Page 45 of The Omega Archives: Part One

MARKO

There was more than one reason I didn’t like to talk on the phone. Long conversations with my mothers on the other end were one of those reasons.

I only ever managed to see them around the holidays.

During the holidays, I could sneak in and out with the rest of my pack, and they could take on most of the grunt work of making sure my mothers knew I was perfectly fine and no longer falling apart like they thought I must've been ever seen three years ago. They'd been walking on eggshells only my pack could seem to make them forget. Everyone but me would be drunk on thick, disgusting eggnog, meaning at least I didn’t have to pretend to insert myself into their never-ending conversation and questions about just how well I was doing lately.

No one paid attention to the most messed-up person in the room when he was the only one left sober.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case right now with the weekly phone calls that sometimes were worse than the ones I had with my therapist ever since I got back from my final mission overseas—unfortunately not the way I’d hoped.

My mother laughed about what happened in their book club last week over the phone, sharing it on speaker. The sound was good to hear ever since their mate, the man I considered my father, passed away two years back.

Because when it rained, it poured.

I don’t know what I would do if one of my pack members died like that in an accident so suddenly. I could barely understand it when my father died.

I'd probably fuck up the whole world in one way or another.

I grew up vastly different from the rest of my pack mates. If the warm house and smiling mothers were any indication, everything else was. None of the others grew up in a pack like my family’s. Strong and horribly, sometimes disgustingly, in love.

“Are you sure you’re alright Marko?” Cindy asked over the phone. She was one of the two alphas that lived in the house before my father passed, paused her smile at my silence for the past five minutes.

I rubbed a hand down my face as I sat on the edge of my bed. “Fine. Tired.”

“You’ve been sleeping a lot.”

“I’ve been sleeping fine.” How would she know how I’ve been sleeping? They lived a thousand miles away.

Of course, I hadn’t slept in days. At least not more than a few hours. I got into spurts that way. Eventually, I’d fall back into a pattern where I’d manage to at least get through the night.

Melissa, who was an omega, cleared her throat as she changed the subject. “Tell us more about how everything is going with your pack.”

“It’s fine.” I adjusted the phone against my ear. “Demetri’s been tying up loose ends since his father decided he wanted to transfer a portion of his businesses over to him no matter what we do," I explained.

Though he was trying to get his bearings as far away as he could from that man, it was impossible to fully get out from under him we’ve been finding.

The best thing was to use those resources in the best of ways.

“That’s nice.”

“Not really.” I shrugged.

“How’s everyone else doing? I know that a year or so ago you all were talking about putting yourself in the position to find an omega,” said Cindy, prying.

I shook my head. “Liam’s still pushing for it."

"And you aren’t?"

"It would be… nice, I guess.”

"Omegas are nice," Melissa smiled.

"It just hasn’t worked out. We’re good as we are," I clarified, stiffly.

“Of course, you are, sweetheart. We were just curious if you were still looking. Sometimes the best things happen though when you stop looking and let them come to you. It’s fun that way too,” said Melissa. I could hear her smile. “Like the best surprise.”

“Just look at us,” said my mother.

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