Page 143 of Dream Mates
Me
Just hearing a sad story. Love you.
“Okay,” Creed said before Verity could say anything. “You might be our cousin though. Dad’s from a very omega-heavy family and one of his brothers had an epic slut era. Given how fertile male omegas are, hehashad a few kids pop up from his misspent youth. If you’re ever ready, we’ll introduce you. He’s a good guy, and his pack is pretty interesting.”
Yeah, not the cousin either.
Still, it was eerie, and the parallels brought up emotions I thought I’d worked through.
Verity frowned but nodded slowly. “Given how alike Dad’s brothers look, and how strong omega genes can be, that could bean explanation of why you look like Creed’s identical twin, who just happens to be a woman.”
“Kids tend to look like their omega parent?” My head cocked.
“Not always, but it’s pretty common. It’s a genetic survival instinct. Once upon a time, when things were more savage, children in packs who looked like their omega parent were more likely to survive, because they were treated better by the others in the pack. Especially those who weren’t their biological parent, who might otherwise be hardwired to prefer their own offspring,” Verity told me. “Dad’s kids all look like some variation of Dad.”
“So, if Evan and I have a baby they’ll look like him.” My hand went to my heart. I possibly wanted a baby Evan one day.
“I don’t know a lot about two-omega children, but I think it might go either way? I do know that the likelihood of that child being an omega is very high,” Verity said. “Especially if the omegas had an omega for a parent themselves.”
I shook my head. “I’m not an omega though.”
“No?” Verity’s eyebrows knitted.
“She’s a gamma,” Creed said softly.
“Well, this is a party. Hey, asshole, didn’t know you were in town. Shouldn’t you be studying for finals?” A guy with long brown hair, lighter than Verity’s, with a wave to it, and eyes as blue as Creed’s, strode over to us. He wore tight jeans, a band T-shirt, and cowboy boots.
“Hale.” Creed stood and hugged him. “I was visiting Ina at PIIP, so I came to harass Verity. Most of my finals are papers and presentations anyway.”
“Right, because you and Ina are not a thing?” Hale smirked. He looked almost exactly like Creed, only with sharper features, and long dark hair. He was also broader, with a more typical alpha body type, and smelled of pluots. Like Creed and Verity, he had a southern drawl.
Creed rolled his eyes. “You know how the parents feel about us dating people.”
Oh. Yeah, I could see how they might after all that.
“Yet you applied to Compass BioTek for a job?” Verity teased. Then she froze. “Oh, I didn't mean to say that out loud. Sorry.”
“You did what?” Hale pulled up a chair. His eyes fell on me. “Holy fuckballs. We found Creed’s double. Told you you’d make a pretty girl.”
Creed play-smacked him. “Shut up. Dr. Ellington, this is my asshole brother Hale. He’s studying o-chem here, which makes him a giant suck-up. Hale, this is Dr. Ellington. She’s a friend of Ina’s and was over at Marquess touring the physics department.”
It was interesting how he kept saying that. But I wouldn’t mind actually being friends with Inara.
“Did you actually apply to Compass BioTek? Mom will shit a pumpkin.” Hale laughed and grabbed Verity’s drink, took a sip, and made a face.
“I’m an adult and I can apply where I want,” Creed retorted.
Hale eyed me. “Friend of Ina’s? Okay, we’ll roll with that. Has she met Dad yet? Fuck, Mom’s going to shit two pumpkins. But Mama and Harry will love you. Mumsy’s British, so you’ll think she hates you, but I think she’ll like you well enough. No idea what Baba will think. Your PhD is in physics?”
“Math. And that’s not why I’m here.” I looked at my phone. “I should probably go. Where’s the car pickup station here? I’ll call a ride to where Spence’s meeting is.”
“This is not the missing sister? She looks like how I’d think the missing sister would.” Hale frowned.
“Nope. Not me. Do you all know about her?” My heart broke a little for them, to be hoping their big sister was out there somewhere. At least they were welcoming.
“Only us three, though Dare and Mercy will be getting the story soon,” Verity said.
Creed stood. “I’ll walk you to the rideshare stop. It’s on the other side of campus. Is he okay with you calling a car? Do you know what service to use?”
