beta every time he's seen them the last seven years. His parents do know he found a "girlfriend", and I've even spoken to them on the phone with them a few times with Miles, but not since the pack moved in.
"I think that your parents will surprise you," Wren says thoughtfully, as we all walk to the lobby, back in our regular clothes. Hannah and Cady give her incredulous looks.
"Hey, just because my parents literally sold me off," she points to Hannah, "your mom and step-dad emotionally were absent until you had an inheritance, then tried to manipulate you, and your parents," she points to Cady, "tried to knowingly match you up with abusive assholes doesn't mean that Miles' parents will be the same. Look at Bethany's parents. Those guys are amazing."
I smile, shaking my head, even though, yeah, my parents are pretty great.
Cady shrugs. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'd tell them, sooner though, rather than later, because once it's done, it's done. You don't have to wonder anymore, and no matter the outcome, you can just…move forward."
Hannah jumps in. "Cady and I shouldn't let our own past experiences with our shitty parents influence how you handle yours, Miles. But you'll have to tell them eventually."
Miles frowns, still wearing the little terrycloth headband they gave each of us to keep our hair out of our eyes and he looks adorably sleepy. "I mean…yeah. I can't keep dodging their calls, I just…I don't even know what to say. It's not like they would actively speak out against the existence of male omegas, but they wouldn't exactly defend them, either."
Before anyone can answer, we're stopped by the voice of the receptionist as we approach the counter.
"Mrs. De Lucca, Mr. De Lucca already called ahead to settle the balance, so you're all set." The receptionist tells Cady as we check out. My head snaps up.
Mattie settled the bill? She said her job was paying for everything.
"Cady?"
Cady gives the receptionist a frustrated glare. "Thank you," she grounds out, and the receptionist seems to shrink in on herself.
Cady…did Cady just pay for all of this? Why? I don't want to even think about how much that all just cost, and Miles goes even whiter than I'm sure I am.
She signs the receipt and approaches us, her hands up. "Look, the magazine really did pay formeto come here—"
"But not us," Hannah finishes for her. "Cady, what did I tell you about paying for your friends without asking them?"
"Iwanted to give everyone a nice time!" She drops her hands. "You were fired for a fucking dumb reason, and I thought a day out with other omegas who care about you and see your worth would be helpful. And I couldn'tjustpay for you, otherwise you would feel like I thought you were a charity case or something, and I just wanted to make my little sister feel not so shitty." She sniffs at the end of her sentence, her voice rife with emotion.
Her…her little sister? Is that really how she views me? I'm only like, a year younger than her, but…something warms in my chest at her words. I mean, Ihavean older sister, and half the time it feels like she can hardly stand me.
"Angel…" Titus sighs. "I told you it was a bad idea."
"Yeah,afterwe got here!" She rounds on him as tears well in my eyes.
"Only because I didn't realize that's what you were doing until you got here." He holds his hands up in surrender.
Cady turns to me, but in the next instant, I've launched myself at her, my arms wrapping around her neck as I sniffle.
"Wha-okay, okay. It's okay Bethany," she soothes as her hands smooth down my back. I can't believe she did this for me. Cared about me so much that she crafted this whole plan just to make sure I wouldn't feel left out or singled out. She even invited Miles.
"Thank you," I pull back, sniffling again. "You didn't have to do this, and yeah, if you had called and said that you wanted to pay for us to come, I probably would have declined on pride alone. But…I've never felt lighter. And just knowing how much you care…it means so much. So thank you."
Giving an embarrassed smile as I back away, Miles wraps me in his arms, his chin resting on my head. "Thank you," he says, his voice more subdued than usual. "You would have let us just go on thinking you didn't pay a dime, wouldn't you?"
"What good is all this money if I can't do anything with it to make my friends and family happy? Plus, I can't take all the credit—when I originally approached Mattie with the idea, he told me to," she clears her throat, doing a deep Italian accent, "'spare no expense,tesoro mio.'"
I can't help but smile, feeling loved by all my family.
As it happens, I do fall asleep on the way home, my head resting on Miles' shoulder and a feeling of contentment in my chest.
That is, until I'm startled awake by panic in our bond, and my omega cursing up a storm. "Fuck! Shit, fuck shit!"
"What!?" Titus nearly slams on the brakes, making everyone "oof".
"What's wrong?" I grab his arm and try to send soothing emotions down the bond, but his eyes are trained on an unfamiliar red truck in front of the house.
