Page 161 of Forget

“Sounds about right,” he mutters. “Come inside, Aisling.”

Stepping inside, I sigh as the warmth of the house wraps around me. I swear, my dad’s home is always the perfect temperature.

“Let’s go into the living room. I have a fire going in there,” he says.

The sun has long gone down, and it’s almost eight o’clock. The day managed to fly by the way it always does

“Chef is still here, are you hungry?” he asks, as he closes the door and locks it.

“No, I’m fine,” I begin to say, because I don’t want to be an annoyance.

“When was the last time you ate?” Dad asks as we walk further into the house.

“I had a snack around four,” I sigh. “I didn’t have time for anything more, and I didn’t want to get out here too late.”

“Well, that simply won’t do,” he murmurs as he changes directions toward the kitchen.

“Dad, okay maybe just a snack? It’s late, and he shouldn’t need to make me anything,” I tell him.

Chef pops his head out of the kitchen, brow raised. “Ah, the prodigal daughter returns,” he says. “There is no way you’re coming over and not leaving without a happy and full stomach. How does a grilled cheese sandwich with bacon, tomato, and ham sound?”

“Oh my God,” I groan. “Yes, please.”

My stomach even chooses this moment to remind me that I’m hungry, and I smirk in embarrassment. It would be nice to be able to schedule food breaks in my day, but even when I used to pack food, it was difficult to find the time.

“Coming right up,” Chef says with a chuckle, going back into the kitchen.

“Folded like a card table,” Dad teases me as he continues on into the living room.

Pretty abstract paintings line the wall, adding color to the house, instead of appearing pretentious. Dad’s house is huge, yet it still manages to feel homey.

“What is so pressing, my daughter?” he asks as he sits down on the couch. “Any other issues atOmega’s Haven?”

Finding a corner of a loveseat that I like, I take off my coat and gloves, getting comfortable. The fire feels amazing, and I can feel my body slowly relaxing, despite the conversation I need to have.

“Yes and no,” I tell him. “There’s always some kind of issue, which is the nature of running a foundation that’s forcing society to change. I came to talk to you, though.”

“Oh,” he says, and I feel immediately bad because I’ve been putting this off for so long. “No, don’t look like that. I’m glad you came to talk, but I can tell there’s other shit too. Can we discuss that after?”

“Yes,” I agree.

“Okay, good. So, I did keep things from you. It’s just not as bad as it ended up escalating to,” Dad says. “I had this odd feeling that Hayes was your scent match because of how he was acting.”

“So his actions are normal?” I ask, oddly amused. Nothing about this has felt at all conventional.

“Eh, normal is a four letter word for alphas,” Dad rumbles. “Possessiveness is pretty standard. Aiden isn’t typically as sarcastic as he’s been to you, which was another red flag to me. I’ve known that boy since he was seventeen, and hired him soon after. His pack is loyal, even if they are a bit psychotic.”

“Just a bit,” I murmur.

“Regardless, I am and always will be on your team,” he says. “I beat the shit out of him for what he did to you. An omega’s first heat can set the tone for the rest. If it’s traumatic, then your brain tells you that it’s always going to hurt, which is what ended up happening. He started lurking after that, thinking I didn’t notice, and I let it happen, because he left you alone.”

“I have a feeling it became active stalking at one point,” I tell him.

“Caelin ran into you on a date,” he says. “When he realized that you were his scent match too, I imagine the gig was up. The entire pack began to fall for you, insisting on following you in an effort to get to know you.”

“So Caelin didn’t magically become Wren and my website designer,” I snark. “The fact that I just happened to meet Domh while at the rage room also makes sense now.”

“They made it a mission to stalk you,” Dad sighs. “I didn’t know anything about this outside of what you told me, but something about it bothered me. Then, during your heat when the sedation stopped working over Christmas, they panicked because you hadn’t been at work.”

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