45. MACON

MACON

Aalya is dressed impeccably as always as if this was just a general visit. The Omega standing at her side is looking frantically between the both of us, confused and a little terrified. It seems that my mother wasn’t entirely honest about their visit here. She steps up to me, jabbing a finger into my chest. “How dare you disrespect your mother!”

I have a mind to twist it or bend it backward. Not only do I know that she can smell Savin’s perfume with the way her nose keeps flaring, but she brought another Omega into my house. The third one in as many weeks. Ellie and Savin are still on the phone as I lower it but don’t hang up. I owe it to them to hear the end of this because today, it’s done. It’s over. Whatever lingering hope I was holding onto that my mother would listen to reason is gone.

My words need to be harsh, to the point, and blatantly hurtful for her to truly see that she’s no longer welcome in my life. I channel the anger I’ve been swallowing for the past several years and focus solely on the haughty woman glaring back at me. The growl that slips through my lips has her taking a step back, the Omega pressing himself against the wall to stay out of the way.

“Let’s get one thing straight. My mother died a slow and painful death over four years ago before she morphed into this monster who can’t understand boundaries. I no longer have a mother.”

Her eyes widen as her face contorts. “You-”

I don’t let her finish that thought, though. She doesn’t deserve to. “A woman who repeatedly disrespects my family’s boundaries? Bringing Omegas because she thinks that they are better suited? For who? Your fame? I have the loves of my life. I have everything I need. The fact that you fucking broke into my house with another fucking Omega is beyond disrespectful. It’s illegal and desperate. What’s the point?”

I can see the lie forming on her lips before it even forms.

“No! No more fucking lies!” I raise my bag over my head and chuck it past her. It hits something in the kitchen, glass shattering on the floor. Aalya and the Omega jump in response but I need this woman’s full attention. “None of this shit is just about you wanting a little fame. I fucking gave you that when I got into the entertainment business but that wasn’t enough for you. Try again.”

Aalya hardens her glare, trying to show she’s unaffected by my response to her presence. She’s failing. “Your career is suffering with that Omega that constantly needs your care! You’ve had to give up projects and with that stripper in here-”

“Again?” I roar. “Fucking disrespecting my mates, again? Don’t you ever learn? I chose this life because it’s what I love. Through thick and thin, in sickness and in health were the promises I made. That doesn’t change when the bad times come. And she’s not a stripper. Her name is Ellie and she’s our mate, our Beta, and the mother of our children. What you’re not going to do is strip all that away for your agenda. I’ll ask you again. Why the fuck is it so important that I fall in line for you?” My breathing is shallow as I try to breathe through my emotions. Raging on this woman will only give her ammo at a time when my mates need me.

I search her expression as she grows quiet. For the first time in a few weeks, I get a really good look at her. Even after meeting and speaking with her when she released that last article about Savin being a cheater and Ellie a homewrecker, I never gave her much thought. I thought she might be retaliating against my statement about her ‘Mother Tells All’ article.

But that isn’t it at all.

“You really are just that greedy, aren’t you?” I can’t believe what I’m seeing, what I’m finally understanding. Aalya has been trying to mold me into the perfect Alpha now that she has a bit of fame and reach. She wants me to reach higher heights so she can sail easily through life. The problem is that her life has always been easy—when my father was alive and now with my career. My hand tightens around my phone as my voice deepens. I’m about to share something I haven’t ever even told Savin. “My father loved you until the day he passed away—loved the mother I used to believe in and love. But not this one. He wouldn’t recognize who you’ve become. And sometimes, I wish that my father never met you.”

“You would wish you were never born? That’s what you’re saying when you wish he never met me. You would never have the Omega you claim to love or that Beta that you picked up at a fucking club!” She screams, both arms strained at her sides, fists clenched. I don’t know what she thinks she’s going to do but it definitely isn’t to intimidate me.

I step closer, lowering my head slightly so that she can truly hear the venom in my voice. “If it would absolve me of the pain you continually bring into my life? Sometimes I wish for that. Sometimes I wish I was never born so that my mates could live happily without your agenda hovering around them. You’ve continually demeaned my Omega. You tried to pay off my Beta. And now you’re in my house, while my Omega is in heat with another one of your agendas. It stops here. It should have fucking stopped a long time ago.”

“What—what do you mean?”

This is the first time I’ve seen fear in my mother’s eyes and I’m fucking living for it. Hanging up on my mates, I dial another number, smiling when an old friend picks up. “Yes, hello. I’d like to make a report for trespassing. There are two people in my house that shouldn’t be here. Five minutes? Yes, I can wait.” The call ends, Detective Grayson agreeing to bring a few officers to take care of the trespassers.

“Did you just call the police on me? I am your fucking mother!” Aayla throws her hands up but my growling response has her cowering back another few steps. The Omega runs to hide behind her and as much as I want to tell the Omega that it’s not his fault, I do not have the emotional capacity to care. Especially when my mates are currently fucking in the garage. It takes everything in me not to reach down and adjust my hard cock or storm into the garage and give in to temptation.

Aalya tries to push past me but I’m ending this today. There will be no more chances. No more twisted stories. No additional opportunities for this woman to ruin my life. I sit her down on the stool, folding my arms across my chest as I glare down at her, waiting for the officers to show up.

Right at the five-minute mark, Detective Grayson is strolling inside, the Beta laughing when he sees who the trespasser is. “Seriously? I’m not surprised but what—oh.” The detective huffs out a laugh as he catches onto my Omega’s scent. He nods to the woman sitting on the stool, a police officer stepping around us to grab Aayla. She stands without protest until Detective Grayson says the line I’ve been waiting for. “You’ll have to come to the station to press charges, Macon”

“He wouldn’t do that!”

“I would. In fact, I’d like to file a restraining order as well. She’s not allowed in my house and she knows that.”

Detective Grayson grins, loving the gossip unfolding in front of him. I know this information will make its way out into the public soon enough—after all arrest records are public. Not to mention that I’m sure a photographer or two is lurking in the neighborhood. I’m not the only famous person living in Caper County. “Excellent, I’ll call you in what—two, three days? We’ll need to get your signatures on everything and file it with the county.” The detective throws his hand out and clasps mine before gathering the Omega and shuffling him out the door.

Silence is left behind as they empty out and my door is closed. There’s a sudden peace knowing that she won’t be able to get in my head again even if it hurts losing a piece of my heart to the evils of the entertainment business.

Savin and Ellie burst through into the foyer, Ellie gasping as she leans against the doorway. It seems our Omega tired her out, her dress disheveled, the straps hanging off her shoulders, her curls wild around her face. Still, her eyes are bright and playful, a silly smile playing on her bruised lips.

She reaches down to cradle her belly just as Savin collides with me, naked as the day he was born, practically humping my side. “That feel good?” Ellie asks. “Cussing out your mother?”

“Good. Really good. It’ll feel even better when I find out that she’s not allowed near the three of us.” Knowing that she won’t be allowed anywhere near my family nor my career or Savin’s is a dream come true.

Savin tugs at my shirt, impatiently trying to undress me. “Great. So happy the Astor witch is out of our lives. Now, make me feel good. Alpha, I need a knot stuffed up my ass, pronto.”

Goddess, I’ve missed this side of Savin.