Opening and shutting the door, I pretend like I only just entered. “Hey,” I say, stopping halfway into the dining room where Mother and Rodney are standing. “Everything okay?”
Rodney sips on his beer, scowling at her. His cheek is red. “Fine. Your mother was going to the kitchen to make me a sandwich.” He pushes some of his alpha influence into his words. “I’m fucking starving.”
“Oh. I thought we were having casseroles…” I trail off when Mother whips her head in my direction.
The pure, acidic hate of her gaze used to hurt. “I’ll be back,” she says to Rodney, effectively ending further conversation.
Since Rodney isn’t going to help, I grab the tablecloth and spread it over the cheap dining room table. There’s a tear at the end of the autumn-patterned cloth. I tug it down a little further. It’s summer and the tablecloth doesn’t fit the season. Granny deserves better. She deserves pretty flowers in gorgeous vases, not this cracked plastic table covering.
“She’s being a bitch.” Rodney scoffs and takes another drink of his beer.
“Wendy needs a fucking knot and a whipping,” Tim grumbles to Peter.
Peter snickers. “She’s rank for it. We’ll deal with her after. She’s almost in heat, my cock is hard as a damn rock.”
As per usual, they talk as though I’m not in the room. I swallow my disgust and smooth the cloth, studiously ignoring everyone there. What they get up to during the heat is none of my business.
“Mommy, no. Please, no. I don’t want to go down there,” I scream, desperately trying to get her to see reason. “I’ll stay in my room. I’ll be good. Mommy?”
She pushes me onto the first step of the cellar and starts to close the giant door. “Get the fuck inside.”
My little body trembles, and I scream for help, banging my fist on the wood.
“It’s only a week, you dumb cunt,” Mommy hisses.
No. No, dammit. I prepared for this. I won’t let those memories fucking win. I’m not a kid anymore. I’m almost twenty-one for fuck’s sake. Traces of my pheromones tickle my nostrils. All I smell is my fear now, and soon enough they will too. I have to get myself under control. Feeling nothing is better than being scared. I glance around the room, listing the items I see in my head to keep my mind occupied. After a minute, my scent fades. The alphas don’t say anything. I assume they didn’t notice. That or they didn’t care what I’m feeling.
“Here’s your fuckin’ sandwich.” Mother storms into the dining room and hands Rodney his food. She didn’t bring him a plate. She glares at the other alphas.
Someone knocks before they can break into a fight.
“Well?” she demands, stabbing me with her eyes.
I glance around. No one makes a move to answer the door. “I’ll get it.”
Fuck you! I want to scream, but she’d take too much satisfaction in me lashing out. She likes it when I get crazy. It makes her smile like a maniac and makes me feel like crap. If she were anyone else, I wouldn’t tolerate it. She knows how to hurt me and she has all of my courage in her fist, clenching it tight to keep me in line. Parents shouldn’t have that sort of power over their kids.
My first cousin Dennis and his pack are at the door. I step aside to let them in, offering a kind smile. I don’t know them well, but they seem a hell of a lot more normal than my family. I guess having one dad that’s a drug addict is better than having an abusive mom. I wonder if his other dads were nice. His mom, Nancy, always seemed kind. She’s not with him though. Probably the smartest decision Nancy could have made.
Everyone shuffles inside, and I close the door, staying by it to avoid my parents.
I glance to the living room on the left. The clock on the wall is broken. It doesn’t matter though. This will be over soon enough.
* * *
“Thanks for coming, Dennis. It was nice seeing you.” I give him a quick, awkward side-hug on his way out. I hate hugs, but thankfully it’s over in half a second. The rest of his pack looks relieved to be leaving. Dennis is red-eyed and out of sorts. Granny meant a lot to all of us.
“Take care, Whitney. Good luck tomorrow night.” His omega wraps herself around him, comforting him with her touch. She nods at me and pulls him away. She’s nice.
Not all omegas are like my mother.
Now that I think of it, I don’t know anyone quite like her.
I don’t know how she came from Granny because Granny was wonderful. She was kind. She smelled like cookies, she smiled like the sun, and she loved like it was free.
Standing in the threshold, I wait until they’re all the way in their vehicle before closing the door. They’re the last of the guests to leave. I should go now too, but Granny would want me to help clean up. Manners were important to her.
The house is strangely quiet. My dads sit on the worn-down couch in the living room, staring at some sporting event playing on the television. I quietly make my way into the dining room, hoping Mother went to take a bath or for a cigarette. I can get this place mostly clean in under five minutes. Five minutes, and then I’m free.
