Page 75 of Curvy Quirky Omega

“Then I have a question for you…can you handle that? Can you live every day with people watching you simply because he is the one you’re bonded to? It’s not like he can fly under the radar. Look at his eyes – his hair.”

“I’ll dye it.” My mother ignored me but a flicker of amusement through the bond gave me the shred of patience I desperately needed to keep from diving across the table right now to make her shut the fuck up.

“Even if he alters his appearance, he will still have the red eyes of a legacy alpha,” my mother reminded her. “It won’t matter if his pack name is Valentine or Valor because it will still be a legacy pack.”

How the fuck did she know it wouldn’t be Parker?

I hated my mother for knowing me so well and yet she kept pulling shit like this.

“My son is a hopeless romantic,” she told Lucy as she took the slip of paper from Warren. “It didn’t take me long to figure out you were the girl he’s spent millions trying to find. How could I not when he bought an entire soap company simply because they were going out of business and it was the only soap you liked?”

Great, thanks for throwing me under the bus like that. Why did she have to say something so fucking embarrassing in front of all these other alphas?

My mother studied the document Francisco had put together and pursed her lips. “Liam is very capable, but he can also be very emotional and impulsive. He doesn’t always possess the ability to think about the consequences of his actions until it’s too late.”

She would know. I got it from her.

“You, on the other hand, are very logical and intelligent. I trust you to find my eldest son’s killer because of that. I’d even trust you with Liam if I thought you could handle what it takes to be part of a legacy.”

“Mother, that’s enough.”

She handed the document back to Warren and ignored me completely. “I can see that you care for him, but it doesn’t seem to me that you’re willing to do whatever it takes to keep him. My son gave up everything for you. What will you give up in return?”

A low growl erupted from my chest, but my mother acted like I didn’t even exist.

How dare she?

“She doesn’t have to give up anything.” I barely recognized my own voice and I knew the scent blockers were starting to fail against the strength of my pheromones, but I couldn’t reel them back in.

Lucy had already suffered so much because I had to leave. Why the fuck would I make her suffer even more?

I stood, the chair falling over and clattering to the floor, but my mother still didn’t stop.

“Forgive me for this, but it just seems as though you’re not willing to make any concessions. If you were, you wouldn’t have come here looking like that. You would dress knowing others will see you – that they will associate you with him. You would care how that affects his image.”

Cas reached for Lucy to shield her ears from those harsh words, but she took his hand and kissed the palm, staring up into his eyes like no one else existed.

Her peace and serenity came through the bond like a soothing balm and I clenched my hands into fists, wishing she’d just get mad so I could do something about it.

This had to be triggering for Cas too.

His eyes flashed and he was breathing hard. The only reason his pheromones weren’t filling the room was because he was wearing scent blockers just as Lucy had requested. He had to think she would be just as devastated as he was to hear my mother’s poisonous words.

I couldn’t feel his emotions like I could Lucy’s but I knew him better than anyone. He was about to throw Lucy over his shoulder and get her out of here before coming back to tear them all apart.

“Not only are you acting as if there are no consequences to your actions, but you’re also ignoring my son in favor of Cassius. You seem to be more affectionate with him and I applaud you for finding a solution that doesn’t leave my son heartbroken and lonely, but if you can’t love them equally, why bother?”

This time, Lucy got mad and the tiny thread of patience I was holding onto snapped.

I wanted to lunge across the table and wrap my hands around that weak throat, squeeze until I felt the tendons strain – the trachea crackling and grinding together until it shattered. I wanted to see blood drench this table, adorning it with a feast to feed the fury raging inside me.

“Liam is a legacy alpha who has killed with nothing but his pheromones. What makes you think you would even be able to survive him?”

My mouth felt parched and I thirsted for something I could not name. It was little more than an urge—an instinct.

“If I said I’d give you more wealth than you could ever imagine, what would you do?”

“I don’t need or want your money.”

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