Page 20 of The Long Lost Omega

“Only you can make that choice. But I will tell you what happened to me.” My ears perked up. My mom never told me about her past very often. “When I was a young omega, I wanted to find my scent match. But my parents wanted me to be practical. I looked for my mates for a long time, but I never really connected with anyone. So, when the opportunity came to be with your fathers, I accepted. It was the logical thing to do.” She reminisced. “I don’t regret it. But choosing to be with someone out of obligation to make your family happy when you have the opportunity for a true match, well, I don’t know. Once I bondedwith your fathers, that was it for me. Even if I found a scent match after, it wouldn't matter. I am bound to them, and I will stay with them the rest of our lives.” I squeezed her hand. She’d always been a good mother, and a good partner to my fathers. “Sometimes it is hard for an omega when you have to choose to love every day. I think it would be easier for me, and for your fathers, if we’d been with our scent matches.” She finished speaking and her words spun through my mind.

“Did you ever scent someone that was your true match? Even after bonding?” Jax asked, and I nearly choked at his blunt question. My mother only smiled.

“That’s neither here nor there. All I’m saying is, it will be painful to be in a bond knowing that your true mate might be out there. It will be in the back of your mind every day, and it makes a successful bond more work knowing your mate is with someone else.” I sat back, my world rocked. I knew my parents weren’t a scent match, but those were rare anyway. “All I can tell you is that if you truly love her, your fathers will come around. Don’t give up your happiness, or take away the chance for true happiness of that poor omega Illiana. If you bond with her while you hold these feelings for Safira, you’ll be taking away her chance at finding a pack that truly wants her in the way you want Safira.” Her words hit me in the gut. She was right - although we’d treat any omega we were bonded to with honor, we'd never be able to love Illiana the way she deserved. It wouldn't be fair to do that when our hearts were with another. My mom looked at us, and I was sure we looked like a pitiful sight.

“I know you boys will make the right choice for your pack. Think for yourselves. You will have to live with the choice your wholelives, and me and your fathers won't always be around forever.” I kissed her hand, rising with the rest of my pack.

“Thank you, mother. We’ll do right by everyone involved.” I said, grateful to have her. We hugged her and started to head out before the night got any later. Once we were back in the car, we sat silently. I knew I didn’t have to ask them, I felt through our bond that we were unanimous.

“Let’s fix this, and go get our girl.”

Chapter 20

Jax

The phone rang, and each second that it went unanswered the lump tightened in my throat. I had the pack with me, and we were waiting for Illiana to pick up. We discussed it briefly the night before and decided on our plan. We had to tell her we were stopping the arrangement. Even though it was the right thing to do, that didn’t make it any easier.

Most omegas were ecstatic to be matched with a pack. Packs promised loyalty, protection, a relief for heats, and provided for omegas in ways they would never get if they were unbonded. Our families had celebrated our match, and we’d notified the registry so that no other packs could court us or her. Illiana’s family would benefit greatly from our bonding, nearly as much as our family would. We were to merge companies, and our progeny would be groomed to take over in the future, just like we hadbeen raised to do so. Or at least, that was what was supposed to happen.

“Hello?” Illiana’s face appeared as she answered our call. We had talked with her before, briefly over video chat when our families had first come up with the arrangement. It was rare to have an arranged bonding in the Western Province, but not forbidden. Illiana was from the Eastern Province, on the other side of the mountain range that split our country. They tended to do things a bit differently and were much more old school in that area. Because of the geographic distance, we hadn’t even met her in person.

“Hi Illiana, how are you?” I asked, trying not to sweat too much. Even though I had always taken on a leadership role, it didn’t mean I had no feelings. I just put on a poker face to help myself feel like I could handle hard things. And this was going to be a hard thing.

“I’m good, sweetheart, how are you? Is the rest of the pack there?” She looked beautiful, like she kept herself made up just in case we called. I felt such guilt at what we were about to do. Tony and Kaden moved into the screen behind me.

“They are here.” I said as the rest of my pack greeted her. “We are doing alright, but there’s something we need to discuss with you.” My tone was serious enough that Illiana suddenly snapped to attention, her eyes focusing solely on us as she sat down.

“Is everything alright?” she asked in a soft, appeasing tone. I hated having to do this. Omegas were so sensitive by nature,and rejection was hard for them to handle. This would be especially hard as we’d already basically agreed to skip most of the courtship and accept her as part of the pack. How would she get over this?

“Well, that’s what we wanted to discuss with you. We’ve had something come up, and it’s going to change things.” I started, hoping I could make her understand. “You are such a great person, Illiana. We think you have so many great qualities that would benefit a pack.” I said, knowing my words already sounded like the start of a breakup speech. Illiana remained silent, just watching us as I spoke. “And we know that you deserve a pack who can give you everything, one that can give you their hearts, and their love.” I stopped, pausing to breathe as I watched for her reaction. She gave none, only looked eerily stone-like as she listened to us. I cleared my throat. “So, before moving forward with a bite, we really considered if this was the best decision for our pack or for you. We had this discussion while keeping the business dealings out of it completely. So, if there were no deal on the table, would either of us be happy with this arrangement, knowing we had no real courtship and know each other only from a few chats and some scent cards.” I took another breath and ripped the band aid off. “And we believe the best decision is to not move forward with a bonding. We think a bonding should only happen if it's a true match.” I paused, trying not to cringe as I waited for her to break down, scream at us, or start sobbing hysterically. Instead, she took a beat, then put her head down.

I could only see her shoulders moving, and it appeared she was sobbing into her arm. “Please, Illiana, wait, just talk to us, it’s not about you or your worth, we think you are fantastic-” I startedsaying as she lifted her head. Then I realized she wasn’t sobbing - she waslaughing. She threw her head back, her laughing only growing stronger as she took big gulps of air, her face flushed as she nearly wheezed at the hilarity of our speech. Oh no. Had our rejection broken her mind?

“Oh, this is perfect. This is too good.” She said once she was able to take a breath, wiping a tear that had formed, but not from despair. “Oh man. You guys have no idea how much you just saved me.” Her words struck us as I sat back, confused.

“Illiana, what are you talking about? Are you okay?” Tony asked as he tried to take the phone and look at her more closely. She nodded and took a few more breaths, calming down.

“I’m fine. I’m better than fine, actually. Let me guess, your parents pushed you into this deal, didn’t they? You have no real attachment to me.” Her words were true, but I didn’t want it to sound that harsh.

“Well, it was our parents' idea, but we still think you are a great person regardless.” Kaden said, trying to salvage our conversation. She still chuckled, letting out a big breath before smiling at us.

“Look, you can stop now. You’re doing me a huge favor.” She stated, and I felt my confusion deepen. Most omegas hated rejection more than anything in the world. “I don’t want to be in a pack with you either.”

We all sat back with surprise. “I know, I put on a good act. But I was being pushed to go through with this too.” Her words nearly smacked me upside the head. Why hadn’t we considered she was just as pressured as we were? We’d agreed to this deal, of course - but that was before when we had Safira here, before we knew she was our true mate. Looking back, Illiana had always been polite and cordial with us, but she showed the same lack of enthusiasm that we felt.

"You were pressured?” Tony asked, and she nodded.

“Your fathers have no idea you’re making this call, do they?” She asked with a smile. We shook our heads, and she sighed with a smile.

“I figured. Look, I have someone here I really like. I was dreading having to move there and be with a pack I didn’t choose, even if it meant I’d make my family’s business worth double. But you know things are different in the Eastern Province.” Her words rang true, and I sensed the surprise from the rest of my pack. “So, I accept. Let’s break this arrangement.” she said confidently.

“Really? You’re sure you’re okay with everything ending?” I asked, incredulous that this had turned out the way it did.

“I’m sure. And anyway, at least this way you guys will be the ones who ended it, not me. If I’d ended it I’d have to face the wrath of my fathers.” She said with a chuckle while I grimaced. Seeing my face, she bit her lip. “And I’m guessing you’ll get an earful from your fathers about it. Good luck with that!” She joked, butit was true - we’d be the ones to feel the fallout from the broken arrangement. But all else aside, I was elated that she was taking this so well. And I was glad that she felt the same way about our bonding. We would have treated her well, and she seemed like a great omega, but the bonding wouldn’t be a true match.

“Well, let us know if you need anything. Otherwise, I suppose we won’t be seeing you around.” Tony said, shrugging before relaxing back into a chair. Illiana waved on her end of the line.

“Nice knowing you, even if it was brief. Who knows, we may cross paths in the future. Until then, best of luck!” She said as she ended the call.

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