Page 88 of Claiming Their Omega

Chapter 30

Hendrix

The next week is a flurry of training.

You do so much training for rodeo tricks and riding, and from such a young age, that in a way it’s like riding a bike—a normal bike, not a motorized one. Stuff comes back to you real quick and you’ll be surprised at how much of it is instinct.

At the same time, a week is a damn short amount of time to ask myself to get ready by. Maybe I should’ve picked a rodeo with a farther-off date, but I know in my heart that if I did, I’d find a way to talk myself out of going again, like I have so many times before.

Even getting so far as to sign up is a huge deal. I’d tell myself that I would, then I’d ‘accidentally’ let the deadline pass for sign-ups. Wash, rinse, repeat.

But Grace is here now. I can’t tell her I signed up and then not go. I can’t let her down like that. She’s faced so many of her fears with her presentation as an Omega, her whole world turned upside down. If she can handle that, then I can handle trying my hand at the rodeo again.

The day arrives, far too soon.

We plan to get there the day before. The rodeo starts so early that there’s no sense in heading there the same morning. The others are coming too—Grace and my three pack mates.

Cade, Jesse, and Easton are clearly excited, and I feel bad that I’m a bundle of nerves. It makes me glad to know that, like always, they have my back and that they believe in me. I just wish I could find a way to believe in myself.

The men are relaxed in the car as we drive, but the closer we get to the town where the rodeo is being held, the more my stomach ties itself up in knots. The other three are chatting, speculating about who will be there, who will compete, what they’ll compete in, and repeating gossip they’ve heard about this person or that couple. But I can’t bring myself to join in.

Grace must be able to sense it, because she climbs into my lap as Jesse drives, wrapping her arms around my neck. I wrap my arms around her waist to keep her safe and steady, and I bury my nose in her hair.

The scent of her calms me down. I swear I can feel my racing heart slowing down almost immediately. She’s got the best scent in the world, and just having her in my arms makes me feel calm. Like a weighted blanket—although one I also want to devour.

We get to the rodeo and set up our sleeping arrangements at the motel, then go to the grounds to check in and stable the horse we brought from the ranch. The rodeo doesn’t start until the next day, but pretty much everything is set up, and check in is easy. I can feel eyes on me, from the person who checks me in to the food vendors setting up to the horse wranglers.

Yeah, I had kind of hoped that people would forget who I was. I don’t think I’m gonna end up being quite that lucky.

We grab dinner at a local Mexican joint, where Grace and the others distract me, making me laugh, and I’m able to eat a full meal. I insist it’s not as good as Grace’s cooking, and Jesse teases that it’s not as good as eating Grace, making Grace choke on her drink and sending us all into peals of laughter that causes the waitress to give us a weird look.

It’s fun. It’s natural. I wouldn’t be stressed at all, I’d be completely happy, if it wasn’t for the looming specter of tomorrow hanging over me.

We get up bright and early the next day before the sun’s in the sky. The others don’t have to, since they’re just attending the rodeo and not performing, but they all insist on coming with me for support. It means more than I can say.

Once we get there, it’s time for goodbyes, since I won’t see them for a few hours.

Jesse and Easton hug me, Easton murmuring some caring words of how we’re always there for you, no matter how it goes, while Cade claps me on the shoulder. I really am lucky, to have these three Alphas in my life through thick and thin, men I’m proud to call my pack.

Then it’s time to say goodbye to Grace.

She’s got a proud look in her eyes as she kisses me goodbye. “No matter what happens, I’m really proud of you.” She digs into her pocket. She’s wearing some of the clothes we got while shopping together, looking like a proper rodeo girl. “And I got you a little something.”

She pulls a silver chain out. Dangling from the end of it is a silver medallion, and on it is stamped a daisy. Grace blushes as she hands it to me. “For luck.”

I take the chain, smiling helplessly at it. I’m happy to wear it. Of course I am. I let her put it on me. But… “I already had a little something for luck.”

“Oh?”

I grin and pull up my shirt, revealing the tattoo that I’ve gotten on my ribs. It’s still brand-new and she hasn’t seen it yet, but it’s been long enough that I can compete in a rodeo without fucking up the healing process.

It’s a tattoo of a small bouquet of daisies, like the kind you’d pick when wandering through the fields, tied together with a piece of rawhide. I got it in black ink except for the daisies themselves, which have a splash of white across the petals.

Grace’s eyes go wide, and I can hear her inhale sharply. She looks shocked, almost, and my heart melts all over again for her. She has no idea the hold she has on the four of us, even after everything.

I can’t wait to keep showing her how much she means until she takes it all for granted. Until she realizes that she deserves our affection—and to be in our lives as permanently as a tattoo.

“What do you think?” I murmur.

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