Page 32 of Curvy Quirky Omega

“I’m glad you like them.” Cas came around the couch and sat down next to me, resting his arm along the back as I ran my hands over the pencils, not sure how to accept this on top of everything else they’d given me.

My eyes started burning as I ripped open the package with the squishy cushions first.

It was unbelievable how much I’d cried lately – as though all the tears I refused to shed over the years had finally broken through the dam I’d built.

I didn’t cry at my mother’s funeral, and I didn’t cry when Liam left with one of my baby axolotls in tow. I didn’t even cry when the police dragged my father away, leaving me all alone in the world.

I’d lost everything back then and I never once shed a single tear, not even when I became something the whole world saw as damaged. Now…

I had everything. More than I could have ever dreamed of.

These tears I couldn’t hold back – the tears of the little girl I’d buried deep down until I was sure she was dead.

She and I had known I couldn’t survive without killing that part of myself. The little girl I’d been had sacrificed herself willingly – positive that we’d never get to have any of this—convinced that no one would want a withered rose.

But the older sister who adopted me and my alphas…to them, I was worth the work because they had faith that one day, the rose would once again bloom.

Running my left hand over the fresh paper, I let the slightly rough texture of it seep into my skin. With the three of them supporting me, anything felt possible.

“I wanted to thank you,” Cas murmured, tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear so he could see my face. “For not asking me to leave him here alone.”

“You don’t have to thank me for taking care of my alphas.” I sketched a messy rose, the same one Frankie had brought home from her father’s compound. “But I appreciate the gesture.”

“You’re something else, you know that? The way you take care of your family is very unique.” Cas leaned down and pushed my glasses up my nose for me. “And you look extra adorable whenever you’re wearing your glasses.”

I adjusted them, feeling slightly self-conscious. “Frankie says it softens my look.”

“Nervous?”

Of course he knew I was nervous without me having to say it outright. He was my alpha.

I tore out the sketch and handed it to Cas. “Nicolette isn’t stupid. Even with my scent blockers, she’s going to be able to sense your pheromones all over me. I was hoping my glasses would ease some of her shock when she saw me.”

“Lucy…” Cas looked down at the rose I’d drawn for him and his eyes darkened. “You may not look like a traditional omega, but that doesn’t mean you’re not gorgeous and regal in your own way.”

Every time he chose to say more than a few words, Cas had me speechless. He could be so ridiculous and…romantic.

I leaned over and brushed my lips against his cheek in silent thanks. “And you’re way too attractive and dominating for anyone in their right mind to overlook you.”

He smirked and pulled me into his lap, sketchpad and all. “Are you saying everyone else but you aren't in their right mind?”

“Everyone but me and Liam.” I pressed my face to his neck and breathed in his sharp, clean scent that always reminded me of a forest filled with wild apple trees. “The rest of them need their eyes checked.”

His deep chuckle helped settle some of my nerves just as my alarm went off.

I reached over and tapped my phone. Frankie would be here in five minutes since she was always fifteen minutes early. “Keep an eye on Liam for me today? None of this is going to be easy and we’re just getting started.”

“Don’t worry about Liam, Lucy. Just focus on getting your answers.”

Believe me, I had every intention of doing exactly that.

CHAPTER 13

Lucy

Frankie stood next to me on Nicolette’s massive front porch and reached over, pressing the doorbell as the spring wind whipped around us, warning us there’d be another storm before the sun set today.

It was almost exactly like that day Liam had brought me to her house to question her, but this time Frankie was with me. Liam and Cas were waiting just behind us, nothing more than our silent escorts.

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