Page 155 of Omega for the Pack

“Hi, father,” I said when he pulled me in for a bear hug.

“I was wondering what the commotion was outside,” said Armon, with a concerned look in his gaze. “Is everything alright, daughter? You are not divorcing already, are you?”

“No, everything is fine,” I said, patting his arm. Sometimes, I forgot how old he was getting. His goatee had gotten longer, and the wrinkles on his face were deepening. After losing one father,I couldn’t bear to lose another, even though they didn’t treat my mother as well as they could.

“Then what’s the matter?” asked Armon.

“I have a situation to talk to you about,” Kodan interjected.

“Come, come,” said Armon, waving us into the palace. “Let’s talk with everyone regarding this matter.”

We walked into the throne room, and I saw Mother yelling at the new omega, Vanessa. Vanessa was standing there with a smirk on her face, her red hair in small curls around her face.

“You have no right, absolutely no right, to take over my closet,” said Mom. “How could you throw all my clothes on the ground the way you did? No respect!”

“Listen, lady,” said Vanessa, stroking her pregnant belly as if gloating. She saw us enter the throne room since we were in her line of sight. So she chose her words carefully since my father was there. We agreed that you’re going to a different room. Just something a bit smaller since you’re not sleeping with your husbands anymore.”

I stood there shocked for a minute, then I walked over to my mom and grasped her elbow in comfort.

“What?” my mom said irritably.

Then she turned around, and upon seeing me, she collapsed into me, hugging me tightly. I could feel her tears of anger drench my dress.Was this what she had to deal with now?

“Just ignore her, Mama,” I said. Vanessa let out a light laugh, and I saw her kiss my father before sashaying out of the room.

“I’ll go get Dravin and Arther,” said Armon, walking away from the situation to grab my other fathers for the impromptu meeting.

Mom broke the hug and proceeded to hug Kodan and Luke.

“It’s so nice to see you all again,” she sniffed. “Thank you for bringing my daughter back, even if it’s just for a little bit.”

“It’s nice to see you too,” said Luke, returning her embrace.

“Have you been nice to my daughter?” she asked Kodan with a teasing smack on his arm. He let out a chuckle, his wide-set shoulders slowly relaxing around my mother's presence.

“You should be asking your daughter if she was nice to me,” Kodan teased.

“At first, everything was rocky,” I said. “But we’re still learning about each other.”

I didn’t want to mention anything about Kodan’s offer- that I had a way out of the entire marriage. I didn’t know how I felt about not seeing Kodan again.

“That’s good to hear,” Mom said. Then she turned to some of the beta servants. “Please get them something to eat and drink.”

We sat on the couches in the living area, and it felt so weird to sit there. It felt comfortable, like sitting on clouds after sitting on the hard floor of Kodan’s living room.

I couldn’t wait to go to my room after this. I wanted to show Kodan my childhood bedroom and introduce him to a comfortable bed. Maybe that would motivate him to get us a real bed.

“We are all here now,” said Armon, plopping down onto the couch across from us.

Upon seeing Dravin and Arther, my heart glowed as I hugged them both. Without Vanessa in the way, it felt like the old times. Although we weren’t too close, we still talked once in a while when my fathers weren’t busy with Royal Pack duties.

The servants brought us chilled water and little round sugar cookies. Everything felt like a luxury to me.

“What is happening, Kodan?” asked Dravin, crumbs of the cookies in his beard. “Armon said you had something to tell us.”

Kodan began to relay what happened in Howl’s Edge and about the Shadow Wolf’s escape.

“I was hoping to leave the princess here for a while until I can capture him,” said Kodan. “I figured it would be a lot safer here.”

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