Page 59 of This Fate That Guides Us
The breakdown drops and all throughout the stadium you can feel it-–the nearly violent energy of their heavy beat. Nebula and Cal both slam their upper bodies forward in time with the music, never missing a chord as they dance and play.
Letting the video end, I switch back to still images in time to catch the pair of them circling each other at the center of the stage. Nebula lets one hand fall from his bass to sit over his heart before pointing at Callisto and I’m gone. So utterly ensnared in the web their love weaves.
Whatever it takes, no matter how long I have to wait, I’m going to know what it feels like to have their devotion directed my way.
After the show ends, we leave the venue quickly. Ignoring the protesters still gathered outside and enjoying the post-show adrenaline. Outside of our buses, a large crowd is waiting for us to return. Apprehension skitters across my skin until I see Pack Graves greet the group warmly. They must not be a threat if the guys are being so welcoming.
I aim for our bus but stop when Nexus calls out to me. He’s standing next to an older woman. Her hair is a few shades darker than his light auburn and familiar warm brown eyes shine back at me. Panic squeezes my throat as I realize this is Nexus’ family. And he wants to introduce me to them.
I glance down at my high-waisted black vinyl shorts, wide diamond fishnets, and Primordial Covenant crop top. Maybe I should change…
“C’mon, darlin’. Momma Corinne is barely holding herself back from dragging you over there.” Titan murmurs as he wraps one massive arm around my back and guides me to where his packmates stand.
Here goes nothing, I guess. Just unexpectedly meeting my Fated mate’s parents. No big deal.
“Mom, this is Omen Powell. She’s the new photographer the label hired for our tour.” Nexus introduces me to his mother, who beams. “Gorgeous, this is my wonderful mother, Corinne Bowen.” If anything, his mother’s smile grows wider hearing her son's nickname for me. I stammer out a quick ‘hello’ before Nexus drags me away.
Heat blazes across my cheeks and up my chest as I’m led around and introduced to his entire family. His fathers–one alpha, one beta. His older brother and two older sisters. Plus their partners and families. Nieces and nephews who were old enough to stay up late enough to stop by to visit with their uncle.
It’s chaotic and overwhelming.
I also can’t help the jealousy and sadness warring within me watching him interact with all of them. It’s easy to see they love him and his mates. They’re so committed to supporting him they stayed up until midnight to be able to come visit him for an hour while he’s in town.
My family would never accept me the way they have him. Only my big sister Hannah ever truly loved me. Seeing Nexus talk with his oldest sister, gently rubbing her stomach where she carries his newest niece, I miss my sister dearly. Not for the first time I find myself wishing she had been able to escape with me when the DAU took me in.
“We can be a lot,” Corinne says gently. I didn’t even realize she was standing beside me until she spoke. “Those boys,” she points to Nebula, Callisto, and Titan, “had a similar look on their faces the first time we met.”
While I don’t doubt her honesty, it is difficult to reconcile the image of the guys now–relaxed and playful, fully fitting in with Nexus’ family–with the scared outcast I feel like.
“Maybe like Cal, you come from a small family and aren’t used to large gatherings,” she muses. “Or maybe like Titan and Nebula, your relationship with your family is strained. Whatever the case, as long as you are in our son’s life, we will treat you like family.”
Her offer is so sweet. She reminds me a little of Shelby but without my adopted mother’s sass and the addition of a Southern twang to her voice. “Thank you,” I offer awkwardly but genuinely. Corinne waves me off.
We stand, watching her family and the rest of the tour staff as they set up a bonfire by the edge of the small lake our campground sits near. Someone breaks out the stuff for s'mores earning cheers from the group, while someone else starts up a game of charades. I can’t hide a laugh watching Nexus’ dads jump right into the game, already teasing each other with trash talk. It’s easy to see where my alpha gets his love of board games from.
After being roped into several rounds of charades as Nexus’ partner, I gracefully bow out and move to sit along the shoreline. I’m only sitting alone–well as alone as I can be with Lex acting as my shadow–for a few moments when Corinne joins me. “You’re good for him. All of them really,” she tells me with a pat on the back of my hand.
I shrug in response, picking rocks out of the sand so I don’t reveal my own insecurities about her statement.
“I don’t know how much my son has told you about his life here in Tennessee. Or how much any of them have shared with you, but I’m guessing you know enough to understand growing up here wasn’t easy for them.” I nod and she continues. “When my husband William accepted a job at the local hospital here, we were thrilled to take the opportunity. When we got here, we started to realize how different Tennessee is from Virginia. We never imagined the issues our children would face. Nexus most of all.”
She pauses to look back at the fire when a round of laughter fills the air. Her smile accentuates the light laugh lines on her face. She’s a stunning omega. Someone whose presence screams ‘mom’ even without knowing she has four kids of her own.
“Nexus was diagnosed with anxiety early in his life. He had a panic attack his first week of elementary school, trying to hide in an empty trash bin to escape all the noise and the other kids. The principal had to call his sister, Audrey, to the office to help calm him down until I could get to the school to pick him up.” We both laugh at the story, imagining tiny Nexus trying to hide in a smelly trash can. “Growing up, there were many times we thought he might have been an omega. So we were shocked when he presented as an alpha. Thrilled of course, we’d never judge him for something out of his control, but it was unexpected.”
That is something I can understand completely. I never expected to present as an omega after all.
“All of the trouble we faced adjusting to life here in Tennessee paled in comparison to watching Nexus’ journey as an alpha in this backward state. They ridiculed him relentlessly. Bullied him, beat him up, and trashed his dorm room. Anything they could get away with, they did. All because he didn’t fit the mold they imagined alphas should fill.”
My heart pangs hearing how poorly my sweet alpha was treated by his peers.
“Then he met Nebula. The first of his mates. Their struggle didn’t magically end, if anything it got worse, but they had each other which was all that mattered. My point is–” she says firmly, urging me to look over at her. “When life hands you a good thing, something that feels right down to your very soul, you should cherish it.”
I don’t know if Corinne knows the connection between her son’s pack and me, or if she’s just reading between the lines of the interactions she’s seen between us. I do know she’s right. Very rarely has Fate gifted me with something positive, something good. I need to enjoy it while it lasts. I’m done letting the fear of my family control me.
After a late night on the beach with Nexus’ family, I overslept and didn’t have enough time to call Donovan before our workday started. I felt a little disappointed in myself, wanting a solution to my problem sooner rather than later, but life on the road is busy. We’re currently in the middle of a five-day stretch of back-to-back shows so it’s natural for some things to get pushed aside until our next day off.
Thankfully the show in Raleigh was a lot calmer, even with a small group of protesters outside. I think spending time with family helped Pack Graves shake off the worst of their lingering angst caused by our time in Nashville. By the time they’d taken to the stage last night, they were back to their usual sensual selves.
