Page 23 of Slick Handling

“Lemon knows she can’t come down here. She plans on talking to her if she wakes up.”

“Good. I want to share with you some things about Clover and I don’t want to upset her.” Mother says, running her fingers through her gray here.

She is getting upset and I already hate this conversation.

My mothers seen a lot from her time on the council. If she is getting upset about what the Omega has been through I’m sure that we’re not going to like it.

“Clover was raised in one of the Beta cults that have been popping up over the years. This one has been around for about thirty years so everyone is pretty well indoctrinated into the society. She was raised as a Beta and expected to continue in that society. There was no teaching about Omegas and Alphas other than some propaganda. Her grandmother raised her expecting her to take over the family seamstress business. Her schooling was done at a local homeschool group at the library, but mostly she learned on her own. The only formal education she received was at The Omega Academy.” My mother rubs her temples and I watch as Mama Joy slides her hand over hers.

“We only found out about Clover when an Alpha was passing by and scented her. After her grandmother died she was left alone. Thankfully the Alpha reached out to the proper channels and we were able to extradite her safely. However, there are a lot of things that she doesn’t understand.”

We knew she was naive but the background information paints a picture differently than just a sheltered Omega. Even Griffin has perked up upon hearing this information.

Not so blasé now that he has a bit of background information.

“Where were her parents?” McKinley asks.

Of course he has questions. He’s already obsessed with the Omega and planning on having her center our pack. Knowing more about her I’m not sure we are the right Alphas for her.

Vaughn isn’t ready to date after what he went through with his ex. Griffin is too focused on his goals and the dreams he has for himself to want to settle down. I don’t want to bring an Omega into our temporary house with people who aren’t ready to be devoted to her.

McKinley is the only one who deserves an Omega.

Clover needs Alphas who can dote on her and be patient with her. If she’s been raised with people who didn’t teach her anything good about her designation she needs time at the academy to learn more about herself. She deserves that time to grow into herself that she’s been denied.

This situation is meant to be temporary and we all need to remember that. Now more than ever.

“Her parents passed on and left her. We are still sifting through records to try and find out more about her. When the Weaver pack tried to force a bond on her it accelerated things a bit. She got the attention of a lot of people with her sweet smell and good looks. Clover is going to secure herself a very good pack, but she needs a safe place to learn first. That’s why I asked you to take her in, Apollo. I know your pack isn’t looking for an Omega right now and though Clover might be a small distraction you wouldn’t let yourself get caught up in a moment.”

A moment like Vaughn wrapped around all her come covered clothes.

A moment like McKinley calling her our Omega.

A moment like Griffin scent marking her.

A moment like me fisting my cock during my pregame nap because my sheets smelled like her.

Yes. How could we possibly get caught up in a moment?

“Hypothetically, what if we were interested in courting Clover?” Griffin gives our Beta the look I want to give him.

“She needs to learn about Alphas and needs a safe space to explore a little bit. You’re all young and can give her that space to explore with people at the university. Clover is going to learn a lot with her courses and grow into an even more lovely person. She isn’t going to be the person for your pack and you’ve all been vocal about your dreams coming first.” My mother announces, dousing the dream McKinley was building in his head.

It surprises me too because with my dads and mama there I was really expecting her to encourage us to pursue her. This was really out of left field.

We talk a little more about things.

They update us on what’s going on and ask about how Vaughn is doing. Small little topics that feel almost safe after giving us Clover’s backstory.

“You boys know that the Weaver pack has a lot of influence from their families. You need to keep her away from them if they come sniffing around. Promise me that you’ll do that?”

As we all make the promise it feels like we’re signing up for something dangerous. My head aches at the thought of something happening to the little cherub.

We would keep her safe. It was only for a few months and then she would be off back to The Omega Academy. We could handle a few months with her.

It would all be fine and then we’d go back to working towards our dream. We’d be back on track for everything. Maybe having her here would help us learn for when we had our own Omega. I’m sure I could sell everyone on that.

This would all be fine.

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