Page 14 of Riley Goes Home

“What’s going on?” Colt’s dark expression had my mood souring as he strode over to the door, then wrenched it open. Eloise blinked, then rallied quickly with a smile. “Where are you taking Riley?”

“It’s a surprise.” She tried to pat her son’s shoulder, then push past him, but that wasn’t happening. Out of all her sons, Colt was the one least likely to be moved, so instead, he stared her down, waiting for an answer. I drew closer, interested in what she’d have to say as well. Eloise let out an irritated huff and then peered past Colt to me. “I was going to show you the birthing pools.”

Betas knew very little about the birthing pools because we were never going to be allowed to use them. Cyrus, Valerie, and Cheryl would’ve been shown them when they first revealed as omegas.

“Oh, wow?—”

“Mum, we talked about it,” Colt growled. “Riley wants to birth in a hospital.”

I loved him. I always had, it was easy to admit that now, but it was a feeling I’d lived with my whole life. One that had me stepping closer and sliding my hand up his back. Every muscle was tensed because my mate, my Colt, was ready to throw down with his own mother if that’s what it took to honour my request, and that had me slipping my arms around his waist and pressing my face into his shoulder blades. He partially turned and looked down at me.

“Riley?”

“It won’t hurt to take a look,” I told him, looking everywhere but at him before he tipped my chin his way. “They can’t exactly trap me and force me to birth my babies there.”

“Our babies.” He said that with a curious mix of pride and passion. “Right now you, they, are our priority. You wanted to come back here even though I didn’t think it was a good idea?—”

“Colton!” Eloise spluttered, but he forged on.

“But I trusted you when you said this is what you need.” His hand spanned my back. “I trust you now.” But not his mother, that became apparent as he turned back to face her. “But Mum, you need to respect Riley, respect her limits. You’re not the one in charge, she is.”

“I know?—”

“No, Mum.” Colt’s tone was respectful yet contained a thread of iron that would not be denied. “You don’t get it. I need you to prove that you can respect Riley’s wishes.”

Because she hadn’t before, that went unspoken, but every person in the room heard it. Her expression turned mulish for a second, and I feared we’d have Omega Vanguard on our hands, but Colt’s mother reappeared. She nodded slowly.

“I understand, but I think I know what I’m doing.” Eloise looked past Colt to me. “You want to see how it's done in the alpha-run towns. We didn’t raise you as an omega, not understanding your true nature, but now…” Her eyes lockedwith mine. “Now you need to find out what you missed out on to decide how you will proceed with this pregnancy.”

“Yes.”

I answered before Colt could, not wanting this to devolve into squabbling, because that’s what it was. It’d just been an itch in my brain before, but when she said the words, it became clear. What would’ve happened if I had revealed at puberty? If the guys claimed me before everyone? I would’ve borne them sons at some point, so what would’ve happened? The rational side of me knew my children needed good medical care, sufficient nutrition, space to develop and grow, and carers who loved them, but I was more than the scientist now. Mention of the birthing pools stirred something in me, and like any good scientist, that needed exploring.

“I’m happy to visit the birthing pools and to learn more about how an omega births.”

Eloise smiled.

“Good. So the first thing you need to know is that if you had revealed at puberty, you would’ve been shown the pools with all the other omegas in town.” I felt a prickle of unease, memories of the trio of omegas I’d gone to school with haunting me like ghosts. “Valerie has moved on, but Cyrus and Cheryl…”

Were going to meet us there and help with my tuition.

Damn.

Chapter 10

Riley

I wasn’t the same girl I was, I had to tell myself that over and over as we drove to the pools. They were situated on the alpha residence lands, which made things even more awkward. Cyrus had apparently gotten word, because as we pulled up the front, he and Cheryl peered down the steps at us, waiting for us to get out of the car.

“A dominance display.” Eloise chuckled. “Obviously, you ruffled some feathers yesterday.”

“The visit wasn’t exactly a smooth one,” I admitted.

“So Omega Williams has called for back up already.” She shook her head. “No matter. They know the rules, and if they’ve managed to forget them, I’ll remind them of each and every one.”

She would too. It was weird to see the same perfumed steamroller getting out of her car and marching around to my door with the same kind of determination she’d used to drive me out of town. My door was pulled open and she reached in, giving me a hand to get to my feet. Cheryl and Cyrus watched my every ungainly movement with a cool collective gaze, thoughCheryl’s brows drew down when my hand went to my aching back.

“We should’ve put in a ramp when the place was ours,” Eloise muttered, shaking her head as I lumbered up one stair then another. “The steps are ridiculous. The previous Omega Vanguard, the boys’ grandmother, watched me climb them when I was heavily pregnant too.”

---