Page 21 of Follow Your Instincts

Lucas laughed. “I vote that we go. It would be rude not to show up. But mostly, I just want to see if Ben’s right about it being the Omega from Soren’s precinct.”

“What is the point of being pack leader if none of you listen to me?” I growled.

Chapter 7

Maggie

The weekend passed quietly. I spent time outside with Bridget, who was content to walk in companionable silence around and around the walking path. I was curious about her story, but I figured she’d open up when she was ready. Bridget told me she had already been at the Center for over a year and hadn’t even started the scent-matching process.

We had a little going-away brunch for Elizabeth on Sunday morning before her pack arrived. Steffi cried when she left, and I caught a glimpse of five huge Alphas in denim and plaid embracing Elizabeth before bundling her into the waiting Sprinter van.

My first pack meeting was on the following Tuesday. Kira had taken off work to come over and help me get ready. She blow-dried my hair with a diffuser until my hair hung in shiny ringlets and waves. She bullied me into wearing makeup, which I never did, and forced me into a long-sleeved blue dress that was way too tight.

“Girl, what is the point of working out to have this amazing ass if you don’t show it off?” Kira said when I threatened to take it off. “Stop complaining and accept that you are hot.”

I did have to admit that she did good work. “I look like adifferent person,” I said, examining myself in the mirror.

“You look like the reality TV version of yourself,” Kira said.

There were five minutes until the pack showed up, and suddenly everything was way too real. “Do you think if I told Steffi I had really bad diarrhea, we could just cancel?”

“Oh hell no, I did not just blow dry your hair for 40 minutes for you to back out now. You’re going,” she said and poked me in the back until I started walking down the hall towards the meeting room.

Andreas turned and wolf-whistled as we came down the hall. “Gorgeous,” he said.

“Thanks,” Kira and I said together. Andreas laughed.

“Hurry, dear, let’s get you in the meeting room,” Steffi said and ushered me to a chair facing the double french doors. “They’ll be here any minute.”

Kira winked and gave me a little thumbs up before going back down the hall to my room to wait.

Andreas sprayed descenter in the hallway and lobby, then joined Steffi and me.

“Which pack is this one?” I asked.

“I’m not going to tell you, you’re not supposed to be biased,” he said.

The buzzer for the front door sounded. My adrenaline spiked, and I took a deep breath, and reminded myself that I could do way harder things than meeting new people. I had once arrested a man so out of his mind on Angel Dust that he was using two meat forks like Wolverine claws. This would be way easier than that.Calm down, I yelled internally.

“What was wrong with them?” Kira asked 30 minutes later when I finally made it back into my room, muttering under my breath. I stripped off the dress immediately and pulled on leggings and an oversized t-shirt.

“Oh, nothing was wrong withthem,” I seethed. “Apparently, everything was wrong withme! Didn’t I know I was a bit old for an Omega? Didn’t I know that the reason Omegas presentin their early twenties is because they needed as much time as possible in their prime fertile years to produce other little Alphas and Omegas?”

I took a breath, and Andreas tapped on the door before cracking it open.

“Andyou,” I said, pointing at him. “I thought your little questionnaire was supposed to match me with compatible packs! What the fuck was that?”

Andreas lifted his hands in mock surrender. “I never said it was a foolproof system! That’s why we do these meetings,” he said.

“Well I never want to see those fucking assholes again,” I said.

“Noted,” Andreas said, holding back a laugh.

“It’s not funny!” I yelled, and then suddenly found myself choking back tears. “And great now I’m fucking crying again over a bunch of Alpha fuckheads that didn’t even smell that good!”

“Babe, no, don’t cry,” Kira said and hugged me with my arms still stuck down by my sides as I sobbed.

“One of them was literally named Chad,” I said, and then I wasn’t sure if I was laughing or crying.

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