Chapter 31

CHAPTER 31

ADIRA

“ T his is Emilia Richardson, on What Omegas Should Know…”

I’m listening on the laptop Damon slipped into my backpack, lips pursed. I got into the shelter about a half hour ago, and this is the second podcast I’ve listened to from ROWS.

They are short and not very sweet. The problem is, if I was a closeted omega who didn’t know any different, I would believe this bitch’s nonsense.

“ The world is dangerous, and if at all possible, you shouldn’t leave your home after six in the afternoon. Live with your parents as long as possible, and allow them to choose good, strong alphas for your pack,” Emilia intones. “ These are the best tenets of how to remain safe. One of our listeners asked a question on our blog that’s worth responding to. I’m certain others have this same question.”

“Oh really, Emilia?” I grumble, hitting pause on the podcast, so I can call Duncan. I need to tell him about my dinner with Cian and his father, but I also need someone to be outraged with me.

“ Hello,” Duncan answers the phone. “ You’re home already? How did it go?”

“It went really well, and I have to update you. First, I need to rant,” I growl.

“ Callum! The pretty little omega needs to vent,” Duncan calls out.

“Duncan, that could be literally anyone,” I tell him with a laugh.

“ Nah ,” Callum says. I know him so well, I’m sure he plopped himself down by his older brother to talk. “ You’re the only one by that description it could be, Adira. Now please rant away.”

“Did you know that Emilia Richardson had a podcast?” I ask. “I just found out tonight during dinner, and they’re awful.”

“ Awful because she’s a cavernous twatwaffle? ” Duncan asks.

“No, but that’s a very good guess,” I tell him, smirking. “She’s giving omegas life advice, and people are actually asking her questions! At least, that's what she says.”

“ Alright, kiddo. May as well let us have a listen,” Callum says, sounding resigned.

Giving a triumphant squeak that has them chuckling, I click play on the podcast.

“The question this sweet little omega has is the following: what are appropriate workforce positions for an omega? Now, there are several I recommend, as younger omegas should be helpful and quiet. They are: receptionists, lab assistants, medical billing, and call centers. These are the perfect, safe positions for omegas.”

“ That’s it ?” Duncan asks, aghast.

“ I don’t know whether to laugh or cry,” Callum grunts.

“They’re all like this,” I sigh, turning off the nasally omega’s voice. “How many omegas are in their rooms listening to this woman as if she hung the damn moon?”

“ You’re really worked up about this,” Duncan murmurs. “ There aren’t any other podcasts that dubunk her bullshit. You said she just started doing these, right?”

“There’s three months of content up,” I grumble. “Cian says if I’m looking for something meaningful to do that I should record counter recordings. I’m a nobody who lives in a shelter, guys. I’m twenty-two and am the authority of nothing.”

“ Aye, poor little omega,” Duncan croons. “ You know that’s bullshit. You can record at our house. We’ll build you out a cute little room to stick it to the old hag. Now, no more sad sap talk. You’re in a small span of time where you’re rebuilding. Be nicer to yourself.”

“Fine,” I sigh. “In other news, my aunt may or may not have had something to do with my mother’s death. Proceed with caution.”

“ Adira !” Duncan and Callum yell, causing me to roll my eyes. I had to get their attention somehow.

I explain my suspicions and everything that happened today.

“ Short Stuff had a makeout session,” Duncan crows. “ That’s the most important thing you said to me, by the way. I’ll poke around carefully, I promise. It explains why she kind of fell off the face of the planet. I’m going to get someone to poke into any possible bank records, ask some people I know outside of Missouri about her as well. Cassia Firestone, is it?”

“I believe so, no one mentioned that she’s packed up,” I say. “If she and Rock could be working together, this could get interesting.”

“I got it ,” Duncan reassures me. “ I have been getting really fun calls threatening my life for buying an omega at an auction from my parents, Adira. You’re going to need to save me, or Dad will spring a hunt for his not so favorite sons through my woods.”

“Callum, feel free to tell me he’s being dramatic,” I breathe.

“ Can’t ,” he sighs. “ Dad is really mad.”

“I’m going to start calling myself Princess of the Unhinged!” I complain.

“ I think it’s catchy,” Duncan teases me. “ Night, Princess. I’ll figure out a way to get your money and throne back.”

“That’s not funny,” I mutter, but he’s already hung up.

Flopping onto my back, I blow out a breath. Cian, Cecil, and I spoke about so much, my mind is reeling. On a whim, I grab my computer and put her name into an internet search engine. Nothing comes up at all, making me wrinkle my nose. In this day and age, it’s difficult for not one hit to come up.

Picking up my phone, I call Morris, wondering if he can find something. Of the four of them, something tells me he’s their tech guy.

“ Adira,” he says when he answers my call. “ How are you?”

“I’m confused,” I mutter. “I am looking to see if anything comes up on my aunt on an internet search, and nothing at all did. I would have thought something would have.”

“ If she’s avoiding a digital footprint, not necessarily,” he murmurs. “I’m relatively confident I can find a few things if I can look?”

“Yes, please. Be careful,” I tell him. “I don’t have a great feeling about her. Cian and Cecil were telling me about Dad and my aunt being thick as thieves until just after my mom died. It sounds like they had some sort of falling out.”

“ Cian and Cecil, huh?” Morris drawls. “ Wow, Adira. The Sullivan family is powerful and old money, and here you are on a first name basis. I’m impressed.”

“Stop,” I mutter, smirking. “It was a really nice dinner. I’m just worried. Dad signed over all of his money to Cassia just before he died, and they’re all in offshore accounts. Caelin doesn’t want to tip her off by simply yanking the money back.”

“ I wouldn’t either. Alright, I’ll get started on this one. Are you going anywhere for the rest of the night?” he asks.

“Other than a shower? No, I’m not. I plan to get a jump on my paper, though, since Damon is taking me out on Saturday,” I explain.

“Good, that sounds like fun. If you need anything, let me know,” he says. “ I’ll get working on this in the mean time. Talk later, little omega.”

Pushing myself up on my bed as I put my phone aside, I force myself to stand. A shower will wake me up, so I can get to work on this paper. Swallowing back a yawn, I gather my pajamas and toiletries for the bathroom before slipping out of the bedroom.

“Have any fun plans tonight?” a voice surprises me, making me flinch.

Fuck, it never fails. This girl has bottle-bleached hair, perfect makeup, and looks as if she rolled off a catalog page. It doesn’t matter what I’m doing when I leave my room, Paula is waiting outside.

“My plans are with a shower and my bed,” I say tiredly, moving toward the bathroom.

“You sound boring and old for someone so young,” Paula complains.

We’re living in a shelter, not a college dorm. I don’t know how lively I can be expected to be. She makes me really uncomfortable, but I can’t quite explain why.

“That’s because I’m very boring,” I mutter.

“Paula, leave her alone,” Meghan says, poking her head out of her room. “Adira works hard, and has every reason to be tired. Hell, I want a nap before work.”

“When do you have to leave for your shift?” I ask, ignoring Paula.

“In like an hour,” she says, shrugging. “He’s starting to wake up, so it’s not going to happen.”

“I’ll take him,” I offer, turning back to my room. “I haven’t seen Benji in a couple of days because it’s been so busy. I need cuddles.”

“Adira, you’re tired,” Meghan admonishes, but I shake my head. Paula is allergic to babies, it’s the best way to get her the hell away from me.

“Gimme that baby,” I insist, putting my things away in my room before popping back out. “You know you wanna.”

Snickering, she comes back with Benji and a diaper bag, and I spend the next forty minutes playing with an almost toddler.

We had a blast, and Paula was nowhere to be found. It was a perfect way to spend my time.

DAMON

“Fuck if I’m not nervous,” I mutter, blowing out a breath as I wrap a scarf around my neck.

“Where are you taking her?” Jed asks, amused and slightly jealous.

“Ice skating,” I answer. “It may be a little cliché, but?—”

“It’s not,” Kane says, coming into the room, his hair wet. He went to the gym earlier, and recently got back. Everyone is dealing with the clawing anxiety of not having Adira with us in different ways.

The little omega wants her space, we’ll give it to her in measured doses so she doesn’t forget we exist.

At my dubious look, Kane huffs out a laugh. “Your first date with her should be memorable and fun," he insists. “You told us food isn’t a good choice, because there’s pressure behind it, and it’s another glaring reminder that we’re assholes. Keep things light.”

“She’s still not eating well?” Morris asks, leaning against the wall. He’s quiet and brooding, though things are better than before Adira’s bite. It’s not exactly how I saw things going between them, but I’m glad our omega will have peace of mind that her instincts are right.

There’s nothing worse than constantly worrying that you may be broken, or that you’re a bad judge of character. Instincts keep us all alive, and Morris skewed her ability to tell if he was lying to her.

“No,” I grunt. “Adira will forget to eat because there’s not any time in between classes, or won’t want to because her stomach rebels easily. I brought her breakfast and a smoothie from Brewed Awakenings at class earlier this week, and she made me feel ten-feet-tall.”

“She has a way of doing that,” Kane murmurs. “Our little rabbit yelled at me to stop playing with my food when I was fighting. I can’t wait to see if she’s serious about helping us kill Dad.”

“I’m hoping for a call from Cian,” Jed admits. “She’s going to be the key to this working.”

“That reminds me, I’m going to look into her family,” Morris says. “There’s something odd about Rock’s fierce need to punish a dead man. It feels more personal than simply taking everything of value from a man, because he stole from you.”

“It doesn’t add up if he had his own money,” Jed agrees. “That’s not to say that men haven’t been dumb enough to steal when there’s no reason to, but I’m not getting that feeling here.”

“The way he begged for Adira’s safety doesn’t make sense either,” I chime in. “Usually greedy people only care about themselves, and his last words were not to hurt his daughter.”

“I may have prematurely blown up the house,” Kane says glumly. “I’m going to head down to one of the mafia clubs tonight to see if there’s any gossip floating around about her.”

“Need someone to go with you?” Morris asks, appearing worried.

Kane enjoys fighting, and if someone says something shitty, he may not be able to help himself.

“I’m a big boy—” Kane begins, but Jed shakes his head.

“Low profile,” Jed barks. “Kane, you definitely need someone to pull you back when the little voices start to tell you it would be a good idea to stir up shit.”

“You’re no fun,” Kane grumbles as I chuckle, opening the apartment door.

“You’re in time out,” I tease him. “Bye, guys.”

I shut the door on their jokes, rolling my eyes. I can handle a date with Adira just fine. Leaving the building, I decide to walk to the ice rink. It’s not far from either one of us, something I checked before suggesting it. I wanted to make sure she wouldn’t have to take a bus or anything.

It would be easier if we were on better terms, because I’d be able to simply pick her up from the shelter, but we aren’t. A little makeout session and longing glances aren’t going to fix what my pack and I broke.

Trust is a fleeting thing, easy to lose, harder to repair. One day at a time, I’ll have to show her that she can trust me.

Adira is waiting for me when I walk up, and I kick myself for not being here before her. I’m twisted up with nerves, wanting to make sure she has fun. Her eyes glitter with excitement, helping me see how much she’s been looking forward to this.

“Hey,” she says, her cheeks already pink from the cold.

My arm wraps around her to drag her closer, gazing at her to remember every detail of this moment.

“Hi,” I growl. “I’m torn between kissing you and making myself wait.”

“When have you ever had any patience?” she teases me.

Leaning down, I brush my lips against hers, enjoying the tiny gasp she releases.

“I have tons of patience, baby. I think you’re confusing me with the wrong brother,” I murmur, rubbing my nose against hers. I guess I’m going to have to show her with a little edging. “We should go inside and skate, don’t you think?”

Straightening, I smirk at her wide eyes and already panting breaths.

“So it’s like that, I see,” she murmurs, turning to face the door to walk inside.

While the rink is outside, the payment station and skates are inside, keeping the employees out of the wind and cold. I wrap my arm around her waist, wishing it was warmer for a small moment so there would be less layers between us.

“I plan to have you swallow your words, Adira,” I murmur as I pay for the both of us.

“I can have patience too, Damon,” she purrs, collecting her skates with a smirk.

Oh baby girl, a game of cat and mouse is my favorite.

There are benches surrounding the rink when we head outside, a place for Adira and I to sit as we change out our shoes for skates. She has good balance as we walk out to the ice, carefully getting the feel for skating.

Not wanting to make her self-conscious, I watch as I slowly skate next to her. Dad is the reason I know how to skate, and only because he said it was important for us to be nimble and fast. I wouldn’t suggest having your kids skate on a frozen lake in the dark. It’s an absolute miracle the damn ice didn’t crack on us.

The list of childhood trauma my father inflicted on us is long. Adira’s pinkie hooks in mine, chasing away the cold as we skate around the rink.

There’s a few other people out here, parents with children as well as adults without, creating a fun environment. It’s in the middle of a beautiful park, the trees covered in snow.

“Where did you find this place?” Adira asks, looking around. “I haven’t had a chance to explore the city, but this is so pretty.”

“Minneapolis has a lot of great things to do. I did a little research, and found lots of great parks,” I admit. “You’re inside so much of the time, I figured this would be a nice change of pace.”

“It is,” she says. “I’ve never skated before, ah!”

Adira manages to catch her balance, my lips press against each other to hide my smile.

“You’re getting the hang of it,” I praise her, moving behind her to pull her tightly against me. “I got you, baby. I promise.”

Adira stills at my words, and I know she can feel the weight of my tone. Tapping her hip, I ease her into skating again.

“I’ve been looking at majors, so I can narrow the focus of my courses, but it’s overwhelming,” I tell her, pulling the focus of our conversation into another direction.

“That’s what you want to talk about?” she asks, amused. “I know I don’t have to choose for a while, but I think I may have discovered a new passion.”

“What’s that?” I ask her, brow raised. I know she can’t see me, but to be honest, the feel of her hips in my hands is heaven.

“Pissing off old women who have no business giving advice,” she says. “ROWS is airing podcasts that make my skin crawl. Telling omegas how to dress, act, even what occupations are the best for them to work in.”

“Are there jobs that they said omegas shouldn’t?” I ask, interested. If anything is going to piss Adira off, it’s this. There’s nothing sexier than this woman when she’s angry about something other than me.

“Actually, Emilia released a podcast today about that,” Adira grumbles. “Bartending, real estate, stripping, and owning their own businesses. The stress of owning a business has apparently been known to sour an omega’s scent, making her or him less attractive.”

“Wow,” I breathe. “She’s really pushing the envelope here.”

“You’d be surprised how many people thanked her for this,” Adira says. “Aisling has mentioned a few times that she had a hard time getting people to work with her when she was trying to buy property. She had money ready to purchase, yet people would tell her they didn’t have any properties. Aisling is certain it’s due to her age, but what if it’s also because she’s an omega?”

“It’s possible,” I admit. “Omegas sometimes get treated as less than, because alphas are taught they need to be protected.”

“I’d like to be able to protect myself,” she mutters.

“You’re certainly getting there,” I tell her. “I want to work on your upper arm strength. If you can scale someone’s body to ah, use pointy things, then I’ll feel better about it.”

Skating near young children is unnerving when talking about killing people. My cheeks heat as Adira notices and laughs.

“Your laughter is beautiful,” I growl in her ear, wrapping my arms around her. If she falls, it’ll be easier to catch her. That’s my hill and this is where I shall stand. “It tinkles and feels so good to hear.”

“It’s still hard to feel like smiling or laughing,” she says with a sigh, biting her lip as she glances up and then returns her gaze in front of her quickly.

“You could stare up at me, and I’ll steer us along, Adira,” I purr. My chest feels full, my instincts pushing me to show her she can trust me not to run us into anything. Small steps. “Just keep moving your feet, baby.”

“You sound very sure of that,” she says with a smile. I’m counting every one, and holding them close to me. I can’t take anything for granted with her. “Do you think I could make a podcast to counter ROWS? Ugh, what if your dad hears about it?”

“Post it under a pseudonym and find a voice changer,” I suggest. “I’m not as techie as Morris, but I think it can be done. What do you know about Emilia?”

“Cian says she’s part of ah, the auction operation,” she says mildly as we pass a family. “Emilia funnels people to them that she can’t control. I don’t know the details, but Cian told me she doesn't like Aisling and tried to have her sold.”

“That’s the wrong person to mess with,” I murmur. “It’s still so odd to hear you talking about Cian Sullivan the way you are. You seem comfortable after your dinner.”

“Talking with him helped me see that I’m not alone in this situation. He was pretty open with the flow of information too. There’s a lot I don’t know about my father and this life,” she says. I know she means the mafia community as well as life without her saying it, and I hum in agreement as we skate. “He and Cecil reminded me that I don’t have to choose between a college education and the families. I may even be able to make an impact on others, keep them safe.”

“Then you should do the podcast,” I murmur. “We’ll find a way to keep it anonymous and you safe. It wouldn’t be a bad way to continue either. Throw people off while you’re immersing yourself in other things.”

“You think?” she asks. “I have to decide on a name, see if it’s possible. I was playing with the idea of a digital media degree, but I can expand it past the podcast to create something.”

“I do think this is a good choice,” I say. “You said that Aisling had a hard time finding people who would work with her. What about a guide for omegas, almost like a search engine for services? You’d have to do some footwork to find out who works well with people in general, gives good customer service, etc. Get the site paid for with paid advertising.”

“Wow,” Adira says, her head tipped back to look at me. “Where did that come from?”

“I have no idea,” I tell her with a wide grin. “I surprised myself with it.”

“It’s genius,” she says. “I guess we have to make it happen then.”

“We?” I ask. “This is your baby, Adira. I have nothing to contribute here.”

“You have a lot to contribute, Damon,” she says gently. “So what do you want to do with your life?”

“I’m pretty sure that’s the million dollar question, little omega. I’ll work on it. Can I treat you to something warm?” I ask her.

“A hot chocolate sounds really nice,” Adira admits. “Can we drink it in the park?”

“Anything you want,” I promise her, kissing her forehead. Her answering shiver makes me smile. If I can’t touch myself, I’ll get her to beg for more.

Turnabout is always fair play.