Page 4 of Broken Arranged Mate
But if I’m around them, especially when drinking, I might just say too much. Tell them how Dorian let it slip that a certain alpha leader is coming to the Badlands tomorrow. Explain why that makes my insides sing and cry, all at once.
And I absolutelycannotdo that.
Besides, the special guest isn’t the only reason I’ll need to keep busy during the meeting. I’ve been nudging Dorian to let me sit in on the council meetings for ages, but it’s never included an omega before.
The Ambersky pack may be making progressive leaps when it comes to other things, and the general treatment of women and omegas, but it’s not far enough that he could do it without blowback. I know that, but it still hurts.
When your brother is the alpha leader, you can’t help but feel you’ll always come second to the pack, even when the pack is in the wrong.
Shaking my head, I gesture to the kitchen. “I’ve got a lot to deal with here. But I’ll take a full recap in the group chat, please.”
They look at me collectively for a moment, Kira chewing on her lip, then Veva steps forward and punches me lightly on the arm.
“Fine,” she says, pointing a finger in my direction. “But you’d betteractuallyanswer the damn thing.”
***
Beth answers on the first knock, like she always does.
I don’t know if it has to do with her abilities, or if she knows that I’m chronically on time and her body has Pavloved itself into getting to the door right at seven.
“Goodmorning,” she sings to me, impossibly chipper. I pass her a coffee and step into the house, following her silently to her kitchen, where a basket of muffins sits—no doubt baked by Kira, who, for the second time in her life, has had a rush of post-bed-rest energy and assaulted the entire town with baked goods.
It doesn’t look like Beth has broken into them yet. I reach forward and take one for myself.
Beth settles into her seat, sipping her coffee and chatting to me about various things—a rare crystal she’s ordered, her plans to maybe dye her roots, and Sarina’s most recent achievement with her abilities.
The kid is a wonder, but it’s scary how fast she’s learning.
As Beth goes on, I drink my own coffee—black, not because I hate flavor, but because I ran out of creamer and put the rest in Beth’s—and listen.
This is our dynamic. I’m not a morning person, but I like to check on her each day, and she’s always busy in the afternoons, whether with the whole group of psychics or working individually with a few of them.
“Oh, this damn thing,” Beth says when her faucet starts to sputter. She holds the travel coffee cup underneath it, turning it, but the faucet spits out water and air.
“I can fix that,” I say, pushing to my feet and starting toward the sink, but Beth holds her hand up, tilting her head to the side.
“You won’t have time, dear,” she says, and a moment later, there’s a knock at the door. I raise an eyebrow at Beth as she hurries to open it, revealing Kira on the other side, looking excited, her hair wild and loose around her shoulders, the copper curls tumbling like the crashing of a waterfall against rocks.
“Ash!” she says, “today is the day!”
“Today is the day?”
I’m tired and grumpy, and the words come out more cynical than I intend. Kira either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care, bouncing inside and taking me by the arm. I wriggle out of her grip, not wanting the contact to trigger a premonition for her.
Thelastthing I need is for her to reach into the past, using her clairaudience to hear the sounds of the secret I’m desperately trying to keep.
“It’s the day,” she says, gesturing for me to follow her, “that we finally get to sit in on the council meeting! Come on.”
I blink, surprised, but my feet are already following her command. When I reach the door, I turn back to say goodbye to Beth, who’s giving me a smug look.
“What?” I ask, rolling my eyes. “You had a vision that Kira would be coming.”
“No,” she laughs, shaking her head, eyes sparkling, “Of course not. Kira texted me.”
Of course.
“Come on!” Kira calls from the car, and I shake my head at Beth before turning and walking to the car, feeling strangely like I’m walking right off the end of the plank and into the sea.
