21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

INIKA

I 'd messaged Maia instructions from bed while Blake had coordinated with his family, so by the time we made it downstairs two days later—showered, dressed, mostly rested—it was to a beautiful breakfast and Blake's family sitting around the dining table.

"Inika, this is my dad, David, and my brother, Leo," Blake said, watching fondly as Freya threw her arms around my waist, hugging me like she hadn't seen me in years. "And Freya, you already know."

"I missed you," Freya said, squeezing me tightly.

"I missed you too, Freya. Shall we sit down and have some breakfast?"

Leo and David looked terribly uncomfortable, and I did my best to make small talk, asking how they liked their tea and pouring it for them in the hopes that I could make them feel more at ease.

Maia had arranged for a full English to be set out on the table, and I encouraged everyone to help themselves while piling food onto my own plate at Blake's insistence.

"You, uh, feeling alright then, Inika?" David asked, clearing his throat. "After your… Well. You know."

"Fine, thank you," I assured him, squeezing Blake's leg under the table as he choked on his tea.

"Is Uncle Blake your mate now?" Freya asked, which had the effect of making all the alphas start choking and spluttering.

"Well, no… Not yet."

"I'm her boyfriend," Blake interjected, looking oddly smug. It wasn't an expression I'd seen on him before, and it was adorable.

"Are you going to come and live with us, Inika?" Freya asked, before sitting up a little straighter in her seat. "Can we come and live with you? Your house is nicer."

"Frey…" David began uncomfortably.

"We wanted to talk to you about that," Blake interrupted. "Inika and I want a place that feels like a fresh start for both of us. For all of us. There are some fixer-uppers farther out, away from the city, that we could afford together."

I nodded. Blake wanted us to be as equal as possible, all things considered, and I absolutely respected that. And we both loved the idea of restoring a historic home to its former glory. Well, I could come up with ideas and he could do the restoring. At least in the short term. Eventually, I wanted to develop some more practical skills of my own.

"There's one we're particularly keen on looking at. It has plenty of room for all of you." Blake cleared his throat. "It actually has some outbuildings, which would give us all our own space. Which I think would be… beneficial."

"I want to live with Inika," Freya said, frowning.

"We'll figure out the details later, Frey," Leo said, looking between us. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather just have a fresh start, Blake? You took us in and I appreciate that. I, uh, know I haven't always made it easy on you."

"You haven't," Blake agreed bluntly. "But I think we're making progress. Don't you?"

Leo nodded, swallowing thickly.

"Might be good for you to get out of Streatham," David said quietly, looking at Leo. "Have a fresh start. Meet some different people."

Leo nodded glumly. "Schools and stuff, though…"

"There's a great school nearby," I offered quietly. "It's mixed, but popular among omegas, in particular."

"And we'll help you fix up the house of course," David said hastily. "I was a builder my whole life. We all know Blake's a top-notch plasterer. Leo's handy on the tools too, when he wants to be."

"I can help," Freya added, glaring at her grandfather for forgetting to mention her.

"And Frey is an excellent wee helper," David amended, lips twitching. "I don't want to count my chickens before they've hatched or anything, but I'm quite fond of the idea, all told. Blake has never taken much space for himself, and he ought to. He does so much for us." David ran a shaky hand through his grey hair. "I wish I could say don't you worry about me, I'll be just fine on my own."

"Absolutely not," Blake said firmly.

David shot him a sad smile. "I'm not sure I'd do too well on my own these days."

That wasn't an easy admission for an alpha to make, and I could see that it cost him. David rolled his neck, visibly uncomfortable, but Freya's omega instincts kicked in instantly. She carefully climbed onto his lap for a cuddle, taking a bit of toast with her and immediately decorating the front of her purple dress with crumbs.

"This is all a little… backwards," Leo said, looking between Blake and me. "Usually, the mating happens, then you figure out where to live and stuff."

Blake frowned. "Seems impractical. And Inika and I aren't twenty-year-olds with the world at our feet and plenty of time to figure it all out. We've got responsibilities. We've got other people depending on us."

"And we want to make this work," I added in a softer voice. "For everyone. We'd much rather take our time and do things right."

"Mum would have liked her," David grunted, not quite able to make eye contact with anyone as he tipped his chin at me.

"So would Ella," Leo said, though his tone was more wistful. Blake blinked in surprise. Perhaps Leo didn't talk about his late mate very often.

"Now that's sorted, can we enjoy our breakfast?" Blake asked, adding another piece of bacon to my plate. "I'm too tired for any more heavy conversations."

I smiled into my teacup, wishing I could remember my heat more clearly. I'd heard that some couples filmed the experience so they could watch it back later when the haze had cleared, but Brigitte had advised me not to do it. Apparently, some things couldn't be unseen.

"I can understand that," David laughed. "Sounds like you've squeezed in plenty of heavy conversations over the past couple of days."

I looked at Blake thoughtfully. "I think they were blunt conversations rather than heavy. We're not exactly spring chickens."

Blake grunted in agreement. "We don't want to waste a single minute."

It sounded more romantic when he said it.

"You're plenty young. Are you going to sit down with your parents?" David asked, pulling Freya's plate over towards him so she could stay on his lap and eat her breakfast.

"At some point. I've been asked to attend a meeting at my dad's company today. Presumably so they can tell me that I'm no longer in line to inherit it, as I didn't emerge with a mate."

"Not just any mate," Blake clarified, scowling. "The right kind of mate."

Leo laughed. "Your blood ain't blue enough for that."

"Not even a little," Blake agreed, his eyes on me. "But I love Inika. I don't think there's a single alpha on this planet who could love her better than me. If that's not good enough for her parents' approval, then I don't know what is."

"Hear, hear," I said, holding up my tea cup to him in toast.

The trouble was convincing them to just be my parents, just for this conversation at least. And that wasn't going to happen until I'd faced the board of Om-Guard.

"Do you want me to go in with you or wait out here?" Blake asked, his tone perfectly neutral, accepting my answer either way.

It would have been dishonest to pretend I hadn't emerged from my heat a little nervous about how this was going to go. Prior to this, I'd liked Blake—even toyed with the idea of being in love with him—but I'd also been acutely aware that we'd never had anything approaching a traditional relationship. What if we weren't actually compatible at all after all of that? What if he wanted to boss me around outside of the bedroom too?

But so far, those fears appeared to have been unfounded. Blake had gone out of his way to be conscientious, checking in on me constantly while somehow never talking down to me the way so many alphas did.

Blake simultaneously trusted that I knew my own mind and could make my own decisions, while babying me just enough to keep my heart in a puddle of gooey contentment. I wondered if he even knew he was doing it.

I exhaled shakily, giving his hand a quick squeeze. "I'll go in alone. This conversation has been a long time coming. I suspect Papa will want us to go to his house afterwards, though, so you can meet my parents."

"I want to meet them too."

I leaned over, pressing a kiss to his cheek as Brian stuck his head around the door, gesturing for me to enter while sparing a wary look in Blake's direction.

The nerves I'd expected never kicked in as I made my way into the meeting room, acutely aware of all the stares directed at my unmarked throat. I'd deliberately pulled my hair back and worn a scoop-necked top to make it easier for them—I wasn't hiding anything.

In fact, I felt more honest now than I'd ever felt in my life. Like I'd shed a too-tight skin that I'd been wearing since birth, revealing the true Inika underneath. Still a little spoiled, still a little out of touch, still fond of shiny things and expensive vacations.

But I was other things too. I always had been. I'd just kept them to myself because I'd thought I had to. Because wanting more—even if that more was in the form of new experiences—had seemed so greedy. So excessive. How dare I wish for anything beyond what I'd already been so blessed with?

I was still grateful for all of those things. But I was allowed to make choices for myself too.

"Inika," Samira said, gesturing for me to take the seat next to her. "It's good to see you."

It hadn't escaped my notice that Papa hadn't been the one to greet me. He was slumped in his seat, looking defeated. I was gracious enough to allow him some time to be disappointed, but I wouldn't give him forever to get over it. From what Mama had said, she wasn't my grandparents' first choice of mate for Papa, but he'd fought for her, and I would absolutely fight for Blake.

I would fight for myself .

"Hello everyone," I said, sitting down and surveying the room. "In the interest of getting the awkwardness out of the way, as you can see, I did not take a mate during my most recent heat."

Hans sighed heavily, folding his hands in front of him on the table, while Papa stared despondently at his laptop.

"While I have met the alpha I intend to take as my mate next year"—everyone perked up at that— "we have no intention of being involved with Om-Guard beyond my existing role at the company—if it's still available to me. I wish you all the very best with the succession planning, and I'm sorry I wasn't able to give you a firm answer on this subject before now."

I crossed my ankles and looked around expectantly. I'd done all the heavy lifting in this conversation, the least they could do was politely thank me for it.

"You're… quite sure this is what you want, Inie?" Papa asked quietly.

"Quite sure, yes."

"The product research team has no complaints about your performance, Inika," Olivier said gently. "In fact, the managers have repeatedly praised your efforts. I'm sure they will be more than happy to retain you if you still want the position."

"That would be great." I didn't know if I necessarily wanted to work there forever—I'd never considered any other kind of job because I'd always been so loyal to Om-Guard—but I was making enough big life changes as it was right now. It wouldn't be the worst idea to keep one thing the same.

"Well," said Hans after a lingering silence, clearing his throat uncomfortably. "That's probably all we needed to discuss with you, Inika."

"Excellent." I moved to stand, but Papa chose that moment to finally speak up.

"Inika, please wait. Let's wrap the meeting up for today, hm?" he said to the rest of the room. "We can resume the conversation later."

Everyone hurriedly packed up their things, eager to get out of the stifling boardroom. The omega urge to fuss and soothe was still there—I hadn't shaken it completely—but it wasn't as pressing as it usually was. Maybe because I was still so drained from my heat that I didn't have anything left to give.

Or maybe it was Blake. Either way, I wasn't going to question my good luck.

I startled as Samira's hand landed softly on my forearm, and she gave me a far kinder smile than the one she usually gave me. "I'm happy for you, Inika. You seem more… settled. Within yourself. Good for you."

"Thank you," I murmured, not particularly taking her words to heart. I'm sure Samira didn't have ill intentions, but it worked out in her best interests to have one less obstacle to deal with.

They all filed out of the room, and I did my best not to grin to myself at the thought of them walking past a scowling Blake in the hallway. Who knew what they'd make of him. I was confident that he wouldn't be impressed by them .

"Inie…" Papa began, closing his laptop and peering at me like he'd never seen me before. "Lately, I look at you and I feel like I don't know you anymore."

I nodded at that fair assessment. "I understand, Papa. The problem is that for a long time, I've been having that thought myself every time I looked in the mirror. I'm afraid that's no way to live."

Unlike our one-sided, unproductive dining table conversation a few days ago, he actually appeared to be listening to me this time. With no small amount of discomfort, I noted happily. It wasn't that I wanted him to suffer, but I did want him to hear me.

"All this time, I've been working towards a dream that I'm not sure was ever really mine. I never gave myself the space to consider what my dreams might be, because this was the path that was set for me and I followed it faithfully. And I still don't really know, but that's okay. Now I'm free to figure it out, without this predefined future hanging over my head."

"And the alpha you've chosen?" Papa asked. "You've never mentioned him before. I know it's not Hugo, I spoke to him on the phone during your heat and he reiterated what you'd said about there being no possibility there."

My eye twitched at that, and I took a few calming breaths before I said something I regretted. Papa made no apologies for that—he probably didn't even comprehend the fact that he'd completely steamrolled me, and I wasn't going to get into it today. Sometimes, I wasn't in the mood to gently educate full-grown alphas on the concept of other people having feelings.

"Blake is the alpha I have chosen, and I love him," I replied simply. "In all of the dreams I have for my future, he's right there with me."

For all Papa's flaws—and I wasn't feeling overly forgiving about them at the moment—he finally managed a tentative smile. "Well, I better meet him, then. But not without Mama—she'll never forgive me otherwise."

"Come to my house for dinner," I suggested, though there wasn't much room for negotiation in my voice. I infinitely preferred the option of having them come to a space that Blake was familiar with for this encounter rather than us going to them. "You can meet Blake and we'll show you the home we're looking at purchasing together."

I lifted my chin, daring him to disagree. I was thirty-four years old. I'd spent my entire life doing what was expected of me, and I wasn't about to do it for another second more.

"I'll go home and get Mama, and we'll see you soon."